Folio 13v - Deer, continued
or large long stretches of water, they place their head on the hindquarters of the deer in front and, following one on the other, do not feel impeded by their weight. When they find such places, they cross them quickly, to avoid sinking in the mire. They have another characteristic, that after eating a snake they run to a spring and, drinking from it, shed their long coats and all signs of old age. The members of the holy Church seem to have a mentality corresponding to that of deer, because while they change their homeland, that is, the world, for love of the heavenly homeland, they carry each other, that is, the more perfect bring on and sustain the less perfect by their example and their good works. And if they find a place of sin, they leap over it at once, and after the incarnation of the Devil, that is, after committing a sin, they run, by their confession, to Christ, the true spring; drinking in his commandments, they are renewed, shedding their sin like old age. Stags, when it is time to rut, rage with the madness of lust. Does, although they may been inseminated earlier, do not conceive before the star Arcturus appears. They do not rear their young just anywhere but hide them with tender care, concealed deep in bushes or grass, and they make them stay out of sight with a tap of the hoof. When the young grow strong enough to take flight, the deer train them to run and to leap great distances. When deer hear the dogs barking, they move upwind taking their scent with them. They are scared rigid by everything, which makes them an easier mark for archers. Of their horns, the right-hand one is better for medical purposes. If you want to frighten off snakes, you should burn either. If deer have few or no teeth, it shows that they are old. In order to tell their age, Alexander the Great ringed a number of deer; when they were recaptured a century later they showed no sign of old age. The offspring of the deer are called hinnuli, fawns, from innuere, 'to nod', because at a nod from their mother, they vanish from sight.
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
Deer, stags, fawns.
Comment
The excision is for the illustration of the hart on f.13r. Pricking and ruling are visible.
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
vel maria transilient, capita clunibus precedentium superponunt,\ sibique invicem succedentes, nullum laborem ponderis sen\tiunt. Et quando loca inveniunt, ea ne in eis quo inquirientur [A: coinquirientur]\ citissime transiliunt. Habent et aliam naturam, quod post commesti\onem serpentis ad fontem currunt, et ex eo bibentes pilos\ et omnem suam vetustatem deponunt. Que nature in [membris]\ sancte ecclesie congrua et competenti ratione videntur convenire, quia\ dum patriam istam, id est mundum, pro amore celestis patrie\ mutant, sese vicarie portant, id est perfectiores minus perfectos exem\plo, et bonis operibus promovent et sustentant. Et si locum pec\candi inveniunt, statim transiliunt, et post incorporationem\ diaboli, id est post peccata [excised, A: perpetrata, ad Christum qui verus fons]\ est confessione currunt [excised, A: et precepta eius haurientes deposita pec-]\ cati vetustate renov [excised, A: antur; Mares generis huius cum statutum]\ tempus venerem incitat [excised, A: seviunt rabie libidinis; femine]\ licet prius conserantur. [excised, A: Non concipiunt ante arcturi sydus. Nec]\ qualibet partus suos e [excised, A: ducant; sed tenero studio oculunt et]\ absconditos inter profu [excised, A: nda fruticum vel herbarum, pedum ver-]\ bere castigant ad la [excised, A: tendum; cum maturint ad fugam]\ robur, per exercitium [excised, A: docent cursum, assuescunt salire per]\ abrupta. Acceptis ca [excised, A: num latratibus secundo vento]\ ut odor cum ipsis [excised, A: recedat. Stupent omnia propterea facilius]\ obvios se prebent s [excised, A: agittantibus. Cornibus quod dextrum fuerit]\ efficacius est admedel [excised, A: am; Si fugare angues gestias; utrum]\ vel ures. Dentes mo [excised, A: nstrant senectutem cum aut pauci]\ inveniuntur, aut nulli. Ad [excised, A: dinoscendam] vivacitatem, A\lexander magnus torques plurimis cervis innexuit, qui post annum centesimum capti, nec dum senis indicium preferebant. \ Hinnuli filii sunt cervorum ab innuere dicti, quod nutu matris\Translation
or large long stretches of water, they place their head on the hindquarters of the deer in front and, following one on the other, do not feel impeded by their weight. When they find such places, they cross them quickly, to avoid sinking in the mire. They have another characteristic, that after eating a snake they run to a spring and, drinking from it, shed their long coats and all signs of old age. The members of the holy Church seem to have a mentality corresponding to that of deer, because while they change their homeland, that is, the world, for love of the heavenly homeland, they carry each other, that is, the more perfect bring on and sustain the less perfect by their example and their good works. And if they find a place of sin, they leap over it at once, and after the incarnation of the Devil, that is, after committing a sin, they run, by their confession, to Christ, the true spring; drinking in his commandments, they are renewed, shedding their sin like old age. Stags, when it is time to rut, rage with the madness of lust. Does, although they may been inseminated earlier, do not conceive before the star Arcturus appears. They do not rear their young just anywhere but hide them with tender care, concealed deep in bushes or grass, and they make them stay out of sight with a tap of the hoof. When the young grow strong enough to take flight, the deer train them to run and to leap great distances. When deer hear the dogs barking, they move upwind taking their scent with them. They are scared rigid by everything, which makes them an easier mark for archers. Of their horns, the right-hand one is better for medical purposes. If you want to frighten off snakes, you should burn either. If deer have few or no teeth, it shows that they are old. In order to tell their age, Alexander the Great ringed a number of deer; when they were recaptured a century later they showed no sign of old age. The offspring of the deer are called hinnuli, fawns, from innuere, 'to nod', because at a nod from their mother, they vanish from sight.
