Folio 12r - Hyena, continued. De bonnacon; the bonnacon.
omen, that is, neither faithful nor faithless, but are without doubt those of whom Solomon says: 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways'; (James, 1:8) of whom the Lord says: 'You cannot serve God and mammon.' (Matthew, 6:24) This beast has a stone in its eyes, called hyenia; anyone who keeps it under his tongue is believed to foretell the future. It is true that if the hyena walks three times around any animal, the animal cannot move. For this reason men declare that the hyena has magical properties. In a part of Ethiopia the hyena mates with the lioness; their union produces a monster, named crocote. Like the hyena, it too produces men's voices. It never tries to change the direction of its glance but strives to see without changing it. It has no gums in its mouth. Its single, continuous tooth is closed naturally like a casket so that it is never blunted. Of the bonnacon In Asia an animal is found which men call bonnacon. It has the head of a bull, and thereafter its whole body is of the size of a bull's with the maned neck of a horse. Its horns are convoluted, curling back on themselves in such a way that if anyone comes up against it, he is not harmed. But the protection which its forehead denies this monster is furnished by its bowels. For when it turns to flee, it discharges fumes from the excrement of its belly over a distance of three acres, the heat of which sets fire to anything it touches. In this way, it drives off its pursuers with its harmful excrement.
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The hyena. The bonnacon.
Illustration
The bonnacon is an Asian beast whose head is like a bull but his horns curl inwards so that they do not harm the victim. When the bonnacon is chased he expels dung which burns a wide area.
Comment
The illustration shows the wise hunter protecting himself with his shield, mentioned in other texts but not here.The hunter's axe extends beyond its frame and overlaps the text. Pricking and ruling are visible. The text is damaged by pricking for pouncing on f.12v. Initial indicator 'i' in the right margin. Initial type 2.
Folio Attributes
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Transcription
femine sint id est nec fideles, nec perfidi sunt, sed sunt sine dubio, de\ quibus ait Salomon: Vir duplex animo, inconstans est in omnibus\ viis suis. De quibus ait dominus: Non potestis deo servire et mamone.\ Hec belua lapidem in oculis tenet, nomine yeniam, quem siquis sub lin\gua tenuerit, futura predicere creditur. Verum yena quodcumque \ animal ter lustraverit vomere [A: movere] se non potest. Quapropter magicam in\esse ei pronunciaverunt. In Ethiope parte coit cum leena unde nascitur\ monstrum cui crocote nomen est. Voces hominum et ipsi [A: ipsa] pariter effec\tat. Nunquam commutationem orbium sed in obtutum sine mu\tatione contendit. In ore gingiva nulla. Dens unus atque perpe\tuus qui ut nunquam retundatur, naturaliter capsularum modo clauditur.\ De bonnacon.\ In Asia ani\mal nas\citur quod bon\nacon di\cunt. Cui\ taurinum\ capud, ac \ deinceps\ corpus om\ne tantum\ iuba equi\na. Cornu\a autem ita multiplici fleu [A: flexu] in se recurrentia, ut si quis in\ eo offendat non vulneretur, sed quicquid presidii monstro illi frons\ negat, alvus sufficiat [A: sufficit]. Nam cum in fugam vertit proluvie citi ventris fumum egerit per longitudinem trium iugerum, cuius\ ardor quicquid attigerit adurit. Ita egerie noxia submovet insequentes\Translation
omen, that is, neither faithful nor faithless, but are without doubt those of whom Solomon says: 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways'; (James, 1:8) of whom the Lord says: 'You cannot serve God and mammon.' (Matthew, 6:24) This beast has a stone in its eyes, called hyenia; anyone who keeps it under his tongue is believed to foretell the future. It is true that if the hyena walks three times around any animal, the animal cannot move. For this reason men declare that the hyena has magical properties. In a part of Ethiopia the hyena mates with the lioness; their union produces a monster, named crocote. Like the hyena, it too produces men's voices. It never tries to change the direction of its glance but strives to see without changing it. It has no gums in its mouth. Its single, continuous tooth is closed naturally like a casket so that it is never blunted. Of the bonnacon In Asia an animal is found which men call bonnacon. It has the head of a bull, and thereafter its whole body is of the size of a bull's with the maned neck of a horse. Its horns are convoluted, curling back on themselves in such a way that if anyone comes up against it, he is not harmed. But the protection which its forehead denies this monster is furnished by its bowels. For when it turns to flee, it discharges fumes from the excrement of its belly over a distance of three acres, the heat of which sets fire to anything it touches. In this way, it drives off its pursuers with its harmful excrement.
