THE small chapel at the spring was rebuilt on grander lines by the Emperor Justinian a century later,* but was badly damaged when the Turks besieged Constantinople in 1422. And by that hangs an even stranger tale.
On May 23rd, 1453, a monk was busy cooking in the precincts of the ruined church with the Turks once again at the gates. He had just laid some fish in a frying pan, when a man rushed in to warn him that Sultan Mehmet had broken through.*
The monk, however, refused to believe that the City favoured of God could fall to the heathen.* ‘Nonsense!’ he said, prodding the sizzling fish. ‘I’d sooner believe these fish could leap alive from the pan, and swim in the spring.’ At that instant, the fish leapt into the air, landed in the spring, and began swimming about.
Fish swim in the pool to this day, giving rise to the Turkish name for the locality, Balikli.*
It is Nikephoros Kallistos (?1256-?1335) who tells us the backstory of Leo. Procopius of Caesarea (fl. 500-565) says only that Justinian was out hunting when he came across a tumbledown chapel on this spot, and learnt that it marked a miraculous healing spring discovered long before.
See The Fall of Constantinople.
But it happened to Jerusalem on many occasions. See Psalm 79, and The Jerusalem Temple. The Biblical authors put that down to Israel trying to solve her problems with conventional political wisdom rather than by trusting in God, and the Greeks after 1453 likewise connected the Fall of Constantinople with the adoption of the heretical Filioque in the fool’s hope of military assistance from the governments of Western Europe.
Balıklı in Turkish, Balukli (Μπαλουκλί) in Greek. The Turkish word means ‘with fish’.
Précis
One day in 1453, a monk was frying fish near a healing spring in Constantinople sacred to the Virgin Mary. When the monk was told the Turks had broken into the City, he scoffed at the news, saying it was as likely as that his frying fish would jump into the spring – which they immediately did. (56 / 60 words)
One day in 1453, a monk was frying fish near a healing spring in Constantinople sacred to the Virgin Mary. When the monk was told the Turks had broken into the City, he scoffed at the news, saying it was as likely as that his frying fish would jump into the spring – which they immediately did.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, may, must, or, ought, since, until, whether.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Again. Any. Century.
2 Bad. Name. String.
3 Air. Gentle. Lead.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
vls (9+3)
avails. evils. ovals. vales. values. veils. vials. violas. voles.
ovules. valise. viols.
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