A little known fact about Pope Urban IV (1195–1264) is that he liked to juggle eggs more than anything in the world. When, in 1261, after his election (he was the first pope to be elected without first having served as cardinal. This is believed to be the reason his egg juggling was not discovered earlier), he tried to gather support for a crusade against the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaialogos in order to restore the Latin Empire of Constantinople, he was, in fact, standing on his head on the papal chair, juggling twelve freshly boiled eggs. His appeal met with very little support, and the crusade did not take place.

A Philosophical Dialogue

“As you can see,” the philosopher said, “this barrel of apples, which we all agreed was full, nevertheless had room for a whole sack of rice and, after that, for a bucket of sand. This shows that our preconceived notions about the state of things should never be accepted without questioning.”

“Now I can't sell the apples,” the fruitmonger said, “and tonight I won’t be able to eat the rice. You have brought ruin upon me with your philosophy!”

Notes on Art

If a man throws himself out of the fourth floor window, and you can't make a sketch of him before he gets to the ground, you will never do anything big.
Eugène Delacroix

Before he had even had time to finish his first big painting, Delacroix was finding it increasingly difficult to find models, and the police had visited his fourth-floor studio seven times. Art, he deicded, was hard.

More Stories about Elephants and Tea

It is said that the fourth Emperor of Dawn, having ascended to the throne under somewhat mysterious circumstances, attempted to strengthen his position by always acting in a way that befitted an emperor. He not only tried to emulate his thre predecessors by sending his opponents into exile (sometimes after cutting off their noses, but according to court rumours he could not stand the sight of blood and consequently let most of the thus sentenced keep their noses as long as they promised to wear the traditional mask of the de-nasiated), but also took up some of the customs af the Philosopher Kings who preceded them. One such custom, which is believed to have contributed to his downfall, was the awarding of prestigious court titles to friends, relatives and supporters.

He lost the support of the troops when he failed to give the position of Prime Minister to his senoir general, instead giving it first to Nyaga Shingu, the famous white elephant, and, after the unfortunate death of the animal, to his favourite teapot.