Innocent III: DE MISERIA CONDICIONIS HUMANE

Incipit Liber de Miseria Condicionis Humane Editus a Lothario, Diacono-Cardinali Sanctorum Sergii et Bachii, Qui Postea Innocencius Papa Tercius Appelatus Est.

Here begins the Book on the Misery of the Human Condition, issued by Lothar, Deacon-Cardinal
of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, who afterward was called Pope Innocent 3.

PREFACIO

PREFACE

Domino Patri karissimo Petro, Portuensi et Sancte Ruffine Episcopo, Lotharius, indignus diaconus-cardinalis, graciam in presenti et gloriam in futuro.

To the most dear Lord Father Peter, Bishop of Porto and Saint Rufina,
Lotharius, unworthy deacon-cardinal, grace in the present and glory
in the future.

INCIPIT PROLOGUS

HERE BEGINS THE PROLOGUE

Modicum ocii, quod inter multas angustias nuper ea qua nostis occasione captavi, non ex toto michi preteriit ociosum, set ad deprimendam superbiam, que capud est omnium viciorum, vilitatem humane condicionis utcumque descripsi. Titulum autem presentis opusculi nomini vestro dedicavi, rogans et postulans ut si quid in eo vestra discrecio dignum invenerit, divine gracie totum ascribat. Si vero paternitas vestra suggesserit, dignitatem humane nature, Christo favente, describam, quatinus ita per hoc humilietur elatus, ut per illud humilis exaltetur.

A small measure of leisure, which among many straits I lately seized on the occasion that you know, did not pass me by entirely idle, but for the depressing of pride, which is the head of all vices, I have in some wise described the vileness of the human condition. The title, moreover, of the present little work I have dedicated to your name, begging and petitioning that, if your discretion finds anything worthy in it, it may ascribe it all to divine grace. But if your paternity shall suggest it, I will describe, Christ favoring, the dignity of human nature, to the end that thus by this the exalted may be humbled, so that by that the humble may be exalted.

[INCIPIT PRIMA PARS]

[HERE BEGINS THE FIRST PART]

[1] DE MISERIA HOMINIS

[1] ON THE MISERY OF MAN

"Quare de vulva matris mee egressus sum ut viderem laborem et dolorem et consumerentur in confusione dies mei?" Si talia locutus est ille de se quem Deus sanctificavit in utero, qualia loquar ego de me, quem mater mea genuit in peccato? Heu me, dixerim, mater mea, quid me genuisti, filium amaritudinis et doloris? "Quare non in vulva mortuus sum?

"Why did I come forth from my mother’s womb that I might see labor and pain, and that my days should be consumed in confusion?" If he spoke such things about himself, whom God sanctified in utero, what shall I say about myself, whom my mother bore in sin? Alas for me, I would say, my mother, why did you bear me, a son of bitterness and sorrow? "Why did I not die in the womb?

Egressus de utero, non statim perii? Cur exceptus genibus, lactatus uberibus," natus "in combustionem et cibum ignis"? Utinam interfectus fuissem in utero, "ut fuisset michi mater mea sepulchrum et vulva eius conceptus eternus." "Fuissem enim quasi qui non essem, de utero translatus ad tumulum." Quis det ergo oculis meis fontem lacrimarum, ut fleam miserabilem humane condicionis ingressum, culpabilem humane conversacionis progressum, dampnabilem humane dissolucionis egressum? Consideraverim ergo cum lacrimis de quo factus est homo, quid faciat homo, quid futurus sit homo.

Having gone forth from the womb,
did I not straightway perish? Why received upon the knees, suckled at the breasts," born "into combustion
and food for fire"? Would that I had been slain in the womb, "that my mother had been a sepulcher to me
and her womb an eternal conception." "For I would have been as one who was not, transferred from the womb
to the tomb." Who then will give to my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep the miserable ingress of the human condition, the culpable progress of human conversation (conduct), the damnable egress of human dissolution? Let me therefore consider with tears of what man was made, what man does, what man will be.

Sane formatus est homo de terra, conceptus in culpa, natus ad penam. Agit prava que non licent, turpia que non decent, vana que non expediunt. Fit cibus ignis, esca vermis, massa putredinis.

Indeed man was formed from earth, conceived in culpability,
born unto penalty. He does depraved things which are not licit, shameful things which are not decent, vain
things which are not expedient. He becomes food of fire, fare of the worm, a mass of putridity.

Exponam id planius; edissera plenius. Formatus est homo de pulvere, de luto, de cinere: quodque vilius est, de spurcissimo spermate. Conceptus in pruritu carnis, in fervore libidinis, in fetore luxurie: quodque deterius est, in labe peccati.

I will set that forth
more plainly; let me expound it more fully. Man was formed from dust, from mud, from
ash: and, what is viler, from most filthy seed. Conceived in the prurience
of the flesh, in the fervor of libido, in the stench of luxury: and, what is worse,
in the stain of sin.

Natus ad laborem, timorem, dolorem: quodque miserius est, ad mortem. Agit prava quibus offendit Deum, offendit proximum, offendit seipsum; agit vana et turpia quibus polluit famam, polluit personam, polluit conscienciam. Agit vana quibus negligit seria, negligit utilia, negligit necessaria.

Born to labor, fear, pain; and what is more miserable, to death. He does depraved things by which he offends God, he offends his neighbor, he offends himself; he does vain and shameful things by which he pollutes his fame, he pollutes his person, he pollutes his conscience. He does vain things by which he neglects serious things, he neglects useful things, he neglects necessary things.

Fiet cibus ignis qui semper ardet et urit inextinguibilis; esca vermis qui semper rodit et commedit immortalis; massa putredinis qui semper fetet et sordet horribilis.

He will become food for the fire that always burns and sears, inextinguishable;
food for the worm that always gnaws and devours, immortal; a mass of putrefaction which
always stinks and is filthy, horrible.

[2] DE VILITATE MATERIE

[2] ON THE VILENESS OF MATTER

"Formavit igitur Dominus Deus hominem de limo terre," que ceteris est indignior elementis. Planetas et stellas fecit ex igne, flatus et ventos fecit ex aere, pisces et volucres fecit ex aqua, homines et iumenta fecit de terra. Considerans igitur aquatiqua, se vilem inveniet; considerans aerea, se viliorem agnoscet; considerans ignea, se vilissimum reputabit.

"Therefore the Lord God formed man from the slime of the earth," which is more unworthy than the other elements. He made the planets and the stars from fire, the breaths and the winds he made from air, the fishes and the birds he made from water, men and beasts of burden he made from earth. Therefore, considering aqueous things, he will find himself vile; considering aerial things, he will acknowledge himself viler; considering igneous things, he will repute himself vilest.

Nec valebit se parificare celestibus nec audebit se preferre terrenis, quia parem se iumentis inveniet, similem recognoscet. "Unus est enim hominum et iumentorum interitus, et equa utriusque condicio, et nichil habet iumento homo amplius. De terra orta sunt et in terram pariter revertentur." Verba sunt ista non cuiuslibet hominis, sed sapientissimi Salomonis.

Nor will he be able to make himself equal to the celestials, nor will he dare to prefer himself to the terrestrials, because he will find himself a peer to the beasts of burden, he will recognize himself as similar. "For there is one destruction of human beings and of beasts of burden, and equal is the condition of each, and man has nothing more than the beast. From earth they have arisen and into earth alike they will return." These words are not of just any man, but of most wise Solomon.

Quid est igitur homo nisi lutum et cinis? Hinc enim dicit homo ad Deum: "Memento, queso, quod sicut lutum feceris me et in pulverem reduxisti me." Hinc et Deus inquid ad hominem: "Cinis es, et in cinerem reverteris." "Comparatus sum," ait, "luto et assimilatus sum faville et cineri." Lutum efficitur ex aqua et pulvere, utroque manente; cinis, autem, fit ex igne et ligno, utroque deficiente. Expressum misterium, set alias exprimendum.

What, then, is man if not clay and ash? Hence, indeed, man says to God: "Remember, I beseech, that like clay you have made me and to dust you have brought me back." Hence too God says to man: "You are ash, and to ash you will return." "I have been compared," he says, "to clay, and I have been assimilated to cinders and ash." Clay is made from water and dust, with both remaining; ash, however, is made from fire and wood, with both failing. The mystery has been expressed, but to be expressed elsewhere.

Quid ergo, lutum, superbis? De quo, pulvis, extolleris? Unde, cinis, gloriaris?

Why then, clay, are you proud? Over what, dust, do you exalt yourself? Whence, cinder, do you glory?

[3] DE VICIO CONCEPCIONIS

[3] ON THE VICE OF CONCEPTION

An illud forsitan respondebis quod Adam ipse fuit de limo terre formatus, tu autem ex humano semine procreatus. At ille fuit formatus de terra, set virgine; tu vero procreatus de semine, set immundo. "Quis enim potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine?" "Quid est homo ut immaculatus sit quod iustus appareat natus de muliere?" "Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, et in peccatis concepit me mater mea." Non in una tantum iniquitate, non in uno tantum delicto, set in multis iniquitatibus et in multis delictis: in delictis et iniquitatibus propriis, in delictis et iniquitatibus alienis.

Perhaps you will answer this: that Adam himself was formed from the slime of the earth,
but you were procreated from human seed. But he was formed from earth, yet virgin;
you, however, were procreated from seed, yet unclean. "For who can make clean one conceived
from unclean seed?" "What is man, that he should be immaculate, that he appear just, born of a woman?"
"Behold, for in iniquities I was conceived, and in sins my mother conceived me."
Not in one iniquity only, not in one delict only, but in many iniquities and in many delicts:
in delicts and iniquities of one’s own, in delicts and iniquities of others.

Est enim duplex concepcio, una seminum et alia naturarum. Prima in commissis, secunda fit in contractis. Parentes enim committunt in prima; proles contrahit in secunda.

For there is a twofold conception: one of seeds and another of natures. The first is in things committed; the second is effected in things contracted. For parents commit in the first; the offspring contracts in the second.

Quis enim nesciat concubitum, eciam coniugalem, nunquam omnino committi sine pruritu carnis, sine fervore libidinis, sine fetore luxurie? Unde semina concepta fedantur, maculantur, et viciantur, ex quibus anima tandem infusa contrahit labem peccati, maculam culpe, sordem iniquitatis, sicut ex vase corrupto liquor infusus corrumpitur, et, pollutum contingens, ex ipso contactu polluitur. Habet enim anima tres naturales potencias sive tres naturales vires: racionalem ut discernat inter bonum et malum, irascibilem ut respuat malum, concupiscibilem ut appetat bonum.

For who does not know that intercourse, even conjugal, is never at all committed without the itch of the flesh, without the fervor of lust, without the stench of debauchery? Whence the conceived seeds are defiled, stained, and vitiated, from which the soul, at length infused, contracts the blemish of sin, the stain of guilt, the filth of iniquity, just as from a corrupted vessel the liquid poured in is corrupted, and, touching what is polluted, by the very contact is polluted. For the soul has three natural potencies, or three natural forces: the rational, that it may discern between good and evil; the irascible, that it may reject evil; the concupiscible, that it may desire good.

Iste tres vires tribus oppositis viciis originaliter corrumpuntur: vis racionabilis per ignoranciam, ut non discernat inter bonum et malum; vis irascibilis per iracundiam, ut respuat bonum; vis concupiscibilis per concupiscenciam, ut appetat malum. Prima gignit delictum, ultima parit peccatum, media delictum generat et peccatum. Est enim delictum non facere faciendum, peccatum agere non agendum.

These three powers are originally corrupted by three opposed vices: the rational power through ignorance, so that it does not discern between good and evil; the irascible power through irascibility, so that it rejects the good; the concupiscible power through concupiscence, so that it desires the evil. The first begets a delict, the last bears a sin, the middle generates both a delict and a sin. For a delict is not doing what must be done, a sin is doing what must not be done.

Hec tria vicia contrahuntur ex carne corrupta per tres carnales illecebras. In carnali quippe commercio racionis sopitur intuitus, ut ignorancia seminetur; libidinis irritatur pruritus, ut iracundia propagetur; voluptatis saciatur affectus, ut concupiscencia contrahatur. Hic est tyrannus carnis, lex menbrorum, fomes peccati, languor nature, pabulum mortis, sine quo nemo nascitur, sine quo nullus moritur.

These three vices are contracted from corrupted flesh through three carnal enticements.
In carnal commerce, indeed, the intuition of reason is lulled, so that ignorance is sown; the itch of libido is irritated, so that irascibility is propagated; the affection of pleasure is satiated, so that concupiscence is contracted. Here is the tyrant of the flesh,
the law of the members, the tinder of sin, the languor of nature, the pabulum of death, without which
no one is born, without which no one dies.

Quid si quando transit reatu, semper tamen remanet actu. "Si enim dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est." O gravis necessitas et infelix condicio: antequam peccemus, peccato constringimur; et antequam delinquamus, delicto tenemur. "Per unum hominem peccatum in hunc mundum intravit, et per peccatum in omnes homines mors pertransit." Annon "patres commederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupescunt"?

What if, even when it sometimes passes as to guilt, yet it always remains in act. "For if we shall say that we do not have
sin, we ourselves deceive, and the truth is not in us." O heavy necessity and unlucky condition: before we sin, we are constrained by sin; and before we commit a delict, we are held by a delict. "Through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death passed unto all men." Have not "the fathers eaten the sour grape, and the teeth of the sons are set on edge"?

[4] QUALI CIBO CONCEPTUS NUTRIATUR IN UTERO

[4] BY WHAT FOOD THE CONCEIVED IS NOURISHED IN THE WOMB

Sed attende quo cibo conceptus nutriatur in utero: profecto sanguine menstruo, qui cessat ex femina post conceptum ut eo conceptus nutriatur in femina. Qui fertur esse tam detestabilis et immundus ut "ex eius contactu fruges non germinent, arescant arbusta, moriantur herbe, amittant arbores fetus; si canes inde commederint, in rabiem efferantur." Concepti fetus vicium seminis contrahant, ita ut leprosi et elefantici ex hac corrupcione nascantur. Unde secundum legem Mosaicam mulier que menstrua patitur ruputatur immunda, et si quis ad menstruatam accesserit, iubetur interfici.

But attend to with what food the conceptus is nourished in the uterus: assuredly with menstrual blood, which ceases from the woman after conception so that by it the conceptus may be nourished in the woman. This is said to be so detestable and unclean that “from its contact the fruits do not sprout, the shrubs dry up, the herbs die, the trees lose their fruit; if dogs eat thereof, they are driven into rabies.” The conceived fetuses contract the defect of the seed, so that leprous and elephantiasis-stricken are born from this corruption. Whence, according to the Mosaic law, the woman who suffers the menses is reputed unclean, and if anyone has approached a menstruant, he is ordered to be put to death.

Ac propter immundiciam menstruorum precipitur ut mulier si masculum pareret quadraginta, si vero feminam septuaginta diebus a templi cessaret ingressu.

And on account of the uncleanness of menstruations it is prescribed that a woman, if she should bear a male, for forty, but if a female, for seventy days should cease from ingress to the temple.

[5] DE INBECILLITATE INFANTIS

[5] ON THE IMBECILITY OF THE INFANT

"Quare ergo data est misero lux et vita hiis qui sunt in amaritudine anime?" Felices illi qui moriuntur antequam oriantur, prius mortem sencientes quam vitam scientes. Quidam enim tam deformes et prodigiosi nascuntur ut non homines, set abominaciones pocius videantur; quibus forte melius fuisset provisum si nunquam prodiissent ad visum, quoniam ut monstra monstrantur et ostenduntur ostentui. Plurimique vero diminuti menbris et sensibus corrupti nascuntur, amicorum tristicia, parentum infamia, verecundia propinquorum.

"Why therefore has light been given to the miserable, and life to those who are in bitterness of soul?" Happy are those who die before they are born, sensing death earlier than knowing life. For certain ones are born so deformed and prodigious that they seem not men, but rather abominations; for whom perhaps it would have been better provided if they had never come forth to sight, since, as monsters, they are demonstrated and displayed for ostentation. And very many indeed are born diminished in limbs and corrupted in senses, the sadness of friends, the infamy of parents, the shame of kinsmen.

Quid hoc particulariter dixerim de quibusdam, cum generaliter omnes sine sciencia, sine verbo, sine virtute nascantur? Flebiles, debiles, inbecilles, parum a brutis distantes, immo minus in multis habentes: nam illa ut statim orta sunt gradiuntur; nos autem non solum erecti pedibus non incedimus, verum eciam curvati manibus non reptamus.

Why should I have said this particularly about certain ones, when generally all are born without science, without word, without virtue? Lamentable, debilitated, imbecile, little distant from brutes, nay having less in many respects: for those, as soon as they are born, walk; but we, not only do we not advance upright on our feet, but not even, bent, do we crawl upon our hands.

[6] DE DOLORE PARTUS ET EIULATU NASCENTIS

[6] ON THE PAIN OF PARTURITION AND THE WAILING OF THE NEWBORN

Omnes nascimur eiulantes ut nature miseriam exprimamus. Masculus enim recenter natus dicit "A," femina "E." "Dicentes "E" vel "A" quotquot nascuntur ab Eva." Quid est igitur "Eva"? Utrum dolentis est interiectio, doloris exprimens magnitudinem. Hinc enim ante peccatum virago, post peccatum "Eva" meruit appellari, ex quo sibi dictum audivit: "In dolore paries." Non est dolor sicut parturientis: unde Rachel pre nimio dolore partus interiit et, moriens, "vocavit nomen filii sui Bennoni, id est, filius doloris." Uxor Fhinees subitis doloribus irruentibus peperit simul ac periit, et ipso mortis articulo vocavit filium Hichaboth.

We are all born wailing, so that we may express the misery of nature. For the masculine, recently born, says "A," the feminine "E." "Saying 'E' or 'A'—as many as are born—from Eve." What then is "Eve"? Rather, it is the interjection of one in pain, expressing the magnitude of the pain. Hence indeed, before the sin, she deserved to be called "Virago"; after the sin, "Eve," from the time she heard said to her: "In pain you shall bring forth." There is no pain like that of a woman in labor: whence Rachel, on account of the too-great pain of childbirth, perished; and, dying, "she called the name of her son Bennoni, that is, son of sorrow." The wife of Fhinees, with sudden pains rushing upon her, gave birth at the very moment she perished, and at the very point of death she called her son Hichaboth.

"Mulier autem, ut naufragus, cum parit tristiciam habet; cum vero peperit masculum, iam non meminit pressure propter gaudium quia natus est homo in mundum." Concipit ergo cum inmundicia et fetore, parit cum tristicia et dolore, nutrit cum angustia et labore, custodit cum instancia et timore.

"But the woman, like a shipwrecked man,
when she gives birth has sadness; but when she has borne a male, she no longer remembers
the pressure on account of the joy, because a man has been born into the world." Therefore she conceives
with uncleanness and fetor, gives birth with sadness and pain, nourishes with anguish
and labor, guards with assiduity and fear.

[7] DE NUDITATE

[7] ON NUDITY

Nudus egreditur et nudus ingreditur; pauper accedit et pauper recedit. "Nudus," inquid, "egressus sum ex utero matris mee; nudus revertar illuc." "Nichil intulimus in hunc mundum; haut dubium quia nec auferre quid possumus." Si quis, autem, indutus egreditur, attendat quale proferat indumentum. Turpe dictu, turpius auditu, turpissimum visu: fedam pelliculam sanguine cruentatam.

Naked he goes out and naked he goes in; poor he approaches and poor he recedes. "Naked," he says, "I went out from the womb of my mother; naked I shall return there." "We have brought nothing into this world; it is not doubtful that neither can we carry anything away." But if anyone goes out clothed, let him take heed what sort of garment he brings forth. Shameful to say, more shameful to hear, most shameful to see: a foul little skin, blood bespattered.

Hec est illa macheria de qua Thamar inquit in partu: "Quare divisa est propter te maceria? Et ob hanc causam vocavit nomen eius Phares."

This is that wall about which Tamar says in childbirth: “Why
has the wall been divided on account of you? And for this cause she called his name Phares.”

[8] QUEM FRUCTUM HOMO PRODUCIT

[8] WHAT FRUIT DOES MAN PRODUCE

O vilis humane condicionis indignitas, indigna vilitatis humane condicio! Herbas et arbores investiga: ille de se producunt flores, frondes, et fructus, et tu de te lendes et pediculos et lumbricos. Ille de se fundunt oleum, vinum, et balsamum, tu de te sputum, urinam, et stercus.

O vile indignity of the human condition, the human condition unworthy of vileness! Investigate herbs and trees: they produce from themselves flowers, foliage, and fruits, and you from yourself nits and lice and worms. They pour forth from themselves oil, wine, and balsam, you from yourself spittle, urine, and dung.

Ille de se spirant suavitatem odoris, et tu de te reddis abominacionem fetoris. Qualis est arbor, talis est fructus, "non enim potest arbor mala fructus bonos facere." Quid est enim homo secundum formam nisi quedam arbor eversa? Cuius radices sunt crines, truncus est capud cum collo, stipes est pectus cum alvo, rami sunt ulne cum tibiis, frondes sunt digiti cum articulis.

They from themselves exhale
the suavity of odor, and you from yourself render an abomination of fetor. As the tree is,
such is the fruit, "for a bad tree cannot make good fruits."
For what is man according to form if not a certain upturned tree? Whose roots
are the hairs, the trunk is the head with the neck, the stock is the chest with the belly, the branches
are the ulnae with the tibiae, the leaves are the fingers with the joints.

Hoc est folium quod a vento rapitur et stipula que a sole siccatur.

This is the leaf that is rapt by the wind, and the stubble which is desiccated by the sun.

[9] DE INCOMMODIS SENECTUTIS

[9] ON THE INCOMMODITIES OF OLD AGE

In primordio condicionis humane nongentis annis et amplius homines vixisse leguntur. Set paulatim vita hominis declinante, dixit Dominus ad Noe: "Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in eternum quia caro est, eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum." Quod intelligi potest tam de termino vite quam de spacio penitendi. Ex tunc enim rarissime leguntur homines plus vixisse, set cum magis ac magis vita recideretur humana, dictum est a psalmista: "Dies annorum nostrorum in ipsis septuaginta annis íŸÏ si, autem, in potentatibus, octoginta anni; plurimum eorum labor et dolor." "Nunc autem paucitas dierum meorum finitur brevi." "Dies nostri velocius transeunt quam a texente tela succiditur." "Homo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore" et cetera.

In the beginning of the human condition men are read to have lived nine hundred years and more. But gradually, as the life of man declined, the Lord said to Noah: "My spirit will not remain in man forever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be 120 years." Which can be understood both of the terminus of life and of the space for doing penitence. From then on, indeed, men are very rarely read to have lived longer, but as human life was more and more cut back, it was said by the psalmist: "The days of our years in themselves are seventy years, and if, moreover, by reason of strengths, eighty years; the greater part of them toil and sorrow." "Now, however, the fewness of my days is finished shortly." "Our days pass more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver." "Man born of woman, living for a brief time" and so forth.

Pauci nunc ad quadraginta, paucissimi ad sexaginta annos perveniunt. Si quis, autem, ad senectutem processerit, statim cor eius affligitur et capud concutitur, languet spiritus et fetet anhelitus, facies rugatur et statura curvatur, caligant oculi et vacillant articuli, nares effluunt et crines defluunt, tremit tactus et deperit actus, dentes putrescunt et aures surdescunt. Senex facile provocatur et difficile revocatur, cito credit et tarde discredit, tenax et cupidus, tristis et querulus, velox ad loquendum et tardus ad audiendum, set non tardus ad iram; laudat antiquos et spernit modernos, vituperat presens et commendat preteritum, suspirat et anxiatur, torquetur et infirmatur.

Few
now reach to forty, and very few to sixty years. If someone,
however, has advanced to senectude, at once his heart is afflicted and his head is shaken,
the spirit languishes and the breath is fetid, the face is wrinkled and the stature is bent,
the eyes grow dark and the joints vacillate, the nostrils run and the hairs fall out,
the sense of touch trembles and the capacity to act perishes, the teeth rot and the ears grow deaf. The old man is easily provoked and with difficulty recalled, quickly believes and slowly disbelieves,
tenacious and covetous, sad and querulous, swift to speak and tardy to
hear, but not tardy to wrath; he praises the ancients and spurns the moderns,
he vituperates the present and commends the past, he sighs and is anxious, he is tormented
and is made infirm.

Audi poetam: "Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda" et cetera. Porro nec senes contra iuvenem glorientur, nec insolescant iuvenes contra senem, quia quod sumus iste fuit, erimus quandoque quod hic est.

Hear the poet: "Many incommodities surround the old man," et cetera. Furthermore, let not the old men glory against the youth, nor let the youths grow insolent against the old man, because what we are, that one has been; we shall someday be what this one is.

[10] DE LABORE MORTALIUM

[10] ON THE LABOR OF MORTALS

"Avis ergo nascitur ad volatum, et homo nascitur ad laborem." "Cuncti dies eius laboribus et erumpnis pleni sunt, nec per noctem requiescit mens eius. Et hec nonne vanitas?" Non est quicquam sine labore sub sole, non est quicquam sine defectu sub luna, non est quicquam sine vanitate sub tempore. Tempus enim est mora motus rerum mutabilium.

"Therefore a bird is born for flight, and a man is born for labor." "All his days are full of labors and hardships, nor does his mind rest through the night. And are not these vanity?" There is not anything without labor under the sun, there is not anything without defect under the moon, there is not anything without vanity under time. For time is a delay of the motion of mutable things.

