Notebooks
Page 26
The legend of the wine and Mohammed
Leonardo describes the pride of the wine and its effect on drunkards, and he approves of its prohibition as enforced by Mohammed.
Wine, the divine juice of the grape, finding itself in a golden and richly wrought cup on Mohammed’s table, was puffed up with pride at so much honour; when suddenly it was struck by a contrary mood saying to itself: ‘What am I about, that I rejoice, not perceiving that I am now nearing my death and that I shall leave my golden abode in this cup in order to enter into the foul and fetid caverns of the human body and be transmuted from a fragrant and delicious liquor into foul and base fluid. And as though so much evil were not enough, I shall for a long time have to lie in hideous receptacles, together with other fetid and corrupt matter cast out from human intestines.’ And it cried to heaven imploring vengeance for so much damage, and that an end be henceforth put to so much insult, and that since this country produced the finest and best grapes in the whole world these at least should not be made into wine. Then Jove caused the wine drunk by Mohammed to rise in spirit to his brain; contaminating it and making him mad, and giving birth to so many follies that when he had recovered, he made a law that no Asiatic should drink wine; and henceforth the vine was left free with its fruit.
As soon as wine enters the stomach it begins to ferment and swell; then the spirit of that man begins to abandon his body, rising towards heaven and the brain finds itself parting from the body. Then it begins to degrade him, and makes him rave like a madman, and then he commits irreparable errors, killing his friends.
The ant and the grain of millet
Long discussions are superfluous when reason dictates the course of action.
The ant found a grain of millet. The seed, feeling itself caught, cried out: ‘If you do me the kindness to allow me to accomplish my function of reproduction, I will give you a hundred such as I am.’ And so it was.
The spider and the bunch of grapes
The unscrupulous self-seeker who abuses the hospitality of others ends by being punished.
A spider found a bunch of grapes which for its sweetness was much resorted to by bees and divers kinds of flies. It seemed that it had found a most convenient spot to spread its net and having settled on its delicate web it entered into its new habitation. Every day, hiding in the spaces between the grapes, it fell like a thief on the wretched animals which were unaware of the danger. But after a few days had passed the vintager came, and cut the bunch of grapes and placed it with others that were trodden, and thus the grapes were a snare and pitfall both for the deceitful spider and the deceived flies.
The nut and the campanile
The artfulness and ingratitude of those who insinuate themselves into favours for their own benefit.
A nut found itself carried by a crow to the top of a tall campanile, and by falling into a crevice was released from its deadly beak; and it besought the wall by that grace which God had bestowed upon it in allowing it to be so high and great, and so rich in having bells of such beauty and of such noble tone, that it would give help; that as it had not been able to drop beneath the green branches of its old father and lie in the fallow earth covered by his fallen leaves, the wall would not abandon it, for when it found itself in the beak of the cruel crow it had vowed that if it escaped thence it would end its life in a little hole. At these words the wall, moved with compassion, was content to shelter it in the spot where it had fallen; and within a short time the nut began to burst open and to put its roots in between the crevices of the stones, and push them apart, and throw up shoots from its hollow; and these soon rose above the building, and as the twisted roots grew thicker they began to thrust the walls apart and force the ancient stones from their old places. Then the wall too late and in vain bewailed the cause of its destruction, and in a short time it was torn asunder and a great part of it fell in ruin.
The moth and the candle
A warning to those who forsake the true light in order to pursue transient glories.
The vain and wandering moth, not content with its power to fly through the air at its ease, and overcome by the seductive flame of the candle, decided to fly into it; but its joyous movement was the cause of instant woe; for in the flame its delicate wings were consumed. And the hapless moth dropped all burnt at the foot of the candlestick. After much lamentation and repentance it wiped the tears from its streaming eyes and raising its face exclaimed: ‘O false light! how many like me must thou have miserably deceived in times past; and if my desire was to see light ought I not to have distinguished the sun from the false glimmer of dirty tallow?’
The citron
The consequences of pride and haughtiness.
The citron, puffed up with pride of its beauty, separated itself from the trees around it and in so doing it turned towards the wind; which, not being broken in its fury, flung it uprooted to the ground.
The consequences of vanity and ignorance.
The citron, desirous of producing a fine and noble fruit high up on its topmost shoot, set to work with all the strength of its sap. But when this fruit had grown it caused the tall, straight top of the tree to bend down.
The peach, envious of the great quantity of fruit on the walnut tree nearby, determined to do likewise, and loaded itself with its own fruit to such an extent that the weight pulled it down to the ground, uprooted and broken.
The walnut tree standing by the roadside and displaying the wealth of its fruit was stoned by every man who passed.
