註釋集 第 1 章

In the catalogue of illustrious men—that is, in the book which the blessed Jerome began but his disciple Paterius completed—there it is read that this Sedulius lived. For he was at first a layman, devoted to worldly wisdom; afterward, having been converted to God, he wrote this book as it were by way of a 'dirocheum,' that is, a twofold refreshment, from the Old and the New Testament. And it should be known that he first composed it in prose, afterward put it together in verse, and entitled it the 'Paschal Song,' dedicating it to the presbyter Macedonius. For it was the custom among the ancients to confer their writings upon wise and noble men, so that they might be strengthened by their authority and saved from rivals. He taught partly in Asia, partly in Italy. Now he makes a letter to Macedonius.

'Decurso finito' (having been run through, completed): it is a participle without origin in a verb. 'Censeas': you may judge. 'Severitatis': of gravity. 'Obiurges': you may rebuke. 'Suffultus': supported—'fulcio' is 'I support,' whence 'fultor' (supporter) is so called from supporting. 'Paschalis': of the gospel. 'Maiestatis': that is, of Christ, as the Apostle says: 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed.' 'Pelagus': 'pelagus' means the depth of the sea, but here it is set down for the depth of the divinity. 'Tyro': a new and raw soldier, who has newly come to the warfare of Christ. 'Lintre': a little boat; he uses transferred words metaphorically. Above he said 'the immense sea (pelagus),' meaning the depth of the paschal mystery; now he says 'a little boat (lintre)' for 'small talent.' 'Expurgem': I shall excuse.

Now he excuses himself before Macedonius for how he dared to compose this book in prose, after (composing it) in verse. 'Audacem': presumptuous. 'Devotum': humble. He calls the breast a 'harbor' for this reason, because just as many ships come together into a harbor, so also in the breast many thoughts are carried on. 'Naufragium' (shipwreck): to have fallen into no heresy. 'Occupatus': detained... 'Not to usefulness'—not to spiritual teaching, 'but to empty,' worldly wisdom. 'Deprehenderem': I would assign. 'Lusibus' (sports): he calls secular songs 'sports.' 'Fabricam': that I was fashioned by him. 'Condivit': he salted, he filled. By 'eyes of the heart' he means the sight of the mind. Now the 'eye' (oculus) is so called as it were 'ocior lux' (swifter light), because it quickly looks upon things intently, or because by the closing (occulentibus) eyelids what is hidden (occultus) is shown. 'Sentes' (briars):

'sentes' are thorns, when they are likewise said in truncated form 'spinae' and declined in the plural; hence 'thorny fields' (are called) thorny. By 'briars,' (he means) thorny fields, that is, secular learning. 'Nisu': by effort. 'Cultum': service. 'Procella' (storm): by anxiety; 'procella' is so called, a wave, from 'percellere' (to strike down), because it strikes down (percellat) the minds of men. 'Sighing breaths' (aegros anhelitus): sighs, likewise as also you (do). 'Quamuis ipsi': he honors Macedonius, saying 'ipsi' for 'ipse.' 'A little spark in me': you, he says, imagine that I have some little spark of prudence. 'Silicis': flint is a very hard stone, from which fire comes forth. 'Ne non carerem': so that I might not lack. 'Creditam': given to me by God. He calls his own talent the quantity of a single talent;

he touches upon the gospel parable, where it is said: 'A certain man, going abroad, called his servants and delivered to them his goods, and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one.' By the five talents the five senses of the body are understood; by the two, understanding and action; by the one, understanding alone, because there are some to whom understanding is given without the grace of working. These are they who, as it were, bury it in the earth, when they do not make it manifest to others; this is what he means by 'so that I might not lack the light'—that is, by their fault, namely of those who bury the talent. 'Procliuioris': of slippery inclination. 'One' is taken for 'fixed,' as if he were to say 'of more slippery slipperiness,' which is not in use. 'Lubrum' is called smooth wood not made flat, whence a 'slippery' thing is not flat, whence we slip; but here it is set down for sin.

'Clipeus' means a larger shield; in Greek 'clepte' is 'to steal,' whence 'clipeus' (is derived) from stealing bodies (apo tou kleptein ta somata). 'Mellitum': sweetened. He calls the catholic faith the 'way of liberty,' where there is true liberty. 'By which occasion'—whether through verse or through prose; for prose is loosened speech. 'Egregius' is so called as it were 'chosen from the flock' (e grege electus), who for his own merit and holiness is set apart from the flock, and just as 'eximius' (is so called) from 'exiding'—separating. 'With relaxed wings': with lowered feathers. The eagle, when it flies high, holds its wings extended; but when (it flies) toward the earth, it draws its wings back to itself; so also you ought not always to read the lofty Scriptures. He says this on account of his own song.

'Antistare' we say means 'to excel,' whence 'antistes' (prelate) is so called because he goes before (anteit), excelling all. 'Tyrocinio': that is, in the first period; we call 'tyrocinium' the first period of military service; 'tyrones' are called raw soldiers, boys, who used to exercise themselves at the stake in the Campus Martius and would make strokes sometimes with the edge, sometimes with the point, and he who trained them was called 'campidoctor' (drill-master). 'Pacatus': peaceful, because at that time, when Sedulius wrote this book, the Alans and Vandals were laying waste Italy. 'Astutiam': prudence; 'astutia' is so called from 'astus,' an indeclinable noun. 'Gallicanum': likewise, that is, equally a presbyter, just as the others. 'Mitissimum': very gentle; 'mitis' is so called as it were 'mute.'

'Eruditus': 'rude/raw' (rudis) is called 'ninth' (nonus); hence 'eruditus' (learned) is as it were one taken up from the countryside (de rure sublatus), led away from ignorance and placed in the bosom of learning. 'The simplicity of the dove' Laurentius likewise has, because he keeps watch for this, that he may not deceive another, nor be deceived by another, like the dove. 'Truly happy': he alludes to the name of the poet. 'Idoneos': fitting; 'idos' in Greek is 'forma' (form) in Latin. Jerome used to send his writings to noble and illustrious ecclesiastical women, such as were Chromatius and Heliodorus, Paula and Eustochium. 'Domicilium': a 'domicilium' is properly called an upper chamber, because it is in the upper part of the house, just as the eyelid (cilium) is in the more eminent part of the body. 'Syncletices': a first name. 'Ministrae': deaconesses.

'Syncletos' in Greek is 'consul' or 'senator,' whence 'Syncletia' is a senatress. 'Allecta': associated. He alludes to the name when he says 'senate,' because she was called Sena in the present (life), that in the future she might merit to enjoy the angelic senate. 'Castum': restrained; we call 'castum' (chaste) 'strict/restrained,' and conversely 'incestum' (unchaste) 'loosened.' 'Refertum': filled up. 'Could also even teach,' and (yet) the Apostle forbids women to teach in the church, saying: 'Let women keep silence in the church.' 'In name and merit': he alludes to the name. For she was 'Perpetua' in name and perpetual in merit. 'Teneram': a young woman. 'Nuptae': of one married/betrothed, because a married woman ought to have adorned attire. Up to this point that person of Macedonius speaks; from here (Sedulius speaks) in his own person. 'Deterreas': may you make (one) fear;

for 'to deter' is to drive someone away by threatening. 'Implesti': by syncope for 'impleuisti' (you have filled). 'You became all things to all,' as the Apostle (says): 'I became to the Jews as a Jew, to the gentiles as a gentile. I became all things to all that I might save all.' He did not say this in order to entice them, but because he wished that all might be saved. 'Iactura': loss; 'iactura' is properly said (of that loss) which sailors incur at sea. For when a tempest has arisen, the cargoes are thrown into the sea, so that the ship may be lightened. 'Ne pigeat': lest it make you slothful. 'Anchoram': firmness. He keeps the metaphor, because above he spoke of the depth of the whirlpool of the paschal song; now he says 'anchor' for fortitude.