"Vanitas vanitatum, dicit Ecclesiastes, et omnia vanitas." O quam varia sunt hominum studia, quam diversa sunt exercicia! Unus est tamen omnium finis et idem effectus: "labor et afflictio spiritus." "Occupacio magna creata est omnibus hominibus, et iugum grave super filios Adam a die exitus de ventre matris eorum usque in diem sepulture et matrem omnium."

"Vanity of vanities, says Ecclesiastes, and all is vanity." O how various are the studies of men, how diverse are the exercises! One end, however, is common to all and the same effect: "labor and affliction of spirit." "A great occupation has been created for all men, and a heavy yoke upon the sons of Adam from the day of departure from their mother’s womb even unto the day of sepulture in the mother of all."

[11] DE STUDIO SAPIENTUM

[11] ON THE STUDY OF THE WISE

Perscrutentur sapientes et investigent alta celi, lata terre, profunda maris. De singulis disputent, de cunctis pertractent, discant semper aut doceant. Et quid ex hac occupacione nisi laborem et dolorem et affliccionem spiritus invenient?

Let the wise scrutinize and investigate the heights of heaven, the breadths of earth, the depths
of the sea. Let them dispute about individual things, let them pertract all things, let them always learn or
teach. And what from this occupation will they find except labor and pain and affliction
of spirit?

Noverat hoc experimento qui dixerat: "Dedi cor meum ut scirem prudenciam atque doctrinam, errores et stulticiam, et agnovi quod hoc esset labor et affliccio spiritus, eo quod in multa sapiencia multa sit indignacio, et qui addit scienciam addit dolorem." Licet enim oporteat indagantem multis insudare vigiliis et invigilare sudoribus, vix tamen est quicquam tam vile, vix est tam facile, quod ad plenum intelligat, comprehendat ad liquidum, nisi forsan illud perfecte sciatur quod nichil scitur perfecte, quamquam ex hoc insolubilis redargucio consequatur. Quid ni? "Corpus quod corrumpitur aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabitacio sensum multa cogitantem." Audi quid super hoc senciat Salomon: "Cuncte res difficiles; non potest eas homo explicare sermone." "Est homo, qui diebus ac noctibus sompnum non capit oculis et nullam operum Dei potest invenire racionem, et quanto plus laboraverit ad querendum, tanto minus inveniet." "Deficiunt ergo scrutantes scrutinium, quoniam accedit homo ad cor altum, et exaltabitur Deus." "Perscrutator enim maiestatis opprimetur a gloria." Qui magis intelligit magis dubitat, et ille videtur sibi plus sapere qui plus desipit. Pars, ergo, sciencie est scire quod nescias.

He knew this by experiment who had said: "I gave my heart
to know prudence and doctrine, errors and foolishness, and I acknowledged
that this was labor and affliction of spirit, because in much wisdom
there is much indignation, and he who adds knowledge adds pain." Although indeed
the searcher ought to sweat through many vigils and to keep watch with sweats, scarcely,
however, is there anything so cheap, scarcely so easy, that he fully understands it,
comprehends it to limpid clarity, unless perhaps this alone be perfectly known: that nothing
is known perfectly, although from this an insoluble refutation follows. Why
not? "The body which is corrupted makes the soul heavy, and the earthly habitation
weighs down the mind thinking many things." Hear what Solomon thinks on this: "All
things are difficult; a man cannot explain them in speech." "There is a man who
by days and nights does not take sleep to his eyes and can find no rationale of the works of God, and the more he has labored to seek, the less
he will find." "Therefore those scrutinizing the scrutiny fail, because man approaches
to a deep heart, and God will be exalted." "For the searcher-out of majesty
will be oppressed by glory." He who understands more doubts more, and he seems
to himself to be wiser who is more foolish. Therefore, a part of science is to know that you
do not know.

Sa "Fecit autem Deus hominem rectum, et ipse se infinitis immiscuit questionibus."

So "But God made man upright, and he himself intermingled himself with infinite questions."

[12] DE VARIIS HOMINUM STUDIIS

[12] ON THE VARIOUS STUDIES OF MEN

Currunt et discurrunt mortales per sepes et semitas, ascendunt montes, transcendunt colles, transvolant rupes, pervolant Alpes, transgrediuntur foveas, in grediuntur cavernas; rimantur viscera terre, profunda maris, incerta fluminis, opaca nemoris, invia solitudinis; exponunt se ventis, ymbribus, tonitruis et fulminibus, fluctibus et procellis, ruinis et precipiciis. Metalla cudunt et conflant, lapides sculpiunt et poliunt, ligna succidunt et dolant, telas ordiuntur et texunt, vestes incidunt et consuunt, edificant domos, plantant ortos, excolunt agros, pastinant vineas, succendunt clibanos, extruunt molendina, piscantur, venantur, et aucupantur. Meditantur et cogitant, consiliantur et ordinant, querelantur et litigant, diripiunt et furantur, decipiunt et mercantur, contendunt et preliantur, et innumera talia operantur ut opes congregent, ut questus multiplicent, ut lucra sectentur, ut honores adquirant, ut dignitates extollant, ut potestates extendant.

Mortals run and run about through hedges and footpaths, they ascend mountains,
they transcend hills, they fly across crags, they fly through the Alps, they cross
pits, they enter caverns; they probe the bowels of the earth, the depths of the sea,
the uncertainties of the river, the dimnesses of the grove, the trackless places of solitude; they expose themselves to winds,
rains, thunders and lightnings, waves and tempests, collapses and precipices. They beat and smelt metals, they sculpt and polish stones, they fell
and hew timbers, they warp and weave webs, they cut and sew garments, they build
houses, they plant gardens, they cultivate fields, they hoe vineyards, they fire up kilns,
they raise mills, they fish, they hunt, and they fowl. They meditate and cogitate,
they take counsel and order, they quarrel and litigate, they plunder and steal,
they deceive and merchandise, they contend and do battle, and they perform innumerable such things
so that they may gather wealth, that they may multiply gains, that they may pursue lucre, that they may acquire honors,
that they may exalt dignities, that they may extend powers.

Et hoc quoque labor et mentis affliccio. Si michi non creditur, Salomoni credatur: "Magnificavi," inquid, "opera mea: edificavi michi domos et plantavi vineas, feci ortos et pomoria et consevi ea cuncti generis arboribus. Extruxi michi piscinas aquarum ut irrigarem silvam lignorum germinancium, possedi servos et ancillas, multamque familiam habui, armenta quoque et magnas ovium greges, ultra omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem.

And this too is labor and affliction of mind. If I am not believed, let Solomon be believed: "I have magnified," he said, "my works: I built myself houses and planted vineyards, I made gardens and orchards and sowed them with trees of every kind. I constructed for myself pools of waters so that I might irrigate a forest of germinating trees, I possessed male and female slaves, and I had a great household, herds also and great flocks of sheep, beyond all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Coacervavi michi argentum et aurum et substancias regum et provinciarum. Feci michi cantores et cantatrices et delicias filiorum hominum, cyphos et urceolos in ministerio ad vina fundenda, et supergressus sum opibus omnes qui fuerunt ante me in Ierusalem. Cumque me convertissem ad universa que fecerant manus mee et ad labores quibus frustra sudaveram, vidi in omnibus vanitatem et affliccionem animi, et nichil permanere sub sole."

I heaped up for myself silver and gold
and the substances of kings and of provinces. I made for myself male and female singers,
and the delights of the sons of men, goblets and little pitchers for the service of pouring out wines,
and I surpassed in wealth all who had been before me in Jerusalem. And when I had turned myself to all the things that my hands had made and to the labors
in which I had sweated in vain, I saw in all things vanity and an affliction of spirit,
and that nothing abides under the sun."

[13] DE DIVERSIS ANXIETATIBUS

[13] ON VARIOUS ANXIETIES

O quanta mortales angit anxietas, affligit cura, sollicitudo molestat, metus exterret, tremor concutit, horror abducit, dolor affligit, conturbat tristicia, contristat turbacio! Pauper et dives, servus et dominus, coniugatus et continens, denique bonus et malus íŸÏ omnes mundanis cruciatibus affliguntur et mundanis cruciantur affliccionibus. Experto crede magistro: "Si impius," inquit, "fuero, ve michi est, et si iustus, non levabo capud, saturatus affliccione et miseria.

O how great an anxiety constrains mortals, care afflicts, solicitude annoys, fear terrifies, tremor shakes, horror draws away, pain afflicts, sadness throws into confusion, turmoil makes sorrowful! The poor and the rich, the servant and the lord, the married and the continent, finally the good and the bad, all are afflicted by worldly torments and are tormented by worldly afflictions. Trust an experienced master: "If I am impious," he says, "woe to me; and if I am just, I will not lift my head, sated with affliction and misery.

[14] DE MISERIA PAUPERIS ET DIVITIS

[14] ON THE MISERY OF THE POOR MAN AND THE RICH MAN

Pauperes enim premuntur inedia, cruciantur erumpna, fame, siti, frigore, nuditate; vilescunt et contabescunt, spernuntur et confunduntur. O miserabilis condicio mendicantis! Et si petit, pudore confunditur, et si non petit, egestate consumitur, set ut mendicet necessitate compellitur.

For the poor are pressed by inanition, are cruciated by hardship, by hunger, by thirst, by cold, by nudity; they grow vile and waste away, they are spurned and confounded. O miserable condition of the beggar! And if he asks, he is confounded by shame, and if he does not ask, he is consumed by destitution, but he is compelled by necessity to beg.

Deum causatur iniquum quod non recte dividat; proximum criminatur malignum quod non plene subveniat; indignatur, murmurat, inprecatur. Adverte super hoc sentenciam sapientis: "Melius est mori quam indigere." "Eciam proximo suo pauper odiosus erit." "Omnes dies pauperis mali." "Fratres hominis pauperis oderunt eum, insuper et amici procul recesserunt ab eo." "Cum fueris felix, multos numerabis amicos. Tempora si si fuerint nubila, solus eris." Proh pudor!

He arraigns God as iniquitous because He does not divide rightly; he criminates his neighbor as malign because he does not fully succor; he is indignant, he murmurs, he imprecates. Take note, on this, of the sentence of the wise man: "It is better to die than to be indigent." "Even to his own neighbor the poor man will be odious." "All the days of the poor man are evil." "The brothers of a poor man hate him; moreover even friends have withdrawn far from him." "When you are fortunate, you will number many friends. If the times are cloudy, you will be alone." For shame!

Secundum fortunam estimatur persona, cum pocius secundum personam sit estimanda fortuna. Tam bonus reputatur ut dives, tam malus ut pauper, cum pocius tam dives sit reputandus ut bonus, tam pauper ut malus. Dives, autem, superfluitate resolvitur et iactancia effrenatur, currit ad libitum et corruit in illicitum, et fiunt instrumenta penarum que fuerant oblectamenta culparum.

According to fortune the person is estimated, whereas rather according to the person fortune should be estimated. He is reputed as good insofar as rich, as bad insofar as poor, whereas rather he ought to be reputed as rich insofar as good, as poor insofar as bad. The rich man, however, is dissolved by superfluity and is unbridled by jactancy, he runs at his pleasure and collapses into the illicit, and the instruments of punishments are made of those things which had been the oblectations of faults.

Labor in adquirendo, timor in possidendo, dolor in amittendo mentem eius semper fatigat, sollicitat, et affligit. "Ubi est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum." Set de hoc plenius in sequentibus.

Labor in
acquiring, fear in possessing, grief in losing ever wearies, vexes, and afflicts his mind. "Where your treasure is, there too is your heart." But about this more fully in what follows.

[15] DE MISERIA SERVORUM ET DOMINORUM

[15] ON THE MISERY OF SERVANTS AND MASTERS

Servus minis terretur, angariis fatigatur, plagis affligitur, opibus spoliatur. Quod si non habet, habere compellitur, et si habet, cogitur non habere. Culpa domini, servi pena; culpa servi, domini preda.

The slave is terrified by threats, wearied by compulsory services, afflicted with blows, despoiled of wealth
But if he does not have, he is compelled to have; and if he has, he is forced not to have.
The master’s fault, the slave’s penalty; the slave’s fault, the master’s prey.

"Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi." "Venacio leonis onager in heremo: sic pascua divitum pauperes." O extrema condicio servitutis! Natura liberos genuit, set fortuna servos constituit. Servus cogitur pati et non sinitur compati; dolere compellitur et nemo ei condolere permittitur.

"Whatever
kings rave, the Achaeans are punished." "The lion’s hunting is the onager in the desert: thus
the pastures of the rich are the poor." O extreme condition of servitude! Nature begot the free,
but Fortune constituted slaves. The slave is compelled to suffer and is not allowed to
sympathize; he is driven to grieve and no one is permitted to condole with him.

Sic ipse non suus est ut nemo sit sibi. Miseri qui castra sequntur, quia miserum est "aliena vivere quadra." Dominus autem si crudelis est, oportet illum vereri propter nequiciam subiectorum; si mitis est, contingit illum contempni propter insolenciam subditorum. Severum ergo metus affligit, et mansuetum vilitas parvipendit; nam crudelitas parit odium, et familiaritas parit contemptum.

Thus he himself is not his own, to such an extent that no one belongs to himself. Wretched are those who follow the camp, because it is wretched “to live by another’s trencher.” But if the master is cruel, he must fear on account of the wickedness of his subordinates; if he is mild, it befalls him to be despised because of the insolence of his subordinates. Therefore fear afflicts the severe man, and cheap estimation makes light of the gentle; for cruelty begets hatred, and familiarity begets contempt.

Familiaris enim eum cura fatigat, et domestica sollicitudo molestat. Oportet eum semper esse paratum, ubique munitum ut possit malignancium insidias precavere, oppugnancium iniurias propulsare, hostes conterere, cives tueri. Nec sufficit diei malicia sua, set dies diei eructuat laborem et nox nocti sollicitudinem indicat.

Household care indeed wearies him, and domestic solicitude
vexes. It behooves him always to be prepared, everywhere fortified so that he may be able to forestall the snares of the malignant,
to repulse the injuries of those who assail, to crush enemies,
to protect citizens. Nor does the day’s malice suffice to itself, but day belches forth labor
to day, and night indicates solicitude to night.

Dies ergo laboriosi ducuntur, et noctes expenduntur insompnes.

Therefore laborious days are passed, and nights are expended sleepless.

[16] DE MISERIA CONTINENTIS ET CONIUGATI

[16] ON THE MISERY OF THE CONTINENT AND THE MARRIED

Si potest ignis non urere, potest caro non concupiscere, quia quantumcumque pugnetur, nunquam tamen ex toto Iebuseus ille potest expelli. "Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret." "Non omnes," inquit, "capiunt verbum istud, set qui potest capere capiat." Unde cum Deus ipse de pontificalibus indumentis iussisset ut Moyses Aaron et filios eius vestiret, de solis feminalibus non precepit, set ait ut ipsi feminalibus uterentur cum ingrederentur tabernaculum testimonii. Set Apostolus inquit: "Nolite fraudare invicem, nisi forte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis oracioni et iterum revertimini in idipsum, ne tempnet vos Sathanas propter incontinenciam vestram." "Melius est enim nubere quam uri.

If fire can fail to burn, the flesh can fail to feel concupiscence; because however much one may fight, nevertheless that Jebusite can never be wholly expelled. "You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she will still return." "Not all," he says, "grasp this word, but let him who can grasp it grasp it." Whence, when God himself, concerning the pontifical garments, had ordered that Moses should clothe Aaron and his sons, concerning the breeches alone he did not give a precept, but said that they themselves should use breeches when they entered the tabernacle of testimony. But the Apostle says: "Do not defraud one another, unless perhaps by consent for a time, that you may have leisure for prayer and again return to the same, lest Satan tempt you on account of your incontinence." "For it is better to marry than to be burned.

Pugnat ergo contra continenciam angelus Sathane, qui carnaliter stimulat et graviter colafizat, ignem nature suggestionis flatu succendit, materiam apponit, facultatem tribuit, et oportunitatem ministrat. Pugnat, et species, que, subito visa, facile concupiscitur. Unde cum "David post meridiem deambularet in solario domus regie, videns ex adverso Bersabee se lavantem, erat autem mulier pulcra valde, misit et tulit eam et dormivit cum illa." Porro "qui cum uxore est sollicitus est que sunt mundi et divisus est." Distrahitur enim per multas angustias et in varias sollicitudines dissecatur, ut filiis et uxori, famulis et ancillis necessaria querat et subministret.

Therefore the angel of Satan fights against continence,
who goads carnally and heavily buffets, the fire of nature’s suggestion
he kindles by his breath, he sets on the material, grants the capacity, and ministers the opportunity.
There fights also the appearance which, suddenly seen, is easily desired. Whence, when "David after midday was strolling in the solar of the royal house, seeing
over against him Bathsheba washing herself—now the woman was very beautiful—he sent
and took her and slept with her." Moreover, "he who is with a wife is solicitous
about the things that are of the world, and he is divided." For he is distracted through many straits
and cut up into various solicitudes, so that for sons and wife, for servants and
handmaids he may seek and supply the necessaries.

"Tribulacionem ergo carnis habent huiusmodi." Uxor contendit habere preciosum ornatum et variam superlectilem, ut pluris sit sepe cultus uxoris quam census mariti; alioquin per dies et noctes suspirat et plangit, garrit et murmurat. Tria sunt enim que non sinunt hominem in domo manere: fumus, stillicidium, et mala uxor. "Illa," inquit, "ornacior procedit in publicum, hec ab omnibus honoratur.

"Therefore such persons have tribulation of the flesh." they have." The wife contends to have precious ornament and varied furnishings, so that often the wife's adornment is of greater price than the husband's assessment; otherwise through days and nights she sighs and laments, chatters and murmurs. For there are three things that do not allow a man to remain in the house: smoke, stillicide, and a bad wife. "That one," he says, "goes forth into public more ornate; this one is honored by all.

Ego misera in conventu feminarum sola despicior, a cunctis contempnor." Sola vult diligi, sola laudari. Alterius amorem suum asserit odium; alterius laudem suum dedecus suspicatur. Amandum est omne quod diligit, odiendum est omne quod spernit.

I, wretched, in a gathering of women am the only one despised; I am contemned by all." She alone wants
to be loved, she alone to be praised. She asserts another’s love to be hatred toward herself; another’s praise
she suspects to be her own disgrace. Everything that she loves must be loved, everything that she spurns
must be hated.

Vincere vult si vinci non valet. Famulari non patitur, set dominari molitur. Cuncta vult posse, nulla non posse.

She wants to conquer; she is not able to be conquered. She does not suffer to be a servant, but
she strives to dominate. She wants to be able to do all things; she wants nothing to be impossible.

Si pulchra fuerit, facile adamatur; si feda, facile concupiscitur. Set difficile custoditur quod a multis diligitur, et molestum est possidere quod nemo dignatur habere. Alius forma, alius ingenio, alius faceciis, alius liberalitate sollicitatur; et sic ex aliqua parte capitur quod undique incessitur.

If she be beautiful,
she is easily loved; if she be foul, she is easily desired. But it is difficult to guard
what is loved by many, and it is troublesome to possess what no one deigns to have. One is solicited by beauty, another by talent, another by witticisms, another by liberality;
and thus from some quarter that which is assailed on every side is taken.

Equus et asinus, bos et canis, vestis et lectulus, calix et urceoli prius probantur et postea comparantur! Sponsa vero vix tantum ostenditur, ne prius displiceat quam ducatur; qualiscumque casus advenerit, necessario est habenda. Si feda, si fetida, si egra, si fatua, si superba, si iracunda, si quamlibet viciosa, propter solam fornicacionem potest uxor a viro dimitti.

The horse and the ass,
the ox and the dog, the garment and the little bed, the chalice and the small ewers are first tested and afterwards
procured! But the bride is scarcely even shown, lest she displease before she is
led; whatever case may befall, she must necessarily be kept. If foul,
if fetid, if sick, if fatuous, if proud, if irascible, if however vicious,
on account of fornication alone can a wife be dismissed by her husband.

Set non dimittens aliam potest ducere, nec dimissa alii potest copulari. Nam "quicumque dimiserit uxorem, nisi ob fornicacionem, et aliam duxerit, mechatur; et qui dimissam duxerit mechatur." "Quod si uxor a viro discesserit, manere debet innupta aut viro suo reconciliari; similiter et vir si discesserit ab uxore." Grave nimis est pondus coniugii, nam "stultus et impius est qui tenet adulteram," et patronus est turpitudinis qui celat crimen uxoris. Set et si dimittit adulteram, absque sui culpa punitur, quoniam illa vivente cogitur continere.

But not dismissing, he cannot take another, nor can the dismissed be coupled to another. For “whoever shall have dismissed
a wife, unless on account of fornication, and shall have taken another, commits adultery; and he who has taken a dismissed
woman commits adultery.” “But if a wife has departed from her husband, she ought to remain unmarried
or be reconciled to her own husband; similarly also the husband if he has departed from his wife.” Heavy
indeed is the burden of conjugality, for “foolish and impious is he who keeps an adulteress,”
and he is a patron of turpitude who conceals the crime of his wife. But even if he dismisses
the adulteress, he is punished without his own fault, since, while she lives, he is compelled to be continent.

Propter quod et discipuli Christo dixerunt: "Si ita est causa cum uxore, non expedit nubere." Quis unquam equanimiter potuit sustinere rivalem? Sola suspicio zelotipum vehementer affligit, nam licet scriptum sit, "Erunt duo in carne una," zelus tamen viri duos in una carne non patitur.

For which reason even the disciples said to Christ: "If thus the case stands with a wife,
it is not expedient to marry." Who ever could equanimously endure a rival? Mere suspicion grievously afflicts the zelotype, for although it is written, "The two shall be
in one flesh," yet the zeal/jealousy of a man does not allow two in one flesh.

[17] DE MISERIA BONORUM ET MALORUM

[17] ON THE MISERY OF THE GOOD AND OF THE WICKED

Non est impiis gaudere, dicit Dominus, quia "per que peccat homo, per hec et torquetur." Veritas enim consciencie nunquam moritur, et ignis racionis nunquam extinguitur. "Vidi eos qui operantur iniquitatem et seminant dolores et metunt eos flante Deo perisse et spiritu ire eius esse consumptos." Superbia inflat et invidia rodit, avaricia stimulat, ira succendit, angit gula, dissolvit luxuria, ligat mendacium, maculat homicidium. Sic et cetera viciorum portenta, ut que sunt homini oblectamenta peccanti Deo sint instrumenta punienti.

It is not for the impious to rejoice, says the Lord, because "through which things a man sins, through these also he is tormented." For the truth of conscience never dies, and the fire of reason is never extinguished. "I saw those who work iniquity and sow sorrows and reap them, with God blowing they perished, and by the spirit of his ire they were consumed." Pride inflates and envy gnaws, avarice goads, ire sets ablaze, the gullet (gluttony) strangles, lust dissolves, mendacity binds, homicide stains. So too the other portents of vices, so that the things which are delights to a man sinning may be instruments to God punishing.

"Invidus alterius macrescit rebus opimis." Set "invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni maius tormentum." Vicium enim corrumpit naturam, Apostolo testante, qui ait: "Quia evanuerunt in cogitacionibus suis, obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum. Propter quod tradidit illos Deus in desideria cordis eorum, in immundicia, ut contumeliis afficiant corpora sua, et sicut non probaverunt Deum habere in noticia sua, tradidit illos Deus in reprobum sensum, ut faciant ea que non conveniunt." Set et "qui pie volunt vivere in Christo persecucionem paciuntur." "Sancti vero ludibria et verbera experti, insuper et vincula et carceres; lapidati sunt, secti sunt, temptati sunt, in occisione gladii mortui sunt pro Domino. Circumierunt in melotis, in pellibus caprinis, egentes, angustiati, afflicti, quibus dignus non erat mundus, in solitudinibus errantes et in montibus et in speluncis et in cavernis terre." "Periculis fluminum, periculis latronum, periculis ex genere, periculis ex gentibus, periculis in civitate, periculis in falsis fratribus.

"The envious man grows lean at another’s opulent goods." But "the Sicilian tyrants did not find a greater torment than envy." For vice corrupts nature, the Apostle bearing witness, who says: "For they became vain in their cogitations, their foolish heart was darkened. Wherefore God handed them over into the desires of their heart, in uncleanness, that they might dishonor their bodies, and just as they did not approve to have God in their knowledge, God handed them over to a reprobate sense, to do the things that are not congruent." But also "those who wish to live piously in Christ suffer persecution." "But the saints, having experienced mockeries and scourgings, and moreover chains and prisons; they were stoned, they were sawn, they were tempted, they died in the occision of the sword for the Lord. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, in need, straitened, afflicted—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts and in mountains and in caves and in the caverns of the earth." "In perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my race, in perils from the nations, in perils in the city, in perils among false brothers."

In labore et erumpna, in vigiliis multis, in frigore et nuditate, in augustus multis, in fame, in siti, in ieiuniis multis." Iustus enim "abnegat semetipsum," crucifigens menbra sua in viciis et concupiscenciis, ut sibi mundus crucifixus sit et ipse mundo. "Non habet hic manentem civitatem, set futuram inquirit." Sustinet seculum tanquam exilium, clausus in corpore tanquam in carcere. "Incola," inquit, "ego sum in terra," "et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei.

In labor and tribulation, in many vigils, in cold
and nakedness, in many straits, in hunger, in thirst, in many fasts." For the just man "denies himself," crucifying his members in vices and concupiscences,
that the world may be crucified to him and he to the world. "He has not here an abiding city,
but seeks the future one." He endures the age as an exile, shut up in the body
as in a prison. "A sojourner," he says, "I am in the land," "and a pilgrim
like all my fathers.

