De recidivacione Sambitarum de territorio Rinow.
The Serpent's Whisper in Sambia
The devil incites the Sambians settled in Rinow to return to apostasy.
But the enemy of the human race, the devil, who always envies the peace and tranquility of the faithful, planted a suggestion in the minds of these men of Sambia who had been settled in the territory of Rinow — that they had fallen back into the sin of apostasy.
The Assault on Vischusen
The Sambian force attacks the bishop's castle of Vischusen, defended by only two men.
So they gathered an army and attacked the castle of Vischusen, which belonged to the bishop of Sambia. Inside at that time there were only two men — a brother and his servant.
Blindness Before the Gate
A wondrous divine irony blinds the attackers to the strap that would have opened the castle, and they withdraw without completing their siege.
And behold, a wondrous thing. The Percussi — blinded by their own malice — did not see the belt or strap hanging right before their eyes by a tooth, which if they had pulled it with the smallest finger of their hand, they would have opened the aforesaid castle of the enemies and, as a result, destroyed it completely.12 And so after some fighting, they withdrew, the business unfinished.
Read the original Latin
Sed inimicus humani generis dyabolus, qui paci fidelium semper invidet et quieti, suggessit hiis hominibus Sambie, qui in territorio Rinow fuerant constituti, quod in apostasie vicium iterum sunt relapsi. Unde ipsi congregati cum exercituc castrum Vischusen episcopi Sambiensis impugnaverunt, in quo nisi duo viri, scilicet unus frater et famulus ejus fuerunt illa vice. Et ecce mira res. Percussi acrisia, excecavit eosd malicia ipsorum, ut zonam seu corrigiam pen dentem ante oculos ipsorum non viderunt, quam si cum minimo digito manus sue traxissent, dicti castri hostium aperuissent, et ipsum per consequens funditus destruxissent. Et sic post impugnacionem aliqualem infecto negocio recesserunt.
Notes
- 1 ↩The word 'acrisia' is uncertain; it may mean 'sharpness,' 'frenzy,' or 'blindness.' The translation follows the sense of the passage — that their malice blinded them — but the precise meaning of the term is unclear.
- 2 ↩The word 'pen' is uncertain; it may mean 'tail' or refer to some other object. The translation renders it as 'hanging by a tooth' to convey the image of something suspended and within reach, but the exact referent is unclear.
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