'CKVPA' (cheir) in Greek is 'hand,' whence 'anchor' is an iron hand which, biting the earth, makes the ship stand immovable. 'Our Passover.' The Passover of the Jews was that which was sacrificed toward evening. Our Passover is Christ, who was sacrificed for our sins, just as he says 'Our Passover'—of Christians, not of the Jews—'Christ is sacrificed.' They had a Passover of sheep, but we a divine one. When he says 'with the Father and the Holy Spirit,' he shows them to be equal in divinity, because the Arians used to say 'grace to the Father in the Son,' asserting the Son to be lesser than the Father. INTO BOOK I. 'Paschales': solemn. He metaphorically addresses the reader under the appearance of a banqueter, inviting him to the paschal song as if to a supper.

He calls the heavenly mysteries 'paschal feasts' (dapes). 'Dignatus': a participle (used) for the verb 'dignare.' He says 'to recline at table' (accubitare), because the ancients used to dine reclining. 'Supercilium': 'cilium' is called the part of the body, the skin, by which the eyes are covered; the Greeks say 'cillere' for 'to move,' whence the eyelashes (cilia) are so called from moving, just as the eyelids (palpebrae) from quivering (palpitando). Hence 'supereyelashes' (supercilia, eyebrows) are called the hairs which overhang the eyes. Here 'supercilium' is set down for pride, which is especially detected in the eyes. 'Pone' for 'depone' (lay aside), and it is an aphaeresis. He calls this song 'paschal' for this reason, because it narrates the deeds of that Lamb, who 'as our Passover is sacrificed, Christ.' 'Cognoscas': may you understand; between 'to know' (cognoscere) and 'to recognize' (agnoscere) this difference lies: we 'know' those whom we have never seen, we 'recognize' those whom we have already seen.

'Amicum': a friend is as it were 'a guardian of the soul' (animi custos) or 'one equal in soul' (animi aequus). 'Artificis': made by art. Now an 'artful' codex is one pompously composed, retaining secular eloquence, whereas the divine books consist of bare and simple words. 'Saciare': to fill up, as if he were to say: you ought rather to be filled with spiritual food than with bodily. 'Cibus' (food) is cooked sustenance, suited only for the eating of men, for the sustenance of the other animals is raw. Hence both among the Greeks man and food are called 'brosis,' because man alone among the animals uses cooked food. The sense is: if you are accounted dainty—that is, insolent—so that our song is reckoned of no worth (flocci) by you because it is meager, feed your soul on the songs of secular poets.

'Caenon' in Greek is 'common' (commune) in Latin, whence 'caena' (supper/dinner) is so called from sharing in common (a communicando), because there among the ancients many used to dine, just as a 'banquet' (conuiuium) is so called from living together (a conuiuendo), which the Greeks call 'sympusion.' But Cicero says it is better in Latin to call it 'conuiuium,' deriving it from living together, which the Greeks call 'sympusium' from drinking together. 'Quicquid uolat' (whatever flies): all kinds of birds. He speaks allegorically. There are three species of philosophy, which he here touches upon: Ethics, Physics, Logic. By the sea is understood Ethics, immortal, which disputes concerning the morals of men; by the earth, Physics, which treats concerning the nature of all things; by the stars, Logic, the rational, which narrates concerning divine matters. 'Carpsimus': we plucked, we took. He keeps the metaphor:

By 'a small garden' he wishes the modest talent to be understood, by 'a little vegetable' the slight song, by 'an earthen vessel' the perishable body, fragile or made of clay; whence the Apostle says: 'We have a hidden treasure in earthen vessels,' that is, in our bodies. 'Grandisonous,' that is, with grand-sounding, lofty songs. There are three styles: the humble, the middle, and the grand; Virgil touches upon all of these. 'With the cheap tragic style.' For 'tragos' in Greek is 'goat' in Latin; hence 'tragemata' in Greek are cheap little gifts, 'colobidia' in Hebrew, 'bellaria' (sweetmeats) in Latin. 'Getae' is a comic character in Terence. The Getae themselves are the Mysian peoples, jesters too much devoted to playful sports. 'Contagia,' that is, vices, crimes.

'Contagium' (contagion) is so called from the swine disease, because by the contact of one it is spread to many; the same is also 'porrigo' (ringworm), from 'porrigendo' (spreading forth), because it spreads from one to others. 'Monimenta,' that is, recollections; a 'monimentum' is a memorial, because it admonishes (monet) the mind (mentem). 'With Nilotic books.' The Nile is a river of Egypt, and there the papyrus-reed grows. For the 'biblus' is the larger reed, which is also called papyrus, from which books were made among the ancients. For 'bibli' in Greek are 'libri' (books) in Latin. The Nile is called as it were 'Neonilus,' drawing along the new mud (novum limum). 'Odes,' that is, praises. 'To resound,' that is, to ring out, as is read in the psalm: 'On the ten-stringed psaltery I will sing to you.' But this is not to be taken of a psaltery, but of the Ten Commandments of the Law. He calls the Old Testament 'the ten strings,' in which the Ten Commandments of the Law are contained.

The psaltery is a musical instrument having ten strings, and it is struck from the lower part and resounds from the lower part. By the 'odes' he wishes the ten-stringed psaltery to be understood, and by the 'ten strings' the ten precepts of the Law. 'In citadels, in dwellings.' A citadel ('arx') is called the higher building in a city, named from 'arcendo' (warding off), repelling, because it repels the enemy far from itself, since the etymology too is so stated. 'Sceptre,' that is, dominion. It is, moreover, the bearing of a king and is put for the kingdom. He is called the 'Beginning,' that is, God, either because he is without beginning, or because all things that exist took from him the beginning of their being. 'Marrows,' that is, minds. The marrow is the inner part of the bones, so called because it is in the middle (media). 'Cares' ('curae'), so called because care burns (urat) the heart (cor). 'It creeps,' that is, it penetrates. 'Cecropian':

Cecrops was a king of the Greeks, steeped in poisonous teachings; hence his evil doctrine is called the 'Cecropian poison.' 'Of the breathing fragrance': this is a hypallage, for he ought to have said 'pursuing the fragrance of the breathing life.' 'Stench' ('pedor'), that is, foulness. 'Pedor' properly means the foul smell of the feet (pedum). 'Villages' ('pagi'). 'Page' in Greek means a spring; hence a country estate is called from it, because it is situated next to a spring; thence countrymen are called 'pagani' (pagans/villagers), because they are far from the city of God, or as it were drinking from one spring. The Labyrinth was a subterranean dug-out vault, which Daedalus made. The story is as follows.

Pasiphae was the wife of Minos, king of Crete, who loved a bull and, by the counsel of Daedalus, who was most skilled in craft, lay with it; from this was born the Minotaur, half man and half bull, who used to devour men. Seeing this, Daedalus made a subterranean dug-out vault with a hundred doors, in which the Minotaur was shut up, and he called that house the Labyrinth; and it is called 'Laborintus' as it were 'labor intus' (toil within), because whoever once entered never returned. Hence the poet metaphorically calls the errors of the Athenians a 'Labyrinth,' since they delight in cheap songs more than in the true words of the Gospel reading. In truth, the bull was the secretary of King Minos, named Minotaurus, who lay with Pasiphae.

