31 results
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Folio 66r
The dragon, continued. De basilisco; Of the basilisk
COMMENTARYThe word 'devil' is omitted from several 2nd-family manuscripts, but it is found in Isidore, the source (Clark, 1992, 195, n
TRANSLATIONThe Devil is like the dragon; he is the most monstrous serpent of all; he is often aroused from his cave and causes the air to shine because, emerging from the depths, he transforms himself into the angel of light and deceives the foolish with hopes of vainglory and worldly pleasure[...] The dragon is said to be crested, as the Devil wears the crown of the king of pride[...] The dragon's strength lies not in its teeth but its tail, as the Devil, deprived of his strength, deceives with lies those whom he draws to him[...] The dragon lurks around paths along which elephants pass, as the Devil entangles with the knots of sin the way of those bound for heaven and, like the dragon, kills them by suffocation; because anyone who dies fettered in the chains of his offences is condemned without doubt to hell
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Folio 29v
[PL, De aquilone et austro ventis]; [Of the north wind and the south wind]
COMMENTARYHowever it is placed next to a text referring the the devil uplifted on wings of pride
TRANSLATIONIt rests on flowing waters, so that by sighting the hawk's shadow it can avoid more swiftly the hawk's approach, as one studies the scriptures to avoid the plotting of the Devil, who comes without warning[...] The Devil fell because he sought to exalt himself; man is humbled when he desires to rise in the world
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Folio 37v
De pica; the magpie.
COMMENTARYThe scribe omitted the essential word 'devil' from the first sentence, added by the editor in the margin
TRANSLATIONIn his book of Etymologies, Isidore says that the raven picks out the eyes in corpses first, as the Devil destroys the capacity for judgement in carnal men, and proceeds to extract the brain through the eye[...] The raven extracts the brain through the eye, as the Devil, when it has destroyed our capacity for judgement, destroys our mental faculties
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Folio 17r
Wolf, continued
TRANSLATIONThe Devil has the nature of a wolf; he always looks with an evil eye upon mankind and continually circles the sheepfold of the faithful of the Church, to ruin and destroy their souls[...] The fact that the she-wolf gives birth when the thunder first sounds in the month of May signifies the Devil, who fell from heaven at the first display of his pride[...] The fact that its strength lies in its forequarters and not in its hindquarters also signfies the Devil, who was formerly the angel of light in heaven, but has now been made an apostate below[...] The wolf's eyes shine in the night like lamps because the works of the Devil seem beautiful and wholesome to blind and foolish men[...] When the she-wolf bears her young, she will only catch food for them far away from her lair, because the Devil cherishes with wordly goods those he is sure will suffer punishment with him in the confines of hell[...] But he constantly pursues those who distance themselves from him by good works; as we read of the blessed Job, whose name, substance, sons and daughters the devil carried off to make him desert the Lord in his heart[...] The fact that the wolf cannot turn his neck without turning the whole of his body signifies that the Devil
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Folio 11r
Elephant, continued. De castore; the beaver. De animale qoud dicitur ibex; the ibex
TRANSLATIONThus every man who heeds God's commandment and wishes to live chastely should cut off all his vices and shameless acts, and cast them from him into the face of the devil[...] Then the devil, seeing that the man has nothing belonging to him, retires in disorder[...] That man, however, lives in God and is not taken by the devil, who says: 'I will pursue, I will overtake them
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Folio 33v
The palm tree, continued.De cedro; Of cedars
TRANSLATIONThe world, the flesh and the Devil[...] He conquers the Devil and forces him to submit when he banishes him from his life[...] It stands at the northern limit of Judaea, to prevent the Devil from entering by means of temptation the minds of those who are sincerely praising the Lord
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Folio 57v
The caladrius, continued. De coturnice ; Of the quail
TRANSLATIONThe hawk, lying in wait, is the Devil, who tempts us by suggestion[...] Seeing the quail-mother approaching land, therefore, the hawk seizes it, as the Devil drags off with him those who seek earthly things[...] Let the churchman, therefore, who heads his flock, take careful heed of his purpose in seeking earthly things, whether he acquires them for his own use or seeks them to meet the need of his brothers, lest the hawk, that is, the Devil, should seize him, if he has neglected the things of the spirit and has not ceased to long for the things of this earth
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Folio 12v
Simie vocantur...; apes.
TRANSLATIONThe Devil has the form of an ape, with a head but no tail[...] The Devil began as an angel in heaven
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Folio 16r
Leucrota, continued. De vulpe; the fox.
TRANSLATIONThe Devil is of a similar nature[...] Those who wish to do the Devil's work will die, as the apostle says: 'For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live
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Folio 19v
Dogs, continued
TRANSLATIONIn some ways preachers are like dogs: by their admonitions and righteous ways they are always driving off the ambushes laid by the Devil, lest he seize and carry off God's treasure - Christian souls[...] Indeed, there is no quicker way for the Devil, his enemy, to take possession of man than through his greedy gullet
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Folio 30r
The wind, continued. Item de accipitre; Of the hawk. Beatus Gregorius de acciptre quomodo plumescat; The blessed Gregory on the hawk and how it moults
TRANSLATIONThe Devil from the north; God from the south[...] The Devil lives in the darkness of ignorance; God delights in the tranquility born of love of one's fellow-man
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Folio 53v
The goose, continued. [De ardea] ; Of the heron
TRANSLATIONthe discerning brother sees evidence of negligence, his warning voice serves to repel the old enemy, the Devil[...] Rabanus says on this subject: 'This bird can signify the souls of the elect, who fear the disorder of this world, lest they be caught up by chance in the storms of persecution stirred up by the Devil, and raise their minds, reaching above all worldly things to the tranquility of their home in heaven, where the countenance of God is forever to be seen
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Folio 73r
[De balena]; Of the whale. De belua que dicitur serra; Of the monster called the flying-fish. De delfinibus; Of dolphins.
