Verily, 'twas in the year of our Lord, a knight of great renown, Sir Godfrey, became custodian of a vast fortune, yet a fiendish curse did accompany it. A snail of diminutive stature, but of fatal touch, pursued him ceaselessly. The snail, unyielding as stone and with senses keener than a hound's, knew ever the knight's whereabouts.
Sir Godfrey, with a mind as sharp as his blade, took to cunning stratagems. He did construct a fortress in the highest peaks, moated with a sea of salt, for it is known that the humble snail shuns the stuff. Amidst the bracing mountain air, Sir Godfrey did espy a snail within his keep. Quaking with dread, yet with resolve, he did raise his foot to crush the intruder, but lo! His boot did meet naught but clay and paint. 'Twas a decoy snail.
Hello Good Sir. Please find enclosed by signed check for $8.00 and subscribe me to Astounding Snail Stories, The Digest of Fine Speculative Gastropod Fiction. If you would be so kind as to also send me the catalog of back issues, I would appreciate it as I do not wish to miss any installments of The Tale of Sir Godfrey and the Devil's Mollusk.
> It's worth noting that snails love to eat bark, paper, cardboard, etc. I would imagine that books stored in damp cellars and such were at real risk of damage from them, hence snails were probably not well-regarded by bookish monks.
Looking a little into it, turns out that snails like eating paper. I wonder if they were a common scourge of librarians and copiers? It points to why they would be ubiquitous, and why so many Knights are depicted as losing.
Sir Godfrey, with a mind as sharp as his blade, took to cunning stratagems. He did construct a fortress in the highest peaks, moated with a sea of salt, for it is known that the humble snail shuns the stuff. Amidst the bracing mountain air, Sir Godfrey did espy a snail within his keep. Quaking with dread, yet with resolve, he did raise his foot to crush the intruder, but lo! His boot did meet naught but clay and paint. 'Twas a decoy snail.