Daedalus was most skilled in craft, after whom the skilled in craft are named. Hence we call the cunningly-speaking 'logodaedali.' 'Wild vine' ('labrusca'); the wild vine is so called, because it grows on the edges (labris) of the roads. A grape ('uua') is so called as it were 'uuida' (moist). 'With the gentle grapes of the Gospel reading.' 'Saliunca' is a foul-smelling flower resembling a rose, so called from leaping ('saliendo') because it grows quickly, which in Greek is called 'orcitunica'; he uses 'saliunca' for heathenism. 'Shrines' ('fana'); 'fone' is a Greek word; hence a temple is called 'fanum,' because there oracular responses were given, and 'profanus' is as it were 'porro a fano,' far from the temple of God. 'With metals,' that is, with images. A 'iuger' is as much as a pair of oxen can plough in a day. 'Tracts,' that is, regions; there are five zones of the world, three uninhabitable and two habitable.

By 'poisons' ('toxica') he means the worldly songs of cheap things, which lead a man down to Tartarus. 'Greenery,' that is, the verdant places; 'amoenus' (pleasant) is so called as it were 'amunium,' a place without function ('officio'), fit only for delight. 'Through the waters,' that is, through baptism. 'They are animated,' that is, they are given life; this is what is read in the Gospel: 'Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink, and out of his belly shall flow living waters'; and this he said of the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. 'As the harvest,' that is, the gathering of God. 'Through granaries,' that is, the heavenly dwellings. 'Merx, mercis' is gain; 'merces, mercedis' is reward. 'Almighty': the prayer of the poet. 'Omnipotens' (Almighty) is compounded from the noun 'omnia' (all) and 'potens' (powerful), a participle which properly pertains to God.

It is, moreover, among those nouns which lack comparison, which is made by increasing or by diminishing. For the Almighty is he whose power can neither be increased nor diminished, and therefore cannot be compared either. 'Potens' (powerful) is said simply as it were 'patens' (lying open), because to him all things lie open. 'Eternal'; 'eternal' is derived from the Greek 'eon,' which is taken for 'perpetual.' 'God' ('Deus') in Greek is interpreted 'fear,' and it comes from the Greek 'theoro,' 'I see.' Here Sedulius observed the custom of the ancient poets, and especially of Virgil, for he set forth his theme, invoked aid, and narrated. A 'storm' ('procella') is so called because it strikes ('percellat') men with fear, or ships with its wave. The sun ('sol') is so called because it alone ('solus') appears in the day; the moon ('luna') is so called as it were 'lucina,' and she is also Juno.

Among the pagans she is called 'Lucina' because she presides over those being born into the light ('lucem'), according to the ravings of the pagans. The moon, moreover, is horned in waxing and waning. 'Who the stars.' Hyginus and Aratus were astrologers who pretended to know the number of the stars, but they lied. For no one knows this except God. 'Powers,' because there are some that rule over heat, others over cold, others over storms. 'Into diverse bodies.' 'Body' ('corpus') is so called from corruption, because it can quickly be dissolved; and in this place he wishes 'body' to be understood as everything that is perceived by the five senses, or whatever is procreated on the right hand. 'Mystical': the Greeks call the hidden thing 'mystic,' whence hidden things are called 'mystica,' and 'mysterium,' and the keeper of secrets 'symmistes.'

'Ark' ('Arca'). It is called 'Arca' because the things it contains are to us secret and hidden ('arcana'). Now he allegorizes what the ark signifies. 'The Flood.' Just as, he says, those who were in the ark were saved while the others perished, so now, through baptism, in which the faith of the Holy Trinity is contained, the faithful are saved and the unbelieving are condemned. For the Flood signifies sin, and the water of the Flood baptism. 'Path' ('callis'); a 'callis' is so called from a callus, from the callus of the cattle, by which the cattle go. A 'semita' (footpath) is so called as it were 'semis uia' (half a way). A 'uia' (road/way) is so called from carrying ('uehendo'), as it were 'uehea'; or, as Augustine says, a 'uia' is so called from the force ('ui') of the feet, because it is worn down by the feet. There are, moreover, four kinds of ways: the 'callis,' the 'semita,' the 'uia,' and the 'actus.'

An 'actus' is called a public road admitting two carts, two wagons, one going and the other returning. 'Hiems' (winter): 'hiems' is so called from 'hemisphere,' which is half of the celestial sphere. 'To grow green' ('uernare') is to flourish; hence the spring season ('uernale tempus') is so called, because then the whole world flourishes. 'Open' ('patentem'), that is, unobstructed; by 'the open forest' he means the multitude of miracles. 'Stars' ('sidera') are so called from considering ('considerando'), as it were from the verb 'sidero,' 'I gleam,' which signifies 'I move,' because they move together with the heaven. 'Breast,' that is, the lung, for the voice comes forth from the lung. 'Bibulous' ('bibulus'); 'bibulus' is so called as drinking much. After his invocation he makes his narration. 'Chaos'; chaos is called the primordial confusion. 'Long-lived' ('uiuacibus'), that is, living long. 'Uiuax' is said of one who lives long; hence Virgil's phrase, 'the antlers of the long-lived stag.'

'Abusque' and 'adusque' are put for 'ab' (from) and 'ad' (to). 'Of nature,' because it is of human nature that a man should die, or after a hundred years. Death is the privation of life; and death ('mors') is so called, according to Augustine, from the biting ('morsu') of the forbidden fruit. 'In aged mould' ('grandaeuo situ'), that is, in excessive old age; 'situs' is put for old age. Properly 'situs' means the down of the earth in neglected places and in soils inaccessible and untrodden. Here 'situs' is put for age. He is called 'cold' ('frigidus'), because in the young the blood is warm, but in the old it grows cold; therefore 'cold' means an old man. 'With an aged husband,' because Abraham was already old, since Abraham was held to be a hundred years old, and Sarah ninety. The old ('senes') are so called, according to Varro, as it were 'se nescientes' (not knowing themselves), because through excessive old age they grow senile. 'Having more piety,' namely toward God.

In this Abraham was cruel, since he was willing to behead his son; but pious, because he loved God more than his son. 'That he might fall' ('occumberet'), that is, deserve. Now he allegorizes: Abraham signifies God the Father, Isaac the Son, the ram humility. We believe two natures in Christ, one person; and just as the ram was sacrificed and Isaac remained unharmed, so the humanity of Christ succumbed to the Passion, but the divinity was impassible. 'Lot' is interpreted 'declining'; 'Sodom' as 'dumb beast,' because contrary to nature they sinned irrationally. 'Chaos,' the confusion of the elements, signifies the destruction of the world. The history is well known.

God rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom, since the angel commanded Lot and his wife to flee and not to turn their faces back behind them. His wife, looking back, was turned into a pillar of salt — and fittingly into a pillar of salt, that by this example the minds of hearers might be seasoned, lest by committing like deeds they should suffer like things. 'Upon the backs' ('in sua terga'): whoever does this will make a crooked, twisting furrow or will wound the legs of the team. By the 'plougher' he designates the preacher, by the 'ploughing' the preaching itself, the discourse. For just as the plougher ought not to turn his face back upon his own back, so the preacher ought not to do those things which he preaches are to be avoided. 'Frondea' (leafy) is put for 'frondosa'; 'frondosum' (leafy) is said of that having leaves;

but 'frondeum' means something made of leaves or branches, like a 'scena' (bower), a shady covering. 'Curved' ('plexos'), that is, bent. 'Three-forked' ('trisulcis'), that is, three-cleft. The serpent moves its tongue with such agility that it appears to men to be three-forked. The 'chelidrus' is a serpent which lives on land and in water. 'Cherson' in Greek is 'land,' 'hydor' is 'water'; hence 'chelidrus' is as it were 'chersidrus,' because it can live both on land and in water. 'Incedens,' that is, advancing. 'Baptisma' (baptism); 'baptisma' is Hebrew, 'balneum' (bath) is Greek, 'lauacrum' (washing) is Latin. 'Rude' ('rude'), that is, new; 'hic et haec rudis et hoc rude' is of three genders and signifies 'new'; but when it means a stripped twig, 'rudis' is feminine. 'Rudus, ruderis' too is of neuter gender, a worn tile or the ruins of walls. Moses bore the type of Christ, as is read in the Apostle:

'All were baptized in Moses into Christ.' For just as the people of Israel were saved in the Red Sea under Moses and the army of the Egyptians was destroyed, so we too under Christ are saved in baptism and the devil with his adversities is conquered. 'The voice of the Lord cries out over the waters.' There are four elements, two of which are joined to each other in lightness — fire and air — for they are always borne upward; and two are joined to each other in heaviness — earth and water — for they always fall from the higher places to the depths. 'The abyss' ('abyssum'): he calls the great depth of the Scriptures the 'abyss,' for the abyss is called an excessive depth. 'With rainclouds' ('nimbis'), that is, with rains. A 'nimbus' is called a dense and sudden rain, and 'nimbus' is so called as it were 'nubus' from the clouds ('nubibus'), just as 'imber' (shower) is as it were 'umber' from 'umbra' (shade).

