Folio 11r - Elephant, continued. De castore; the beaver. De animale qoud dicitur ibex; the ibex
of the wounded. For they take the exhausted and the injured back into their midst. Of the beaver There is an animal called the beaver, which is extremely gentle; its testicles are highly suitable for medicine. Physiologus says of it that, when it knows that a hunter is pursuing it, it bites off its testicles and throws them in the hunter's face and, taking flight, escapes. But if, once again, another hunter is in pursuit, the beaver rears up and displays its sexual organs. When the hunter sees that it lacks testicles, he leaves it alone. Thus every man who heeds God's commandment and wishes to live chastely should cut off all his vices and shameless acts, and cast them from him into the face of the devil. Then the devil, seeing that the man has nothing belonging to him, retires in disorder. That man, however, lives in God and is not taken by the devil, who says: 'I will pursue, I will overtake them...'(Exodus, 15:9) The name castor comes from castrando, 'castrate'. Of the animal called the ibex There is an animal called the ibex, which has two horns of such strength that, if it were to fall from a high mountain to the lowest depths, its whole body would be supported by those two horns. The ibex represents those learned men
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The beaver, The ibex.
Illustration
The beaver is a gentle animal whose testicles have a medicinal value. When hunted, the beaver escapes with his life by biting off his testicles. If he is hunted for a second time he shows his incompleteness and is spared. The ibex has two enormously strong horns. If it jumps from the top of a mountain, its body is held safe by its horns.
Comment
Damage to the beaver image is caused by pricking for pouncing on f.11v. Pricking and ruling visible. Initial indicators 'e,e' in the right margin. Initials type 2.
Folio Attributes
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Transcription
habent curam sauciorum. Nam fossos [A: fessos] vulneratosque in medium receptant.\ De castore.\ Est animal quod dicitur castor\ mansuetum nimis,\ cuius testiculi medicine sunt\ aptissimi, de quo dicit\ Phisiologus, quia cum vena\torem se insequentem cog\novit, morsu testiculos sibi\ abscidit, et in faciem vena\toris eos proicit et sic fugiens\ evadit. Si vero rursus conti\gerit ut alter venator eum prosequatur, erigit se et os\tendit virilia sua venatori. Quem cum viderit testi\culis carere, ab eo discedit. Sic omnis qui iuxta mandatum\ dei versatur et caste vult vivere, secat a se omnia vicia, et\ omnes impudicitie actus, et proicit eos a se in faciem diaboli.\ Tunc ille videns eum nichil suorum habentem, confusus\ ab eo discedit. Ille vero vivit in deo, et non capitur a diabolo, qui dicit:\ persequar, et comprehendam eos. Castor dicitur a castrando.\ De animali quod dicitur ibex.\ Est animal quod dicitur ibex, duo cornua habens, quorum tanta vis est, ut si \ ab alto montis ad yma dimissus [A: demissus] fuerit, corpus eius totum iis duobus cornibus \ sustentetur. Significat autem eruditos homines qui duorum testamen\Translation
of the wounded. For they take the exhausted and the injured back into their midst. Of the beaver There is an animal called the beaver, which is extremely gentle; its testicles are highly suitable for medicine. Physiologus says of it that, when it knows that a hunter is pursuing it, it bites off its testicles and throws them in the hunter's face and, taking flight, escapes. But if, once again, another hunter is in pursuit, the beaver rears up and displays its sexual organs. When the hunter sees that it lacks testicles, he leaves it alone. Thus every man who heeds God's commandment and wishes to live chastely should cut off all his vices and shameless acts, and cast them from him into the face of the devil. Then the devil, seeing that the man has nothing belonging to him, retires in disorder. That man, however, lives in God and is not taken by the devil, who says: 'I will pursue, I will overtake them...'(Exodus, 15:9) The name castor comes from castrando, 'castrate'. Of the animal called the ibex There is an animal called the ibex, which has two horns of such strength that, if it were to fall from a high mountain to the lowest depths, its whole body would be supported by those two horns. The ibex represents those learned men
