1


I saw a gold pillar from earth to heaven.

2


I saw a dark towel
hanging from heaven to earth.

3


I saw three boiling kettles:
one of oil, one of butter, and one of water,
and oil boiled over into butter,
and butter into water
but the water boiled all by itself.

4


I saw an old mare with her colt,
and a black eagle pulling grass by its roots
and laying it down before the mare
while the colt neighed.

5


I saw a bitch lying on a dunghill
while the puppies barked from her womb.

6


I saw many monks soaked in pitch
wailing because they can’t get out.

7


I saw a beautiful horse
grazing with two heads
one in front, one in the back.

8


I saw precious stones, pearls, and royal wreaths
scattered over the whole kingdom.
but fire came down from heaven
and scorched everything into ashes.

9


I saw the rich giving workers either
gold or silver or rice,
but when they asked for their own reward,
no one was left.

10


I saw evil-faced rocks descending
from the sky
and walking all over the earth.

11


I saw three maidens in a mowed field
bearing wreaths of sunlight on their heads
and sweet-smelling flowers in their hands.

12


I saw men with slits for eyes,
cruel fingernails, and hair that rose up,
and these were the devil’s servants.

- anonymous, medieval Serbo-Croatian
translated by Charles Simic