George, and she's been transported to London, and installed in a bagnio in Covent Garden. A bagnio is basically the 18th century equivalent of a brothel, and she's placed there for reasons outside the scope of this discussion. And so, in this section, people are starting to sort of gather out front of the bagnio , who are waiting for something
held the man to which he'd spoken at its center. Swale stared up at the bagnio window in silence, and as he stood there in the formation, turning his thoughts over in its mind, the throbbing in his foot began to diminish, its angry pulses becoming weaker.
'May I ask,' Erasmus said, 'what it is you are gazing on?' 'There is a woman inside the room up there,' the man said, pointing his stubby finger at the bagnio window, 'who gives birth to rabbits.' 'Rabbits?' Erasmus said. 'Yes,' said the blond fellow. 'Another is due any moment now.' 'That,' said Erasmus, 'cannot be.' 'Perhaps,' the blond fellow said,
the husband and wife on their left, and a portly ruddy fellow with ridiculously enormous shoes on her right. She gazed up at the bagnio window, imagining what might be inside, and slowly her mind cleared and became tranquil. For she realized that here, in the midst of this group of people standing vigil, was a place of wonder, and a place where anything could be true.
offered a new kind of beauty to those who had the ears to hear it. Perhaps they could somehow sense that in a room within the bagnio , the fabric of reality were slowly turning from cloth to lace. And so, they found themselves drawn to a place where the truth was mutable, where, if you pushed at facts, they would kindly move aside
As the money was exchanged and they began to leave the garden, they walked past a group of 10 people in two rows of five, standing in an easy formation staring up at the window of a bagnio with a mock-Turkish facade, that looked out onto the marketplace. It was impossible to tell why these people were here, and so Erasmus approached a gentleman at the end of one of the rows, a big blond fellow whose flesh hung heavy on him
and it was on the way back that his ship, close to Spain, was actually captured by some Barbary pirates. And the two Cervantes brothers were taken and held prisoner in the bagnios of Algiers-- so underneath the city of Algiers. Cervantes tried to escape five times.
So I'm going to read for about 20 minutes, from the second half of the book, which is after Mary Toft story has gotten the attention of King George, and she's been transported to London, and installed in a bagnio in Covent Garden. A bagnio is basically the 18th century equivalent of a brothel, and she's placed there for reasons outside the scope of this discussion.
A bagnio is basically the 18th century equivalent of a brothel, and she's placed there for reasons outside the scope of this discussion. And so, in this section, people are starting to sort of gather out front of the bagnio , who are waiting for something interesting to happen. And this short passage follows four of the characters.
interesting to happen. And this short passage follows four of the characters. "History does not record how the first people begin to gather in front of Dr. Lacey's bagnio , arriving one or two at a time, mostly alone, occasionally hand in hand. There was no organization, no leader, no advertisement publicizing the assembly, they just came.
and was carrying his old ones in his hand while his new ones annoyed him with the constant slipping of their heels. On his way out of the garden, he noticed a group of eight people in two rows of four standing patiently in front of a bagnio with a mock-Turkish facade, looking up at one of its windows.
she lived, wandering the city idle instead. What was this? A group of 15 people, in a formation of three rows of five, standing before the facade of a bagnio that looked out on the marketplace, all of them staring up at one of its windows.