TRANSLATION[Of the whale] [They suffer in the same way, those who are unbelievers and know nothing of the Devil's cunning, who place their hope in him,] bind themselves to do his work, together they will be plunged with him into the fires of Gehenna[...] They suffer in the same way, those who are of limited faith, who succumb to the food of desires and enticements, they are suddenly devoured by the Devil as if they had been overwhelmed by certain scents Again of the whale Whales are beasts of huge size, so called because of their habit of drawing in and spouting out water; for they make waves higher than other sea creatures; the Greek word balenim [balein] means 'to emit'
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Folio 7v
Lion, continued
TRANSLATIONNot knowing of his divine nature, the Devil, the enemy of mankind, dared to tempt him like an ordinary man
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Folio 9r
Pard, continued. De pantera; the panther
TRANSLATIONThus our Lord Jesus Christ, the true panther, descending from Heaven, snatched us from the power of the devil
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Folio 10v
Elephant, continued
TRANSLATION' [SOURCE] Where the Lord is present, the devil cannot draw near
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Folio 14v
De caprea; the wild goat
TRANSLATIONFor as dittany drives out iron from a wound and heals it, so Christ through confession casts out the devil and pardons sin
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Folio 13v
Deer, continued
TRANSLATIONAnd if they find a place of sin, they leap over it at once, and after the incarnation of the Devil, that is, after committing a sin, they run, by their confession, to Christ, the true spring; drinking in his commandments, they are renewed, shedding their sin like old age
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Folio 37r
The magpie, continued. De corvo; the raven
TRANSLATIONIn the Scriptures, the raven is perceived in a variety of ways; it is sometimes taken to mean a preacher, sometimes a sinner, sometimes the Devil
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Folio 45r
The vulture, continued.
TRANSLATIONThe vulture follows the army to fill itself with corpses, as the sinner follows the evil men of the Devil's army, modelling himself on their ways
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Folio 65r
The perindens tree, continued.
TRANSLATIONthat, after you have received the Holy Spirit, that is the spiritual, apprehensible dove, descending and remaining upon you, you are not caught outside eternity, set apart from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; and that the dragon, that is, the Devil, does not kill you
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Folio 17v
Wolf, continued
TRANSLATIONFor 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'
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Folio 65v
De serpentibus; Of snakes. De draconibus; Of the dragon.
TRANSLATIONBe as careful as you can that you are not caught outside the doors of that house, that the dragon, the serpent of old, does not seize you and devour you, as Judas was at once devoured by the devil and perished, as soon as he had gone forth from the Lord and his brother apostles
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Folio 29r
De oculis columbe; Of the eyes of the dove. De colore reliqui corporis; Of the colour of the rest of the dove's body. De diversis proprietatibus columbe; Of the different characteristics of the dove.
TRANSLATIONThe Church protects itself with the scriptures, in order to escape the deceits of the Devil who plots against it
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Folio 43v
The ostrich, continued.
TRANSLATIONThe ostrich also forgets that the beast of the field will destroy its eggs, just as the hypocrite does not care at all if the Devil, raging in this world, snatches the young who are the product of edifying association
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Folio 44r
The ostrich, continued. De vulturibus; Of vultures
TRANSLATIONThe foot crushes the eggs and the beast of the field tramples on them when they are left in the earth as, clearly, the hearts of men, when they devote themselves constantly to thoughts of earthly things and the basest deeds, fling themselves down to be crushed by the hooves of the beast of the field, that is, the Devil, so that, when they have long been degraded by base thoughts, they may at some time be destroyed by committing serious crimes
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Folio 54r
[De perdice]; Of the partridge
TRANSLATIONThe Devil imitates their example, trying to rob the eternal Creator of those he has created; if he succeeds somehow in bringing together men who are foolish and lack any sense of their own inner strength, he cossets them with seductive pleasures of the flesh
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Folio 60r
The peacock, continued.
TRANSLATIONThe shields of gold are those who live chastely and defend others from the attacks of the Devil
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Folio 71v
The nature of snakes, continued.
TRANSLATIONof the darkness of this world, then the serpent, that is, the Devil, cannot attack you
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Folio 95r
The adamas stone, continued.
TRANSLATIONOur Lord came therefore and, taking up the light which the devil had extinguished, that is, the soul and the body, he lit it with the splendour of his glory, giving it new life and taking it back with him
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Folio 95v
The adamas stone, continued.
TRANSLATIONNor is this stone affected by fire, meaning the devil who with his blazing darts burns the whole earth, its cities and its wanton, drunken and raging inhabitants; of these Isaiah says: 'Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire' (Isaiah, 1:7)