When the fig tree was without fruit nobody would look at it; then wishing to be praised by men for its production of fruit, it was bent and broken by them.14
The fig tree standing by the side of the elm and seeing that its boughs were without fruit and that it nevertheless had the audacity to keep the sun from its own unripe figs said reprovingly: ‘O elm, are you not ashamed to stand in front of me? But wait till my offspring are ripe and you will see where you are!’ But when her fruit was ripe a troop of soldiers passing by fell upon the fig tree and tore off the figs, cutting and breaking the boughs. And as the fig tree stood thus maimed in all its limbs, the elm tree asked it: ‘O fig tree, how much better it is to be without offspring than to be brought through them into so miserable a plight.’15
The lily on the banks of a torrent
Proud things of beauty may find the soil on which they have established a foothold slipping away beneath them.
The lily set itself by the shores of the Ticino and the current carried away the river bank and the lily with it.16
The vine and the willow
One’s fate is determined by the fate of one’s companions and associates.
The vine that has grown old on an old tree falls with the collapse of the tree and perishes through its bad companionship.
The willow which as it grows hopes to outstrip every other plant by its long shoots, is crippled every year because of its association with the vine.17
The stone by the roadside
Love for solitude and country life.
A stone of good size recently uncovered by the waters lay on a certain spot perched on the edge of a delightful grove, above a stony road, surrounded by plants and various flowers of divers colours, and looked upon the great quantities of stones which had collected together in the roadway below. And it began to wish to let itself down there, saying within itself: ‘What am I doing here with these plants? I want to live in the company of those my sisters.’ And letting itself fall it ended its rapid descent among those desired companions. When it had been there some time it found itself in continual distress from the wheels of the carts, the iron hoofs of horses, and the feet of the passers-by. One rolled it over, another trod upon it; sometimes it raised itself up a little as it lay covered with mud or the dung of some animal, but it was in vain that it looked up at the spot whence it had come as a place of solitude and tranquil peace.
So it happens to those who leaving a life of solitary contemplation choose to come to dwell
in cities among people full of infinite evil.
The razor
The rusty blade is compared to the lazy mind.
One day the razor emerging from the handle which served it as a sheath and placing itself in the sun, saw the sun reflected in its body, at which thing it took great pride, and turning it over in its thoughts it began to say to itself: ‘And shall I return again to that shop from which I have just come? Certainly not! It cannot be the pleasure of the gods that such splendid beauty be turned to such base uses! What folly it would be that should lead me to shave the lathered beards of rustic peasants and perform such menial service? Is this body destined for such work? Certainly not! I will hide myself in some retired spot and there pass my life in tranquil repose.’ And so having hidden itself for some months, returning one day into the open and coming out of its sheath, it saw that it had acquired the appearance of a rusty saw and that its surface no longer reflected the resplendent sun. With useless repentance it deplored in vain the irreparable mischief, saying to itself: ‘Oh, how much better was it to use at the barber that lost edge of mine of such exquisite keenness! Where is that lustrous surface? In truth this vexatious and unsightly rust has consumed it!’
The same thing happens with minds which instead of exercise give themselves up to sloth; these like the razor lose the keenness of their edge, and the rust of ignorance spoils their form.18
As the colourful butterfly was idly wandering and flitting about through the dark a light came within sight, and thither it immediately directed its course, and flew round about it in varying circles marvelling greatly at such radiant beauty. And not content merely to behold, it began to treat it as was its custom with fragrant flowers, and directing its flight approached with bold resolve to close the light, which thereupon consumed the tips of its wings and legs and other extremities; then dropping to the foot of it, it began to wonder how this accident had been brought about; for it could not so much as entertain a thought that any evil or hurt could possibly come to it from a thing so beautiful; and then having in part regained the strength which it had lost, it took another flight and passed right through the body of the flame, and in an instant fell down burned into the oil which fed the flame, preserving only so much life as sufficed it to reflect upon the cause of its destruction, saying: ‘O accursed light: I thought that in you I had found my happiness! Vainly do I lament my mad desire, and by my ruin I have come to know your rapacious and destructive nature.’
To which the light replied: ‘Thus do I treat whoever does not know how to use me aright.’
This applies to those who, when they see before them carnal and worldly delights, hasten to them like the butterfly, without ever taking thought as to their nature, which they will learn to know to their shame and loss.
The flint, on being struck by the stick, marvelled greatly and said to it in a stern voice: ‘What arrogance prompts you to annoy me? Trouble me not, for you have chosen me by mistake; I have never done harm to anyone.’ Whereto the stick answered: ‘If you will be patient you will see what a marvellous result will issue forth from you.’ At these words the flint was pacified and patiently endured its martyrdom; and it saw itself giving birth to the marvellous Element of Fire which by its potency became a factor in innumerable things.
This applies to those who are dismayed at the beginning of their studies and then set out to gain mastery over themselves and to devote themselves in patience to those studies with marvellous results.19
III. PROPHECIES
The sayings entitled Profetie do not deal with future events. In answer to enigmatic pronouncements well-known facts and proceedings of everyday life are cited; and these interpretations are imbued with a dramatic quality.