Remitte michi ut refrigerer, priusquam eam et amplius non ero." "Heu me quia incolatus meus prolongatus est; habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar; multum incola fuit anima mea." "Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor? Quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror?" Nam peccata proximorum frixoria sunt iustorum. Hoc est enim irriguum quod Caleph Axe filie sue dedit in dotem.

"Release me that I may be refreshed, before I go and I will be no more." "Alas for me, because my sojourn has been prolonged; I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar; much a sojourner has my soul been." "Who is infirm, and am I not infirm? Who is scandalized, and am I not burned?" For the sins of neighbors are frying-pans for the just. This is, indeed, the irrigation which Caleb gave to Achsah his daughter as a dowry.

[18] DE HOSTIBUS HOMINIS

[18] ON THE ENEMIES OF MAN

"Milicia est vita hominis super terram." Annon vere milicia cum multiplices hostes insidiaitur undique ut capiant, persequantur ut perimant íŸÏ demon et homo, mundus et caro, demon cum viciis, homo cum bestiis, mundus cum elementis, caro cum sensibus? "Caro namque concupiscit adversus spiritum, spiritus adversus carnem." Verum "non est nobis colluctacio tantum adversus carnem et sanguinem, set adversus spirituales nequicias in celestibus, adversus rectores tenebrarum harum." "Adversarius enim noster diabolus tanquam leo rugiens circuit querens quem devoret." Accenduntur ignea tela nequissimi. Mors ingreditur per fenestras.

"Warfare is the life of man upon the earth." Is it not truly warfare, when multiple
enemies lie in wait on every side to seize, and pursue to slay—the demon
and man, the world and the flesh; the demon with vices, man with beasts, the world with
the elements, the flesh with the senses? "For the flesh lusts against the spirit,
and the spirit against the flesh." Truly, "our wrestling is not only against
flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places,
against the rulers of these darknesses." "For our adversary the devil,
like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour." The fiery darts
of the most wicked one are kindled. Death enters through the windows.

Oculus animam depredatur. "Pugnat orbis terrarum contra insensatos." "Gens contra gentem, et regnum adversus regnum, terremotus erunt magni per loca, pestilencie et fames, terroresque de celo et tempestates." Terra producit spinas et tribulos; aqua, procellas et fluctus; aer, tempestates et tonitrua; ignis, choruscaciones et fulgura. "Maledicta," inquit, "terra in opere tuo; spinas et tribulos germinabit tibi.

The eye preys upon the soul. "The orb of the earth fights
against the insensate." "Nation against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; there will be great earthquakes in various places, pestilences and famines, and terrors
from heaven and tempests." The earth brings forth thorns and thistles; water, squalls
and waves; air, tempests and thunders; fire, coruscations and lightnings. "Cursed," he says, "the earth in your toil; thorns and thistles it will germinate
for you.

In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane tuo donec vertaris in terram, quia terra es et in terram ibis." "Insidiatur aper de silva, et singularis ferus depascitur." Lupus et ursus, pardus et leo, tigris et onager, corcodrillus et griphes, serpens et coluber, basiliscus et aspis, cerastes et draco, scorpiones et vipere; set et lendes et pulices et pediculi, cyniphes et musce, crabones et wespe, pisces et volucres. Nam qui creati fuimus ut "dominaremur piscibus maris et volatilibus celi et universis animantibus que moventur in terra" nunc damur illis in predam, nunc damur illis in escam. Scriptum est enim: "Dentes bestiarum inmittam in eos, cum furore trahencium super terram" et cetera.

"In the sweat of your face you shall feed on your bread until you are turned back into the earth,
because you are earth and into earth you will go." "The boar from the forest lies in ambush, and the solitary
beast grazes it down." The wolf and the bear, the pard and the lion, the tiger and the onager, the crocodile
and the gryphons, the serpent and the coluber, the basilisk and the asp, the cerastes and the dragon,
scorpions and vipers; but also nits and fleas and lice, gnats and
flies, hornets and wasps, fishes and birds. For we who were created that we might
"dominate the fishes of the sea and the fliers of heaven and all the living creatures
that move upon the earth," now we are given to them as prey, now we are given to them as
food. For it is written: "I will send the teeth of beasts among them, with the fury of those that crawl
upon the earth," and so forth.

[19] DE CARCERE ANIME

[19] ON THE PRISON OF THE SOUL

"Infelix homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius?" Certe non vult exire de carcere qui non vult exire de corpore, nam carcer anime corpus est. De quo dicit psalmista: "Educ de carcere animam meam ad confitendum nomini tuo." Nusquam est quies et tranquillitas, nusquam pax et securitas; ubique est timor et tremor, ubique labor et dolor. "Card dum vivit dolebit, et anima super semetipsam lugebit."

"Wretched man, who will liberate me from the body of this death?" Certainly he does not wish to go out from prison who does not wish to go out from the body, for the prison of the soul is the body, of which the psalmist says: "Lead out of prison my soul to confess to your name and to you." Nowhere is rest and tranquility, nowhere peace and security; everywhere is fear and trembling, everywhere toil and pain. "The flesh, while it lives, will suffer pain, and the soul will mourn over herself."

[20] DE BREVI LETICIA

[20] ON BRIEF JOY

Quis unquam vel unicam diem duxerit totam in sua delectacione iocundam, quem in aliqua parte diei reatus consciencie vel impetus ire vel motus concupiscencie non turbaverit? Quem livor invidie vel ardor avaricie vel tumor superbie non vexaverit? Quem aliqua iactura vel offensa vel passio non commoverit?

Who has ever even led a single day wholly joyful in his own delectation,
whom in some part of the day the guilt of conscience or the impetus of anger or the motion
of concupiscence has not disturbed? Whom the envy’s livor or the ardor of avarice or the swelling
of pride has not vexed? Whom some loss or offense or passion
has not stirred?

Quem denique visus vel auditus vel tactus quilibet non offenderit? "Rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cigno." Audi super hoc sentenciam sapientis: "A mane usque ad vesperam mutabitur tempus." "Cogitaciones vane sibi succedunt, et mens rapitur in diversa." "Tenent tympanum et cytharam et gaudent ad sonitum organi. Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad infernum descendunt."

Whom, in the end, has sight or hearing or any kind of touch not offended? "A rare bird on earth, and very like a black swan." Hear on this the sentence of the wise man: "From morning until evening the time will be changed." "Vain cogitations succeed one another, and the mind is snatched away into different things." "They hold the tympanum and the cithara and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They lead their days in good things, and in a moment they descend to hell."

[21] DE INOPINATO DOLORE

[21] ON UNEXPECTED PAIN

Semper mundane letitie tristicia repentina succedit, et quod incipit a gaudio desinit in merore. Mundana quippe felicitas multis amaritudinibus est respersa. Noverat hoc ille qui dixerat: "Risus dolore miscebitur, et extrema gaudii luctus occupat." Experti sunt et hoc liberi Iob: qui cum "comederent et biberent vinum in domo fratris sui primogeniti," "repente vehemens ventus irruit a regione deserti, et concussit quatuor angulos domus, que corruens universos oppressit." Merito pater aiebat: "Versa est in luctum cythara mea et organum meum in vocem flencium." "Melius est igitur ire ad domum luctus quam ad domum convii." Salubre consilium: "In die bonorum ne immemor sis malorum." "Memorare novissima tua, et in eternum non peccabis."

Sudden sadness always succeeds to worldly joy, and what begins from joy ends in mourning. For worldly felicity is sprinkled with many bitternesses. He knew this who had said: "Laughter will be mixed with dolor, and the end of joy grief seizes." The children of Job experienced this also: when they "were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother," "suddenly a vehement wind rushed in from the region of the desert, and struck the four corners of the house, which, collapsing, overwhelmed them all." Rightly the father said: "My cithara has been turned into mourning, and my organ into the voice of weepers." "It is better therefore to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting." A salubrious counsel: "On a day of good things, do not be unmindful of evils." "Remember your last things, and you will not sin unto eternity."

[22] DE VICINITATE MORTIS

[22] ON THE VICINITY OF DEATH

Semper ultimus dies primus, et nunquam dies primus dies ultimus reputatur, cum tamen ita semper vivere deceat tanquam mori semper oporteat. Scriptum est enim: "Memor esto quia mors non tardat." Tempus preterit, et mors appropinquat. "Mille anni ante oculos morientis sicut dies hesterna, que preteriit." Semper enim futura nascuntur, semper presencia moriuntur, et quicquit est preteritum totum est mortuum.

Always the last day is a first day, and never is the first day reckoned the last, although it is ever fitting to live as though one ought always to die. It is written indeed: "Be mindful that death does not delay." Time passes by, and death draws near. "A thousand years before the eyes of one dying are as yesterday’s day, which has passed." For ever the things to come are born, ever the things present die, and whatever is past is altogether dead.

Morimur ergo semper dum vivimus, et tunc tantum desinimus mori cum desinimus vivere. Melius est mori vite quam vivere morti, quia nichil est vita mortalis nisi mors vivens. Salomon: "Laudavi magis mortuum quam viventem, et utroque feliciorem iudicavi qui necdum natus est." Vita velociter fugit et retineri non potest; mors autem instanter occurrit et impediri non valet.

We die therefore always while we live, and then only do we cease to die when we cease to live. It is better to die to life than to live to death, because mortal life is nothing but a living death. Solomon: "I have praised the dead more than the living, and I judged as happier than both the one who has not yet been born." Life flees swiftly and cannot be retained; but death meets us instantly and cannot be prevented.

Hoc est illud mirabile, quod quanto plus crescit tanto magis decrescit, quia quanto plus vita procedit tanto magis ad mortem accedit.

This is that marvel, that the more it grows the more it decreases, because the more life proceeds the more it approaches death.

[23] DE TERRORE SOMPNIORUM

[23] ON THE TERROR OF DREAMS

Tempus quod quieti concessum est non conceditur esse quietum, nam terrent sompnia, visiones conturbant. Et licet non sint in veritate tristia vel terribilia seu laboriosa que sompniant sompniantes, tamen in veritate tristantur, terrentur, et fatigantur, in tantum ut et dormientes aliquando lacrimentur et evigilantes sepissime conturbentur. Si vero iocundum quid viderint, nichilominus evigilantes tristantur tanquam illud amiserint.

The time which is granted to rest is not conceded to be restful, for dreams frighten and visions confound. And although the things which the dreamers dream are not in truth sad or terrible or laborious, nevertheless in truth they are saddened, they are terrified, and they are wearied, to such an extent that even while sleeping they sometimes weep, and on waking most often they are disturbed. If indeed they have seen something jocund, nonetheless, on waking they are saddened as though they had lost it.

Adverte quid super hoc dicat Eliphat Themanites: "In horrore visionis nocturne, quando solet sopor occupare homines, pavor tenuit me et tremor, et omnia ossia mea perterrita sunt, et cum spiritus, me presente, transiret, inhorruerunt pili carnis mee." Considera Iob dicentem: "Si dixero consolabitur me lectulus meus et relevabor loquens mecum in stratu meo, terrebit me per sompnia et per visiones horrore concuciet." Nabugodonosor rex vidit sompnium quod eum valde perterruit, et visiones capitis eius conturbaverunt eum. Multas curas sequuntur sompnia, et ubi multa sompnia, plurime vanitates. Multos errare fescerunt sompnia et exciderunt sperantes in illis.

Take heed what Eliphaz the Temanite says on this matter: “In the horror of a nocturnal vision, when slumber is wont to seize men, dread held me and trembling, and all my bones were terrified, and when a spirit, I being present, passed by, the hairs of my flesh bristled.” Consider Job saying: “If I shall say, ‘My little bed will comfort me, and I shall be relieved speaking with myself on my couch,’ he will terrify me through dreams, and through visions he will shake me with horror.” King Nebuchadnezzar saw a dream that greatly terrified him, and the visions of his head disturbed him. Many cares follow dreams, and where there are many dreams, there are very many vanities. Dreams have caused many to err, and those hoping in them have fallen away.

Apparent enim sepe in sompniis turpes ymagines, ex quibus per illusiones nocturnas non solum caro polluitur, set et anima maculatur. Unde Dominus in Levitico: "Si sit," inquit, "inter vos homo qui nocturno polluitur sompnio, egrediatur extra castra et non revertatur priusquam ad vesperam lavetur aqua, et post solis occasum regrediatur in castra."

for indeed there often appear in dreams base images, from which through nocturnal illusions not
only the flesh is polluted, but the soul also is stained. Whence the Lord in Leviticus:
"If there be," he says, "among you a man who is polluted by a nocturnal dream, let him go out
outside the camp and not return before he is washed with water at evening, and after
the setting of the sun let him return into the camp."

[24] DE COMPASSIONE

[24] ON COMPASSION

O quanto dolore turbamur, quanto tremore concutimur, cum amicorum dampna sentimus, cum parentum pericula formidamus! Plus interdum sanus formidine quam infirmus egritudine perturbatur. Plus hic voluntarius affectu doloris quam is invitus effectu languoris affligitur.

O how greatly we are disturbed by pain, how greatly we are shaken with tremor, when we feel the losses of friends, when we dread the perils of parents! More at times the healthy man is perturbed by fear than the infirm man by illness. More is this one, willing, afflicted by the affect of pain than that one, unwilling, by the effect of languor.

Verum est enim illud poeticum: "Res est solliciti plena timoris amor." Cuius pectus tam ferreum, cuius cor tam lapideum ut gemitus non exprimat, lacrimas non effundat, cum proximi vel amici morbum vel interitum intuetur, ut pacienti non compaciatur et dolentibus non condoleat? Ipse Iesus, cum vidisset Mariam et Iudeos qui cum ea venerant ad monumentum plorantes, infremuit spiritu, turbavit seipsum, et lacrimatus est, set eo pocius quod mortuum ad vite miserias revocabat. Sciat autem se culpabiliter durum et dure culpabilem, qui corporalem amici sui mortem deplorat et spiritualem anime sue mortem non deflet.

For indeed that poetic saying is true: "Love is a reality full of solicitous fear." Whose breast is so iron, whose heart so stony, that he does not utter groans, does not pour out tears, when he looks upon the sickness or demise of a neighbor or a friend, that he does not compassionate the suffering and condole with those in pain? Jesus himself, when he saw Mary and the Jews who had come with her to the tomb weeping, groaned in spirit, troubled himself, and wept—yet the more because he was recalling the dead man to the miseries of life. But let him know himself culpably hard, and, by his hardness, culpable, who deplores the bodily death of his friend and does not bewail the spiritual death of his own soul.

[25] QUOD INNUMERE SUNT SPECIES EGRITUDINUM

[25] THAT THE SPECIES OF SICKNESSES ARE INNUMERABLE

Nondum a seculis tot egritudinum genera, tot species passionum phisicalis potuit industria indagare quot humana fragilitas potuit tolerare. Tolerabilem dixerim morborum intoleranciam, aut intolerabilem dixerim toleranciam? Melius utrumque coniunxerim, nam intolerabilis est propter passionis acerbitatem et tolerabilis propter paciendi necessitatem.

Not yet through the ages has industry been able to investigate so many genera of illnesses, so many species of physical passions, as human fragility has been able to tolerate. Shall I call tolerable the intolerability of diseases, or shall I call intolerable the toleration? Better I conjoin both, for it is intolerable because of the bitterness of the passion, and tolerable because of the necessity of suffering.

De die in diem magis ac magis humana natura corrumpitur, ita quod multa fuerunt olim experimenta salubria que propter defectum ipsius hodie sunt mortifera. Senuit iam mundus uterque, megacosmus et microcosmus, et quanto prolixius utriusque senectus producitur, tanto deterius utriusque natura turbatur.

Day by day more and more human nature is corrupted, so that many experiments were once salubrious which, by reason of its defect, today are mortiferous. Already each world has grown old, the megacosm and the microcosm, and the more the old age of each is prolonged, so much the worse the nature of each is disturbed.

[26] DE SUBITIS INFORTUNIIS

[26] ON SUDDEN MISFORTUNES

Subito, cum non suspicatur, infortunium accidit, calamitas irruit, morbus invadit, mors intercipit, quam nullus evadit. Ergo "ne glorieris in crastinum; ignoras enim quid superventura pariat dies." "Nescit homo finem suum, set sicut pisces capiuntur hamo, et sicut aves comprehenduntur laqueo, sic capiuntur homines tempore malo cum eis extemplo supervenerit."

Suddenly, when he does not suspect it, misfortune happens, calamity rushes in, sickness invades, death intercepts, which no one evades. Therefore, "do not glory in tomorrow; for you are ignorant what the day to come will bring forth." "Man does not know his end, but just as fishes are taken by a hook, and just as birds are caught by a snare, so men are taken in an evil time when it has at once supervened upon them."

[27] DE DIVERSIS GENERIBUS TORMENTORUM

[27] ON THE DIVERSE KINDS OF TORMENTS

Quid dicam de miseris qui per innumera tormentorum genera perimuntur? Ceduntur fustibus et gladiis iugulantur, cremantur flammis et lapidibus obruuntur, discerpuntur ungulis et patibulis suspenduntur, torquentur unguibus et scorpionibus flagellantur, artantur vinculis et laqueis sugillantur, detruduntur carceribus et ieiuniis macerantur, precipitantur et submerguntur, excoriantur et distrahuntur, secantur et suffodiuntur. "Qui ad mortem, ad mortem; et qui ad gladium, ad gladium; et qui ad famem, ad famem; et qui ad captivitatem, ad captivitatem." Crudele iudicium, immane supplicium, triste spectaculum!

What shall I say of the wretched who are destroyed through innumerable kinds of torments? They are beaten with cudgels and are slain by the sword, they are burned by flames and are overwhelmed with stones,
they are torn apart with claws and are hanged on gibbets, they are tortured with nails and are scourged with scorpions, they are constrained by bonds and are bruised by nooses,
they are thrust down into prisons and are worn thin by fastings, they are cast headlong and are submerged,
they are flayed and are torn apart, they are cut and are stabbed. "Who to death, to death; and who to the sword, to the sword; and who to famine, to famine; and
who to captivity, to captivity." Cruel judgment, immense punishment,
sad spectacle!

Dantur in escam volatilibus celi, bestiis terre, piscibus maris. Heu, heu, heu, misere matres, que tam infelices filios genuistis!

They are given for food to the winged creatures of heaven, to the beasts of the earth, to the fishes
of the sea. Alas, alas, alas, miserable mothers, who have begotten such ill-fated sons!

[28] DE QUODAM HORRENDO FACINORE

[28] ON A CERTAIN HORRENDOUS CRIME

Illud hic horribile facinus libet inserere quod Iosephus de Iudaica obsidione describit. Mulier quedam, facultatibus et genere nobilis, cum cetera multitudine que confluxerat Ierusalem communem cum omnibus obsidionis casum ferebat. Huius reliquas facultates quas de domo in urbem convexerat tyranni penitus invaserunt.

It pleases me here to insert that horrible deed which Josephus describes concerning the Judaic siege. A certain woman, noble in means and lineage, with the rest of the multitude that had flocked to Jerusalem, was bearing the common lot of the siege with everyone. Her remaining resources, which she had conveyed from her house into the city, the tyrants utterly seized.

Si quid vero relictum ex magnis opibus fuerat quibus victum cotidianum pertenuem duceret, irruentes per momenta, predonum satellites rapiebant. Pro quibus ingens mulierem, ex indignacione, velud quedam insania fatigabat, ita ut interdum predones in necem sui maledictis et conviciis instigaret. Verum, cum nec irritatus quisquam nec miseratus illam perimeret, et si quid forte cibi fuisset ab illa quesitum, id aliis quereretur, nec iam usquam fieret copia perquirendi.

If indeed anything had been left over from her great resources, with which she might draw out a very tenuous daily sustenance, the satellites of the brigands, rushing in at every moment, were snatching it away. On account of which an immense, as-it-were, insanity, from indignation, was harrying the woman, so that at times she would incite the brigands, with maledictions and invectives, to the killing of herself. But, since neither, whether provoked or moved to pity, would anyone put her to death, and if perchance any food had been sought by her, it was requisitioned for others, nor now anywhere was there any opportunity of searching further.

Fames autem dira visceribus instaret ac medullis, et ad furorem iam famis inedia perurgeret; pessimis usa consiliis, contra ipsa iam armatur iura nature. Erat enim ei sub uberibus parvulus filius, quem ante oculos ferens, "Infelicis," inquit, "matris o infelicior fili, in bello, et fame, ac direpcione predonum, cui te reservabo? Nam etsi possit vita sperari, iugo tamen Romane servitutis urgebimur.

But a dire famine was pressing upon her viscera and marrows, and starvation was now driving to the fury of hunger; employing the worst counsels, she now arms herself against the very laws of nature. For she had beneath her breasts a tiny son, whom, bearing before her eyes, she said: "Of an unhappy mother, O more-unhappy son, in war, and famine, and the direption of robbers, for whom shall I reserve you? For even if life could be hoped for, yet we shall be pressed by the yoke of Roman servitude.

Veni ergo nunc, o mi nate, esto matri cibus, predonibus furor, seculis fabula que sola deerat cladibus Iudeorum." Et cum hec dixisset, protinus filium iugulavit. Tum deinde igni superpositum torret, et medium quidem consumit, medium servat obtectum. Et ecce, predones confestim irruunt, combuste carnis nidore concepto; mortem minantur nisi sine mora cibos quos paratos senserant demonstraret.

Come then now, O my son, be food for your mother, fury for the robbers, a tale for the ages which alone was lacking to the disasters of the Jews." And when she had said these things, at once she slaughtered her son. Then next she roasts him, set over the fire, and indeed consumes half, half she keeps covered. And behold, the robbers immediately rush in, the reek of burnt flesh having been caught; they threaten death unless without delay she would show the food which they had sensed was prepared.

Tunc illa: "Partem vobis optimam reservavi," et continuo que superfuerant menbra retexit infantis. At illos repente horror ingens invasit, et, immanis quamvis animi diriguere, vox est faucibus interclusa. Illa vero truci vultu et ipsis iam predonibus truculencior: "Meus," inquit, "filius, meus est partus, et meum est facinus.

Then she: "I have reserved for you the best part," and immediately
she uncovered the infant’s limbs which had remained. But suddenly a huge horror
seized them, and, though of savage spirit, they grew rigid; the voice was choked in their throats. She, with a grim countenance and now more truculent than the robbers themselves: "My son," she says,
"is mine; the birth is mine, and the deed is mine."

Edite, nam ego prior comedi, que genui; nolite vos effici aut matre religiosiores aut femina molliores. Quod si vos pietas vincit et meos execramini cibos, ego, que iam talibus pasta sum, ego his iterum pascar." Post hec illi territi trementesque discedunt, et hunc solum ex omnibus facultatibus misere matri cibum relinquntit.

"Eat, for I first have eaten what I begot; do not make yourselves either more religious than a mother or softer than a woman. But if piety conquers you and you execrate my foods, I, who am already fed on such things, I will be fed on these again." After these things they, terrified and trembling, depart, and they leave this alone, the only food out of all her resources, to the wretched mother.

[29] DE PENA INNOCENTIS

[29] ON THE PUNISHMENT OF THE INNOCENT

Nemo se confidat expertem a pena quia se novit immunem a culpa. Qui stat "videat ne cadat." Nam sepe dampnatur innocens et nocens absolvitur, punitur pius et impius honoratur, Iesus crucifigitur et Barrabas liberatur. Hodie vir quietus inutilis, vir religiosus ypocrita, vir simplex fatuus reputatur.

Let no one trust himself to be exempt from penalty because he knows himself immune from fault. He who stands, "let him see lest he fall." For often the innocent is condemned and the guilty is absolved, the pious is punished and the impious is honored, Jesus is crucified and Barabbas is liberated. Today the quiet man useless, the religious man a hypocrite, the simple man a fool it is reckoned.

"Deridetur enim iusti simplicitas, lampas contentpta apud cogitaciones divitum."

"For the simplicity of the just is derided; a lamp is despised among the cogitations of the rich."

INCIPIT SECUNDA PARS

HERE BEGINS THE SECOND PART

[1]

Tria maxime solent homines affectare: opes, voluptates, honores. De opibus prava, de voluptatibus turpia, de honoribus vana procedunt. Hinc enim Iohannes apostolus ait: "Nolite diligere mundum, neque ea que in mundo sunt, quia quicquid est in mundo concupiscencia carnis est et concupiscencia oculorum et superbia vite." Concupiscencia carnis ad voluptatem, concupiscencia oculorum ad opes, superbia vite pertinet ad honores.

Three things men are most wont to affect: wealth, pleasures, honors. Of wealth proceed depraved things, of pleasures turpitudes, of honors vanities. Hence indeed the apostle John says: "Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world, because whatever is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life." The concupiscence of the flesh pertains to pleasure, the concupiscence of the eyes to wealth, the pride of life pertains to honors.

Opes generant cupiditatem et avariciam, voluptates pariunt gulam et luxuriam, honores nutriunt superbiam et iactanciam.

Wealth generates cupidity
and avarice, pleasures beget gluttony and luxury, honors nourish pride
and jactancy.

[2] DE CUPIDITATE

[2] ON CUPIDITY

"Nichil est avaro scelestius et nichil iniquius quam amare pecuniam." Verbum est sapientis, quod confirmat Apostolus, dicens: "Qui volunt divites fieri incidunt in temptacionem et laqueum diaboli et desideria multa et inutilia et nociva, que mergunt homines in interitum et perdicionem. Radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas." Hec sacrilegia committit et furta, rapinas exercet et predas, bella gerit et homicidia, symoniace vendit et emit, inique petit et recipit, iniuste negociatur et feneratur, instat dolis et imminet fraudibus, dissolvit pactum et violat iuramentum, corrumpit testimonium et pervertit iudicium.

