Folio 17v - Wolf, continued
never turns towards the correction of penitence. Now what is to be done for a man when the wolf has taken away his power of shouting, when he has lost even the power of speech; he loses the help of those who are at a distance. But what is to be done? The man should take off his clothes and trample them underfoot, and taking two stones in his hands, he should beat one against the other. What happens then? The wolf, losing the boldness that comes with its courage will run away. The man, saved by his cleverness, will be free, as he was in the beginning. This is to be understood in spiritual terms and can be taken to a higher level as an allegory. For what do we mean by the wolf if not the Devil? What by the man, if not sin? What by the stones, if not the apostles, or other saints of our Lord? For they are all called by the prophet 'stones of adamant'.(see Ezekiel, 3:9) For our Lord himself is called in the law 'as tumbling stone and rock of offence'; (see Romans, 9:33, 1 Peter,2:8) and the prophet says of him: 'I saw a man standing on a mountain of adamant.' [SOURCE] Before we were finally redeemed, we were under the power of the enemy and had lost the capacity to call for help, and much as our sins required it, we were not heard by God, nor could we call any of the saints to our aid. But after God in his mercy bestowed his grace upon us in his son, in the act of baptism we laid aside, like old clothes, the person we were before, withall his deeds, and put on, like new clothes, a new person made in the image of God. Then we took stones in our hands and beat them one against the other, because we attract with our prayers the attention of the saints of God, who now reign with him in heaven, asking them to gain the ear of God, our judge, and procure a pardon for our sin, lest Cerberus, whom we do not know should swallow us up, rejoicing in our death. Wolves mate on no more than twelve days in the year. They can go hungry for a long time, and after long fasts, eat a large amount. Ethiopia produces wolves with manes, so diversely coloured, men say, that no hue is lacking. A characteristic of Ethiopian wolves
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The allegory of the wolf.
Comment
Pricking and ruling are visible.
Folio Attributes
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
tudinis correctionem [A: correptionem] nunquam flecti. Quid vero agendum est homini\ cui lupus abstulit vires clamandi , qui vero non habet potestatem vocife\randi, perdit auxilium longe stantis. Sed quid agendum sit?\ Deponat vestimentum suum homo pedibus suis conculcandum\ sumens in manibus duos lapides quos feriat alterutrum. Quid\ inde? Lupus audaciam sue virtutis perdens, fugiet. Homo vero\ tutus suo ingenio liber erit sicut in principio. Spiritualiter autem hoc\ intelligendum est atque ad superiorem locum allegorice, est di\cendum [PL: discendum]. Quid enim per lupum nisi diabolum? Quid per\ hominem nisi peccatum? Quid per lapides nisi apostolos, seu\ ceteros sanctos vel dominum nostrum significare poterimus? Omnes enim\ per prophetam adamantini lapides dicti sunt. Ipse enim dominus noster\ Iesu Christus in lege vocatus lapis offensionis, et petra scan\dali, de quo dicit propheta: Vidi virum stantem supra montem\ adamantinum. Antequam denique redempti essemus, sub potesta\te inimici eramus, vocemque clamandi perdideramus quoniam pec\catis nostris exigentibus a deo non audiebamur, neque aliquem\ sanctorum in auxilium nobis interpellabamus. Postquam vero clemens\ dominus gratificavit nos in filio suo, deposuimus in baptismo\ veterem hominem cum actibus suis, ac induimus novum qui\ secundum dominum creatus est. Deinde sumpsimus lapides in manibus\ de quibus alterutrum ferimus, quia sanctos dei qui iam in celis reg\nant cum ipso, nostri oris ferimus alloquio, ut et ipsi au\res pulsent iudicis, ac veniam nobis impetrent criminis\ ne nos quem nescimus sorbeat Cerberus, gaudens nostro interitu.\ Lupi toto anno non amplius quam dies xii coeunt; famem diu\ portant, et post longa ieiunia multum devorant. Lupos \ Ethiopia mittit, cervice iubatos, et tanto varios ut nul\lum eis colorem dicunt abesse. Ethopicis lupis proprium\Translation
never turns towards the correction of penitence. Now what is to be done for a man when the wolf has taken away his power of shouting, when he has lost even the power of speech; he loses the help of those who are at a distance. But what is to be done? The man should take off his clothes and trample them underfoot, and taking two stones in his hands, he should beat one against the other. What happens then? The wolf, losing the boldness that comes with its courage will run away. The man, saved by his cleverness, will be free, as he was in the beginning. This is to be understood in spiritual terms and can be taken to a higher level as an allegory. For what do we mean by the wolf if not the Devil? What by the man, if not sin? What by the stones, if not the apostles, or other saints of our Lord? For they are all called by the prophet 'stones of adamant'.(see Ezekiel, 3:9) For our Lord himself is called in the law 'as tumbling stone and rock of offence'; (see Romans, 9:33, 1 Peter,2:8) and the prophet says of him: 'I saw a man standing on a mountain of adamant.' [SOURCE] Before we were finally redeemed, we were under the power of the enemy and had lost the capacity to call for help, and much as our sins required it, we were not heard by God, nor could we call any of the saints to our aid. But after God in his mercy bestowed his grace upon us in his son, in the act of baptism we laid aside, like old clothes, the person we were before, withall his deeds, and put on, like new clothes, a new person made in the image of God. Then we took stones in our hands and beat them one against the other, because we attract with our prayers the attention of the saints of God, who now reign with him in heaven, asking them to gain the ear of God, our judge, and procure a pardon for our sin, lest Cerberus, whom we do not know should swallow us up, rejoicing in our death. Wolves mate on no more than twelve days in the year. They can go hungry for a long time, and after long fasts, eat a large amount. Ethiopia produces wolves with manes, so diversely coloured, men say, that no hue is lacking. A characteristic of Ethiopian wolves