'Of nectar's sweetness.' 'Nectar' is the general name for all sweet things. 'Dry' ('siccus') is so called as it were 'without juice' ('sine suco'). He calls everything hard 'metal.' Christ was bread, since he gave them bread, as he himself said, 'I am the bread of life.' Christ was the rock, since he gave them water, as the Apostle says, 'And the rock was Christ.' Christ was in the waves, since he led them through the sea. 'Braying' ('rudenti'), that is, crying out. 'Braying' ('ruditus') is properly the voice of asses, just as bleating is of sheep. 'The sun stood still at Gibeon,' that is, over against Gibeon; it is a chief city. 'Arms' ('arma') are so called because they cover the shoulders ('armos'). 'Attended' ('famulata'), that is, obedient. 'Iesus-naue' (Joshua son of Nun) and 'Iosue' are the same, and it is interpreted 'Saviour.' 'Without custom' ('sine more'), that is, habit, because ravens are wont rather to snatch than to minister. 'Greedy' ('auido'), that is, eager, gluttonous.

A bird ('ales') is so called from its wings ('alis'); the raven ('cornus') from the harshness of its voice. 'The heir Elisha'; 'heir' ('heres') is so called from clinging ('herendo') or from 'erus,' a master. 'Stars' ('astra') are so called from 'astreo,' the astrologer. 'Furrows' ('sulcos'), that is, channels. Three elements make a furrow. The air is cut by an arrow, the water by a ship, but they quickly run back into themselves; in the earth, however, the furrow remains; fire admits no furrow, but turns into itself whatever it finds. 'Elias' (Elijah): if the 'a' is changed to 'o' and the accent is on the last syllable, 'helios' is the sun. 'Elias' is interpreted 'God, mind, lord': 'hel' is God, 'i' is mind, 'as' is lord. 'Coetus' (sea-monster) among the Latins is of masculine gender, among the Greeks it is neuter, 'tou ketous,' and in the plural 'ta kete'; hence we read 'great whales' ('coete grandia'); in Hebrew it is called 'leviathan.' 'Deposit' ('depositum'), that is, entrusted. 'Breathing' ('spirante'), that is, aiding.

'Babylon,' which Nebuchadnezzar had built. 'Achaemenian.' Achaemenes was a king of the Parthians of such great fury that, if he once grew angry, he could in no way be appeased until twelve men were sacrificed. His wrath this man (Nebuchadnezzar) possessed. 'With no burning pyre,' that is, with no consuming fire. A 'rogus' (pyre) is a gathering-together of wood. 'Senseless' ('uecors'), that is, without heart; 've' is put for 'non' (not), just as 'uesanus' (insane) means 'not sound.' We say 'pecudes' of smaller animals, 'pecora' of the larger ones. 'Sevenfold seasons,' that is, seven years. The whole from the part, for each year has four seasons. 'Shaggy' ('hirsutus'), that is, hairy, because in the manner of eagles his hair and nails had grown long. 'Nor less' ('nec minus'), namely, likewise; it is a figure which is called 'litotes,' when two negatives make one affirmative.

'Tyrants' ('tyranni'); among the Greeks 'tyrannus' is put for 'king,' but among the Latins for the invader of another's possession. 'Belua' (beast) is trisyllabic — a resolution in the metre — and he put the singular number for the plural, for there were seven lions. 'In the jaws.' The 'fauces' (jaws) are the cheeks, and they are called 'fauces' from 'fage,' that is, to eat. 'Tell where.' By way of recapitulation he addresses Nature under an interrogation, which the poet makes her in a manner answer to herself. 'Who Tartarus.' Now he introduces her as if answering for herself. 'The old woman' ('anum'), that is, the aged woman. Sarah suffered two things, for she was old and barren. 'Into a snake' ('anguem'), that is, a dragon. 'With rainclouds,' that is, with rains. God rained manna for the children of Israel; they, seeing it, said 'manhu,' which is interpreted 'what is this?'; and therefore that food is called 'manna.'

'Birds' ('uolucres'); birds are so called from frequent flight ('crebro uolatu'). 'Three lustra,' that is, three periods of five years. 'For the man Hezekiah.' The Greeks reckoned their times by 'Olympiads,' by four-year periods; the Romans, however, by 'lustrum,' by five-year periods, because in the fifth year the sun renews its rising. For the first year has 365 days and one quarter, the second and third years likewise; but the fourth year has 366 days, because four quarters make one day — this is the bissextile (leap day) which is inserted every fourth year. In the fifth year the sun begins the same courses anew. For example, the sun in the first year is at the forehead of Aries, in the second at the shoulder-blades, in the third at the flank, in the fourth at the loins, but in the fifth it returns again to the forehead.

'Lustrum' is also so called from purifying ('lustrando'), because the Romans purified the whole city in the fifth year with candles and lamps in honour of their gods — just as we do every year in the month of February in honour of holy Mary. But 'lustra' in the plural means the lairs of wild beasts. 'Shipwrecked' ('naufragus'); one is called 'naufragus' who suffers losses at sea. 'Naus' in Greek is 'nauis' (ship) in Latin; hence 'naufragium' (shipwreck) is called the breaking ('fractio') of a ship. 'Caminus' (furnace) and 'clibanus' (oven) are Greek, and 'fornax' (furnace) is Latin. 'Rictus' is an excessive opening of the mouth. It comes from the verb 'ringo,' 'I open the mouth.' 'Goading' ('instimulante'), that is, provoking. A 'stimulus' (goad) is properly a rod having iron at its tip, by which oxen are admonished. 'Surely' ('nempe'), that is, 'not,' he says, 'is it any wonder if these things were done contrary to nature.'

'Whithersoever' ('quocumque'), that is, into whatever part. 'Vain' ('uana') or 'shrines' ('fana'), that is, idols. 'On the left' ('sinistro'), that is, perverse. The poet grieves over the errors of the pagans. 'Idol' ('idolum') is a diminutive from 'idea,' form. 'Madness' ('dementia'), that is, ravings. 'Lira' is the furrow of the plough; hence 'deliro' (I rave) means I go off course, I deviate from the path of reason. Properly to 'rave' ('delirare') is when the oxen wander off the furrow ('de sulco exorbitant'); so too old men are said to rave, since they depart from true speech. 'The ox Apis' ('bouem apin'), for 'Apis' was the name given to a bull which was offered to Queen Isis. 'And the half-man ape' ('simiam'), for the ape is half-man and half-dog. There are three kinds of apes:

one is hairy, which is called the 'sphinx'; another is called 'cercopithecus,' having a tail; the third is without a tail, which is named 'simia' (ape), having a face and feet after the likeness of a man, but the rest of its body after the likeness of a dog. 'As the bird ibis' ('ibin'). He means the Egyptian domestic storks, which the Egyptians worshipped on account of the serpents which they devoured. 'Twin,' that is, equal ('geminum aequalem'). He put 'twin' for 'equal,' because those three days at the beginning of the world were equal; but afterward, the sun having been created on the fourth day, the days are unequal, for they either increase or decrease, not only at the equinoxes. 'They are put to flight' ('fugantur'), that is, they are darkened; and this is poetic, because the stars ('stellae') are so called from gleaming ('stellando'). 'Wooden' ('Lignee').