"Nothing is more wicked than the miser, and nothing more iniquitous than to love money." It is a word of the wise, which the Apostle confirms, saying: "Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and the snare of the Devil and many desires both useless and harmful, which plunge men into ruin and perdition. For the root of all evils is cupidity." This cupidity commits sacrileges and thefts, practices rapine and plunder, wages wars and murders, simoniacally sells and buys, demands and receives unjustly, negotiates unjustly and practices usury, is intent on deceits and menaces with frauds, dissolves a pact and violates an oath, corrupts testimony and perverts judgment.

[3] DE INIQUIS MUNERIBUS

[3] ON UNJUST GIFTS

Consule prophetam evangelicum Ysaiam: "Omnes," inquit, "diligunt munera, sequuntur retribuciones, pupillo non iudicant; causa vidue non ingreditur ad eos." Non ipsi precedunt retribuciones, quia iudicant amore pecunie. Semper enim sequuntur largicionem vel promissionem vel spem, et ideo pupillo non iudicant, a quo nichil largitur aut promittitur aut speratur. O principes infideles, socii furum qui diligitis munera, sequimini retribuciones!

Consult the evangelical prophet Isaiah: "All," he says, "love gifts,
they follow retributions; they do not judge for the orphan; the cause of the widow does not enter
to them." It is not they who go before retributions, because they judge out of love of money. For they always follow largess or promise or hope, and therefore for the orphan
they do not judge, from whom nothing is bestowed or promised or hoped for. O faithless
princes, companions of thieves, who love gifts, follow retributions!

Nunquam excucietis manum a munere nisi prius excludatis cupiditatem a pectore. De vobis inquit propheta: "Principes eius quasi lupi rapientes predam, et avare sectantes lucra." "Principes eius in muneribus iudicabant, et sacerdotes eius in mercede docebant, et prophete eius in pecunia divinabant." E contra per Moysen precepit Dominus in lege: "Iudices et magistros constitues in omnibus portis tuis, ut iudicent populum iusto iudicio, nec in alteram partem declinent. Nec accipiant personam nec munera, quia munera excecant oculos sapientum et mutant verba iustorum.

Never
will you shake your hand free from a gift unless first you exclude cupidity from your breast. Of you, says the prophet: "Its princes like wolves snatching prey,
and avariciously pursuing lucre." "Its princes were judging for gifts, and
its priests were teaching for a wage, and its prophets were divining for money."
On the contrary, through Moses the Lord commanded in the Law: "You shall appoint judges and magistrates
in all your gates, that they may judge the people with just judgment, and let them not incline to the other
side. Neither shall they respect persons nor take gifts, because gifts blind
the eyes of the wise and change the words of the just.

Set iuste quod iustum est persequantur ut vivant." Duo dicit íŸÏ "iustum" et "iuste": quidam enim iuste quod iustum est, alii iniuste quod iniustum est; rursus quidam iniuste quod iustum est, alii iuste quod iniustum est persequuntur.

But let them justly pursue what is just, that they may live." He says two things, "just" and "justly": for certain people justly pursue what is just, others unjustly what is unjust; in turn, some unjustly pursue what is just, others justly what is unjust.

[4] DE ACCEPCIONE PERSONARUM

[4] ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF PERSONS

Ve vobis qui, corrupti prece vel precio, qui, tracti amore vel odio, "dicitis bonum malum vel malum bonum, ponentes tenebras lucem et lucem tenebras," "mortificantes animas que non moriuntur et vivificantes animas que non vivunt." Vos autem non attenditis merita causarum, set personarum; non iura, set munera; non iusticiam, set pecuniam; non quod racio dictet, set quod voluntas affectet; non quod lex sanctiat, set quod mens cupiat. Non inclinatis animum ad iusticiam, set iusticiam inclinatis ad animum, non ut quod licet hoc libeat, set ut liceat hoc quod libet. Nunquam in vobis ita simplex est oculus ut totum corpus sit lucidum, set semper aliquid admiscetis fermenti quo totam massam corrumpitis.

Woe to you who, corrupted by entreaty or by price, who, drawn by love or by hatred,
"you say good evil and evil good, placing darkness as light and light
darkness," "mortifying souls that do not die and vivifying souls
that do not live." But you pay heed not to the merits of the causes, but of the persons;
not the rights, but the gifts; not justice, but money; not what reason dictates,
but what the will affects; not what the law sanctions, but what the mind longs for. You do not incline the mind to justice, but you incline justice to the mind,
not so that what is licit may be pleasing, but so that what is pleasing may be licit. Never is
the eye in you so simple that the whole body may be lucid, but you always mix in some
leaven by which you corrupt the whole mass.

Pauperum causam cum mora negligitis, divitum causam cum instancia promovetis; in illis rigorem ostenditis, cum istis ex mansuetudine dispensatis; illos cum difficultate respicitis, istos cum favore tractatis; illos negligenter auditis, istos subtiliter ascultatis. Clamat pauper et nullus exaudit; loquitur dives et omnis applaudit. "Dives locutus est, et omnes tacuerunt, et verbum illius usque ad nubes producitur; pauper locutus est, et dicunt: "Quis est hic?", et si offenderit, subvertent illum." "Clamat vim paciens et non est qui exaudiat; vociferatur et non est qui iudicet." Si forte pauperum causam suscipitis, illos remisse fovetis; cum autem divitum causam assumitis, illos pertinaciter adiuvatis.

The cause of the poor you neglect with delay, you promote the cause of the rich with instancy; in those you display rigor, with these you dispense out of mansuetude; those you regard with difficulty, these you treat with favor; those you hear negligently, these you subtly listen to. The poor man cries out and no one hearkens; the rich man speaks and everyone applauds. "The rich man has spoken, and all were silent, and his word is carried forth even to the clouds; the poor man has spoken, and they say: "Who is this?", and if he should offend, they will overthrow him." "He cries out, suffering violence, and there is no one to hearken; he vociferates and there is no one to judge." If perchance you take up the cause of the poor, you foster them remissly; but when you assume the cause of the rich, you aid them pertinaciously.

Pauperes despicitis, divites honoratis; istis reverenter assurgitis, illos despicabiliter conculcatis. "Si introierit in conventu vestro vir aureum habens anulum in veste candida, introierit et pauper in sordido habitu, et intendatis in eum qui indutus est veste preclara et dixeritis ei: "Sede hic bene", pauperi vero dicatis: "Tu sta illic", aut "Sede sub scabello pedum meorum", nonne iudicatis apud vosmetipsos et facti estis iudices cogitacionum iniquarum?" De vobis enim et contra vos dicit propheta: "Magnificati sunt et ditati, incrassati sunt et inpinguati; causam pupilli non dixerunt, iudicium pauperum non iudicaverunt." Set in lege precipitur: "Nulla erit distancia personarum: ita parvum audietis ut magnum. Nec accipietis cuiusquam personam, quia Dei iudicium est." "Non est enim personarum accepcio apud Deum."

You despise the poor, you honor the rich; to these you rise up reverently, those
despicably you trample down. "If there should enter into your assembly a man having a golden
ring in a shining garment, and there should enter also a poor man in a sordid habit,
and you pay attention to him who is clothed in a splendid garment and you say to him: 'Sit
here well,' but to the poor you say: 'You, stand there,' or 'Sit under the footstool of my feet,'
do you not judge within yourselves and have become judges of iniquitous cogitations?" For of you and against you the prophet says:
"They have been magnified and enriched, they have grown thick and have been fattened; the cause of the orphan
they have not pleaded, the judgment of the poor they have not judged." But in the Law it is prescribed:
"There shall be no distinction of persons: thus you shall hear the small as the great. Nor shall you accept
anyone’s person, because the judgment is God’s." "For there is no acceptation of persons
with God."

[5] DE VENDICIONE IUSTICIE

[5] ON THE SELLING OF JUSTICE

Vos autem nec graciam gratis datis nec iusticiam iuste redditis, quia ubi non venit, non provenit, nec datur nisi vendatur. Sepe iusticiam tantum differtis quod litigantibus plusquam totum aufertis, quia maior est sumptus expense quam fructus sentencie. Quid autem illi poteritis in districto iudicio respondere qui precipit: "Gratis accepistis; gratis date"? Lucrum in archa, dampnum in consciencia: pecuniam captatis, set animam captivatis.

But you neither give grace gratis nor render justice justly, for
where it does not come, it does not come forth, nor is it given unless it be sold. Often you so far
defer justice that you take away from the litigants more than the whole, because the cost of the expense
is greater than the fruit of the sentence. And what will you be able to answer in the strict
judgment to Him who commands: "Gratis you have received; gratis give"? Lucre in the coffer,
loss in the conscience: you grasp at money, but you take the soul captive.

Verum "quid proficit homini si mundum universum lucretur anime vero sue detrimentum paciatur? Aut quam dabit homo commutacionem pro anima sua?" "Frater non redimet, redimet homo? Non dabit Deo placacionem suam, nec precium redempcionis anime sue; laborabit in eternum et vivet in finem." Audite, divites, quid contra vos Iacobus ait: "Agite nunc, divites; plorate ululantes in miseriis vestris que evenient vobis.

But "what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer loss to his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?" "A brother does not redeem—shall a man redeem? He will not give to God his placation, nor the price of the redemption of his soul; he will labor for ever and live to the end." Hear, you rich, what James says against you: "Come now, you rich; weep, howling in your miseries which will come upon you.

Divicie vestre putrefacte sunt, et vestimenta vestra a tineis comesta sunt; aurum et argentum vestrum eruginavit, et erugo eorum erit vobis in testimonium et manducabit carnes vestras sicut ignis. Thesaurizastis vobis iram in novissimis diebus. Ecce, merces operariorum qui messuerunt regiones vestras, que fraudata est a vobis, clamat, et clamor ipsorum in aures Domini Sabaoth introivit." Propterea Veritas dicit: "Nolite thesaurizare vobis thesauros in terra, ubi erugo et tinea demolitur, ubi fures effodiunt et furantur."

Your riches have putrefied, and your garments have been eaten by moths; your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be for you a testimony and will devour your flesh like fire. You have treasured up for yourselves wrath in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who have reaped your fields, which has been defrauded by you, cries out, and their cry has entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Therefore Truth says: "Do not treasure up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moth demolish, where thieves dig through and steal."

[6] DE INSACIABILI DESIDERIO CUPIDORUM

[6] ON THE INSATIABLE DESIRE OF THE COVETOUS

Ignis inextinguibilis cupiditas insaciabilis! Quis unquam cupidus primo fuit voto contentus? Cum adipiscitur quod optaverat, desiderat ampliora semper in habendis et nunquam in habitis finem constituit.

Inextinguishable fire, insatiable cupidity! Who ever of the covetous was content with the first
wish? When he acquires what he had wished for, he desires ampler
things, always setting his end in things to be had and never in things already had.

"Insaciabilis est oculus cupidi; in partem iniquitatis non saciabitur." "Avarus non inplebitur pecunia, et qui amat pecunias fructus non capiet ex eis." Infernus et perdicio nunquam replentur, similiter et oculi hominum insaciabiles. "Sanguisuge due sunt filie dicentes: "Affer, affer"." Nam "crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit."

"Insatiable is the eye of the greedy; in the portion of iniquity it will not be sated." "The avaricious will not be filled with money, and he who loves moneys will not take fruit from them." Hell and perdition are never filled, likewise the eyes of men are insatiable. "The leech has two daughters saying: "Bring, bring"." For "the love of coin grows, just as the money itself grows."

[7] QUARE CUPIDUS SACIARI NON POTEST

[7] WHY THE GREEDY MAN CANNOT BE SATIATED

Vis, o cupide, scire quare semper es vacuus et nunquam impleris? Adverte: non est plena mensura que, quantumcumque contineat, adhuc capax est amplioris. Set humanus animus capax est Dei, quoniam qui adheret Deo unus spiritus est cum eo. Quantumlibet ergo contineat, nunquam est plenus nisi Deum habeat, cuius semper est capax.

Do you wish, O greedy one, to know why you are always empty and never filled? Pay attention: a measure is not full which, however much it contains, is still capable of more. But the human soul is capable of God, since he who adheres to God is one spirit with him. Therefore, however much it may contain, it is never full unless it has God, of whom it is always capable.

Si vis ergo, cupide, saciari, desinas esse cupidus, quia dum cupidus fueris saciari non poteris. Non est enim convencio lucis ad tenebras, neque Christi ad Belial, quia nemo potest Deo servire et mammone.

If you wish, therefore, O desirous one, to be satiated, cease to be desirous, for while you are desirous you will not be able to be satiated. For there is no convention of light with darkness, nor of Christ with Belial, since no one can serve God and Mammon.

[8] DE FALSO NOMINE DIVICIARUM

[8] ON THE FALSE NAME OF RICHES

O falsa diviciarum felicitas, que divitem veraciter efficit infelicem! Quid enim falsius quam opes mundi? Divicie nuncupantur?

O false felicity of riches, which verily makes the rich man unhappy! For what is more false than the world’s opulence? Are they denominated “riches”?

Opposita sunt esse divitem et egenum. At opes mundi non auferunt set afferunt egestatem. Magis enim sufficit modicum pauperi quam plurimum diviti, quoniam "ubi multe divicie, multi comedent eas." Quot et quantis magnates indigeant, ipsemet frequenter experior.

Opposed are being rich and being needy.
But the wealth of the world does not take away but brings indigence. For
a little suffices the poor man more than the very most for the rich man, since “where there are many
riches, many will consume them.” How many things and how great things the magnates need, I myself
frequently experience.

Opes itaque non faciunt divitem, set egenum.

Therefore, riches do not make a man rich, but needy.

[9] EXEMPLA CONTRA CUPIDITATEM

[9] EXAMPLES AGAINST CUPIDITY

Quam multos seduxit cupiditas! Quam plures perdidit avaricia! Balaam asella redarguit et pedes sedentis attrivit quia, captus cupiditate promissorum, disposuerat maledicere Israeli.

How many has cupidity led astray! How many more has avarice destroyed! Balaam a she-ass rebuked, and she crushed the feet of the one sitting, because, seized by the cupidity of the promises, he had purposed to curse Israel.

Achor populus lapidavit quia tulit aurum et argentum de anathemate Iericho. Naboth interemptus est ut Achab vineam possideret. Gyezi lepra perfudit quia peciit et recepit argentum et vestes sub nomine Helysei.

The people stoned Achor because he took gold and silver from the anathema of Jericho. Naboth was put to death so that Achab might possess the vineyard. Gyezi was suffused with leprosy because he sought and received silver and garments under the name of Helyseus.

Iudas laqueo se suspendit quia vendidit et tradidit Christum. Ananiam et Saphiram subitanea mors extinxit quia de precio agri defraudaverunt apostolum. "Edificavit Tyrus municionem suam et coacervavit argentum quasi humum et aurum ut lutum platearum.

Judas hanged himself with a noose because he sold and betrayed Christ. A sudden death extinguished Ananias and Sapphira because from the price of the field they defrauded the apostle. "Tyre built its fortification and heaped up silver like earth and gold like the mire of the streets.

Set ecce, Dominus possidebit eam et percuciet in mari fortitudinem eius et hec igni devorabit."

But behold, the Lord will possess her, and he will smite her strength in the sea, and this will be devoured by fire."

[10] DE INIQUA POSSESSIONE DIVICIARUM

[10] ON THE INIQUITOUS POSSESSION OF RICHES

Verum est quod sapiens protestatur: "Multos perdidit aurum et argentum." "Qui aurum diligit non iustificabitur." Ve illis qui sectantur illud: "Ecce, ipsi peccatores, et habundantes in seculo optinuerunt divicias." Hinc Veritas ipsa precipiebat apostolis: "Nolite possidere aurum neque argentum neque pecuniam in zonis vestris," quia "sicut camelus non potest introire per foramen acus, ita difficile est divitem intrare in regnum celorum." Arta est enim via et angusta porta per quam itur et intratur ad vitam. Apostolus ergo, secutus regulam Veritatis, aiebat: "Argentum et aurum non est michi." "Ve ergo qui coniungitis domum ad domum et agrum ad agrum copulatis usque ad terminum loci." "Repleta est terra auro et argento, et non est finis thesaurorum eius." "Propter iniquitatem avaricie eius iratus sum et percussi eam."

It is true what the wise man bears witness: "Gold and silver have destroyed many." "He who loves gold will not be justified." Woe to those who follow that: "Behold, the very sinners, and abounding in the age, have obtained riches." Hence Truth itself was enjoining the apostles: "Do not possess gold nor silver nor money in your belts," because "just as a camel cannot enter through the eye of a needle, so it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of the heavens." The way is, indeed, strait and the gate narrow by which one goes and enters unto life. Therefore the Apostle, having followed the rule of Truth, was saying: "Silver and gold I do not have." "Woe, then, you who join house to house and couple field to field up to the limit of the place." "The land is filled with gold and silver, and there is no end of its treasures." "On account of the iniquity of her avarice I was angry and I struck her."

[11] DE LICITIS OPIBUS

[11] ON LICIT WEALTH

Ceterum Abraham dives fuit, Iob locuplex, David opulentus. Et tamen de Abraham inquit scriptura quia "credidit Deo et reputatum est ei ad iusticiam"; et de Iob quia "non erat ei similis in terra, vir simplex et rectus ac timens Deum et recedens a malo"; de David autem quia Dominus invenerit virum secundum cor suum. At isti fuerunt "quasi nichil habentes et omnia possidentes," secundum illud prophete: "Divicie si affluant, nolite cor apponere." Nos autem sumus omnia possidentes quasi nichil habentes, secundum illud psalmiste: "Divites eguerunt et esurierunt." Facilius enim invenies qui diligat divicias et non habeat quam qui habeat divicias et non diligat, quia difficile est esse in igne et non ardere, difficilius est possidere divicias et non amare.

Nevertheless Abraham was rich, Job full of wealth, David opulent. And yet of Abraham, Scripture says that “he believed God and it was reputed to him unto justice”; and of Job, that “there was none like him on the earth, a simple and straight man, and fearing God and withdrawing from evil”; but of David, that the Lord had found “a man according to His heart.” And these were “as if having nothing and possessing all things,” according to that word of the prophet: “If riches overflow, do not set your heart.” But we are those possessing all things as if having nothing, according to that of the psalmist: “The rich have lacked and hungered.” For you will more easily find someone who loves riches and does not have them than someone who has riches and does not love them, because it is difficult to be in fire and not burn; it is more difficult to possess riches and not love them.

Audi prophetam: "A minore usque ad maiorem, omnes avaricie student, et a propheta usque ad sacerdotem cuncti faciunt dolum."

Hear the prophet: "From the lesser up to the greater, all are devoted to avarice,
and from prophet up to priest, all practice deceit."

[12] DE INCERTITUDINE DIVICIARUM

[12] ON THE UNCERTAINTY OF RICHES

Omnis cupidus et avarus contra naturam nititur et molitur. Natura namque pauperem adducit in mundum; natura pauperem reducit a mundo. Nudum enim terra suscepit, et nudum terra suscipiet.

Every covetous and avaricious man strives and contrives against nature. For nature
brings a poor man into the world; nature leads the poor man back from the world. For naked
the earth received him, and naked the earth will receive him.

Cupidus autem cupit et curat fieri dives in mundo. "Destruam," inquit, "horrea mea, et maiora faciam, et illuc congregabo omnia que nata sunt michi et omnia bona mea." Set "o stulte, hac nocte repetetur anima tua a te, que autem parasti cuius erunt?" "Thesaurizas, et ignoras cui congreges." "Dormierunt sompnum suum, et nichil invenerunt omnes viri diviciarum in manibus suis." "Dives, cum dormierit, nichil secum afferet; aperiet oculos suos et nichil inveniet." "Ne timueris ergo cum dives factus fuerit homo et cum multiplicata fuerit gloria domus eius; non enim, cum morietur, accipiet hec omnia, neque descendet cum eo gloria eius." Set "relinquent alienis divicias suas, et sepulchra eorum domus illorum in eternum." Hinc eciam sapiens attestatur: "Qui acervat ex animo suo iniuste aliis congregat, et in bonis suis alius luxuriabitur." Proh dolor, quem habebat hostem dimittit heredem.

But the desirous man desires and takes care to become rich in the world. "I will destroy," he says, "my granaries, and I will make greater ones, and there I will gather together all that has been produced for me and all my goods." But "O fool, this night your soul will be demanded back from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose will they be?" "You are treasuring up, and you do not know for whom you are gathering." "They slept their sleep, and all men of riches found nothing in their hands." "The rich man, when he has slept, will bring nothing with him; he will open his eyes and will find nothing." "Do not fear therefore when a man has been made rich and when the glory of his house has been multiplied; for when he dies he will not take all these things, nor will his glory descend with him." But "they will leave to others their riches, and the sepulchres of them are the houses their forever." Hence also the wise man attests: "He who heaps up from his own soul unjustly gathers for others, and in his goods another will luxuriate." Alas, the one whom he had as an enemy he sends forth as an heir.

[13] DE SOLLICITUDINE CUPIDORUM

[13] ON THE SOLICITUDE OF THE COVETOUS

Cur ad congregandum quis instet cum stare non possit ille qui congregat? Nam "quasi flos egreditur et conteritur et fugit velut umbra et nunquam in eodum statu permanet." Cur multa desideret cum pauca sufficiant? "Habentes," inquit, "victum et vestitum, his contenti sitis." Cur necessaria cum multa sollicitudine querat cum ipsa sine magna difficultate se offerant?

Why should anyone press to congregate, when he who congregates cannot stand? For “like a flower he goes forth and is crushed, and he flees like a shadow, and never remains in the same state.” Why should he desire many things, when few suffice? “Having,” he says, “victuals and vesture, be content with these.” Why should he seek the necessities with much solicitude, when they offer themselves without great difficulty?

Audi quid super hoc Veritas dicat: "Nolite solliciti esse, dicentes: "Quid manducabimus" aut "Quid bibemus" aut "Quo operiemur?" Scit enim Pater vester quia his omnibus indigetis. Querite ergo primum regnum Dei et iusticiam eius, et hec omnia adicientur vobis." "Nunquam enim vidi iustum derelictum nec semen eius querens panem."

Hear what Truth says concerning this: "Do not be anxious, saying: "What shall we eat" or "What shall we drink" or "With what shall we be clothed?" For your Father knows that you need all these things. Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things will be added to you." "For I have never seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread."

[14] DE AVARICIA

[14] ON AVARICE

"Tantalus sitit in undis, et avarus eget in opibus." Cui tantum est quod habet quantum est quod non habet, quia nunquam utitur adquisitis, set semper inhiat adquirendis. Salomon: "Est quasi dives cum nichil habeat, et est quasi pauper cum in multis diviciis sit." Avarus et infernus uterque comedit et non digerit, recipit et non reddit. Avarus nec pacientibus compatitur nec miseris miseretur, set offendit Deum, offendit proximum, offendit seipsum.

"Tantalus thirsts in the waves, and the avaricious man lacks amid wealth." For to him, what he has amounts to as much as what he does not have, because he never makes use of things acquired,
but always gapes after things to be acquired. Solomon: "There is one as if rich when he has nothing,
and there is one as if poor when he is among many riches." The avaricious man and Hell—each
eats and does not digest, receives and does not give back. The avaricious man neither shows compassion to the suffering
nor has mercy on the wretched, but offends God, offends his neighbor, offends himself.

Nam Deo retinet debita, proximo denegat necessaria, sibi subtrahit opportuna. Deo ingratus, proximo impius, sibi crudelis. "Viro cupido et tenaci sine racione est substancia, et homini livido ad quid aurum?" "Qui sibi nequam est, cui alii bonus erit?

For he retains what is owed to God, denies to his neighbor what is necessary, subtracts from himself what is opportune. Ungrateful to God, impious toward his neighbor, cruel to himself. "To a covetous and tenacious man, without reason is substance, and for an envious man, to what purpose is gold?" "He who is wicked to himself, to whom will he be good?

Non iocundabitur in bonis suis." "Qui habet substanciam huius mundi et videt fratrem suum necessitatem habere et clauserit viscera sua ab eo, quomodo caritas Dei manet in ipso?" Non enim proximum suum diligit sicut seipsum íŸÏ quem inedia sinit perimi, egestate consumi; neque Deum diligit super omnia íŸÏ cui prefert aurum, preponit argentum.

He will not rejoice in his goods." "He who has the substance of this world and sees his brother to be in need and has shut his compassion from him, how does the charity of God abide in him?" For he does not love his neighbor as himself íŸÏ he who allows him to perish by hunger, to be consumed by indigence; nor does he love God above all íŸÏ he who prefers gold to Him, sets silver before Him.

[15] QUOD AVARICIA DICATUR YDOLORUM SERVITUS

[15] THAT AVARICE IS CALLED THE SERVITUDE OF IDOLS

Recte diffinit Apostolus: "Avaricia est idolorum servitus." Sicut enim ydolatra servit symulachro, sic avarus servit thesauro. Nam ille cultum ydolatrie diligenter amplificat, et iste cumulum pecunie libenter augmentat. Ille cum omni diligencia colit symulachrum, et iste cum omni cura custodit thesaurum.

