Folio 48r - the swallow, continued.
remarkably, the swallow creates a regularly-proportioned home for itself without any assistance, like a skilled craftsman. For it gathers bits of straw in its mouth and smears them with mud so that they stick together; but because it cannot carry the mud in its claws, it dips the tips of its wings in water, so that dust sticks to them easily and turns into slime, with which to gather to itself bits of straw or tiny twigs, a few at a time, and makes them stick. It makes the whole fabric of the nest in this fashion, in order that its young can live safely as if on a solid floor in houses on the ground, lest any of them insert a foot between the small gaps in the woven fabric or the cold should get to the very young.
This conscientiousness is fairly common among most birds, yet what is distinctive about the swallow is its special loving care, shrewd intelligence and the extraordinary quality of its understanding. Then there is its skill in the arts of healing: if its young are infected by blindness or pricked in the eye, it has some kind of healing power with which it can restore their vision.
The swallow, as this example proves, can be taken to represent, in some cases, pride of mind; in others, the repentance of the afflicted heart.
That the swallow signifies pride is illustrated by Tobit: When he lay down beside a wall, says Tobit, and fell asleep, it happened that warm excrement fell on his eyes from a swallows' nest as he slept and he became blind (see Tobit, 2:10). Bede Commentarys on this: 'The swallow, on account of its lightness in flight, represents pride and levity of heart; their impurity causes immediate blindness, and prevents one from seeing what he is.
That we should interpret the swallow as the contrite heart is demonstrated by the prophet, who says: 'Like a crane or a swallow, so will I chatter' (see Isaiah, 38:14). We understand by the swallow, therefore, a discerning teacher; by the swallow's young, the teacher's disciple, crying out; by the cry, a contrite heart. The fledgling cries out as the disciple asks his teacher to preach to him. The fledgling cries out as, by confession, the disciple shows his teacher the contrition in his heart. If you know the cry
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The swallow builds its nest.
Comment
on this page the margins have been drawn incorrectly, joining the wrong prick marks.
Folio Attributes
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
illud preclarum quod quadratam domum sibi sine ullo adiutore\ tanquam artis perita componit. Legit enim festucas ore easque luto\ linit ut glutinare possit, sed quia lutum pedibus deferre non potest\ summitates pennarum aqua infundit, ut facile his pulvis ad\ hereat, et limus fiat, quo paulatim festucas vel minutos surcu\ los sibi colligat atque adherere faciat. Eo genere nidi tocius fabricam\ struit, ut quasi pavimento solo pulli eius in terra edes suas sine\ offensione versentur, ne pedem aliquis interserat per rimulas textu\ rarum, aut teneris fetibus frigus irrepat. Sed hoc industrie offi\ cium prope commune multis avibus, illud vero singulare in quo est\ preclara cura pietatis et prudens intellectus et cognitionis insig\ ne, tum que[d]am medice artis pericia quod si qua pulli eius fuerint\ cecitate suffusi oculos sive compuncti, habet quoddam medendi genus\ quo po[s inserted]sit eorum lumina intercepto visui reformare. Per hyrundinem\ sicut auctoritas testatur, aliquando superbia mentis, aliquando contricio\ contribulati cordis intellegitur. Quod per yrundinem superbia desig\ netur, per Tobiam dicitur: Cum iactasset se inquit Tobias iuxta pa\ rietem et obdormisset, contigit ut ex nido hirundinum dor\ mienti illi calida stercora insiderent super oculos eius, fieretque cecus.\ Unde Beda super Tobiam: Hyrundo propter levem volatum, superbiam\ cordis levitatemque figurat, cuius immundicia confestim excecat,\ nec eum videre permittit qualis fuerit. Quod autem per irundinem\ contricio cordis intellegi debeat propheta dicens demonstrat: Sicut\ pullus yrundinis inquit sic clamabo. Intelligimus igitur per yrun\ dinem quemlibet discretum doctorem, per yrundinis pullum\ clamantem discipulum, per clamorem, mentis contricionem.\ Clamat pullus yrundinis, dum querit a magistro verbum predi\ cationis. Clamat pullus yrundinis, dum per confessionem ma\ gistro manifestat affectum contriti cordis. Si nosci clamorem\Translation
remarkably, the swallow creates a regularly-proportioned home for itself without any assistance, like a skilled craftsman. For it gathers bits of straw in its mouth and smears them with mud so that they stick together; but because it cannot carry the mud in its claws, it dips the tips of its wings in water, so that dust sticks to them easily and turns into slime, with which to gather to itself bits of straw or tiny twigs, a few at a time, and makes them stick. It makes the whole fabric of the nest in this fashion, in order that its young can live safely as if on a solid floor in houses on the ground, lest any of them insert a foot between the small gaps in the woven fabric or the cold should get to the very young. This conscientiousness is fairly common among most birds, yet what is distinctive about the swallow is its special loving care, shrewd intelligence and the extraordinary quality of its understanding. Then there is its skill in the arts of healing: if its young are infected by blindness or pricked in the eye, it has some kind of healing power with which it can restore their vision. The swallow, as this example proves, can be taken to represent, in some cases, pride of mind; in others, the repentance of the afflicted heart. That the swallow signifies pride is illustrated by Tobit: When he lay down beside a wall, says Tobit, and fell asleep, it happened that warm excrement fell on his eyes from a swallows' nest as he slept and he became blind (see Tobit, 2:10). Bede Commentarys on this: 'The swallow, on account of its lightness in flight, represents pride and levity of heart; their impurity causes immediate blindness, and prevents one from seeing what he is. That we should interpret the swallow as the contrite heart is demonstrated by the prophet, who says: 'Like a crane or a swallow, so will I chatter' (see Isaiah, 38:14). We understand by the swallow, therefore, a discerning teacher; by the swallow's young, the teacher's disciple, crying out; by the cry, a contrite heart. The fledgling cries out as the disciple asks his teacher to preach to him. The fledgling cries out as, by confession, the disciple shows his teacher the contrition in his heart. If you know the cry