A man is called 'wooden' ('ligneus') who worships wood, just as one is called 'stony' ('lapideus') who worships stone. 'To the deaf' ('surdis'), that is, toward the deaf. The deaf man ('surdus') is so called because he retains the filth ('sordes') of the head; the dumb man ('mutus') is so called from 'mugitus' (lowing), because he retains the sound of his voice in his nostrils. 'Summits' ('culmina') are so called from 'culmus' (stalk). 'Thistle' ('carduus'); the thistle is a thorny herb, which is commonly called 'calcatripa.' 'Monsters' ('monstra'), that is, idols; 'idea' is form. 'Dulia' is servitude; hence 'idolatry' is the servitude of idols, and an 'idolater' is a man serving idols. 'The mountain' ('montem'). By 'mountain' he means the difficult song of the Gospel. 'Tolus'; the 'tolus' is the topmost part of a roof, from which the framework proceeds. 'Where worthy things are given to him who asks.' He touches upon what is said in the Gospel: 'Ask and you shall receive.' 'Reprobate' ('reprobus'), that is, rejected. 'The corner,' the people of the Jews.

That stone is Christ, who was rejected by the Jews when they said, 'We will not have this man reign over us,' and in the psalm: 'The stone which the builders rejected,' etc. Christ is called the corner-stone, because he joins to himself the Gentile people and the Jewish, just as a stone joins together the walls. 'Let it make simple' ('simplet'), that is, let it make single. THE HISTORY OF ARIUS. Arius was a teacher of the city of Alexandria, which is the chief city of Egypt, which Alexander the Great built. In it Peter was bishop, under whom this man was a teacher of the school. He secretly taught that the Son was less than the Father, and the Holy Spirit less than both. Then Peter was sent to prison by Licinius, the colleague of Constantine, on account of the catholic faith which he was preaching.

To him Christ appeared in the form of a most beautiful boy, clothed in a most white tunic, so much so that he could scarcely be looked upon — but torn as if by dogs. Then Peter, weighed down by the burden of the chains with which he was bound and unable to rise, cried out, saying: 'Lord, who has thus afflicted and torn you?' To him the Lord said: 'Arius has rent me, for he has divided me from my Father; but see that you do not commune with him.' Afterward, Licinius having been killed by Constantine, because he wished to seize his empire, Constantine gathered a very great synod, namely of three hundred and eighteen bishops, not counting deacons and abbots, where Arius was ordered to come, that there his faith might be made plain.

When he had drawn near to the synod, while the holy bishop Alexander persevered in prayer, he was seized with such excessive terror that all his entrails failed from the pain. Then he ordered a latrine to be prepared for himself. When he had come to it, all his entrails were poured out, because by the just judgement of God, just as he was empty in mind, so he remained empty in belly. 'Through crooked, trackless ways' ('curua per auia'), that is, through the falsehood of a depraved doctrine. 'Auium' is a place without a way, 'a' being put for 'sine' (without). 'Nephew' ('nepos'); 'nepos' means the son of a son, and 'nepos' is as it were 'natus post' (born after). When it signifies a son or daughter, it makes 'hic nepos' and 'haec neptis'; but when it means a profligate, it makes 'hic et haec nepos.' 'Grandfather' ('aui'); 'auus' is so called as it were 'auitus,' ancient. 'The whole' ('totum'), that is, common.

Communion or community in the Holy Trinity exists, except for the relative names. Whatever can be categorically predicated of the Father, this also of the Son, this also of the Holy Spirit: such as 'good,' 'great,' 'pious,' 'almighty,' etc., except, as was said above, for the relative names. 'By which he grows' — he is everywhere perfect, not created. Arius said that he was 'a creature,' but he lied, for he was not created but begotten. 'For he who, the highest,' that is, the most exalted. Understand the force of the words: This is not a Son who is also Father, but this is Son which is also Father — one substance. There is a difference between 'this man' ('hic') and 'this thing' ('hoc'): 'hic' pertains to persons, 'hoc' to substance. 'We are one.' He did not say 'one' (masculine, 'unus') but 'one' (neuter, 'unum'), one substance. Arius ought to know that 'unum' means one substance.

For he (Arius) said well that there are three persons, but wrongly that there are three substances. For he said that the Son was less than the Father, and the Holy Spirit less than both; and on the contrary Sabellius said well one substance, but wrongly one person. For he said: the Father, when he wills, is Father; when he wills, is Son; when he wills, is Holy Spirit. This Sabellius ought to know the threefold faith. 'But here Arius.' A 'cachinnus' is a dissolute, rippling laughter. This can also be referred to the philosophers, for some philosopher talks much, like Epicurus, who said many things about the creation of the world. For he said that the world consists of atoms. 'The other is too silent,' like the Pythagoreans, who learned for five years, and for five years meditated in silence;

the Peripatetic walks, the Stoic stands, Socrates loves weeping — who always wept because he saw the men of this age following after vices; Democritus wrinkles up in laughter, who is said always to have laughed, because he saw men following after greed and the base gains of this age. Hence Juvenal: 'Democritus used to shake his lungs with perpetual laughter.' 'Banners' ('uexilla') are so called from carrying ('uehendo'). A 'uexillum' is a military standard. 'The door, you.' He makes an apostrophe to those who serve Christ as soldiers. Christ is called the 'door,' because through him one comes to him. The door is the beginning of a house, and it is named from the god Janus, to whom the beginning of every matter was consecrated. Hence the month of January ('Ianuarius') is so called, because it is the beginning of the year. 'On the roll' ('in albo'), that is, in the heavenly book.

The 'album' is a tablet where were written the names of those who were received into military service; and if any of them was slain, at the head of his name the letter theta was written, which signifies death. 'It trembles, it sounds, and it says: Prepare the way of the Lord.' The lion has a great voice and is himself the king of beasts; and for this reason Mark is depicted in the likeness of a lion, because with such a voice he began his Gospel, as 'the voice of one crying in the wilderness,' and he describes the royal dignity of Christ. 'Bullocks' ('iuuenci'), that is, calves. A 'iuuencus' (bullock) is so called from 'iuuamen' (help), because it provides help to men for ploughing the earth. For the bullock used to be sacrificed in the temple, and Luke describes those things which the Lord did in and about the temple.

John is designated by the eagle, because just as the eagle gazes upon the sun with unflinching eyes, so John, soaring above all the heavens, describes the divinity of Christ, which the other evangelists described. 'Nobles' ('proceres'), that is, princes. Properly 'proceres' are called the 'mutuli,' the heads of beams which project in buildings. Hence princes are called 'proceres' because they project above the rest. A month ('mensis') is named from 'mene,' the moon, because the months change according to the course of the moon. 'Sheaves' ('maniplos'); the primitive is 'maniplus'; hence 'manipulus' is the diminutive; properly, however, a 'manipulus' is five hundred soldiers — the same as a cohort. By 'sheaves' he means good works. 'Meto' is 'I gather'; hence 'messis' (harvest) is so called, because it is gathered each year. 'Metior, metiris' is 'I measure'; 'metor, metaris' is 'I choose out.'