Rightly the Apostle defines: "Avarice is the service of idols." For just as the idolater serves the idol, so the avaricious man serves his treasure. For that man diligently amplifies the cult of idolatry, and this one willingly augments the heap of money. That one with all diligence worships the idol, and this one with all care guards the treasure.

Ille spem ponit in ydolatria, et iste spem constituit in pecunia. Ille timet mutilare symulachrum, et iste timet minuere thesaurum.

He places his hope in idolatry, and this one sets his hope in money. He fears to mutilate the simulacrum, and this one fears to diminish the treasure.

[16] DE QUIBUSDAM PROPRIETATIBUS AVARI

[16] ON CERTAIN PROPERTIES OF THE AVARICIOUS MAN

Avarus ad petendum promtus, ad dandum tardus, ad negandum frontuosus. Si quid expendit, totum amittit. Tristis, querulus, et morosus, sollicitus, suspirat; dubius, heret; invitus, inpendit.

The avaricious man is prompt for petitioning, tardy for giving, brazen‑faced in denying. If he expends anything, he loses the whole. Sad, querulous, and morose, solicitous, he sighs; doubtful, he hesitates; unwilling, he expends.

Magnificat datum, set vilificat dandum; dat ut lucretur, set non lucratur ut det. Largus in alieno, set avarus in proprio. Gulam evacuat ut archam adimpleat; corpus extenuat ut lucrum extendat.

He magnifies what is given, but vilifies the giving; he gives in order to profit, but he does not profit in order to give. Lavish in another’s, but avaricious in his own. He empties the gullet so that he may fill the coffer; he attenuates the body so that he may extend gain.

"Manum habet ad dandum collectam, set ad accipiendum porrectam"; ad dandum clausam, set ad recipiendum apertam. Porro "substancie iniustorum sicut fluvius siccabuntur," quia qui male congregat cito dispergit. Iustum iudicium ut que de malo proveniunt ad malum perveniant, nec accedat ad bonum quod non procedit ex bono.

"He has his hand gathered for giving, but stretched out for receiving"; for giving closed, but for receiving open. Moreover, "the substance of the unjust, like a river, shall dry up," because he who ill-gathers quickly scatters. A just judgment: that the things which proceed from evil should arrive at evil, nor should that accede to the good which does not proceed from the good.

Avarus ergo habet dampnacionem vite que nunc est et future.

Therefore the avaricious man has the damnation of the life which now is and of the future.

[17] DE GULA

[17] ON GLUTTONY

"Inicium vite hominis aqua et panis et vestimentum et domus protegens turpitudinem." Nunc autem gulosis non sufficiunt fructus arborum, nec genera leguminum, nec radices herbarum, nec pisces maris, nec bestie terre, nec aves celi, set querunt pigmenta, comparant aromata, nutriunt altilia, capiunt obesa, que studiose coquantur arte cocorum, que laute parentur officio ministrorum. Alius contundit et colat, alius confundit et conficit, substanciam vertit in accidens, naturam mutat in artem, ut saturitas transeat in esuriem, ut fastidium revocet appetitum; ad irritandam gulam, non ad sustentandam naturam; non ad necessitatem supplendam, set ad aviditatem explendam. Ceterum tam breve est gule voluptas ut spacio loci vix sit quatuor digitorum, spacio temporis vix sit totidem momentorum.

"The beginning of a man's life: water and bread and clothing and a house shielding turpitude." Now, however, to gluttons the fruits of trees do not suffice, nor the kinds of legumes, nor the roots of herbs, nor the fishes of the sea, nor the beasts of the earth, nor the birds of heaven, but they seek condiments, they purchase aromatics, they nourish fattened fowl, they select the obese, that they may be carefully cooked by the art of cooks, that they may be luxuriously prepared by the service of attendants. One pounds and strains, another mixes together and brings to completion, he turns substance into accident, he changes nature into art, so that satiety may pass into hunger, so that loathing may recall appetite; for the irritating of the gullet, not for the sustaining of nature; not for supplying necessity, but for fulfilling avidity. Moreover, so brief is the pleasure of the gullet that in the space of place it is scarcely four fingers’ breadth, in the space of time it is scarcely the same number of moments.

Contempnitur mediocritas, et superfluitas affectatur. In diversitate ciborum et varietate saporum aviditas nescit modum, et voracitas excedit mensuram. Set inde gravatur stomachus, turbatur sensus, opprimitur intellectus; inde non salus et sanitas, set morbus et mors.

Moderation is despised, and superfluity
is sought after. In the diversity of foods and the variety of flavors avidity does not know
a limit, and voracity exceeds the measure. But from this the stomach is weighed down, the sense is disturbed, the intellect is oppressed; from this, not safety and health, but disease and death.

Audi super hoc sentenciam sapientis: "Noli avidus esse in omni epulacione, et non te effundas super omnem escam; in multis enim escis erit infirmitas, et propter crapulam multi obierunt." "Esca ventri et venter escis: Deus autem et hunc et has destruet."

Hear on this the judgment of the wise man: "Do not be avid in every banqueting, and do not pour yourself out upon every food; for in many foods there will be infirmity, and because of crapulence many have perished." "Food for the belly and the belly for foods: but God will destroy both it and them."

[18] EXEMPLA CONTRA GULAM

[18] EXAMPLES AGAINST GLUTTONY

Gula carum tributum exigit, set vilissimum reddit, quia quanto sunt delicaciora cibaria, tanto fetidiora sunt stercora. Turpiter egerit quod turpiter ingerit, superius et inferius horribilem flatum exprimens, et abominabilem sonum emittens. Gula paradisum clausit, primogenita vendidit, suspendit pistorem, decollavit Baptistam.

Gluttony exacts a dear tribute, but renders the vilest, because the more
delicate the victuals, the more fetid the excrements are. He foully excretes what he foully
ingests, expressing a horrible flatulence above and below, and emitting an abominable sound.
Gluttony closed Paradise, sold the birthright, hanged the baker, beheaded the Baptist.

Nabuzardan, princeps cocorum, templum incendit et Ierusalem totam evertit. Balthasar in convivio manum contra se scribentem aspexit: "Mane, Thechel, Phares," et eadem nocte interfectus est a Chaldeis. "Sedit populus manducare et bibere, et surrexerunt ludere," set "adhuc esce eorum erant in ore ipsorum, et ira Dei ascendit super eos." "Qui vescebantur voluptuose interierunt in viis." Dives ille qui "epulabatur cotidie splendide" "sepultus est in inferno."

Nebuzaradan, chief of the cooks, burned the temple and utterly overthrew all Jerusalem. Belshazzar at a banquet beheld a hand writing against him: "Mane, Thechel, Phares," and that same night he was slain by the Chaldeans. "The people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to play," but "while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God arose over them." "Those who fed voluptuously perished in the ways." That rich man who "feasted splendidly every day" "was buried in hell."

[19] DE EBRIETATE

[19] ON DRUNKENNESS

Quid turpius ebrioso, cui fetor est in ore, tremor in corpore; qui promit stulta, prodit occulta; cui mens alienatur, facies transformatur? "Nullum enim secretum ubi regnat ebrietas." "Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum?" Porro non sufficit vinum, non sicera, non cervisia, set studiose conficitur mulsum, syropus, claretum labore multo, sollicitudine non modica, sumptu maximo. Set inde contenciones et rixe, lites et iurgia.

What is more disgraceful than a drunkard, for whom there is a fetor in the mouth, a tremor in the body; who utters stupid things, betrays hidden things; whose mind is alienated, whose face is transformed? "For there is no secret where drunkenness reigns." "The fecund chalices—whom have they not made disert?" Moreover, wine does not suffice, nor sicera, nor cervisia, but mulsum, syropus, claretum are carefully concocted with much labor, with no small solicitude, at the greatest expense. But from that come contentions and brawls, lawsuits and wranglings.

"Vinum enim multum potatum," ut ait sapiens, "irritacionem et iram et ruinas multas facit." Et Osee: "Fornicacio et vinum et ebrietas auferunt cor." Propterea dicit Apostolus: "Fugite vinum, in quo est luxuria." Et Salomon: "Ebriosa res vinum et tumultuosa ebrietas." Filius Rechab et filius Zacharie vinum et siceram et omne quod inebriare poterat non biberunt.

"For wine in great quantity drunk," as the wise man says, "makes irritation and wrath and many ruins." And Hosea: "Fornication and wine and inebriation take away the heart." Therefore says the Apostle: "Flee wine, in which is luxury." And Solomon: "Wine is an inebriating thing, and inebriation is tumultuous." The son of Rechab and the son of Zechariah did not drink wine and strong drink and everything that could inebriate.

[20] EXEMPLA CONTRA EBRIETATEM

[20] EXAMPLES AGAINST DRUNKENNESS

Ebrietas verenda nudavit, incestum commisit, filium regis occidit, principem exercitus iugulavit. Verum est ergo quod Salomon ait: "Vacantes potibus et dantes symbolum consumentur." Et Ysaias: "Ve qui consurgitis mane ad ebrietatem sectandam et potandum usque ad vesperum ut vino estuetis. Cythara et lyra et tympanum et tibia et vinum in conviviis vestris." "Ve qui potentes estis ad bibendum vinum et viri fortes ad miscendam ebrietatem." "Ecce gaudium et leticia, occidere vitulos et iugulare arietes, comedere carnes et bibere vinum.

Drunkenness laid bare the privities, committed incest, killed the son of the king, slit the throat of the commander of the army. It is therefore true what Solomon says: "Those idle in drinking and giving the symbolum (the drinking-token) will be consumed." And Isaiah: "Woe to you who rise early to pursue drunkenness and to drink until evening so that you seethe with wine. Cithara and lyre and tympanum and tibia and wine are in your banquets." "Woe to you who are mighty to drink wine and men strong to mix drunkenness." "Behold joy and gladness: to kill calves and to slit the throats of rams, to eat meats and to drink wine."

Comedamus et bibamus, cras enim moriemur. Et revelabitur auribus meis, dicit Dominus Exercituum, "si dimittetur hec iniquitas vobis donec moriamini"." "Ve corone superbie Effraym." "Sacerdos et propheta nescierunt pre ebrietate: absorti sunt a vino, nescierunt videntem, ignoraverunt iudicium." Proh pudor, cum ad pronunciandam evangelicam leccionem a quodam patre benedictio peteretur, hesternam crapulam et nocturnam ebrietatem eructuans, fertur alta voce dixisse: "Potum servorum suorum benedicat Rex Angelorum."

Let us eat and let us drink, for tomorrow we shall die. And it shall be revealed
to my ears, says the Lord of Hosts, "if this iniquity shall be forgiven you
until you die"." "Woe to the crown of the pride of Ephraim." "Priest and prophet
did not know because of drunkenness: they have been engulfed by wine, they did not know the seer, they were ignorant of
judgment." Oh shame, when for pronouncing the evangelical lesson a blessing was sought from a certain
father, belching up yesterday’s crapulence and nocturnal ebriety,
he is reported to have said in a loud voice: "May the King of Angels bless the drink
of his servants."

[21] DE LUXURIA

[21] ON LUST

Porro turpis mater filiam generat turpiorem. Iustum est enim ut "qui in sordibus est sordescat adhuc." "Omnes adulterantes, quasi clibanus succensus a coquente. Ceperunt principes furere a vino." "Venter enim opipatus libenter Venerem amplexatur." O extrema libidinis turpitudo, que non solum effeminat, set corpus enervat; non solum maculat animam, set fedat personam.

Moreover, a base mother begets a baser daughter. For it is just that "he who is in filth should grow still more filthy." "All committing adultery, like an oven kindled by the baker. The princes began to rage from wine." "For a sumptuous belly gladly embraces Venus." O the extreme shamefulness of lust, which not only effeminates, but enervates the body; not only stains the soul, but defiles the person.

"Omne namque peccatum quodcumque fecerit homo extra corpus suum est, qui autem fornicatur in corpus suum peccat." Semper illam precedunt ardor et petulancia, semper comitantur fetor et immundicia, semper secuntur dolor et penitencia. "Favus enim distillans labia meretricis, et nitidius oleo guttur eius; novissima autem illius amara sicut absinthium et acuta quasi gladius biceps."

"For every sin whatever a man commits is outside his own body, but he who fornicates sins against his own body." Always there go before her ardor and petulance,
always there accompany fetor and uncleanness, always there follow dolor and penitence. "For the dripping honeycomb are the lips of the harlot, and her throat is more gleaming than oil;
but her last things are bitter like wormwood and sharp as a two-edged sword."

[22] DE GENERALITATE LUXURIE

[22] ON THE GENERALITY OF LUST

Familiaris est inimicus, habitans non procul, set prope, non exterius, set interius; nam "virtus eius in lumbis est, et fortitudo illius in umbilico ventris eius." Nunquam fugatur nisi cum fugitur, nunquam mactatur nisi cum maceratur. Ad causam exigit libertatem et habundanciam, set reperit ad effectum facultatem et adiacenciam. Hec omnem etatem corrumpit, omnem sexum confundit, omnem ordinem solvit, omnem gradum pervertit.

The enemy is familiar, dwelling not far off, but near, not outwardly,
but inwardly; for "his virtue is in his loins, and his fortitude in the umbilicus
of his belly." It is never put to flight unless it is fled, it is never slaughtered unless
it is macerated. For its cause it demands liberty and abundance, but it finds
for the effect faculty and adjacency. This corrupts every age, confounds every
sex, dissolves every order, perverts every rank.

Invadit enim senes et iuvenes, mares et feminas, prudentes et simplices, superiores et inferiores, ad extremum eciam sacerdotes, qui nocte Venerem amplexantur, mane Virginem venerantur. Turpe dictu, set turpissimum actu, dici liceat ut agi non libeat: nocte filium Veneris agitant in cubili, mane Filium Virginis offerunt in altari.

It invades
indeed the old and the young, males and females, the prudent and the simple, the superiors
and the inferiors, at the last even priests, who at night embrace Venus,
in the morning venerate the Virgin. Shameful to say, but most shameful in the act, let it be permitted
to be said so that it may not be pleasing to be done: at night they agitate the son of Venus in the bed, in the morning the Son
of the Virgin they offer on the altar.

[23] DE DIVERSIS SPECIEBUS LUXURIE

[23] ON THE DIVERSE SPECIES OF LUST

Quis luxurie multiplices species sufficienter valeat explicare? Hec enim Pentapolim cum adiacenti regione subvertit, Sychem cum populo interemit, Her et Onam filios Iude percussit, Iudeum et Madianitidem pugione transfodit, tribum Beniamin pro uxore Levite delevit, filios Hely sacerdotis in bello prostravit; hec Uriam occidit, Amon interfecit, presbiteros lapidavit; hec Ruben maledixit, Sansonem seduxit, Salomonem pervertit. Verum est ergo quod legitur: "Propter speciem mulieris multi perierunt." Nam "vinum et mulieres apostatare faciunt sapientes." Hec "multos vulneratos deiecit, et fortissimi quique interfecti sunt ab ea; ve inferi domus eius, penetrantes in interiora mortis." Hec vires enervat, sensus diminuit, dies consumit, opes effundit.

Who could sufficiently be able to explain the manifold species of lust? This indeed overthrew the Pentapolis with the adjacent region, did away with Shechem with its people, struck down Er and Onan, the sons of Judah, stabbed through a Judean and a Midianitess with a dagger, destroyed the tribe of Benjamin on account of the Levite’s wife, laid low in war the sons of Eli the priest; this killed Uriah, slew Amnon, stoned the priests; this cursed Reuben, seduced Samson, perverted Solomon. It is therefore true what is read: "On account of the beauty of a woman many have perished." For "wine and women make even the wise apostatize." This "has cast down many wounded, and every one of the very strong has been killed by her; the way to Hell is her house, penetrating into the inner chambers of death." This enervates the powers, diminishes the senses, consumes the days, pours out the riches.

[24] DE COITU CONTRA NATURAM

[24] ON COITUS AGAINST NATURE

Hec ignominiosam morphosym operatur, quam tamen Apostolus non confunditur nominare: "Propterea," inquit, "tradidit illos Deus in passiones ignominie. Nam femine eorum commutaverunt naturalem usum in eum qui est contra naturam. Similiter et masculi, relicto naturali usu femine, exarserunt in desideriis suis in invicem, masculi in masculos, turpitudinem operantes." Quid hac turpitudine turpius?

This works a shameful morphosis, which nevertheless the Apostle is not ashamed to name: "For this reason," he says, "God handed them over into passions of ignominy. For their females exchanged the natural use for that which is against nature. Likewise also the males, leaving the natural use of the female, burned in their desires for one another, males with males, working turpitude." What is more shameful than this turpitude?

Quid hoc crimine criminosius? In lege quasi paria coniunguntur concubitus maris cum masculo et coitus hominis cum iumento. Sic enim legitur in Levitico: "Cum masculo non commisceberis coitu femineo, quia abominacio est.

What more criminal than this crime? In the Law, as though equals, are conjoined the concubitus of a male with a male and the coitus of a human with a beast of burden. For thus it is read in Leviticus: “With a male you shall not commingle in feminine coitus, because it is an abomination.”

Cum omni pecore non coibis, nec maculaberis cum eo." Utrique par pena subscribitur: "Qui dormierit," inquit, "cum masculo coitu femineo, uterque operatus est nefas; morte moriantur. Qui cum iumento coierit, morte moriatur; pecus quoque occidite." Qui habet aures audiendi, audiat; immo, qui desipit, resipiscat.

"You shall not go together with any cattle, nor shall you be stained with it." To both an equal penalty is prescribed: "Whoever shall have lain," he says, "with a male in a feminine coitus, each has perpetrated an abomination; let them die by death. Whoever shall have gone together with a beast of burden, let him die by death; kill the beast as well." He who has ears for hearing, let him hear; nay rather, he who is senseless, let him come to his senses.

[25] DE PENA HUIUS SCELERIS

[25] ON THE PENALTY OF THIS CRIME

Pena docuit quid hec culpa promeruit: "Pluit enim Dominus super Sodomam et Gomorram sulphur et ignem a Domino de celo." Noluit Dominus cuiquam angelorum vel hominum execucionem huius pene committere, set sibi ipsi vindictam huius sceleris reservavit, secundum illud: "Michi vindictam, et ego retribuam." Et ideo pluit Dominus a Domino, videlicet a semetipso, non imbrem vel rorem, sed sulphur et ignem íŸÏ sulphur propter vel super fetorem luxurie, ignem super ardorem libidinis íŸÏ quatinus pena similis esset culpe. Nec "misisse" dicitur, set "pluisse," quatinus ipso verbo magnitudinem et habundanciam pene notaret. Nemini pepercit oculus eius, set omnes simul extinxit.

Punishment taught what this fault merited: “For the Lord rained upon Sodom
and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” The Lord was unwilling
to entrust the execution of this penalty to any of the angels or of men, but to himself
he reserved the vengeance of this crime, according to that: “Vengeance is mine,
and I will repay.” And therefore the Lord rained from the Lord, namely from himself,
not rain or dew, but sulphur and fire íŸÏ sulphur on account of or upon
the stench of luxury, fire upon the ardor of libido íŸÏ so that the penalty might be
similar to the fault. Nor is it said “that he sent,” but “that he rained,” so that by the very word
he might mark the magnitude and abundance of the penalty. His eye spared no one,
but he extinguished all at once.

Uxorem quoque Loth, que retro respexit, in statuam salis mutavit; nec solum urbes, set omnem circa regionem in mare mortuum et vallem salinarum convertit. "Horrendum est igitur incidere in manus Dei viventis": qui quanto maiorem sue longanimitatis exhibet pacienciam, tanto duriorem sue severitatis infert vindictam.

He also changed the wife of Lot, who looked back, into a statue
of salt; and not only the cities, but he converted the whole surrounding region into the Dead Sea
and a valley of saltworks. "It is therefore horrendous to fall into the hands
of the living God": who, the greater a patience of his longanimity he exhibits,
the harsher a vengeance of his severity he inflicts.

[26] DE AMBICIOSO

[26] ON THE AMBITIOUS MAN

Opes itaque cupidus congregat et avarus conservat, voluptates gulosus degustat et luxuriosus exercet, honores ambiciosus affectat et superbus extollit. Ambiciosus autem semper est pavidus, semper attentus, ne quid dicat vel faciat quod in oculis hominum valeat displicere. Humilitatem simulat, honestatem mentitur, affabilitatem exhibet, benignitatem ostendit, subsequitur et obsequitur, cunctos honorat, universis inclinat, frequentat curias, visitat optimates, assurgit et amplexatur, applaudit et adulatur.

Thus the covetous gathers wealth and the avaricious conserves it; the glutton tastes pleasures and the luxurious man practices them; the ambitious strives after honors and the proud exalts them. The ambitious man, however, is always timorous, always attentive, lest he say or do anything that might displease in the eyes of men. He simulates humility, feigns honesty, exhibits affability, shows benignity, follows and is obsequious, honors all, bows to everyone, frequents the curiae, visits the optimates, rises and embraces, applauds and flatters.

Bene novit illud poeticum: "Et si nullus erit pulvis, tamen excute nullum." Promptus et fervidus ubi placere cognoverit, remissus et tepidus ubi putaverit displicere. Improbat mala, detestatur iniqua, set alia cum aliis probat et improbat ut iudicetur idoneus, ut reputetur acceptus, ut laudetur ab omnibus, ut a singulis approbetur. Et ecce, gravem intra se sustinet pugnam, difficilemque conflictum, dum iniquitas pulsat animum et ambicio continet manum, et quod illa suggerit faciendum, hec fieri non permittit.

He knows well that poetic saying: "And even if there will be no dust, nevertheless shake out none." Prompt and fervid when he has learned he will please, remiss and tepid when he has supposed he will displease. He disapproves evils, he detests iniquitous things, but he with some approves and with others disapproves, in order that he may be judged apt, that he may be reputed acceptable, that he may be lauded by all, that he may be approved by each individual. And behold, he sustains within himself a grave fight, and a difficult conflict, while iniquity beats upon his mind and ambition restrains his hand, and what the former suggests should be done, the latter does not permit to be done.

Colludunt tamen ad invicem mater et filia, iniquitas et ambicio: nam mater in aperto subsistit, et in occulto filia non resistit. Hec vero vendicat sibi publicum, illa secretum. Ambiciosus libenter agit de principatu quem ambit, et dicit: "O quando principabitur ille qui severus sit in iusticia, pius in misericordia, qui non deviet amore vel odio, qui non corrumpatur prece vel precio, qui credat fidelibus et adquiescat supplicibus, qui sit humilis et benignus, largus et mansuetus, constans et patiens, sapiens et astutus?"

Yet mother and daughter collude with one another, iniquity and ambition: for the mother stands in the open, and in secret the daughter does not resist. This one claims for herself the public, that one the secret. The ambitious man gladly deals with the principate which he aims at, and says: "O when will he rule as prince who is severe in justice, pious in mercy, who does not deviate by love or by hatred, who is not corrupted by entreaty or by price, who trusts the faithful and acquiesces to suppliants, who is humble and benign, generous and meek, constant and patient, wise and astute?"

[27] DE NIMIA CONCUPISCENCIA

[27] ON EXCESSIVE CONCUPISCENCE

Si forte hac arte non proficit, recurit ad aliam. Advocat Symonem et accedit ad Gyezi; per hunc ab illo nititur emere quod per se non valet optinere. Supplicat et promittit, offert et tribuit.

If perchance by this art she does not profit, she runs back to another. She summons Simon and
approaches Gehazi; through this one from that one she strives to buy what she is not able by herself to
obtain. She supplicates and promises, offers and bestows.

Proh pudor! Graciam quam gratis adipisci non potuit per nephas adipisci nititur. Nec desistit adhuc, set insistit et invadit violenter honorem, et impudenter arripit dignitatem; amicorum suffragio, subsidio propinquorum, tantoque dominacionis inflatur ardore, tanta libidine presidendi, ut scisma non horreat, scandalum non formidet.

Oh, shame! The grace
which he could not obtain gratis, he strives to obtain by nefarious means. Nor does he desist
as yet, but he persists and violently invades honor, and impudently snatches
dignity; by the suffrage of friends, by the subsidy of kinsmen, and so inflated with the ardor of domination,
with such a lust of presiding, that he does not shudder at schism, nor
dread scandal.

Set Gyezi lepra percussit, et Symon periit cum pecunia; Chore autem cum complicibus suis ignis absumpsit; Dathan et Abyron terra vivos absorbuit. "Nullus itaque sibi assumat honorem set qui vocatur a Deo, tanquam Aaron."

But Gehazi was struck with leprosy, and Simon perished with his money; Korah however with his accomplices the fire consumed; Dathan and Abiron the earth swallowed alive. "Therefore let no one assume the honor for himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron."

[28] EXEMPLUM DE AMBICIOSO

[28] EXAMPLE ABOUT THE AMBITIOUS MAN

Liquidum ambicionis exemplum reperitur in Absalone, qui, cum aspiraret ad regnum, "fecit sibi currum et equites et quinquaginta viros qui precederent eum. Et mane consurgens, Absalon stabat iuxta introitum porte, et omnem virum qui habebat negocium ut veniret ad regis iudicium, vocabat ad se et dicebat: "De qua civitate es tu?" Qui, respondens, aiebat: "Ex una tribu Israel ego servus tuus". Responditque ei Absalon: "Videntur michi sermones tui iusti et boni, set non est qui te audiat constitutus a rege". Dixitque Absalon: "Quis me constituat iudicem super terram, ut ad me veniant omnes qui habent negocium et iuste iudicem?" Set cum accederet ad eum homo et salutaret illum, extendebat manum suam et, apprehendens, osculabatur illum. Faciebatque hec omni Israeli qui veniebat ad iudicium ut audiretur a rege, et sollicitabat corda virorum Israel." Cumque abisset Absalon in Ebron, "misit exploratores in universas tribus Israel, dicens: "Statim ut audieritis clangorem buccine, dicite: "Regnavit Rex Absalon in Ebron""." Et "facta est coniuracio valida, populusque concurrens augebatur cum Absalon."

