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78

Now listen, / [rubric:] How the earth quakes: [/rubric]
therefore, to what the movement of the earth is and how the
earth quake and cracks.
Many people call this an earthquake because they
feel the earth quake beneath their feet.
And sometimes it quakes and cracks so badly that
many cities have collapsed into the earth and have never been
seen again. And this happens because of the great waters that come
from inside the earth, since with the rising up of the great waves
sometimes caverns are created under the earth,
and the air that is enclosed in them is under
great pressure. If the earth is very weak in that place,
so that it cannot hold everything
back, it is forced open and collapses due to the
air that is being pushed outwards. And so it has
often happened that towns, cities, and castles have collapsed
into the abyss. And if the earth is strong enough that
it does not crack or quake due to the winds inside it,
then the earth moves so marvelously that the
great walls and high towers that are situated in that place

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Marie Richards

original ms. Folio 78r
Walters ms. Folio 83r
BL Royal MS 19 A IX fols 89v-90r.
Caxton, ed. Prior, p. 114
Gossuin, ed. Prior, 145-146