From this place the poet begins to carry out what he promised. For he promised that he would write from Adam down to the nativity of Christ. INTO BOOK II. 'First-begotten' ('primogenitum'), that is, the first-formed ('protoplastum'). 'Protos' in Greek is 'first,' 'plastus' is 'formed'; hence 'protoplastus' is 'first-formed.' 'From the seat' ('de sede'), that is, from paradise. 'Paradise' is interpreted 'the garden of delights'; 'Adam' is 'the earthly man' or 'red earth.' 'With enticements' ('illecebris'), that is, with pleasures. 'Enticements' ('illecebrae') are so called from enticing ('illiciendo'), deceiving. 'Alas' ('heu'). The poet grieves over the fault of the woman. 'Noxious' ('noxia'), that is, culpable. He makes an interrogation to the woman: O spouse, were you more guilty, or that treacherous dragon? Now he himself answers: That dragon was treacherous and fraudulent; but you too are not without fault, because you consented.

There is, moreover, in this place a complete syllogism, consisting of a proposition, an assumption, and a conclusion. He is called 'treacherous' ('perfidus') as it were 'betraying faith' ('prodens fidem'), for the devil destroys faith, when he said: 'You shall be as gods.' For he did not fulfil what he promised, because not only were they not made gods, but they were even made mortal. A 'demon' is so called as it were 'daimon,' that is, exceedingly ('ualde'). 'Eve' is interpreted 'mother.' 'Nine hundred.' Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, Methuselah eight hundred and eighty. 'Grandson of the first earth-born' ('terrigenae'), the descendants of Adam. The 'fauces' (jaws) are so called from the Greek 'fage,' to eat. 'Slow' ('difficilis'), that is, tardy, because he does not always take vengeance. 'Venial' ('ueniale'), that is, worthy of pardon. God founded two rational natures:

the angel and man; of whom one (the angel) sinned with no one persuading him and not surrounded by the frailty of a body, and therefore perished irrecoverably; but man, because he was frail in body and sinned with the devil persuading him, therefore merited pardon. 'Distended' ('tensos'), that is, heavy and laden. 'From the threshold' ('de limine'), that is, from the beginning, from the entrance. 'Made flesh,' and this is a synecdoche, the whole from the part. For man consists of flesh and soul. 'Closed,' leaving her a virgin. 'Before the sons' ('prae natis'), that is, before the sons; he took this from the psalm, where it is read: 'Beautiful in form before the sons of men, upon whose fair lips grace is poured,' because even according to his humanity he was more beautiful than the rest. 'Beset' ('obsitus'), that is, surrounded. 'Hail' ('salue'). The poet greets the mother of Christ. 'He holds' ('tenet'), that is, he rules.

'In a circle' ('giro'), that is, in a ring; just as a circle or crown seems to have neither beginning nor end, so does the empire of Christ. 'Woman' ('femina'). 'Femina' and 'mulier' (woman) are not names of corruption, but of sex and nature, for a virgin can be called both 'femina' and 'mulier.' 'To shepherds.' There were shepherds in the wilderness beyond Bethlehem, near the tower of the flocks, which is called Ader. If they had any fear, they would climb it. There was a plain there suitable and useful for cattle. 'Eastern' ('Eous'). 'Eous, eoa, eoum' is variable (an adjective). 'Eous' fixed (as a noun) is a part of the sky. 'Tyrant' ('tyrannus'); 'tyrannus' is Greek, in Latin 'rex' (king). Among us 'tyrannus' means the invader of another's possession; whence he also calls Herod a 'tyrant.'

For he was a foreigner, his father an Idumean, his mother an Arab, brought up by Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews; and when he (Hyrcanus) had died, he seized the kingdom. 'Clouds' ('nubila'), that is, the sadness of his mind. 'Nourishing' ('alens'), that is, fostering; in face he was glad, but in mind sad. 'He ponders' ('tractat'), that is, he meditates. 'You do not heed' ('neglegis'), that is, you do not understand, because he had read in the law of the Jews that Christ ought to be born of Judah. 'The divine power' ('numina'), that is, power or will, because the will is taken for the effect of the work. 'To be accomplished' ('patrandum'), that is, to be completed. 'Eager' ('alacres'), that is, glad, hastening. 'Treasures' ('thesauris'). By 'treasures' he means the caskets or boxes where the gifts were. 'Loosed' ('solutis'), that is, fitting. By the gold they believed him a future king, by the frankincense God, by the myrrh mortal, because the bodies of the dead are embalmed with myrrh.

The three Magi signify the human race scattered abroad from the three sons of Noah throughout the three parts of the world — Asia, Africa, and Europe — because it came to Christ with the three natural disciplines: Physics, Ethics, Logic. Why three and not more? On account of the number of the Holy Trinity, or on account of the three times which God always beholds. After we have come to Christ, let us not seek again the wicked one, let us not return to the devil, just as the Magi did not return to Herod. 'Herod' is interpreted 'leathery' or 'the glory of the skin,' and signifies the devil, who, having stripped our first parents of their robe, clothed them in the leathern garments of mortality. For after we have come to Christ through baptism, we ought not to return to the devil, whom we renounced in baptism.

'He opens' ('aperit'), that is, he reveals — namely, that wrath which he was concealing — just as above he said, 'having clouds of the mind.' 'Crime' ('facinus'), that is, the wickedness which he willed to do, he was not able to accomplish, for Christ had fled into Egypt. 'Facinus' is of the middle voice (neutral), for it is put both in a good and in a bad sense. 'Undeservedly' ('inmerito'), that is, unjustly. 'Scarcely yet' ('uixdum'), like 'agedum' ('come now'); 'dum' is a syllabic addition. 'Wailing' ('uagitus'), the first cries of infants; hence the god 'Vagitanus' is so called, who presides over infants. 'Countless wickedness' ('innumerum nefas'), that is, manifold sin. 'Bereaved' ('orbata'), that is, deprived of a son. 'Butcher' ('lanio'), that is, cruel. A rebuke to Herod. The wolf is called 'lanio' from 'lana' (wool), because it kills sheep, for 'laniare' is to kill. 'In another's body,' that is, in the bodies of the saints, just as he himself says to Paul: 'Saul, why do you persecute me?'

He did not say 'my saints'; in this it is made clear that God suffers in the holy martyrs. 'Emeritus' means 'perfected'; we say 'merere' with a short e. Those soldiers were called 'emeriti' who, having completed their fiftieth year, ceased from military service, and some honour was given to them; hence one fully perfected is called 'emeritus.' 'Nec mora' means 'without delay.' After Christ was twelve years old, he was found teaching in the temple. If anyone should ask, by way of inquiry, why the poet said 'nec mora,' since there is a great span between the twelfth and the thirtieth year, as far as a man is concerned, he answers through a parenthesis, a phrase inserted with the question. 'Fluens' means 'being born.' The poet alludes. 'It is no wonder,' he says, 'that one prophesies over himself without speech, since he has a mute father.' 'Spiramina' (breathings).

We call 'spiras' the coilings of the ropes on ships; hence he says that certain coilings of eight months are called 'spiramina.' But since this example is lacking, we do better to say 'silent breathings,' the issuings of the new month and the back-and-forth of the prophet's spirit without voice up to the birth of John. When he says 'to take away,' he sets forth what he says of the one coming 'to take away the sin of the world.' 'For me' means 'for all,' for he offered himself for all. 'Decutit' means 'drives out.' 'Not obscured' means 'not darkened, not made dark.' For just as light, when it comes into darkness, receives no darkness but rather shakes off the very shadows, so Christ, although he took up flesh, yet received into himself no stain of sinful flesh. 'By his touch' means 'by baptism.'