A clear example of ambition is found in Absalom, who, when he aspired
to the kingdom, "made for himself a chariot and horsemen and fifty men to go before
him. And, rising in the morning, Absalom would stand beside the entrance of the gate, and every
man who had a business to come to the king’s judgment he would call to himself
and say: "From what city are you?" He, answering, would say: "From
one tribe of Israel I, your servant." And Absalom replied to him: "Your words seem
to me just and good, but there is no one appointed by the king to hear you."
And Absalom said: "Who will appoint me judge over the land,
that all who have a business may come to me and I may judge justly?" But when
a man would approach him and greet him, he would stretch out his hand and, taking hold,
kiss him. And he would do these things to all Israel who came to judgment
to be heard by the king, and he was soliciting the hearts of the men of Israel." And when Absalom had gone
to Hebron, "he sent spies into all the tribes of Israel, saying:
"As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, say: "King Absalom has reigned
in Hebron"." And "the conspiracy became strong, and the people running together were increasing
with Absalom."

[29] QUAM BREVIS ET MISERA VITA MAGNATUM

[29] HOW BRIEF AND MISERABLE THE LIFE OF MAGNATES

Sed esto sullimetur in altum, provehatur ad summum. Cure succrescunt, sollicitudines cumulantur, extenduntur ieiunia, vigilie producuntur. Ex quibus natura corrumpitur, spiritus infirmatur, corripitur sompnus, amittitur appetitus, debilitatur virtus, corpus attenuatur.

But suppose he is lifted on high, borne forward to the very summit. Cares grow apace, solicitudes are heaped up, fasts are extended, vigils are prolonged. From which nature is corrupted, the spirit is enfeebled, sleep is curtailed, appetite is lost, strength is debilitated, the body is attenuated.

Et sic in seipso deficiens, non dimidiat dies suos, set miserabilem vitam miserabiliori fine concludit. Unde est illud poeticum: "In se magna ruunt, summisque negatum est stare diu; tolluntur in altum ut lapsu graviore ruant." Verius est autem illud propheticum: "Vidi superexaltatum" et cetera; et "transivi et ecce non erat" et cetera. "Antequam dies eius repleantur peribit; ledetur quasi vinea in primo flore botrus eius et sicut oliva florem proiciens." Audi super hoc sentenciam sapientis: "Omnis potentis brevis vita."

And thus, failing in himself,
he does not reach even half his days, but concludes a miserable life with a more miserable end. Whence is that poetic saying: “Great things collapse in upon themselves, and to the highest it is denied to stand
long; they are lifted on high that they may fall with a heavier lapse.” Truer, however, is that prophetic word: “I saw one superexalted,” and so on; and “I passed by, and behold, he was not,” and so on. “Before his days are filled up he will perish; he will be injured, as a vine in its first flowering is its cluster, and as an olive casting off its flower.” Hear upon this the sentence of the wise man: “Every potentate’s life is brief.”

[30] DE DIVERSIS PROPRIETATIBUS SUPERBORUM

[30] ON THE DIVERSE PROPERTIES OF THE PROUD

Statim autem ut ambiciosus promotus est ad honorem, in superbiam extollitur et in iactanciam effrenatur; nec curat prodesse, set gloriatur preesse; presumit se esse meliorem quia se cernit superiorem. Set bonum non facit gradus, set virtus, non dignitas, set honestas. Priores dedignatur amicos, notos ignorat, extraneos novit, comites contempnit antiquos.

Immediately, however, as the ambitious man is promoted to honor, he is lifted up into pride and becomes unbridled into vainglory; nor does he care to be of use, but he glories in being in charge; he presumes himself to be better because he perceives himself to be higher. But it is not rank that makes the good, but virtue; not dignity (office), but honorableness. He disdains former friends, ignores acquaintances, knows strangers, contemns his ancient companions.

Vultum avertit, visum attollit, cervicem erigit, fastum ostendit, grandia loquitur, sullimia meditatur, subesse non patitur, preesse molitur, prelatis infestus, subditis honerosus. Molesta non suffert, concepta non differt; preceps et audax, gloriosus et arrogans, gravis et importunus.

He turns his face away, raises his gaze, rears his neck, displays haughtiness, speaks grand things, meditates the sublime, does not permit himself to be subject, labors to be in charge, hostile to those set over him, onerous to his subordinates. He does not endure annoyances, does not defer what he has conceived; precipitate and audacious, vainglorious and arrogant, oppressive and importunate.

[31] DE SUPERBIA ET CASU LUCIFERI

[31] ON PRIDE AND THE FALL OF LUCIFER

O superbia, cunctis importabilis, omnibus odiosa, inter omnia vicia tu semper es prima, tu semper es ultima. Nam omne peccatum te accedente committitur, te recedente dimittitur. Scriptum est enim: "Inicium omnis peccati superbia," "primogenita mors." Hec enim inter ipsa primordia rerum creaturam contra Creatorem erexit, angelum contra Deum.

O pride, intolerable to all, odious to everyone, among all vices you are always first, you are always last. For every sin is committed with you approaching, with you withdrawing it is remitted. For it is written: "The beginning of every sin is pride," "the firstborn, death." For this, even in the very primordia of things, raised the creature against the Creator, an angel against God.

Set eum absque mora deiecit quoniam in veritate non stetit; deiecit ab innocencia in peccatum, a deliciis in miserias, a celo empireo in aerem caliginosum. Audi prophetam: "Quomodo cecidisti, Lucifer, qui mane oriebaris? Qui dicebas in corde tuo: "In celum conscendam; super astra Dei exaltabo solium meum; sedebo in monte testamenti, in lateribus aquilonis; ascendam super altitudinem nubium; similis ero Altissimo"." "Tu signaculum similitudinis, plenus sapiencia et perfectus in decore; in deliciis paradisi Dei fuisti.

But he cast him down without delay because he did not stand in the truth; he cast him down from innocence into sin, from delights into miseries, from the empyrean heaven into caliginous air. Hear the prophet: "How have you fallen, Lucifer, you who were rising in the morning? You who were saying in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven; above the stars of God I will exalt my throne; I will sit on the mount of the testimony, on the sides of the north; I will ascend above the height of the clouds; I will be like the Most High'." "You, the seal of similitude, full of sapience and perfect in beauty; you were in the delights of the paradise of God.

Omnis lapis preciosus operimentum tuum: sardius, topazius, iaspis, crisolitus, onix, berillus, saphirus, carbunculus, smaragdus; aurum opus decoris tui. Tu cherub extensus et protegens, et posui te in monte sancto Dei. In medio lapidum ignitorum ambulasti, perfectus in viis tuis a die condicionis tue donec inventa est iniquitas in te. Peccasti, et eieci te de monte Dei.

Every precious stone was your covering: sardius, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, onyx, beryl, sapphire, carbuncle, emerald; gold—the workmanship of your adornment. You, a cherub outspread and protecting, and I set you on the holy mountain of God. You walked in the midst of fiery stones, perfect in your ways from the day of your creation until iniquity was found in you. You sinned, and I cast you out from the mountain of God.

Elevatum est cor tuum in decore tuo, et in terram proieci te." "Cedri non fuerunt alciores illo in paradiso Dei. Abietes non equaverunt ad summitatem eius; platani non fuerunt equales frondibus eius. Omne lignum preciosum paradisi non est assimilatum illi et pulcritudini eius, quoniam speciosum fecit eum Dominus in multis condensis frondibus." "Ipse est rex super omnes filios superbie." Ipse est "draco magnus rufus, habens capita septem et cornua decem, et in capitibus suis septem diademata, cuius cauda trahebat terciam partem stellarum celi et misit illas in terram." "Et proiectus est ille draco magnus, serpens antiquus, qui vocabatur diabolus et Sathanas, qui seducit universum orbem, et proiectus est in terram, et angeli eius cum eo missi sunt." De quo et Veritas ait: "Videbam Sathanam quasi fulgur de celo cadentem." Nam "omnis qui se exaltat humiliabitur et qui se humiliat exaltabitur."

Your heart was lifted up
in your beauty, and I cast you to the earth." "The cedars were not higher than that one
in the paradise of God. The fir trees did not equal his summit; the plane-trees were not
equal to his foliage. Every precious tree of paradise was not likened to him and to his
beauty, since the Lord made him comely with many dense boughs." "He is king over all the sons of pride."
He is "the great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems,
whose tail was drawing a third part of the stars of heaven and he cast them to the earth." "And that great dragon
was cast down, the ancient serpent, who was called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, and he was cast to the earth,
and his angels were sent with him." Of whom also the Truth says: "I saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning."
For "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

[32] DE ARROGANCIA HOMINUM

[32] ON THE ARROGANCE OF MEN

O superba presumpcio, presumptuosa superbia, que non solum angelos Deo voluit adequare, set homines presumpsit deificare! Porro, quos erexit depressit, et quos exaltavit humiliavit. Hinc ait Dominus ad prophetam: "Fili hominis, dic principi Tyri: "Hec dicit Dominus Deus: pro eo quod elevatum est cor tuum quasi cor Dei et dixisti, "Deus ego sum," cum sis homo et non Deus, iccirco ego adducam super te robustissimos gencium, et interficient te, et morieris in interitu occisorum"." Nabugodonosor, quia potenciam suam superbe iactavit et ait: ""Nonne hec est Babilon, quam ego edificavi michi in domum regni, in robore fortitudinis mee, et in gloria decoris mei?" Cum adhuc sermo esset in ore regis, vox de celo ruit: "Tibi dicitur, Nabugodonosor Rex: regnum transit a te, et ab hominibus te eicient, et cum bestiis et feris erit habitacio tua; fenum quasi bos comedes, et septem tempora mutabuntur super te donec scias quod Excelsus dominatur in regno hominum et cuicumque voluerit dat illud". Eadem hora completur sermo super Nabugodonosor." Unde verum est quod legitur: "Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit; comparatus est iumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est illis." Superbia turrem evertit et linguam confudit, prostravit Goliam et suspendit Amon, interfecit Nichanorem et peremit Antiochum, Pharaonem submersit et Sennacherib interemit.

O proud presumption, presumptuous pride, which not only wished to make the angels equal to God, but presumed to deify men! Furthermore, those whom it raised up it cast down, and those whom it exalted it humbled. Hence the Lord says to the prophet: "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: 'Thus says the Lord God: because your heart was lifted up as the heart of God and you said, "I am God," though you are a man and not God, therefore I will bring upon you the most robust of the nations, and they will kill you, and you will die in the destruction of the slain'." Nebuchadnezzar, because he boasted proudly of his power and said: '"Is not this Babylon, which I myself have built for me for a house of the kingdom, by the strength of my might, and for the glory of my splendor?" While the word was still in the mouth of the king, a voice rushed from heaven: "It is said to you, Nebuchadnezzar the King: the kingdom passes from you, and men will cast you out, and your dwelling shall be with beasts and wild animals; hay like an ox you shall eat, and seven times shall be changed over you until you know that the Most High dominates in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever he will." In that same hour the word is fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar." Whence what is read is true: "A man when he was in honor understood not; he was comparatus to the iumentis insipientibus, and was made similis to factus them." Pride overturned the tower and confounded the tongue, laid Goliath low and hanged Amon, killed Nicanor and destroyed Antiochus, drowned Pharaoh and slew Sennacherib.

"Sedes ducum superborum destruit Deus et radices gencium superbarum arefacit."

"God destroys the seats of proud leaders and dries up the roots of proud nations."

[33] DE ABOMINACIONE SUPERBIE

[33] ON THE ABOMINATION OF PRIDE

Quam detestabilis sit superbia Dominus ipse per prophetam testatur: "Iuravit Dominus Deus in anima sua, dicit Dominus Deus Exercituum: "Detestor ego superbiam Iacob"." Et "Iuravit Dominus in superbia Iacob: "Si oblitus fuero usque ad finem omnia opera eorum"." Unde inter "illa sex que Dominus odit, et septimum quod detestatur anima eius," Salomon primum ponit "oculos sullimes," id est, superbiam. Et Ysaias: "Dies Domini Exercituum super omnem superbum et excelsum et super omnem arrogantem, et humiliabitur; et super omnes cedros Libani sullimes et erectas, et super omnes quercus Basan, et super omnes montes excelsos, et super omnes colles elevatos, et super omnem turrim excelsam, et super omnem murum munitum, et incurvabitur sullimitas hominum, et humiliabitur altitudo virorum." "Propterea dilatavit infernus animam suam et aperuit os suum absque ullo termino, et descendunt sullimes gloriosique eius ad eum." "Dominus Exercituum cogitavit hoc ut destrueret superbiam omnis glorie." Iob quoque dicit: "Si ascenderit usque ad celum superbia et caput eius nubes tetigerit, quasi sterquilineum in fine perdetur."

How detestable pride is, the Lord himself attests through the prophet: "The Lord God has sworn by his own soul, says the Lord God of Hosts: "I detest the pride of Jacob"." And "The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: "If I shall forget, even to the end, all their works"." Whence among "those six things which the Lord hates, and the seventh which his soul detests," Solomon puts first "lofty eyes," that is, pride. And Isaiah: "The day of the Lord of Hosts is upon every proud and high one and upon every arrogant one, and he shall be humbled; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and erect, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the elevated hills, and upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall, and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the height of men shall be humbled." "Therefore Hell has widened its soul and opened its mouth without any limit, and his lofty and glorious ones go down to it." "The Lord of Hosts has purposed this, to destroy the pride of all glory." Job also says: "If pride shall ascend up to heaven and its head touch the clouds, like a dunghill in the end it will be destroyed."

[34] CONTRA ARROGANCIAM SUPERBORUM

[34] AGAINST THE ARROGANCE OF THE PROUD

Omnis fere viciosus diligit sibi similem, superbus autem odit elatum. Unde Salomon: "Inter superbos semper sunt iurgia," et "ubi fuerit superbia, ibi et contumelia." Superbus insolita gestit, consueta fastidit. Magnum reputat si loqui dignetur, maximum si surgat et amplexetur.

Almost every vicious man loves one like himself, but the proud man hates one who is exalted. Whence Solomon: "Among the proud there are always quarrels," and "where pride has been, there also contumely." The proud man is eager for unusual things, he is disgusted with the customary. He reckons it a great thing if he deigns to speak, the greatest if he should rise and embrace.

Estimat plus dignitatem ab ipso quam ipsum assecutum ex dignitate. Nunquam vult uti paternitatis affectu, set semper dominacionis imperio. Superbia eius et indignacio eius et arrogancia eius plus quam fortitudo eius.

He esteems dignity to be more from himself than that he himself has attained from dignity. He never wishes to use the affection of fatherhood, but always the imperium of domination. His pride and his indignation and his arrogance are more than his fortitude.

Revolvat in animo quod legitur in evangelio: "Facta est contencio inter discipulos Iesu quis eorum videretur esse maior, et ait illis Iesus: "Reges gencium dominantur eorum, et qui potestatem habent inter eos benefici vocantur. Vos autem non sic, set qui maior est inter vos, erit sicut iunior et qui precessor est sicut ministrator"." Et Petrus, apostolorum magister: "Non quasi dominantes in clero, set forma facti gregis ex animo." "Domini est terra et plenitudo eius" et cetera. Unus est ergo Deus, unus Dominus; ceteri non sunt domini, set ministri, quibus interdicitur dominium et indicitur ministerium.

Let him revolve in
mind what is read in the Gospel: "There arose a contention among the disciples
of Jesus, which of them seemed to be greater; and Jesus said to them: "The kings of the nations
exercise dominion over them, and those who have power among them are called benefactors. But you, not so; but he who is greater among you shall be as the younger, and he who
goes before as the minister"." And Peter, the master of the apostles: "Not as dominating in the clergy, but made a form of the flock from the heart." "The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness," and the rest. One therefore is God, one Lord; the others
are not lords, but ministers, to whom lordship is interdicted and ministry is enjoined.

Audi super hoc sapientem: "Rectorem te posuerunt, noli extolli, set esto in illis quasi unus ex ipsis."

Hear on this the wise man: "They have set you as rector; do not be exalted, but be among them as one of themselves."

[35] CONTRA FRAUDEM AMBICIOSORUM

[35] AGAINST THE FRAUD OF THE AMBITIOUS

Filii Zebedei, qui per interventum matris honorem postulaverunt a Christo: "Dic," inquit, "ut sedeant hii duo filii mei, unus ad dexteram et alius ad sinistram tuam, in regno tuo," meruerunt audire: "Nescitis quid petatis." Non enim honore, set onere pervenitur ad regnum. Unde Dominus subdit: "Non est meum dare vobis." "Meum" est quidem dare, set non "vobis," id est, ambiciosis, quales vos estis. Licet autem omnis potestas a Deo sit, superbus tamen non regnat ex Deo, secundum illud propheticum: "Ipsi regnaverunt, set non ex me; principes extiterunt, et non cognovi eos."

The sons of Zebedee, who through the intervention of their mother asked honor from Christ: “Say,” she says, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom,” merited to hear: “You do not know what you ask.” For one does not arrive at the kingdom by honor, but by burden. Whence the Lord adds: “It is not mine to give to you.” It is indeed “mine” to give, but not “to you,” that is, to the ambitious, such as you are. Although all power is from God, yet the proud does not reign from God, according to that prophetic saying: “They themselves have reigned, but not from me; princes have arisen, and I have not known them.”

[36] DE PROPRIETATIBUS ARROGANCIUM

[36] ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE ARROGANT

Superbus amat "primas cathedras in synagogis, primos recubitus in cenis, salutaciones in foro, et vocari ab hominibus rabi." Non nomine persone, set nomine fortune vult appellari; non ut homo, set ut Deus vult adorari. Sedet sullimis, incedit excelsus, vult sibi omnes assurgere, singulos inclinare. Porro philosophus quidam, volens cuiusdam regis arroganciam eludere, cum vidisset eum in throno regali sedere sullimem, prostratus in terram suppliciter adoravit et confestim, non invitatus ascendens, iuxta regem consedit.

The proud man loves "the first chairs in the synagogues, the first reclinings at dinners, salutations in the forum, and to be called by men ‘rabbi’." Not by the name of person, but by the name of fortune he wants to be called; not as a man, but as a God he wants to be adored. He sits on high, he goes forth exalted, he wants all to rise for him, each to bow. Moreover a certain philosopher, wishing to elude the arrogance of a certain king, when he had seen him sitting aloft on the royal throne, prostrate to the ground he worshiped and immediately, ascending uninvited, sat down beside the king.

Quod rex, vehementer admirans eo quod nosset eum philosophum, quare hoc egerit inquisivit. Philosophus vero respondit: "Aut deus es aut homo: si deus es, debui te adorare; si homo, potui iuxta te sedere." Rex autem, racionem convertens contra philosophum, intulit: "Immo, si homo sum, non debuisti me adorare; si deus sum, non debuisti iuxta me sedere." Sapienter iste respondit, set ille prudenter elusit.

What the king, greatly marveling because he knew him to be a philosopher, inquired why he had done this. The philosopher indeed replied: "Either you are a god or a man: if you are a god, I ought to adore you; if a man, I could sit beside you." But the king, turning the reasoning back against the philosopher, added: "Nay rather, if I am a man, you ought not to have adored me; if I am a god, you ought not to have sat beside me." He answered wisely, but the other prudently outwitted him.

[37] DE SUPERFLUO CULTU

[37] ON SUPERFLUOUS ADORNMENT

Primis parentibus fecit Deus perizomata post peccatum, et a Christo dicitur Christianis: ""Non duas tunicas habeatis"." Set iuxta Iohannis consilium: ""Qui habet duas tunicas, det unam non habenti"." Superbus autem, ut magnificus videatur, satagit vestiri duplicibus, indui mollibus, preciosis ornari. Set quid est homo preciosis ornatus nisi sepulchrum foris dealbatum, intus autem plenum spurcicia? Iacinctus et purpura, coccus et bissus in limo putrescunt; aurum et argentum, lapides et gemme in luto sordescunt.

To the first parents God made loincloths after the sin, and by Christ it is said to Christians: ""Do not have two tunics"". But according to John’s counsel: ""He who has two tunics, let him give one to the one not having"". The proud man, however, in order to seem magnificent, is eager to be clothed in double garments, to be clad in soft things, to be adorned with precious things. But what is a man adorned with precious things if not a sepulcher whitewashed on the outside, but within full of filth? Jacinth and purple, scarlet and byssus rot in the slime; gold and silver, stones and gems become filthy in the mire.

Dignitas et potestas male iacent in pulvere; honor et gloria male sedent in cinere. Quid ergo, superbe, philacteria dilatas et magnificas fimbrias? Dives ille "qui induebatur purpura et bisso, sepultus est in inferno." Dina, filia patriarche Iacob, antequam egrederetur, ut ait Iosephus, ut emeret ornamentum mulierum provincialium virgo permansit; cum autem exivit, Sichem, filius Regis Emor, eam violenter oppressit.

Dignity and power lie ill in the dust; honor and glory
sit ill in ashes. Why then, O proud man, do you broaden phylacteries and magnify
fringes? That rich man “who was clothed in purple and byssus was buried in
Hell.” Dinah, daughter of the patriarch Jacob, before she went out, as Josephus says,
to buy the ornament of provincial women, remained a virgin; but when she went out,
Shechem, son of King Emor, violently violated her.

Olofernes, qui sedebat "in canopeo quod erat ex purpura et auro et smaragdo et lapidibus preciosis intextum," iugulatus est a Iudith, que, cum prius uteretur cilicio, tunc ornatum iocunditatis assumpsit. Audi super hoc consilium sapientis: "In vestitu ne glorieris unquam." Et Apostolus: "Non in veste preciosa." "Non sit extrinsecus capillatura, aut circumdacio auri, aut vestimentorum cultus."

Holofernes, who was sitting "in a canopy which was woven of purple and gold and emerald and precious stones," was slain by Judith, who, although she had previously used a cilice, then assumed the ornament of joy. Hear upon this the counsel of the wise man: "Do not ever glory in clothing." And the Apostle: "Not in precious apparel." "Let it not be outwardly the coiffure, or the encircling of gold, or the adornment of garments."

[38] CONTRA SUPERFLUUM ORNATUM

[38] AGAINST SUPERFLUOUS ORNAMENT

Attende quid contra superfluum ornatum comminetur Dominus per prophetam: "Pro eo quod elevate sunt filie Syon et ambulaverunt extento collo et nutibus oculorum ibant, decalvabit Dominus verticem filiarum Syon et crinem earum nudabit. In die illa auferet Dominus ornamentum calciamentorum et lunulas et torques et monilia et armillas et discriminalia et perichelidas et murenulas et olfactoriola et pallia et lintheamina et inaures et anulos et gemmas in fronte pendentes et mutatoria et acus et specula et sindones et vittas et theristra. Et erit pro suavi odore fetor, et pro zona funiculus, et pro crispanti crine calvicium, et pro fascia pectorali cilicium." Ecce, iusta redditur pena pro culpa, ut in eo puniantur in quo peccaverant.

Attend to what the Lord threatens against superfluous adornment through the prophet:
“For the reason that the daughters of Zion have been exalted and they walked with an outstretched neck and were going with nods of the eyes, the Lord will make bald the crown of the daughters of Zion and will bare their hair. On that day the Lord will take away the ornament of the shoes and the little moons (crescents) and the torcs and the necklaces and the armlets and the hair-part ornaments and the anklets and the little chains and the little scent-bottles and the cloaks and the linens and the earrings and the rings and the gems hanging on the forehead and the changes of clothing and the pins and the mirrors and the fine linens and the fillets and the veils. And there shall be, instead of sweet odor, a stench; and instead of a belt, a cord; and instead of curling hair, baldness; and instead of a breast-band, haircloth.” Behold, a just penalty is rendered for the fault, that they may be punished in that wherein they had sinned.

Adhuc super his audi alium prophetam: "O Tyre, bissus varia de Egypto texta est tibi in velum; iacinctus et purpura de insulis Elisa facta sunt operimentum tuum. Dentes eburneos commutaverunt in precio suo. Gemmam et purpuram et scutulata et bissum et sericum et coccum proposuerunt in mercato suo.

Further, over these things, hear another prophet: "O Tyre, variegated byssus from Egypt was woven for you into a sail; hyacinth and purple from the islands of Elisa became your covering. Ivory teeth they bartered at their price. Gem and purple and scutulated fabrics and byssus and silk and coccum they set forth in their market."

Dedan institores tui in tapetibus ad sedendum, et repleta es et glorificata es nimis. Set nunc contrita es in mari et in profundis aquarum opes tue; ad nichilum deducta es, et non eris usque in perpetuum."

Dedan your merchants on tapestries for sitting, and you were filled and glorified exceedingly. But now you are shattered in the sea, and your wealth in the depths of the waters; you have been brought to nothing, and you shall not be unto perpetuity."

[39] QUOD PLUS DEFERTUR VESTIBUS QUAM VIRTUTIBUS

[39] THAT MORE DEFERENCE IS PAID TO GARMENTS THAN TO VIRTUES

Cum quidam philosophus in habitu contemptibili principis aulam adisset et, diu pulsans, non fuisset admissus, set quociens temptasset ingredi, tociens contigisset repelli, mutavit habitum et assumpsit ornatum: tunc ad primam vocem aditus patuit venienti. Qui procedens ad principem, pallium quod gestabat cepit venerabiliter osculari. Super quo princeps, admirans, cur hoc ageret inquisivit.

