Ziito
One of the most remarkable magicians of whom history has left any record. He was a sorcerer at the court of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia (afterwards Emperor of Germany) towards the end of the fourteenth century, and among his more famous exploits is one chronicled by Dulsavius, bishop of Olmutz, in his History of Bohemia. On the occasion of the marriage of Wenceslaus with Sophia, daughter of the elector Palatine of Bavaria, the elector, knowing his son-in-law's liking for juggling and magical exhibitions, brought in his train a number of morris-dancers, jugglers and such entertainers. When they came forward to give their exhibition Ziito remained unobtrusively among the spectators. He was not entirely unnoticed, however, for his remarkable appearance drew the attention of those about him. His oddest feature was his mouth, which actually stretched from ear to ear. After watching the magicians for some time in silence, Ziito appeared to become exasperated at the halting way in which the tricks were carried through, and going up to the principal magician he taunted him with incompetency. The rival professor hotly defended his performance, and a discussion ensued which was ended at last by Ziito swallowing his opponent, just as he stood, leaving only his shoes, which he said were dirty and unfit for consumption. After this extraordinary feat, he retired for a little while to a closet, from which he shortly emerged, leading the rival magician by the hand. He then gave a performance of his own which put the former exhibition entirely in the shade. He changed himself into many divers shapes, taking the form of first one person and then another, none of whom bore any resemblance either to himself or to each other. In a car drawn by barn-door fowls he kept pace with the King's carriage. When the guests were assembled at dinner, he played a multitude of elfish tricks on them, to their amusement or annoyance, as the case might be. Indeed, he was at all times an exceedingly mischievous creature as is shown by another story told of him. Feigning to be in want of money, and apparently casting about anxiously for the means of obtaining some, he at length took a handful of corn, and made it look like thirty fat hogs. These he took to Michael, a rich but very mean dealer. The latter purchased them after some haggling, but was warned not to let them drink at the river. But the warning was disregarded, and the hogs turned into grains of corn. enraged dealer went in search of Ziito, whom he found at last in a vintner's shop. In vain Michael shouted and The stamped, the magician took no notice, but seemed to be in a fit of abstraction. The dealer, beside himself, seized Ziito's foot and pulled it as hard as he could. To his dismay, the foot and leg came right off, while Ziito screamed lustily, and hauled Michael before the judge, where the two presented their complaints. What the decision was, history does not relate, but it is unlikely that the ingenious
Ziito came off worse.