Folio 76r - Of fish, continued.
satisfy its inner longing for some fresh air. Then the crab, stealthily inserting a pebble, stops the oyster from closing its shell and, finding what was shut now open, it inserts its claws in safety and feeds on the flesh inside.
In the same way, therefore, there are evil men who, in the manner of the crab, deceive others by stealth, and bolster their own incapacity by a degree of cunning; they enmesh their brothers in deceit and feed off another's troubles. Be content with what is yours, and do not grow fat on the misfortunes of others. The right food is the sincerity of innocence.
The man who has his own sense of worthiness cannot waylay others; he does not burn with the flames of avarice; profit he regards as loss of virtue and an incentive to greed. Therefore, blessed is poverty if it teaches a man to know truly the worth of his possessions; it is preferable to any treasure, for 'Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better a dinner of herbs where there is love, than a dinner of fatted calf where there is hatred' (see Proverbs, 15:16-17).
Let us use our intelligence, therefore, to seek grace and attain salvation, not to deceive another in his innocence; and let us use the examples of sea-creatures to the advancement of our salvation, not to endanger others.
The urchin is small, worthless and contemptible - I am talking about the maritime kind - and is customarily taken by seafarers as a sign of a storm ahead or as a herald of calm weather. When it senses that a stormy blast is on the way, it seizes a good-sized pebble and carries it as a kind of ballast, and drags it like an anchor lest it is thrown up by the swell. Thus it saves itself not by its own strength but by using weight from another source to steer a stable course.
Sailors seize on this behaviour as a sign of bad weather to come and take precautions lest an unexpected hurricane should catch them unprepared.
What mathematician, what astrologer, what Chaldean can make sense in this way of the course of the stars, or of the motions and signs of the heavens. By what instinct has the urchin acquired this skill?
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The sea urchin.
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
aere visceris sui voluptatem quandam capiat, et tunc clan\culo calculum immittens impedit conclusionem ostrei, ac\ sic aperta claustra reperiens tuto inserit chelas, visceraque interna\ depascitur. Sic igitur homines viciosi sunt qui cancri usu in\ aliene usum circumscriptionis irrepunt, et infirmitatem\ proprie virtutis, astu quodam suffulciunt, fratri dolum\ nectunt, et alterius pascuntur erumpna. Tu autem propriis\ esto contentus, et aliena te dampna non pascant. Bonus\ cibus est simplicitas innocentie. Sua bona habens insidiari\ nescit alienis, nec avaricie facibus inardescit, cui lucrum\ omne ad virtutem dispendium est, ad cupiditatem incen\dium. Et ideo beata est si bona sua noverit cum veritate pau\pertas, et omnibus preferenda thesauris, quia melius est exigu\um cum dei timore, quam thesauri magni sine timore. Melior\ est enim hospitalitas in oleribus cum gratia, quam vitulorum\ pinguium preparatio cum discordia. Utamur ergo ingenio ad\ querendam gratiam et salutem tuendam, non ad alienam\ circumscribendam innocentiam, licet nobis uti exemplis\ maritimis ad profectum nostre salutis non ad aliene periculum.\ Echinus animal exiguum, vile ac despectabile maritimum\ loquor, plerumque index future tempestatis aut tranquillita\tis aut nuncius solet esse navigantibus. Denique cum procellam\ ventorum presenserit, calculum validum arripit, eumque\ velut saburram vehit, et tanquam anchoram trahit ne excu\ciatur fluctibus. Itaque non suis se liberat viribus sed alieno sta\bilit et regit pondere. Quo indicio naute velud signum fu\ture perturbationibus capessunt et sibi precavent ne eos impa\ratos turbo improvisus inveniat. Qui mathematicus qui astro\logus qui ve Caldeus potest siderum cursus, sic et celi mo\tus et signa comprehendere? Quo ingenio ista colligit,\Translation
satisfy its inner longing for some fresh air. Then the crab, stealthily inserting a pebble, stops the oyster from closing its shell and, finding what was shut now open, it inserts its claws in safety and feeds on the flesh inside. In the same way, therefore, there are evil men who, in the manner of the crab, deceive others by stealth, and bolster their own incapacity by a degree of cunning; they enmesh their brothers in deceit and feed off another's troubles. Be content with what is yours, and do not grow fat on the misfortunes of others. The right food is the sincerity of innocence. The man who has his own sense of worthiness cannot waylay others; he does not burn with the flames of avarice; profit he regards as loss of virtue and an incentive to greed. Therefore, blessed is poverty if it teaches a man to know truly the worth of his possessions; it is preferable to any treasure, for 'Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better a dinner of herbs where there is love, than a dinner of fatted calf where there is hatred' (see Proverbs, 15:16-17). Let us use our intelligence, therefore, to seek grace and attain salvation, not to deceive another in his innocence; and let us use the examples of sea-creatures to the advancement of our salvation, not to endanger others. The urchin is small, worthless and contemptible - I am talking about the maritime kind - and is customarily taken by seafarers as a sign of a storm ahead or as a herald of calm weather. When it senses that a stormy blast is on the way, it seizes a good-sized pebble and carries it as a kind of ballast, and drags it like an anchor lest it is thrown up by the swell. Thus it saves itself not by its own strength but by using weight from another source to steer a stable course. Sailors seize on this behaviour as a sign of bad weather to come and take precautions lest an unexpected hurricane should catch them unprepared. What mathematician, what astrologer, what Chaldean can make sense in this way of the course of the stars, or of the motions and signs of the heavens. By what instinct has the urchin acquired this skill?