When a certain philosopher, in a contemptible habit, had approached the prince’s hall and, knocking for a long time, had not been admitted, but as often as he had tried to enter, so often it had come to pass that he was driven back, he changed his habit and assumed ornament: then at the first word the access lay open to him as he came. He, proceeding to the prince, began reverently to kiss the pallium which he was wearing. Upon which the prince, marveling, inquired why he was doing this.

Philosciphus vero respondit: "Honorantem honoro, quia quod virtus non potuit, vestis obtinuit." O vanitas vanitatum, plus honoris defertur vestibus quam virtutibus, plus venustati quam honestati.

But the philosopher replied: "I honor the honorer, because what virtue could not, the vesture obtained." O vanity of vanities, more honor is conferred upon vesture than upon virtues, more upon venusty than upon honesty.

[40] DE FUCACIONE COLORUM

[40] ON THE FUCATION OF COLORS

Artificialis species superducitur, et facies obducitur naturalis, tanquam hominis artificium artem superet Creatoris. Non sic, non sic. "Considerate," inquit, "lilia agri, quomodo crescunt; non laborant, neque nent.

Artificial appearance is overlaid, and the natural face is covered over, as though the workmanship of man might surpass the art of the Creator. Not so, not so. "Consider," he says, "the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not labor, nor do they spin.

Dico autem vobis quoniam nec Salomon in omni gloria sua coopertus est sicut unum ex istis." Absit ut adulterinus color comparabilis sit nativo: quin immo, cum facies adulterino colore fucatur, os abominabili fetore corrumpitur. "Universa vanitas, omnis homo vivens." Quid enim vanius quam pectere crines, planare cesariem, tingere genas, unguere faciem, producere supercilia, quando quidem "fallax sit gracia et vana pulcritudo"? "Omnis caro fenum, et omnis gloria eius quasi flos feni," "quoniam tanquam fenum velociter arescit et sicut olera herbarum cito cadit." Ut autem ornatum persone preteream ne malignius quam verius videar animos succendere, quid vanius quam ornare mensam mantilibus picturatis, cultellis ebore manicatis, vasis aureis, vasellis argenteis, cuppis et nappis, vocalibus, gradalibus, scutellis, coclearibus, furcinulis, salariis, bacilibus, urceolis, capsulis, et flabellis? Quid prodest pingere cameras, ditare perticas, palliare vestibulum, substernere pavimentum, componere lectum inflatum plumis, opertum sericis, obductum cortinis aut etiam canopeo?

I say to you, moreover, that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. Far be it that adulterine color be comparable to the native; rather indeed, when the face is painted with adulterine color, the mouth is corrupted by abominable stench. “All is vanity; every living man.” For what is more vain than to comb the hair, to plane the caesaries, to dye the cheeks, to anoint the face, to draw out the eyebrows, since “grace is fallacious and beauty vain”? “All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass,” “for like grass it quickly withers and like the herbs of the field it swiftly falls.” But, that I may pass over the adornment of the person, lest I seem to inflame minds more malignly than truly, what is more vain than to deck out the table with pictured towels, knives hafted with ivory, golden vessels, little silver vessels, cups and napkins, goblets, gradals, little dishes, spoons, little forks, salt-cellars, basins, little pitchers, small boxes, and fans? What profit to paint the ceilings, enrich the rods, drape the vestibule, underlay the pavement, arrange a bed swollen with feathers, covered with silks, overdrawn with curtains, or even with a canopy?

Scriptum est enim: "Homo cum interierit, non sumet omnia, neque descendet cum eo gloria eius.

For it is written: "When a man has died, he will not take all things, nor will his glory descend with him."

[41] QUOD NEMO DE SE GLORIETUR

[41] THAT NO ONE GLORY IN HIMSELF

Non est qui de cordis mundicia valeat gloriari, quoniam "in multis offendimus omnes," et "si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nosmetipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est." Quis est qui vel illud dicere valeat cum Apostolo: "Nichil michi conscius sum, set non in hoc iustificatus sum?" "Quis est hic et laudabimus eum?" "Ecce inter sanctos nemo est immutabilis, celi non sunt mundi in conspectu eius," "et in angelis eius repperit pravitatem." "Quanto magis abominabilis est et inutilis homo, qui bibit quasi aquam iniquitatem?" "Penituit Deum quod hominem fecisset in terra, eo quod multa esset malicia hominum super terram et cuncta cogitacio hominis omni tempore ad malum est intenta, et ideo, tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus, delevit hominem quem creavit." Porro superhabundavit malicia, et refriguit caritas multorum. "Omnes declinaverunt; simul inutiles facti sunt" et cetera. Tota pene vita mortalium mortalibus est plena peccatis, ut vix valeat inveniri qui non deivet ad sinistram, qui non revertatur ad vomitum, qui non computrescat in stercore, cum pocius gloriantur "cum malefecerint et exultant in rebus pessimis." "Repleti omni iniquitate, malicia, fornicacione, avaricia, nequicia, pleni invidia, homicidio, contencione, dolo, malignitate, susurrones, detractores, Deo odibiles, contumeliosi, superbi, elati, inventores malorum, parentibus non obedientes, insipientes, incompositi, sine affectione, absque federe, sine misericordia." Talibus et multo peioribus mundus iste repletus est; habundat enim hereticis, scismaticis, perfidis, tyrannis, symoniacis, ypocritis, ambiciosis, cupidis, raptoribus, predonibus, violentis, exactoribus, usurariis, falsariis, impiis, sacrilegis, proditoribus; mendacibus, adulatoribus, fallacibus, garrulis, versutis, gulosis, ebriosis, adulteris, incestuosis, mollibus, immundis, pigris, negligentibus, vanis, prodigis, impetuosis, iracundis, impacientibus, inconstantibus, veneficis, auguribus, periuris, excecatis, presumptuosis, arrogantibus, incredulis, desperatis, deinde universis viciis irretitis.

There is no one who can glory in purity of heart, since “in many things we all offend,” and “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Who is there who can even say that with the Apostle: “I am conscious to myself of nothing, but not in this am I justified?” “Who is this, and we shall praise him?” “Behold, among the saints no one is immutable; the heavens are not clean in his sight,” “and in his angels he found depravity.” “How much more abominable and useless is man, who drinks iniquity as if water?” “It repented God that he had made man upon the earth, because the malice of men was great upon the earth and every cogitation of man was at all time intent upon evil, and therefore, touched with inner grief of heart, he blotted out man whom he had created.” Moreover, malice has superabounded, and the charity of many has grown cold. “All have turned aside; together they have been made useless,” and so forth. Almost the whole life of mortals is full of sins, so that scarcely can one be found who does not deviate to the left, who does not return to his vomit, who does not rot in dung, since rather they glory “when they have done evil and exult in the worst things.” “Filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication, avarice, wickedness, full of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity, whisperers, detractors, hateful to God, contumelious, proud, exalted, inventors of evils, disobedient to parents, foolish, ill‑ordered, without affection, without covenant, without mercy.” With such and much worse this world is filled; for it abounds in heretics, schismatics, perfidious, tyrants, simoniacs, hypocrites, ambitious, covetous, ravagers, brigands, violent, exactors, usurers, falsifiers, impious, sacrilegious, traitors; liars, flatterers, deceitful, garrulous, wily, gluttonous, drunken, adulterers, incestuous, effeminate, unclean, slothful, negligent, vain, prodigal, impetuous, irascible, impatient, inconstant, poisoners, augurs, perjured, blinded, presumptuous, arrogant, incredulous, desperate, then ensnared by all vices.

Porro "sicut deficit fumus deficient, et sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic peccatores peribunt."

Furthermore, "as smoke fails, they shall fail, and just as wax flows from the face of fire, so sinners will perish."

TERCIA PARS

THIRD PART

[1] DE PUTREDINE CADAVERUM

[1] ON THE PUTREFACTION OF CADAVERS

"Exibit spiritus eius, et revertetur in terram suam; in illa die peribunt omnes cogitaciones eorum." O quot et quanta mortales de mundane provisionis incertitudine cogitant, set sub repentine mortis articulo repente que cogitaverant evanescunt. "Sicut umbra cum declinat ablatus sum, et excussus sum sicut locusta." Exibit ergo spiritus non voluntarius, set invitus, quia cum dolore dimittet que cum amore possedit, et velit nolit, constitutus est ei terminus qui preteriri non potest, in quo terra revertetur in terram. Scriptum est enim: "Terra es, et in terram ibis." Naturale siquidem est ut materiatum in materiam resolvatur.

"His spirit will go out, and he will return to his earth; on that day all their cogitations will perish." O how many and how great things mortals cogitate about the uncertainty of worldly provision, but at the sudden point of death the things which they had cogitated suddenly vanish. "Like a shadow when it declines I was carried off, and I was shaken out like the locust." Therefore the spirit will go out not willingly, but unwillingly, because with pain he will relinquish what he possessed with love; and, whether he wills it or not, a limit has been appointed for him which cannot be overstepped, at which the earth will return to earth. For it is written: "Earth you are, and to earth you shall go." For it is natural that what is material be resolved into matter.

"Auferet ergo spiritum eorum, et deficient, et in pulverem suum revertentur." Cum autem morietur homo, hereditabit bestias, serpentes, et vermes. "Omnes enim in pulvere dormient, et vermes operient eos." "Sicut vestimentum sic comedet eos vermis, et sicut lanam sic devorabit eos tinea." "Quasi putredo consumendus sum et quasi vestimentum quod commeditur a tinea." "Putredini dixi, "Pater meus es; mater mea et soror mea", vermibus." "Homo putredo, filius eius vermis." Quam turpis pater, quam vilis mater, quam abominabilis soror! Conceptus est enim homo de sanguine per ardorem libidinis putrefacto; cuius tandem cadaveri quasi funebres vermes assistent.

"He will take away their spirit, and they will fail, and they will return into their dust." But when man shall die, he will inherit beasts, serpents, and worms. "For all will sleep in the dust, and worms will cover them." "Like a garment, so the worm will eat them, and like wool, so the moth will devour them." "As putrefaction I am to be consumed, and as a garment that is eaten by the moth." "To putrefaction I said, 'You are my father; my mother and my sister,' to the worms." "Man is putrefaction; his son is a worm." How foul a father, how vile a mother, how abominable a sister! For man is conceived from blood putrefied through the ardor of lust; to whose cadaver at last, as though funereal attendants, worms will stand by.

Vivus, gignit pediculos et lumbricos; mortuus, generabit vermes et muscas. Vivus, producit stercus et vomitum; mortuus, producit putredinem et fetorem. Vivus, hominem unicum inpinguat; mortuus, vermes plurimos inpinguabit.

Alive, he begets lice and roundworms; dead, he will beget
worms and flies. Alive, he produces dung and vomit; dead, he produces
putrefaction and fetor. Alive, he fattens a single man; dead, he will fatten
very many worms.

Quid ergo fetidius humano cadavere? Quid horribilius homine mortuo? Cuius gratissimus erat amplexus in vita molestus erit eciam aspectus in morte.

What then is more fetid than a human cadaver? What more horrible than a dead man? He whose embrace was most pleasing in life—his very sight will be troublesome in death.

Quid, ergo, prosunt divicie? Quid epule? Quid delicie?

What, therefore, do riches profit? What banquets? What delicacies?

Non liberabunt a morte, non defendent a verme, non eripient a fetore. Qui modo sedebat gloriosus in throno modo iacet despectus in tumulo; qui modo fulgebat ornatus in aula modo sordet nudus in tumba; qui modo vescebatur deliciis in cenaculo modo consumitur a vermibus in sepulchro.

They will not free from death, they will not defend from the worm, they will not snatch away from fetor. He who just now sat glorious on a throne now lies despised in a tomb; he who just now shone, adorned, in the hall now is filthy, naked, in the tomb; he who just now was feeding on delicacies in the dining room now is consumed by worms in the sepulcher.

[2] DE TRISTI MEMORIA DAMPNATORUM

[2] ON THE SAD MEMORY OF THE DAMNED

"Vindicta carnis impii vermis et ignis." Uterque duplex: interior qui rodit et urit cor, exterior qui rodit et urit corpus. "Vermis," inquit, "eorum non morietur, et ignis non extinguetur." "Dabit Dominus ignem et vermes in carnes eorum ut urantur et senciant usque in sempiternum." Vermis consciencie tripliciter lacerabit: affliget memoria, turbabit penitencia, torquebit angustia. "Venient enim in cogitacione peccatorum suorum timidi, et transducent illos ex adverso iniquitates eorum," dicentes: "Quid profuit nobis superbia, et iactancia diviciarum quid contulit nobis?

"The vengeance for the flesh of the impious: the worm and the fire." Each is twofold: the inner, which gnaws and burns the heart; the outer, which gnaws and burns the body. "Their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched." "The Lord will give fire and worms into their flesh, that they may be burned and feel it even unto the everlasting." The worm of conscience will lacerate in a threefold way: it will afflict by memory, it will disturb by penitence, it will torture by anguish. "For the timid will come into the thought of their sins, and their iniquities will lead them across to confront them face-to-face," saying: "What has pride profited us, and what has the vaunting of riches brought to us?

Transierunt omnia illa tanquam umbra, sicut navis que pertransit fluctuantem aquam cuius, cum preterierit, non est invenire vestigium." Sic et nos: nati, continuo desinimus esse; virtutis quidem nullum signum valemus ostendere, set in malignitate nostra consumpti sumus. Cum ingenti turbacione recogitabunt que cum nimia delectacione gesserunt, ut stimulus memorie pungat ad penam quos aculeus nequicie stimulavit ad culpam.

All those things have passed like a shadow, as a ship which passes through the fluctuating water, of which, when it has gone by, it is not possible to find a vestige. Thus also we: born, we immediately cease to be; indeed we are able to show no sign of virtue, but in our malignity we have been consumed. With great perturbation they will reconsider the things which they carried out with excessive delectation, so that the stimulus of memory may prick to penalty those whom the sting of iniquity stimulated into guilt.

[3] DE INUTILI PENITENCIA REPROBORUM

[3] ON THE UNPROFITABLE PENITENCE OF THE REPROBATE

Dicent intra se, penitenciam agentes: "Erravimus a via veritatis, et iusticie lumen non illuxit nobis." "Tunc incipient dicere montibus: "Cadite super nos"; et collibus: "Operite nos"." Penitebunt ad penam, set non conterentur ad veniam. Iustum est enim ut que noluerunt cum potuerunt cum velint non possint, dedit enim Deus eis locum penitencie et ipsi abusi sunt eo. Propterea dives ille qui cruciabatur in flamma dicebat ad Abraham: ""Rogo te, pater, ut mittas Lazarum in domum patris mei. Habeo enim quinque fratres, ut testetur illis, ne et ipsi veniant in hunc locum tormentorum". Cui cum Abraham respondisset: "Habent Moysen et prophetas; audiant illos", subiunxit: "Non, pater Abraham, set si quis ex mortuis ierit ad eos, penitenciam agent"." Agebat et ipse penitenciam in inferno, set quia cognoscebat illam inutilem, rogabat ut annunciaretur hoc fratribus quatinus agerent penitenciam in hoc seculo fructuosam, quia tune prodest homini penitere cum potest ipse peccare.

They will say within themselves, doing penance: "We have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice has not shone upon us." "Then they will begin to say to the mountains: "Fall upon us"; and to the hills: "Cover us"." They will do penance unto punishment, but they will not be crushed unto pardon. For it is just that what they were unwilling to do when they were able, when they wish they cannot, for God gave them a place for penance and they abused it. Therefore that rich man who was being tormented in the flame was saying to Abraham: ""I beg you, father, that you send Lazarus to my father’s house. For I have five brothers, that he may bear witness to them, lest they also come into this place of torments"." And when Abraham had answered him: "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them", he added: "No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will do penance"." He too was doing penance in hell, but because he knew that it was useless, he asked that this be announced to his brothers so that they might do penance in this age that is fruitful, because it profits a man to do penance when he is able himself to sin.

[4] DE INEFFABILI ANGUSTIA DAMPNATORUM

[4] ON THE INEFFABLE ANGUISH OF THE DAMNED

"Videntes turbabuntur timore horribili, pre angustia spiritus gementes et dicentes: "Hii sunt quos aliquando habuimus in derisum et in similitudinem improperii; nos insensati vitam illorum estimabamus insaniam et finem illorum sine honore. Ecce quomodo computati sunt inter filios Dei et inter sanctos sors illorum est." Supplicium erit malorum intueri gloriam beatorum, licet forte post finem iudicii. Beati quidem visuri sint reprobos in tormentis, secundum illud: "Letabitur iustus cum viderit vindictam impiorum." Reprobi vero visuri non sint beatos in gloria, secundum illud: "Tollatur impius ne videat gloriam Dei." "Talia dicent in inferno peccatores, quoniam spes impii tanquam lanugo est que a vento tollitur, et tanquam spuma gracilis que a procella dispergitur, et tanquam fumus a vento diffusus, et tanquam memoria hospitis unius diei."

"Seeing, they will be troubled by horrible fear, groaning for the anguish of spirit
and saying: 'These are those whom once we had in derision and as a likeness of reproach;
we, insensate, used to esteem their life insanity and their end without honor.
Behold how they have been reckoned among the sons of God, and among the saints their lot is.'
The punishment of the wicked will be to gaze upon the glory of the blessed,
perhaps indeed after the end of the judgment. The blessed, for their part,
will be seeing the reprobate in torments, according to that: 'The just will rejoice
when he has seen the vengeance of the impious.' But the reprobate will not be seeing
the blessed in glory, according to that: 'Let the impious be taken away lest he see the glory of God.'
'Such things sinners will say in hell, for the hope of the impious is like down which is lifted by the wind,
and like slender foam which is scattered by a storm, and like smoke diffused by the wind,
and like the memory of a guest of one day.'

[5] DE IGNE GEHENNALI

[5] ON THE FIRE OF GEHENNA

Ignis gehenne nec lignis nutritur nec flatu succenditur, set a Deo creatus est inextinguibilis ab origine mundi. Scriptum est: "Devorabit eos ignis qui non succenditur." Creditur, autem, esse sub terris, secundum illud propheticum: "Infernus subter conturbatus est in occursu adventus tui." Set et omnis locus reprobis est penalis, qui semper secum deferunt cruciatum et ubique contra se tormentum incurrunt. "Producam," inquit, "ignem de medio tui, qui comedet te." Ignis autem gehenne semper ardebit et nunquam lucebit, semper uret et nunquam consumet, semper afficiet et nunquam deficiet.

the fire of Gehenna is neither nourished by woods nor kindled by blowing, but created by God it is inextinguishable from the origin of the world. it is written: "a fire that is not kindled will devour them." it is believed, moreover, to be under the earth, according to that prophetic saying: "hell beneath is disturbed at the encounter of your coming." but every place is penal for the reprobate, who always carry punishment with them and everywhere incur torment against themselves. "i will bring out," he says, "a fire from your midst, which will eat you." but the fire of Gehenna will always burn and will never give light, will always scorch and will never consume, will always afflict and will never fail.

Est enim apud inferos summa tenebrarum obscuritas, immensa penarum acerbitas, infinita miseriarum immensitas. "Ligatis," inquit, "manibus et pedibus; mittite eum in tenebras exteriores; ibi erit fletus et stridor dencium." Singula menbra pro suis peccatis propria sustinebunt tormenta, ut in eo puniantur in quo peccaverunt. Scriptum est enim: "Per que peccat homo, per hec et torquetur." Unde qui lingua peccaverat in lingua cruciabatur.

For indeed among the infernal regions there is the utmost obscurity of darkness, the immense acerbity of penalties,
the infinite immensity of miseries. "With hands and feet bound," he says, "cast him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Each single member, for its own sins, will sustain its proper torments, so that in that wherein they sinned they may be punished.
For it is written: "By the things through which a man sins, by these he also is tormented." Whence he who had sinned with the tongue was tormented in the tongue.

Propter quod ipse clamabat: "Pater Abraham, miserere mei et mitte Lazarum ut intingat extremum digiti sui in aqua ut refrigeret linguam meam, quia crucior in hac flamma."

For which reason he himself cried out: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, because I am tormented in this flame."

[6] DE TENEBRIS INFERNALIBUS

[6] ON THE INFERNAL DARKNESSES

Reprobi vero non solum exterioribus set etiam interioribus tenebris involventur, quia spirituali pariter et corporali luce carebunt. Scriptum est enim: "Tollatur impius ne videat gloriam Dei," qui solus tunc erit "in lucem eternam." Tantam enim in penis reprobi tolerabunt angustiam ut vix aliquid cogitare valeant preter penas, set "illuc dirigent impetum cogitacionis ubi sencient vim doloris." Sane quidam discipulus fertur apparuisse magistro post mortem. Quem cum magister intellexisset esse dampnatum, quesivit ab eo si alique questiones apud inferos verterentur.

The reprobate, indeed, will be enveloped not only by exterior but also by interior darkness, because they will lack spiritual and corporal light alike. For it is written: "Let the impious be taken away lest he see the glory of God," who alone then will be "in eternal light." For in their punishments the reprobate will endure such anguish that they can scarcely be able to think anything except punishments; but "thither they will direct the impetus of their thought where they will feel the force of pain." Indeed, a certain disciple is said to have appeared to his master after death. When the master had understood that he was damned, he asked of him whether any questions were being debated among the dead in the underworld.

Qui dicitur respondisse apud inferos queri quid solummodo non sit pena. Set et Salomon ait: "Nec opus nec racio nec sapiencia est apud inferos, quo tu properas." Erit enim in reprobis tanta mentis oblivio, tanta cecitas animi, tanta confusio racionis ut raro vel nunquam ad cogitandum quicquam de Deo possint assurgere, nedum ad confitendum valeant respirare. Nam "a mortuo," tanquam ab eo qui non est, "perit confessio." Scriptum est enim: "Non mortui laudabunt te, Domine, neque omnes qui descendunt in infernum." "Nec infernus confitebitur tibi, neque mors laudabit te."

He is said to have responded that in the underworld it is inquired what alone is not a punishment. But also Solomon says: "Neither work nor reason nor sapience is in the underworld, whither you hasten." For there will be in the reprobate such oblivion of mind, such blindness of spirit, such confusion of reason that rarely or never will they be able to rise up to think anything about God, much less be able to draw breath to confess. For "from the dead man," as from one who is not, "confession perishes." For it is written: "The dead will not praise you, Lord, nor all who descend into the underworld." "Nor will the underworld confess to you, nor will death praise you."

[7] DE CONFUSIONE PENARUM

[7] ON THE CONFUSION OF PUNISHMENTS

"Dimitte me," dicit Iob, "ut plangam paululum dolorem meum antequam vadam, et non revertar, ad terram tenebrosam et opertam mortis caligine, terram miserie et tenebrarum, ubi umbra mortis et nullus ordo, set sempiternus horror inhabitat." Ordo quidem erit in quantitate penarum, quoniam "in qua mensura mensi fueritis, remecietur vobis," ut qui gravius peccaverunt, gravius puniantur. "Potentes enim potenter tormenta patientur." Set ordo non erit in qualitate rerum, quia "de aquis nivium transibunt ad calorem nimium," ut subita contrariorum mutatio graviorem inferat cruciatum. Experimento cognovi quod adustus, si frigidis statim adhibeatur, ardenciorem senciet cruciatum.

“Dismiss me,” says Job, “that I may lament a little my pain my before I go, and do not return, to the land dark and covered with the gloom of death, a land of misery and of darkness, where the shadow of death is and no order, but an everlasting horror inhabits.” Order indeed will be in the quantity of punishments, since “in whatever measure you have measured, it will be measured back to you,” so that those who have sinned more gravely are punished more gravely. “For the powerful will powerfully endure torments.” But order will not be in the quality of things, because “from the waters of snows they will pass to excessive heat,” so that the sudden change of contraries brings in a heavier torment. By experience I have known that one who has been scorched, if cold things are applied at once, will feel a more burning torment.

[8] DE INDEFICIENCIA TORMENTORUM

[8] ON THE INEXHAUSTIBILITY OF TORMENTS

"Sicut oves in inferno positi sunt; mors depascet eos." Dictum est autem hoc a simili iumentorum, que non radicitus herbas evellunt, set summitates solummodo carpunt, ut iterum herbe renascantur ad pastum. Sic et impii, quasi morte depasti, reviviscent ad mortem ut eternaliter moriantur. "Sic inconsumptum Ticii semperque renascens non perit, ut possit sepe perire iecur." Tunc erit mors immortalis; tunc vivent morti qui vite sunt mortui.

"Like sheep they have been set in hell; death will feed upon them." However, this is said from the likeness of beasts of burden, which do not tear up the grasses by the roots, but crop only the tops, so that the grasses may be reborn again for pasture. Thus also the impious, as though fed upon by death, will revive unto death, that they may die eternally. "Thus the liver of Tityus, unconsumed and ever reborn, does not perish, so that it may be able to perish often." Then death will be immortal; then they will live for death who are dead to life.

Querent mortem et non invenient qui vitam habuerunt et perdiderunt. Audi Iohannem in Apocalipsi, dicentem: "In diebus illis querent homines mortem et non invenient eam, et desiderabunt mori, et fugiet mors ab illis." O mors, quam dulcis esses quibus tam amara fuisti; te solam desideranter optabunt qui te solam vehementer oderunt.

