Folio 51v - the bat, continued. [De gragulo]; Of the jay
which you would not usually find in birds. It gives birth like a quadruped, not to eggs but to live young.
It flies, but not on wings; it supports itself by making a rowing motion with its skin, and, suspended just as on wings, it darts around.
There is one thing which these mean creatures do, however: they cling to each other and hang together from one place looking like a cluster of grapes, and if the last lets go, the whole group disintegrate; it a kind of act of love of a sort which is difficult to find among men.
[Of the jay]
Rabanus says of the jay: 'The jay gets is name from its talkativeness, garrulitas; not, as some would have it, because jays fly in flocks, gregatim; clearly, they are named for the cry they give.
It is a most talkative species of bird and makes an irritating noise, and can signify either the empty prattle of philosophers or the harmful wordiness of heretics.'
More can be said of the nature of the jay. For jays signify both gossips and gluttons. For those who devote themselves to gluttony take pleasure, after eating, in repeating gossip and in lending an ear to slander.
The jay lives in the woods and flies chattering from one tree to another, as a talkative man ceaselessly tells others about his neighbours, even the shameful things he knows about them.
When the jay sees someone pass, it chatters, and if it finds anyone hiding from the world, it does the same, just as a talkative man slanders not only worldly men but also those
- Commentary
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Commentary
Text
The bat. The jay, a talkative bird.
Illustration
Portrait of the bat.
Comment
Compared with many other bestiary illustrations, this is a fairly accurate ventral view of a bat whose wings are shown as a membrane stretching from its three fingers down to its toes and tail. Its furry face has the typically uncanny human look. The artist has realised that the flight membrane joins the fingers, legs and tail even though there should be five fingers with four supporting the wing. It is classified as a bird because of its wings rather than as a mammal because of its fur. The bat has been pricked for pouncing. The illustration of the jackdaw has been excised.
- Transcription and Translation
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Transcription
quos in avibus repperire non soleas. Parit ut quadrupedia, non\ ova sed pullos viventes. Voli\ tat autem non aliquo volatu\ pennarum sed menbrane sue fulta remigio quo suspensa ve\ lut pennarum volatu cir\cumfertur atque vegetatur. Habet\ et illud hoc vile animal quod\ sibi invicem adherent et quasi specie botrionis ex aliquo loco pendent, ac si se ultima queque laxa\ verit, omnes resolvuntur, quod fit quodam munere caritatis que dif\ [A, ficile in hominibus huiusmodi reperitur. \ De gragulo \ Rabanus de gragulo: Gragulus a garrulitate nuncupatur, ut non quidam volunt, pro eo quod gregatim volent, cum sit manifestum, ex voce eos nuncupari. Est enim loquacissimum genus et vocibus inportunum, quod vel philoso-]phorum vanam loquacitatem, vel hereticorum verbositatem noxiam\ significare potest. Potest adhuc et aliud dici de natura graguli. Gra\ guli enim garrulos designant et gulosos. Qui enim gulo\ sitati student, post cibum libenter rumores referunt, et aures\ detractioni prebent. Gragulus in silvis degit, de una arbore\ in aliam garriendo transit, quia garrulus homo de his cum\ quibus habitat, etiam turpia que de eis noverit aliis narra\ re non cessat. Gragulus cum aliquem transire conspicit\ garrit, et cum aliquos occultos repperit similiter agit, quia\ garrulos homo non tamen detrahit secularibus, sed et eis quos religio\Translation
which you would not usually find in birds. It gives birth like a quadruped, not to eggs but to live young. It flies, but not on wings; it supports itself by making a rowing motion with its skin, and, suspended just as on wings, it darts around. There is one thing which these mean creatures do, however: they cling to each other and hang together from one place looking like a cluster of grapes, and if the last lets go, the whole group disintegrate; it a kind of act of love of a sort which is difficult to find among men. [Of the jay] Rabanus says of the jay: 'The jay gets is name from its talkativeness, garrulitas; not, as some would have it, because jays fly in flocks, gregatim; clearly, they are named for the cry they give. It is a most talkative species of bird and makes an irritating noise, and can signify either the empty prattle of philosophers or the harmful wordiness of heretics.' More can be said of the nature of the jay. For jays signify both gossips and gluttons. For those who devote themselves to gluttony take pleasure, after eating, in repeating gossip and in lending an ear to slander. The jay lives in the woods and flies chattering from one tree to another, as a talkative man ceaselessly tells others about his neighbours, even the shameful things he knows about them. When the jay sees someone pass, it chatters, and if it finds anyone hiding from the world, it does the same, just as a talkative man slanders not only worldly men but also those
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