'Flesh' is sometimes taken for 'sin,' and Christ is said to have borne sin when he took up the likeness of sinful flesh. 'Torrentum' (of the torrents) stands for 'currentum' (of those running), and is both an adjectival noun and a fixed one. What the Greeks call 'nymphae' we call 'lymphae' (waters); for the sign of that same name among the Greeks is N, whose value is fifty for us as L. 'Reflues' means 'flowing backward': it is poetic. 'It came to pass' — namely, when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan, going toward the land of promise. Then the priests first crossed over, and at once, as soon as the water covered their feet, the part of the Jordan that was below fled and fell into the Dead Sea; but that which was above stood in a single heap. This the poet has applied to the Lord's baptism. 'Sands':

'Harenae' (sands) are so called from dryness ('ariditas') when they are written without aspiration; but when they are spoken with aspiration it is because they cling ('haereant') to buildings. 'He will be honoured with honour.' 'That dove...' 'Mansuetum' means 'merciful.' One is called 'mansuetus' as if 'manu suetus' (tamed by hand), gentle. 'Mitem' (the meek): 'mitis' is so called as if 'mutus' (mute), one who through excessive humility is thought to be without speech. God dwells in the meek, as he himself says: 'Upon whom shall my spirit rest, if not upon the humble and quiet one who trembles at my words?' 'Through a bird.' Birds ('volucres') are so called from frequent flight; therefore the Spirit appeared in a dove, to show Christ to be simple, and to fill men's hearts through the simplicity and innocence which they love.

The Father is proved present in the voice, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, the Son in the person of the man who was being baptized. The Father is there, the Son is there, the Holy Spirit is there: there he shows forth the Trinity. 'De caute' means 'from hard rock.' 'Cautes' and 'cotes' are the same. 'Vipereis' means 'serpentine, venom-bearing'; the viper ('vipera') is so called because it brings forth by force ('vi pariat'), for it lacks a womb but is said to conceive through the mouth. 'Power' — namely, angelic and archangelic. Nor is it any wonder if the devil, who is a spirit, could show Christ all the kingdoms of the world, since blessed Benedict, while still set in the body, could behold the whole world — not because the world was made small, but because his mind was enlarged by the grace of contemplation.

Therefore the devil tempted the Lord after his baptism, to show that we are then more fiercely tempted, when he sees us forsake ourselves and apply ourselves more diligently to the service of God. 'Delapsus' means 'sent down' or 'descending.' 'Labere' means 'cast yourself down.' It is an imperative from the verb 'labor' (to slip). 'Fastigia' means 'the summit'; the 'pinnae' are the peaks, the loftier parts of a house. Here, however, he has used it for the floors of the temple. The Lord's temple was triple-chambered, of three storeys: from the ground up to the first were thirty cubits, from the first up to the second another thirty, from the second up to the third sixty — behold, one hundred and twenty. 'He bent, he shaped'; he bent it because the heavens are arched in the manner of a vault. 'Borne' means 'carried by his own power,' just as we read passively of the Holy Spirit, 'The Spirit of the Lord was borne over the waters.'

For by whom would he be borne, if not by his own power? 'Cuspide' means 'with a lance, with a javelin-throw.' He called the word of God a 'sword,' whence the Apostle speaks of 'the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,' with which God then strikes someone, when he makes a just man out of a sinner. 'Praecipites' means 'falling headlong.' 'Confringens' refers to wisdom. He said 'sapientia' in the neuter. God breaks the strong when he casts them down from the fear of pride and leads them to true humility. He destroys the wise when he tears down their vain wisdom and brings them to the true wisdom, which is Christ. God did not choose orators and the wise and emperors, but the poor and the lowly and fishermen. 'Tractare' means 'to follow after.' 'Germanum' (a true brother), because we are brothers; one is properly called 'germanus' as if springing from one seed ('germen') of the father.

'Vetusti doli' means 'of the ancient deceit.' The 'old deceit' is original sin. It is called 'deceit' because it was brought in by the fraud of the devil; therefore we ought to wipe out envy from our hearts, which is truly the mark of the devil. One is called 'degener' (degenerate) who does not measure up to the nobility of his parents, who by his own deeds shows himself ignoble; thus we degenerate from God when we hate one another. 'Just as to be blessed' — it is the same, and a great ellipsis is to be understood: thus he commands himself to be hallowed by us, by whom we all are hallowed, just as he likewise commands himself to be blessed by us, by whom we all are blessed. 'Now, now' is an adverb of one desiring quickly; the Lord always and everywhere reigns, yet we ask that, gathering us to himself, he may reign in us. 'They do not succeed' means 'they do not come.' 'Through the age.'

'Aenum' (aevum) is set down for perpetuity, and it comes from the Greek 'aeon,' which means 'time'; it is nothing other than the course and alternation of things, when night succeeds day and day succeeds night. The 'crown' is set down for eternal recompense, because just as a crown has neither beginning nor end, so that reward will lack beginning and end. 'Nusquam' means 'in no place'; 'usquam' on the contrary means 'in some place,' just as 'numquam' means 'in no time,' 'umquam' 'in some time.' 'And as for the pole.' By 'pole' understand the soul, by 'ground' the human body. 'Hydrus': the hydrus is a water-serpent. 'Vendicet' means 'usurps and makes its own.' 'Artus' means 'limbs'; 'artus' is so called from binding tight ('artando, stringendo'), because it binds the body. 'Our bread.'

Not this bread, but a spiritual one is understood, which is the Son of God, who is called 'substantial' ('supersubstantial') because he surpasses every substance or essence; and although the dialecticians say that the category which is 'ousia' (being) falls upon God, yet God is beyond ousia, and therefore according to human understanding he is nothing, because he exceeds all understanding, as the Apostle says, 'the peace of God, which surpasses all sense.' 'Annonam' means 'wages'; it is the same as a 'prebend.' 'Annona' is so called because it is renewed for each one. 'Diurno': from 'dies' (day) 'diurnus' means 'of one day'; from 'diu' (long) 'diuturnus' means 'of a long time.' 'In that spiritual body' — by a spiritual mystery. 'Both word and food': 'word,' because he is God before the ages, begotten of God the Father; 'food.'

because, although he was God, he became man, so that he who was the food of angels might be the food of men. 'Cautio' means 'confirmation'; 'cavo, cavis' (I make hollow, I make firm) makes its perfect 'cavi'; hence 'cautio' is called 'a making firm,' whence in the Gospel 'take your bond' means 'confirmation' or 'writing.' 'To the torturers' means 'to the demons.' By the 'ten thousand talents' are understood the greater sins, such as fornication, adultery, homicide; by the 'hundred denarii' the lesser ones, such as anger, hatred, and the rest. If, then, we forgive our brothers the lesser things, God will forgive us the greater; if not, we shall be bound more grievously, having now been loosed from sins. Here he touches on the Gospel, where it is read, 'A certain man settled accounts with his servants.'

'Donec' (until) is here set down as a finite term for an infinite one, because those who are to be damned in hell will never merit pardon — not as Origen says, that after a thousand years Satan with his own will be released, but rather the Lord's sentence will be sure, by which he says, 'the wicked shall go into eternal punishment.' Therefore 'until' is set for 'forever,' just as is read in the Psalm, 'so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us' — that is, forever. 'Brevem' means 'the very least.' 'Amen.' This little particle is a sign and a certain seal of the Lord's Prayer, by which all that has been said above is confirmed. 'The evil one' means 'the devil.' 'The good' means 'Christ.' We approach God not by the step of the body but by the intention of the mind, for we draw near to God or distance ourselves from him not by place but by mind. 'Leads' means 'directs.'