They will seek death and will not find it, they who had life and lost it. Hear
John in the Apocalypse, saying: "In those days men will seek death
and will not find it, and they will desire to die, and death will flee from them." O
death, how sweet you would be to those to whom you were so bitter; you alone they will desirously
opt for, who alone vehemently hated you.

[9] QUOD REPROBI NUNQUAM LIBERABUNTUR A PENA

[9] THAT THE REPROBATE WILL NEVER BE FREED FROM PUNISHMENT

Nullus sibi blandiatur et dicat quia "Deus non in finem irascetur, neque in eternum indignabitur," set "miseraciones eius super omnia opera eius," quia cum iratus est, non "obliviscitur misereri," nec quicquam eorum que fecit odit. Assumens in argumentum erroris quod ait Dominus per prophetam: "Congregabuntur in congregacione unius fascis in lacum, et claudentur in carcerem, et post multos dies visitabuntur." Homo namque peccavit ad tempus; non ergo omnes puniet in eternum. O spes inanis, o falsa presumpcio!

Let no one flatter himself and say that "God will not be angry unto the end, nor be indignant forever," but "his mercies are over all his works," because when he is angry, he does not "forget to have mercy," nor does he hate anything of the things that he has made. Taking as an argument for his error what the Lord says through the prophet: "They will be gathered in the congregation of one bundle into the pit, and will be shut into prison, and after many days they will be visited." For man sinned for a time; therefore he will not punish all unto eternity. O vain hope, O false presumption!

"Non credat, frustra errore deceptus, quod aliquo precio redimendus sit," "quoniam in inferno nulla est redempcio." Congregabuntur ergo peccatores in lacum et claudentur in carcere, scilicet in inferno, in quo sine corporibus usque ad diem iudicii torquebuntur, et post multos dies, postquam videlicet resurgent cum corporibus in novissimo die, visitabuntur non ad salutem set ad vindictam, quia post diem iudicii gravius punientur. Sic et alibi dicitur: "Visitabo in virga iniquitates eorum et in verberibus peccata eorum." Predestinatis ergo Deus irascitur temporaliter, quia "flagellat omnem filium quem recipit." De quibus illud accipitur: "Non in finem irascetur" et cetera. Reprobis autem Deus irascitur eternaliter, quia iustum est ut quod impius in suo prevaricatur eterno Deus ulciscatur in suo.

"Let him not believe, deceived by error in vain, that he is to be redeemed by some price," "since in the inferno there is no redemption." Therefore sinners will be gathered into the pit and shut into the prison, namely into the inferno, in which, without bodies, they will be tormented up to the day of judgment; and after many days, that is, after they rise with their bodies on the last day, they will be visited not for salvation but for vengeance, because after the day of judgment they will be punished more grievously. Thus also elsewhere it is said: "I will visit with a rod their iniquities and with stripes their sins." To the predestined, therefore, God is angry temporally, because "he scourges every son whom he receives." Of whom that saying is taken: "He will not be angry unto the end," and the rest. But with the reprobate God is angry eternally, because it is just that what the impious man prevaricates in his own, the eternal God should avenge in his own.

Nam licet peccandi facultas illum dimittat, ipse tamen non dimittit voluntatem peccandi. Scriptum est enim: "Superbia eorum qui te oderunt ascendit semper." Non humiliabuntur reprobi, iam desperati de venia, set malignitas odii in illis tantum excrescet ut velint illum omnino non esse per quem sciunt se tam infeliciter esse. Maledicent Altissimo et blasphemabunt Excelsum, conquerentes eum esse malignum qui creavit illos ad penam et nunquam inclinatur ad veniam.

For although the faculty of sinning lets him go,
he nevertheless does not let go the will of sinning. For it is written:
"The pride of those who hate you ascends always." The reprobate will not be humbled,
now despairing of pardon, but the malignity of hatred will so grow in them
that they will wish that he by whom they know themselves to be so unhappy should not exist at all. They will curse the Most High and blaspheme the Exalted One, complaining that he is malign
who created them for punishment and never inclines to pardon.

Audi Iohannem in Apocalipsi, dicentem: "Grando magna descendit de celo in homines, et blasphemaverunt homines Deum propter plagam grandinis quoniam magna facta est vehementer." Voluntas ergo dampnati, licet amiserit potestatis effectum, semper tamen habebit malignitatis affectum, et ipsa erit in inferno supplicium que fuerat in mundo peccatum, licet forsitan et ibi peccatum sit, set non meritum pene. Impius ergo, quia semper habebit in se reatum ex culpa, semper senciet contra se cruciatum ex pena, quia quod ipse per penitenciam non delevit Deus per indulgenciam non remittet. "Ad magnam ergo pertinet iusticiam Iudicantis ut nunquam careant in gehenna supplicio qui nunquam voluerunt in hac vita carere peccato.

Hear John
in the Apocalypse, saying: "A great hail descended from heaven upon men, and
men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because it had become
exceedingly great." The will therefore of the damned, although it has lost the effect of power,
will nevertheless always have the affect of malignity, and that very will will be in hell the punishment
which in the world had been sin, though perhaps even there it is sin, yet not
meritorious of penalty. The impious man therefore, because he will always have in himself guilt arising from fault, will always
feel against himself torment from punishment, because what he did not blot out by penitence
God will not remit by indulgence. "It pertains therefore to the great justice
of the Judge that they should never lack punishment in Gehenna who never wished
in this life to lack sin."

Voluissent itaque, si potuissent, sine fine vivere ut potuissent sine fine peccare. Ostendunt enim quod in peccato semper vivere cupiunt qui nunquam desinunt peccare dum vivunt."

They would have wished, therefore, if they had been able, to live without end
so that they might be able to sin without end. For they show that they desire
to live always in sin who never cease to sin while they live."

[10] TESTIMONIA DE SUPPLICIIS ETERNALIBUS

[10] TESTIMONIES CONCERNING ETERNAL PUNISHMENTS

"Quis," inquit Ysaias, "poterit habitare de vobis cum ardoribus sempiternis?" "Isti erunt quasi fumus in furore meo, ignis ardens tota die." "Die ac nocte non extinguetur, set ascendet fumus eius in sempiternum." Ieremias: "Dabo vos in obprobrium sempiternum et in ignominiam eternam que nunquam oblivione delebitur." Daniel: "Qui dormient in terre pulvere evigilabunt, alii in vitam eternam, alii in obprobrium ut videant semper." Salomon: "Mortuo homine impio, nulla spes erit de eo." Huic extemplo veniet perdicio sua, et subito conteretur, nec habebit ultra medicinam. Iohannes apostolus: "Si quis adoraverit bestiam et ymaginem eius, hic bibet de vino ire Dei et cruciabitur igne et sulphure; et fumus tormentorum eius ascendet in secula seculorum, nec habebit requiem die ac nocte qui adoravent bestiam et ymaginem eius." Confirmat hoc Veritas, que dampnandos in iudicio sentencialiter reprobabit: "Ite, maledicti, in ignem eternum, qui preparatus est diabolo et angelis eius." Si secundum divinum iudicium "in ore duorum vel trium testium stat omne verbum," quanto magis in ore tot et tantorum virorum de proposita veritate constabit.

"Who," says Isaiah, "will be able to dwell among you with everlasting burnings?" "These shall be as smoke in my fury, a fire burning the whole day." "By day and by night it shall not be quenched, but its smoke shall go up forever." Jeremiah: "I will give you into everlasting opprobrium and into eternal ignominy which shall never be blotted out by oblivion." Daniel: "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life, others to opprobrium to be seen forever." Solomon: "When the impious man is dead, there shall be no hope concerning him." To this man his perdition will come forthwith, and he will be crushed suddenly, nor will he any longer have a remedy. John the Apostle: "If anyone shall worship the beast and its image, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God and shall be tormented with fire and sulphur; and the smoke of their torments shall go up unto the ages of ages, and he shall have no rest day and night who have worshiped the beast and its image." Truth confirms this, who will in the judgment by sentence reprobate those to be condemned: "Depart, you accursed, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." If, according to the divine judgment, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word stands," how much more will it be established, in the mouth of so many and so great men, concerning the proposed truth.

[11] DE DIE IUDICII

[11] ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

"Ecce, dies Domini veniet, crudelis et plenus indignacionis et ire et furoris, ad ponendam terram in solitudinem et peccatores eius conterendos de ea, quoniam stelle celi et splendor earum non expandent lumen suum, obtenebrabitur sol in ortu suo, et luna non splendebit in lumine suo. Et visitabo super orbem mala et contra impios iniquitatem eorum, et quiescere faciam superbiam infidelium et arrogancium forcium humiliabo." Dicit Dominus: "Propter hoc omnes manus dissolventur, et omne cor hominis contabescet et conteretur. Torciones et dolores tenebunt peccatores; quasi parturiens dolebunt.

"Behold, the day of the Lord will come, cruel and full of indignation and ire and fury, to set the land into desolation and to crush its sinners from it, for the stars of heaven and their splendor will not spread their light, the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not shine with its light. And I will visit evils upon the orb and, against the impious, their iniquity, and I will make to rest the pride of the unfaithful and the arrogance of the strong I will humble." Says the Lord: "For this cause all hands will be loosened, and every heart of man will melt and be crushed. Torments and pains will hold the sinners; as a woman in labor they will grieve.

Unusquisque ad proximum suum stupebit, facies combuste vultus eorum." "Dies illa, dies ire, dies tribulacionis et angustie, dies calamitatis et miserie, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nebule et turbinis, dies tube et clangoris, quia consummacionem cum festinacione faciet Dominus cunctis habitantibus terram." "Et superveniet repentina dies illa tanquam laqueus in omnes qui sedent super faciem terre," quoniam "sicut fulgur exit ab oriente et apparet usque in occidentem, ita erit adventus Filii Hominis." "Dies enim Domini sicut fur in nocte ita veniet. Cum dixerint "Pax et securitas", tunc repentinus eis superveniet interitus, sicut dolor in utero habenti, et non effugient."

Each person will be stupefied at his neighbor; burned faces will be their countenance." "That day, a day of ire, a day of tribulation and anguish, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and caliginous gloom, a day of cloud and whirlwind, a day of trumpet and clangor, because the Lord will make a consummation with haste upon all who inhabit the earth." "And that day will supervene suddenly like a snare upon all who sit upon the face of the earth," for "as lightning goes out from the east and appears even unto the west, so will be the advent of the Son of Man." "For the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they have said "Peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, like pain in one having in the womb, and they will not escape."

[12] DE PRECEDENTE TRIBULACIONE

[12] ON THE PRECEDING TRIBULATION

Precedet, autem, "tribulacio magna, qualis nunquam fuit ab inicio mundi usque modo, neque fiet. Et nisi fuissent breviati illi dies, non fieret salva omnis caro." "Surget enim gens contra gentem, et regnum adversus regnum, et terremotus magni erunt per loca et pestilencie et fames terroresque de celo et tempestates." "Et erunt signa in sole et luna et stellis, et in terris pressura gencium pre confusione sonitus maris et fluctuum, arescentibus hominibus pre timore et expectacione que supervenient universo orbi." "Surgent pseudochristi et pseudoprophete, et dabunt signa et prodigia ut in errorem inducantur, si fieri potest, eciam electi." "Tunc revelabitur homo peccati, filius perdicionis, qui adversatur et extollitur super omne quod dicitur aut colitur Deus, ita ut in templo Dei sedeat, ostendens se tanquam sit Deus," "quem Deus interficiet spiritu oris sui." Mittetur, autem, "Helyas propheta priusquam veniat dies Domini magnus et horribilis, et convertet corda patrum in filios et corda filiorum ad patres." Cum quo veniet Enoch, "et prophetabunt diebus mille ducentis sexaginta amicti saccis." "Et cum finierint testimonium suum, bestia que ascendet de abysso faciet adversus illos bellum et vincet illos et occidet. Et corpora eorum iacebunt in plateis civitatis magne ubi Dominus illorum crucifixus est." "Et post tres dies et dimidium spiritus vite intrabit in eos."

However, there will precede "a great tribulation, such as has never been from the beginning of the world up to now, nor will be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved." "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and great earthquakes will be in places, and pestilences and famines, and terrors from heaven and tempests." "And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on earth the pressure of nations from the confusion of the sound of the sea and of the waves, men withering for fear and expectation of the things that are coming upon the whole world." "Pseudo-Christs and pseudo-prophets will arise, and they will give signs and prodigies so that into error may be led, if it can be done, even the elect." "Then the man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called or is worshiped as God, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as though he were God," "whom God will slay with the spirit of his mouth." However, "Elijah the prophet will be sent before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the hearts of the sons to the fathers." With whom Enoch will come, "and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." "And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that will ascend from the abyss will make war against them and will conquer them and will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the streets of the great city where their Lord was crucified." "And after three days and a half the spirit of life will enter into them."

[13] QUOMODO VENIET IUDICATURUS

[13] HOW HE WILL COME TO JUDGE

"Statim autem post tribulacionem dierum illorum, sol obscurabitur, et luna non dabit lumen suum, et stelle cadent de celo, et virtutes celorum movebuntur; et tunc apparebit signum Filii Hominis in celo. Et plangent se omnes tribus terre." "Reges, principes, et tribuni, divites et fortes et omnis servus et liber abscondent se in speluncis et in petris moncium, et dicent montibus et petris: "Cadite super nos et abscondite nos a facie Sedentis super thronum et ab ira Agni, quoniam venit dies magnus ire ipsorum, et quis poterit stare?" "Et mittet angelos suos cum tuba et voce magna, et congregabunt electos suos a quatuor ventis celi, a summis celorum usque ad terminos eorum." Tunc "ipse Dominus in iussu et in voce archangeli et in tuba Dei descendet de celo." Et "omnes qui in monumentis sunt audient vocem Filii Dei, et procedent boni in resurrectionem vite, mali vero in resurrectionem iudicii." "Mors et infernus dabunt mortuos suos qui in ipsis erunt," et "videbit omnis oculus, et qui eum pupugerunt," "Filium Hominis venientem in nubibus celi cum virtute magna et maiestate." Veniet, autem, Dominus ad iudicium non solum cum angelis set et cum senatoribus terre populi sui. "Nobilis in portis vir eius quando sederit cum senatoribus terre." Sedebunt etenim et ipsi "super sedes duodecim iudicantes duodecim tribus Israel." "Aspiciebam," inquit, "donec throni positi sunt et Antiquus Dierum sedit.

"But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and
the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
will be moved; and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And all the tribes of the earth
will beat their breasts." "Kings, princes, and tribunes, the rich and the strong,
and every slave and free will hide themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
and will say to the mountains and to the rocks: 'Fall upon us and hide us from the face
of the One Sitting upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come,
and who will be able to stand?'" "And he will send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice,
and they will gather his elect from the four winds of heaven, from the highest points of the heavens even
to their boundaries." Then "the Lord himself, with a command and with the voice of an archangel and
with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven." And "all who are in the tombs will hear
the voice of the Son of God, and will come forth: the good into the resurrection of life, but the evil into
the resurrection of judgment." "Death and Hades will give their dead who will be in them," and "every eye will see," "and those who pierced him," "the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty." He will come, moreover,
the Lord, to judgment not only with angels but also with the senators of the land
of his people. "Her husband is noble in the gates when he sits with the senators
of the land." For they too will sit "upon twelve seats, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel." "'I was looking,' he says, 'until thrones were set, and the Ancient
of Days sat.'"

Vestimentum eius quasi nix candidum, et capilli capitis eius quasi lana munda, thronus eius quasi flamme ignis, rote eius ignis accensus. Fluvius igneus rapidusque egrediebatur a facie eius. Milia milium ministrabant ei, et decies centena milia assistebant ei." "Deus noster manifeste veniet, Deus noster, et non silebit; ignis in conspectu eius exardescet, et in circuitu eius tempestas valida." "Nubes et caligo in circuitu eius, iusticia et iudicium correctio sedis eius." "Et advocavit celum desursum ut discerneret populum suum." Nam "congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes, et separabit eos ab invicem, sicut pastor oves ab hedis; et statuet oves a dextris, hedos autem a sinistris."

His garment white as snow, and the hair of his head
as clean wool; his throne like flames of fire, his wheels a burning fire. A fiery and swift river was going forth from before his face. Thousands of thousands were ministering
to him, and ten hundred-thousands were standing by him." "Our God will manifestly come,
our God, and he will not be silent; fire will blaze in his sight, and around
him a mighty tempest." "Cloud and gloom around him, justice
and judgment the foundation of his throne." "And he called the heaven from above that he might discern
his people." For "all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate
them from one another, as a shepherd [separates] the sheep from the kids; and he will set the sheep at the right hand,
but the kids at the left."

[14] DE POTENCIA, SAPIENCIA, ET IUSTICIA IUDICIS

[14] ON THE POWER, WISDOM, AND JUSTICE OF THE JUDGE

O quantus tunc erit timor et tremor; quantus erit fletus et gemitus! Nam si "columpne celi contremiscunt et pavent adventum eius," et "angeli pacis amare flebunt," peccatores autem quid facient? "Si iustus vix salvabitur, impius et peccator ubi parebunt?" Propterea clamabat propheta: "Non intres in iudicium cum servo tuo, Domine, quia non iustificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens." "Si enim iniquitates observaveris, Domine, Domine, quis sustinebit?" Quis non timeat Iudicem potentissimum, sapientissimum, iustissimum íŸÏ potentissimum quem nemo potest effugere, sapientissimum quem nemo potest latere, iustissimum quem nemo potest corrumpere vel corripere?

O how great then will be fear and trembling; how great will be weeping and groaning! For if "the columns of heaven quake and dread his advent," and "the angels
of peace will weep bitterly," what then will sinners do? "If the righteous is scarcely saved,
where will the impious and the sinner appear?" Therefore the prophet cried out: "Do not enter
into judgment with your servant, Lord, because no one living will be justified in your sight all." "For if you observe iniquities, O Lord, O Lord, who will endure?" Who
would not fear the most mighty Judge, the most wise, the most just—most mighty
whom no one can escape, most wise whom no one can lie hidden from, most just
whom no one can corrupt or reprove?

"Si fortitudo queritur, robustissimus est," sapiens corde et fortis robore; "si equitas iudicii, nemo audet pro me testimonium reddere. Si iustificare me voluero, os meum condempnabit me; pravum me comprobabit etiam si simplex fuero." "Ipse dixit, et facta sunt; ipse mandavit, et creata sunt." "Qui vocat stellas et dicunt: "Assumus"." "Qui facit angelos suos spiritus et ministros suos ignem urentem," cuius "voluntati nichil omnino resistit," cui "nullum verbum est impossibile," cui "flectitur omne genu celestium, terrestrium, et infernorum." Hunc ergo nemo potest effugere, sicut dicit propheta: "Si ascendero in celum, tu illuc es; si descendero ad infernum, ades." "Ipse scrutatur renes et corda," cuius "oculis omnia nuda sunt et aperta," qui "pluvie guttas et harenam maris dinumerat," "Deus scienciarum Dominus," prescius omnium et conscius singulorum, occultus occultorum omnium indagator. Hunc ergo nemo potest latere, sicut dicit Apostolus: "Non est ulla creatura invisibilis in conspectu eius." Ipse est "iudex iustus, fortis et longanimis," qui "nec prece nec precio" nec amore nec odio declinat a semita rectitudinis, set via recta semper incedens, "nullum malum preterit impunitum, nullum bonum irremuneratum relinquit." Hunc ergo nemo potest corripere, iuxta quod ait psalmista: "Tu reddes singulis secundum opera eorum."

"If strength is sought, he is most robust," wise in heart and strong in might; "if equity of judgment, no one dares to render testimony for me. If I shall have wished to justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me; it will prove me perverse even if I shall have been simple." "He himself spoke, and they were made; he himself commanded, and they were created." "Who calls the stars and they say: 'We are present'." "Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire," whose "will nothing at all resists," for whom "no word is impossible," to whom "every knee bends, of the heavenly, of the earthly, and of the infernal." Him, therefore, no one can escape, as the prophet says: "If I shall ascend into heaven, you are there; if I shall descend to hell, you are present." "He himself searches the reins and hearts," in whose "eyes all things are naked and laid open," who "numbers the drops of the rain and the sand of the sea," "God of knowledges, the Lord," prescient of all things and conscious of individuals, the hidden investigator of all hidden things. Him, therefore, no one can lie hidden from, as the Apostle says: "There is not any creature invisible in his sight." He himself is "a just judge, strong and long-suffering," who "neither by plea nor by price," nor by love nor by hate turns aside from the path of rectitude, but always proceeding by the straight way, "passes by no evil unpunished, leaves no good unrewarded." Him, therefore, no one can call to account, according to what the psalmist says: "You will render to each according to their works."

[15] DE DIVINO IUDICIO

[15] ON THE DIVINE JUDGMENT

Quis autem non timeat illud examen in quo idem erit accusator et advocatus et iudex? Accusabit enim cum dicet: "Esurivi, et non dedistis michi manducare; sitivi, et non dedistis michi bibere." Advocabit cum subdet: "Quamdiu non fecistis uni de minimis his, nec michi fecistis." Iudicabit cum inferet: "Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem eternum." Non erunt testes in illo iudicio necessarii quia tunc manifesta erunt "abscondita tenebrarum." "Nichil enim occultum quod non reveletur." "Tunc libri erunt aperti, et iudicabuntur mortui ex his que scripta sunt in libris secundum opera eorum." Quantus erit pudor in peccatoribus! Quanta confusio cum eorum nefandissima crimina cunctis erunt liquido manifesta!

Who, moreover, would not fear that examination in which the same will be accuser and advocate and judge? He will accuse when he says: "I hungered, and you did not give me to eat; I thirsted, and you did not give me to drink." He will advocate when he will subjoin: "So long as you did not do it to one of these least, neither did you do it to me." He will judge when he will bring in: "Depart from me, accursed, into the eternal fire." There will not be witnesses necessary in that judgment because then the "hidden things of darkness" will be manifest. "For nothing is hidden which will not be revealed." "Then the books will be opened, and the dead will be judged from the things which are written in the books according to their works." How great will be the shame in sinners! How great the confusion when their most unspeakable crimes will be clearly manifest to all!

"Beati quorum remisse sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata." Ab illa sentencia nunquam poterit provocari quia "Pater omne iudicium dedit Filio," "qui claudit et nemo aperit, aperit et nemo claudit." "Os enim Domini locutum est."

"Blessed are they whose iniquities have been remitted and whose sins have been covered." From that sentence there can never be an appeal because "the Father has given all judgment to the Son," "who shuts and no one opens, opens and no one shuts." "For the Mouth of the Lord has spoken."

[16] QUOD NICHIL PRODERIT DAMPNANDIS

[16] THAT NOTHING WILL PROFIT THE TO-BE-DAMNED

Tunc non proderunt opes, nec defendent honores, nec suffragabuntur amici. Scriptum est enim: "Argentum eorum et aurum non valebit liberare eos in die furoris Domini." "Flebunt et plangent reges terre cum viderint fumum incendii," "propter timorem tormentorum eius." "Quid ergo facietis in die visitacionis et calamitatis de longe venientis? Ad cuius fugietis auxilium?" "Unusquisque onus suum portabit." "Anima que peccaverit, ipsa morietur." O districtum iudicium, in quo non solum de factis, set "de omni verbo ocioso quodcumque lucuti fuerint homines, reddituri sunt racionem," in quo usque ad novissimum quadrantem exigetur debitum cum usuris.

Then riches will not profit, nor will honors defend, nor will friends lend their suffrage. For it is written: "Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in
the day of the Lord’s fury." "The kings of the earth will weep and lament when they see the smoke
of the burning," "because of fear of her torments." "What therefore will you do on the day
of visitation and of calamity coming from afar? To whose aid will you flee?"
"Each one will carry his own burden." "The soul that has sinned, it shall itself die."
O strict judgment, in which not only concerning deeds, but "of every idle word
whatsoever men shall have spoken, they will render an account," in which even
to the last farthing the debt will be exacted with interest.

"Quis ergo poterit fugere a ventura ira?" "Mittet ergo Filius Hominis angelos suos, et colligent de regno eius omnia scandala et eos qui faciunt iniquitatem"; alligabunt in fasciculos ad comburendum "et mittent eos in caminum ignis ardentis. Ibi erit fletus" et gemitus, eiulatus et ululatus, luctus et cruciatus, stridor et clamor, timor et tremor, labor et dolor, ardor et fetor, obscuritas et anxietas, acerbitas et asperitas, calamitas et egestas, angustia et tristicia, oblivio et confusio, torciones et punctiones, amaritudines et terrores, fames et sitis, frigus et cauma, sulphur et ignis ardens in secula seculorum.

"Who then will be able
to flee from the coming wrath?" "Therefore the Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather
out of his kingdom all scandals and those who do iniquity"; they will bind
into bundles for burning "and they will send them into the furnace of burning fire. There will be weeping" and groaning, wailing and ululation, mourning and torment,
grating and clamor, fear and trembling, labor and dolor, burning and stench, obscurity
and anxiety, acerbity and asperity, calamity and indigence, anguish and
sadness, oblivion and confusion, tortures and prickings, bitternesses and
terrors, hunger and thirst, cold and cauma, sulphur and burning fire unto ages
of ages.

Explicit Liber de Miseria Condicionis Humane Editus a Lothario, Diacono-Cardinali Sanctorum Sergii et Bachii, Qui Postea Innocencius Papa Tercius Appellatus Est.

Here Ends The Book On The Misery Of The Human Condition, Issued By Lothar, Deacon-Cardinal Of Saints Sergius And Bacchus, Who Afterwards Was Called Pope Innocent The Third.