The first text contains a plan for their grouping and the subsequent transcriptions are arranged as much as possible in the sequence described.
The divisions of the prophecies
First of the things which relate to the reasoning animals, second of those which have not the power of reason, third of plants, fourth of ceremonies, fifth of customs, sixth of propositions, decrees or disputes, seventh of propositions contrary to nature—as to speak of a substance which the more is taken from it the more it grows, eighth of philosophical things. And reserve the weighty cases until the end and begin with those of less import. And first show the evils and then the punishments.20
Many there will be who will flay their own mother and fold back her skin;—the tillers of the ground.21
Men will deal bitter blows to that which is the cause of their life: they will thrash the grain.22
Of sawyers
There will be many who will move one against another, holding in their hands a cutting iron. These will not do each other any injury beyond that caused by fatigue; for as one pushes forward the other draws back. But woe to him who comes between them, for in the end he will be left cut in pieces.
Of a man’s shadow which moves with him
Shapes and figures of men and animals will be seen pursuing these men and animals wherever they flee. And exactly as one moves the other moves; but what seems so wonderful is the variety of height they assume.
Of our shadow cast by the sun and our reflection in the water at one and the same time.
Many a time will one man be seen as three and all three move together, and often the one that is most real abandons him.23
Oxen will be to a great extent the cause of the destruction of cities, and in the same way horses and buffaloes.
By drawing guns.24
Of asses which are beaten
O indifferent Nature, wherefore art thou so partial, being to some of thy children a tender and benignant mother, and to others a most cruel and pitiless stepmother? I see thy children given into slavery to others, without any sort of advantage, and instead of remuneration for the services they have done, they are repaid by the severest suffering, and they spend their whole life in benefiting their oppressor.
Of bees
And many will be robbed of their stores and their food, and will be cruelly submerged and drowned by folks devoid of reason. O justice of God! Why dost thou not awake to behold thy creatures thus abused?
Of sheep, cows, goats, and the like
From countless numbers will be taken away their little children and the throats of these shall be cut, and they shall be quartered most barbarously.
Of food which has been alive
A large part of the bodies which have had life will pass into the bodies of other animals, that is the houses no longer inhabited will pass piecemeal through those which are inhabited, ministering to their needs and bearing away with them what is waste; that is to say, the life of man is made by things which he eats, and these carry with them that part of man which is dead.20
The rat was being besieged in its little dwelling by the weasel which with continual vigilance was awaiting its destruction, and through a tiny chink was considering its great danger. Meanwhile the cat came and suddenly seized hold of the weasel and forthwith devoured it. Whereupon the rat, profoundly grateful to its deity, having offered up some of its hazelnuts in sacrifice to Jove, came out of its hole in order to repossess itself of the lately lost liberty, and was instantly deprived of this and of life itself by the cruel claws and teeth of the cat.14
The thrushes rejoiced greatly at seeing a man take the owl and deprive her of liberty, tying her feet with strong bonds. But this owl was afterwards by means of bird-lime the cause of the thrushes losing not only their liberty but their life. This is said for those countries which rejoice at seeing their governors lose their liberty, in consequence of which they themselves lose all succour and remain in bondage in the power of their enemy, losing their liberty and often life.25
Of ants
These will form many communities, which will hide themselves and their young ones and victuals in dark caverns, and they will feed themselves and their families in dark places for many months without any light, either artificial or natural.20
Of the water which flows in a turbid stream mingled with Earth and Mist; and of mist mingling with Air, and of the Fire which is mingled by its heat with each.
All the Elements shall be seen mixed together surging in huge tolling mass, now borne towards the centre of the world, now towards the sky, at one time coursing in fury from the southern regions towards the icy north, at another time from the east to the west, and then again from this hemisphere to the other.23
The greatest mountains, even though they are remote from the seashores, will drive the sea from its place:
That is by the rivers which carry down the soil they wash away from the mountains and deposit it upon the seashores; and where the earth comes the sea retires.24
Of men who sleep upon planks made from trees
Men will sleep and eat and make their dwelling among trees grown in the forests and the fields.
Of nuts and olives and acorns and chestnuts and the like
Many children shall be torn with pitiless beatings from the very arms of their mothers, and flung upon the ground and then maimed.20
The olives which fall from the olive trees give us the oil from
which we make light
And things will descend with fury from above, and will give us nourishment and light.23
Of sailing ships
The trees of the great forests of Taurus, and of Sinai and of the Apennines and of Atlas shall be seen speeding by means of the air from east to west and from north to south; and transporting by means of the air great multitudes of men. Oh, how many vows! Oh, how many deaths! Oh, how many partings between friends and relations! How many will there be who shall nevermore see their own country or their own native lands! and who shall die unburied and their bones scattered in divers parts of the world.26