According to the passage, James Hargreaves'. birthplace was certainly Lancashire, England
family included notable people in Standhill
life has been the subject of history books
early life remains largely unknown
invention had little impact on industrialization
It is clear from the passage that, reportedly, the inspiration for Hargreaves' invention resulted from an accidental occurrence
occurred when he was merely a boy
came to him after a suggestion from his daughter Jenny
came when he saw a spinning jenny in operation
was realized when he was experimenting with spinning eight threads at once
We learn from the details in the passage that cotton spinning in England when Hargreaves was a boy. was done on eight-threaded spinning machines
was highly industrialized
was carried out in people's houses
was relatively uncommon in Lancashire
was only experimental
166 THE FAUST LEGEND In the early 16th century, there sprang up in Germany tales of a magician, Dr. Johannes Faust - or, sometimes, Faustus - who was rumoured to be in league with the devil. With the devil's aid, Faust could supposedly perform remarkable feats. There seems little doubt that a fortune-teller of this name actually existed. He is said to have died in about 1540, but the details of his life have been lost. He was reputed to be a charlatan who travelled from place to place in Germany, passing himself off as a physician, alchemist, astrologer and magician. Faust owes his first literary fame to the anonymous author of "Das Faustbuch", published in Frankfurt in 1587. This was a collection of tales concerning a number of ancient and medieval wizards who had gone by the name of Faust. "Das Faustbuch" relates how Faust sought to acquire supernatural knowledge and power through a bargain with Satan. In this pact, signed in his own blood, Faust agreed that Mephistopheles, a devil, was to become his servant for 24 years. In return, Faust would surrender himself to Satan at the end of that period. Mephistopheles entertained his master with luxurious living, long intellectual conversations, and glimpses of the spirit world. After the agreed 24 years, during an earthquake, Faust was carried off to Hell. The Faust legend soon gained wide popularity and was used as a theme by many writers. The most outstanding treatment of the legend was formulated by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who raised the story to the level of a powerful drama and introduced the motif of a heroine, Margarete. Other authors in the 19th and 20th centuries have used the legend as the basis for stories, but the best recent work is probably the 1947 novel "Doktor Faustus", by the German writer Thomas Mann. This version makes use of certain passages from the original "Faustbuch".
