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BASILISK, n. The cockatrice. A sort of serpent hatched from the egg of… — The Devil's Dictionary

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SAPIR 861

The Devil's Dictionary — Ambrose Bierce

BASILISK, n. The cockatrice. A sort of serpent hatched from the egg of a cock. The basilisk had a bad eye, and its glance was fatal. Many infidels deny this creature's existence, but Semprello Aurator saw and handled one that had been blinded by lightning as a punishment for having fatally gazed on a lady of rank whom Jupiter loved. Juno afterward restored the reptile's sight and hid it in a cave. Nothing is so well attested by the ancients as the existence of the basilisk, but the cocks have stopped laying.

Place: ¶159
License: Public domain · Source
The text is given as in the edition, unedited.

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