To the king of the English the whole School of Salerno writes:
If you would be unharmed, if you would render yourself sound,
Put away heavy cares, and believe it impious to be angry;
Drink wine sparingly, sup but little, and let it not seem vain to you
To rise after meals, and shun the midday sleep.
If physicians fail you, let these three be your physicians:
A cheerful mind, rest, and a moderate diet.
These three you must employ. Let these three—the stomach, the feet, and the head—
Be ever warm; but let the rest be kept cool.
Wines are judged by their bouquet, color, savor, and brilliance.
Give wine to the sick, for indeed it drives off fevers and dulls pains.
Let your drink after the bath always be clear wine;
After the bath drink in moderation, and call for what is pleasant.
After supper you shall stand, or walk a thousand paces.
Let your midday sleep be brief, or none at all.
Those who observe these things in all the seasons of life
Shall enjoy long health, and old age shall be slow to bring decline.
Four humors exist in the body of man:
Blood, phlegm together, choler, and melancholy.
Blood bestows cheerfulness, phlegm sluggishness,
Choler stirs up anger, melancholy sadness.
The healing herb is useful to many of the sick,
If only it be rightly applied and by the physician's art.
Sage, rue, and rose, with mint and wormwood, grow
In the physician's garden, which often guards the body.
Their virtues are diverse, but one wholesome
Purpose they share: to drive off diseases and aid the limbs.
Garlic is indeed pungent, yet useful for many things:
For it drives off plague, counters sharp poisons,
Dispels chills and repels many ills of the stomach.
The country folk delight in it, and most of all the healthy;
But the delicate loathe it—yet by the physician's art
more often used, they overcome harsh ailments along with fevers.
Fresh, warm milk relieves the stomach and eases sick conditions,
If one takes it in the first round of the day.
Goat's milk is praised, and sheep's, above cow's;
But sour milk, that which is called whey from milk,
purges, aids the intestines, and checks the black bile.
Fresh eggs, soft and half-set, are reckoned
more fitting for the sick than those raw, or roasted, or scorched.
A sip-able egg gives the greatest strength and restores
the feeble: for the yolk, being warm, cherishes the limbs,
while the white, being cold, tempers the heat.
Roasted meats are reckoned better than boiled,
For there is more nourishment, of a more solid kind, in them.
Veal and the flesh of young fowls are especially praised;
but pork, unless well cooked, harms the stomach.
The flesh of lamb and kid, tender and easy to digest,
suits the weak, and old men most of all who are sound.
Whether river fish or sea fish is better is much disputed:
The sea fish is reckoned by many more solid and purer;
but the river fish is more tender and easier to digest.
That which lives among rocks and in running water is best;
that which dwells in pools and mud is less esteemed,
because of the earthy humor which it carries in its body.
Living, pure spring water is reckoned the best of all:
For it is believed to be the lightest and purest.
Rainwater, if it be gathered through clear air,
comes next; but well water proves slower and heavier.
Marsh water is the worst: it breeds fevers and many diseases,
and is not to be drunk except under compulsion and in utmost necessity.
Pure and subtle air, air near the mountain,
is judged most fitting for healthy bodies.
But the air of marshes and damp places draws up a pestilent
vapor which breeds fevers and acute diseases.
For this reason a wholesome dwelling is to be chosen by the healthy,
in places dry and sunny and with favorable winds.
By exercise the body flourishes and gains honorable strength;
but idleness dulls the body and brings on torpor.
After food exercise is burdensome, before it lighter;
but morning is the best hour, while the stomach is empty.
Moderate fatigue is beneficial, but excessive harmful,
and it breeds diseases which are difficult to cure.
These things the School of Salerno has prescribed, these the school has handed down,
that he who reads and understands may live in health.
King of the English, receive these things and keep them diligently:
if you obey them, you shall have a long life and a healthy one.
But physicians cannot always be present; you yourself
be the guardian of your own health and the governor of your life.