Folio 40r - the cock, continued.
they transform their loud tones into a sweet and gentle voice, drawing attention not so much to the terrors of punishment as to the enticements of reward. They also crow quietly then like cocks because, with the approach of the dawning of divine enlightenment, they preach with a degree of refinement about the mysteries, so that their followers may hear a more detailed account of heavenly things and draw near, as a result, to the light of the truth.
The lengthy crowing of the cock rouses those who are asleep; when shorter, it pleases them when awake, as those who have reformed their character take pleasure in learning in detail about the delights of divine rule, having earlier feared the calamity of divine judgement.
This is well put by Moses, when God orders him to sound the trumpets in short blasts, in order to send the army forward. For it is written: 'Make thee two trumpets of silver' (Numbers, 10:2); and a little later: 'When ye blow an alarm, then the camps ... shall go forward' (Numbers, 10:5). The army is led by two trumpets, as God's people are summoned by two rules of love to be ready to fight for the faith. The trumpets are ordered to be of silver, for this reason, that the words of preachers should be clearly visible from the brightness of their light so that they should not confuse the mind of their listeners with any obscurity. The trumpets are made of beaten silver, because those who preach of the life to come must grow under the blows of the misfortunes of the present.
The text: 'When ye blow an alarm, then the camps ... shall go forward' (Numbers, 10:5), is also apt, because it is a fact that the words of a sermon, when delivered very precisely and with attention to detail, stir the hearts of the listeners with greater fire in the struggle against temptation.
There is something else about the cock to which we should give skilful consideration: before it prepares to utter its crow, it first beats its wings, and by striking itself makes itself more alert.
We can see this clearly if we look closely at the lives of holy preachers. Before they instruct us with a sermon, they exercise themselves in holy conduct, unwilling to urge others on by voice while they themselves are sluggish in action. First, they give themselves a shake by performing lofty deeds, then they impart to others the desire to act well. First they beat themselves with the wings of thought, in the sense that they detect whatever is uselessly sluggish within themselves