871). _The History of
the Devil and the Idea of Evil_ by Paul Carus (1900) contains the
following passages on this legend:

"An English Benedictine monk, William of Malmesbury, says of
Pope Sylvester II., who was born in France, his secular name
being Gerbert, that he entered the cloister when still a
boy. Full of ambition, he flew to Spain where he studied
astrology and magic among the Saracens. There he stole a
magic-book from a Saracen philosopher, and returned flying
through the air to France. Now he opened a school and
acquired great fame, so that the king himself became one of
his disciples. Then he became Bishop of Rheims, where he had
a magnificent clock and an organ constructed. Having raised
the treasure of Emperor Octavian which lay hidden in a
subterrenean vault at Rome, he became Pope. As Pope he
manufactured a magic head which replied to all his
questions. This head told him that he would not die until he
had read Mass in Jerusalem. So the Pope decided never to
visit the Holy Land. But once he fell sick, and, asking his
magic head, was informed that the church's name in which he
had read Mass the other day was 'The Holy Cross of
Jerusalem.' The Pope knew at once that he had to die. He
gathered all the cardinals around his bed, confessed his
crime, and, as a penance, ordered his body to be cut up
alive, and the pieces to be thrown out of the church as
unclean.

"Sigabert tells the story of the Pope's death in a different
way. There is no penance on the part of the Pope, and the
Devil takes his soul to hell. Others tell us that the Devil
constantly accompanied the Pope in the shape of a black dog,
and this dog gave him the equivocal prophecy.

"The historical truth of the story is that Gerbert was
unusually gifted and well educated. He was familiar with the
wisdom of the Saracens, for Borell, Duke of Hither Spain,
carried him as a youth to his country where he studied
mathematics and astronomy. He came early in contact with the
most influential men of his time, and became Pope in 999. He
was liberal enough to denounce some of his unworthy
predecessors as 'monsters of more than human iniquity,' and
as 'Antichrist, sitting in the temple of God and playing the
part of the Devil' (the text inadvertently reads: and