# History of Monsters. 376

X. But if that monster was immense and detestable, the one that lived in Egypt near the banks of the Nile was no less fierce and terrifying. It possessed three heads—specifically those of an eagle, a dragon, and a fox—and a scaly body like that of a serpent. On one side, it extended a human arm and hand, and on the other, an eagle’s foot. Furthermore, it had human breasts, a lion's tail, and four completely different feet: one from a lion, two human, and a fourth like a goose’s with three toes. This monster was amphibious and devoured both humans and other living creatures. We present its image, found in a public museum, for all to view.

Furthermore, we must certainly count among the omens the infant born in the year of our Lord 1621 to foreign parents in the city of Dax in Aquitaine (known commonly as Bayonne). Although his limbs were well-formed, his entire body was disfigured by numerous eyes, mimicking the mythical Argus of the poets. But while Argus’s head alone was covered in eyes—as Ovid wrote:

Argus had a head surrounded by a hundred lights.

The eyes of this monster illuminated not only the head but all other parts of the body as well.

Indeed, this monstrous infant should be ranked among portents because before he expired (he lived for only fifteen days), he spoke in a clear voice. The sense of wonder increased further because celestial omens appeared in the same city at that time, including sightings of knights marching through the air.

Moreover, in April 1624, in Ostrovizza—a notable fortress situated ten miles from Šibenik in Dalmatia—a monstrous boy was born with three horns, three eyes, a single nostril, donkey’s ears, and inverted feet. Once the birth of this monster was made public, the local rulers immediately summoned diviners to interpret what future events this prodigious birth might foretell. These "interpreters of monsters," having carefully examined every part of the infant, prophesied that the three horns represented the triple power of the Turks in Asia, Africa, and Europe. By the triple eye, they predicted the constant vigilance the Turkish Emperor maintains over his subjects across three domains: the military, agriculture, and the raising of children. By the donkey’s ears, they announced the Turks as formidable warriors, comparing the living donkey’s braying to the war trumpet and noting the use of its skin in making drums. Finally, by the monster’s inverted feet, they prophesied an imminent danger and the potential decline of Turkish dominion.

XI. That same year, we learned from letters sent from Byzantium that a monstrous and horrifying offspring was born to the wife of a Turkish ruler, much to the terror of the midwives who had gathered at the house to assist the mother. The head was that of a donkey, and the hands and feet resembled the talons of birds of prey. Various diviners offered various prophecies, but most declared that these monsters were a sign of divine wrath against the infidels. For the evil Demon, by God's permission, can transform the parts of a fetus within the womb of a pregnant woman into a horrific form—adding horns, a tail, and talons—by applying active natural forces to passive ones and removing any obstacle to his intended work.

Thus, we understand how monsters are sometimes born so hideous that they represent the very image of a demon. Cornelius Gemma testifies that a terrifying monster was born to a woman in a city in Brabant that perfectly resembled the figure of a demon. In the formation of such monsters, many look to supernatural causes, though others attribute them to the imagination of the parents. For if a woman couples with a man wearing a demonic mask, or if a woman of ill-repute is accustomed to hosting an incubus demon, a demon-shaped monster can be produced. Indeed, the demon, having assumed a physical form, may carry the fertile seed of a man into the woman’s womb; thus, the woman conceives a human by the power of the seed, but by the power of the spectral image impressed upon her imagination, she later gives birth to an "anthropo-demon." However, we shall discuss these matters further below in the section regarding causes.