A 'versus et hemistichium' of Virgil is one and a half lines. 'And good freedom,' because they are able to escape, to flee away. 'Through pastures' means 'through the dwellings of the heavenly Jerusalem'; the 'pasture' is the sweetness of the divine vision. INTO BOOK III. 'Thalamis' stands for 'nuptials' (marriage-chambers): 'thalame' in Greek means 'pleasure,' whence 'thalamus' is so called, where pleasure is consummated. 'In the water-jars.' He calls the basins 'hydriae,' and they are so called from lying hidden ('latere'), because the waters lay hidden there; 'hydor' in Greek means 'water,' whence the 'hydriae' are called vessels prepared for the receiving of water. 'Joys' — it is a fancy, a certain imagining of the poet, since he gives sensation to an insensible thing, that they might cease to be what they were, and begin to be what they were not. 'Unfailing grapes' means 'the unfailing faithful,' those who will never perish.

The 'pampinus' is the leaf of the vine, which protects the clusters from the heat of the sun and the injury of the rains. So divine protection guards and fortifies the faithful of the holy Church, lest they fail, against the adversaries of this world. 'Post' means 'afterward,' after he turned the water into wine. 'Febris' (fever). 'Febris' is so called from burning ('fervendo'), and although it is named from heat, it is sometimes cold; and in divine Scripture all infirmities are called by the name of 'fever.' 'How much of dominion,' of power. It is an exclamation of wonder; we say 'how much of a thing,' as 'how much wine, how much water.' 'Rura' means 'farmhouses.' 'Casas' means 'shepherds' huts.' 'Castellum' is a diminutive of 'castra' (camp). 'In whiteness' the wretched man — others rejoiced because of their fair complexion; this man grieved, because leprosy rejoices in the body.

'Lepra' in Greek means 'variegation,' whence one is called 'leprosus' who has a body spotted with various colours. It is asked why the leper met the Lord on the road; because the Law commanded that every leper be separated from the fellowship of common dwelling. 'Febris' (fever): though it is named from heat ('fervor'), yet sometimes it torments the body with cold. 'In funere' means 'in a doubtful death.' From 'funes' (cords) 'funus' (death) is so named. The 'funes' are candles; candles are cords smeared with wax. 'It cooked,' because fever is first cold, afterward hot. By 'fountain' he means the faith of the woman, which lay hidden in her heart.

'Iras' means 'the vexations of the black ones'; he says this not because the spirits are black — for colour befalls only bodies — but we call the damned or the dead 'black' from the Greek 'nekros'; and the malign spirits are called 'black' on account of their malignity, because although they live perpetually, yet they are dead to eternal felicity. By 'honour' he means man, because man is the honour of all natures, for through him all things are honoured. 'He knew' — Christ knew; the devil is of God according to substance, because God himself created him; but according to that by which he is evil, he is not of God, because God created him good and made all things very good. 'Arentes algae' means 'dry seaweeds, withered plants.'

Seaweeds ('algae') are called the refuse of the sea or of some other thing; therefore he sought out the sea-places, so that there anyone might show God to be the true God. 'Cymbae' means 'little boats.' 'Cymba' in Greek, 'cumba' in Latin. 'Librabant' means 'they stretched, they balanced.' To 'librare' is properly to extend something on high. A 'ratis' is properly a framework of beams or a pile of timbers. 'Flabris' means 'winds'; whence 'flabellum,' a diminutive, means 'a little wind' (fan). 'Hiems' is the fourth part of the year, but by abuse it is set down for 'tempest.' 'Procellis' means 'with great waves'; a 'procella' (storm) is wind mixed with water. 'Vada salsa' means 'the brackish waters of the sea.'

It is poetic that he says 'salt,' because the Sea of Galilee has sweet water, fit for drinking; he says this because the sea is generally named from its bitterness, and it must be known that the Lord's voyages on the sea are said to have been on the Sea of Galilee. 'Naufragia' — they thought they would suffer shipwreck. 'To sleep' ('dormire') is to be at rest; 'to doze' ('dormitare') is to be sluggish and drowsy before rest. 'Citus' means 'quickly'; the words of the troubled, for in troubled people speech is not continuous but disjointed. 'Exiliens' means 'rejoicing' on account of Christ. 'Avidas' means 'eager.' The winds are said to have 'wings' on account of their swiftness. 'Prosiluere' means 'they leapt out with force'; he said 'twin' because there were two. 'Mala' means 'torments.' 'Legion.' A legion is six thousand six hundred and sixty-six demons;

a legion is called 'keras' in Greek, 'phalanx' in Macedonian. 'Double,' because within were the demons who had invaded, and without he was entangled with chains. 'According to deserts,' because it was fitting that the unclean one should seek out the unclean place. 'Oletum' and 'olidum' (filth, stinking) are the same, and are of the neuter gender ('ton meson'), whence they always need an epithet, an adjectival noun. 'Phalanges' means 'multitudes,' and it is the tongue of the Medes for what we call 'legions.' 'Horrens' means 'grim, horrible'; there are three epithets without a conjunction, a figure which is called 'asyndeton.' 'Sine usu' means 'without function, without service.' When he says 'loosened' ('resoluta') he shows what paralysis is. 'Lysis' means 'loosing'; 'paralysis' means 'a complete loosing,' whence a 'paralytic' is one loosened in his limbs. 'Vincula' means 'the joinings.'

The sinews ('nervi') are the bonds of the body; when they are loosened, they render the body slack and flabby. 'Malis' means 'with infirmities.' Infirmity is given in five ways: first, for the glory of God, that God may be praised, as in Lazarus and in the man born blind; second, for the guarding of virtues, as in Paul, lest he grow proud at so great a magnitude; third, for the increase of virtues, as in Tobit and Job, who, bearing infirmity patiently, became holier; fourth, on account of sins, as in this paralytic; the fifth way is that of the reprobate, who here begin to be tormented for this reason, that through these torments they may come to eternal ones, as happened to Herod and Antiochus. 'With pleasing reward' — by an exchange, because he carried the one by whom he had been carried. These things are said by way of periphrasis. 'Clauso' means 'last.'

'Functa' stands for 'defuncta' (deceased). 'Adultae' means 'grown up,' because she was twelve years old, now fit for marriage. He says 'hope,' because in her was the hope of posterity. 'Funera' means 'corpse.' 'Inundantem' means 'overflowing'; by the term 'haemorrhousa,' one whose blood flows. 'Haema' in Greek means 'blood,' 'rheo' means 'I flow back.' He calls the hem of Christ's garment a 'thread' ('filum'). It was the custom among the Jews to place threads of hyacinth-blue at the four corners of the cloak, that by these they might be distinguished from the other nations. 'Lugentia' (the mourning ones). They mourn by metonymy. 'Culmina' means 'the sorrowful roof,' the weeping house in which there were those who wept, by that which contains for that which is contained. 'Moriens' stands for 'mortua' (dead). 'Trepidus' means 'doubtful.' 'Ululans' is of the neuter gender. 'Ululatus' is said of a pursuing army and a fleeing army. 'Funereos' means 'fit for a funeral, the flutes sounding.'

Such is the power of the musical art that it makes the joyful rejoice more and the grieving grieve more. 'Plangor' means 'lamentation.' 'Frequens' means 'great.' 'Versis' — there is implied the dirges of those who first wept through grief and now lament through unexpected joy. It seems contrary, what the evangelist says, that the girl was 'dead,' and what the Lord says, that she is 'not dead.' Yet both are true, for to men she was dead; to him who could raise her, she was not dead but sleeping. 'Biothanatus' means 'twice dead,' for 'thanatos' means 'mortal,' 'athanatos' 'immortal.' 'Inclite' means 'noble,' for 'kleos' means 'glory.' He is called 'Son of David,' not of the other fathers, because to him the promises concerning the Son of God were specially made. 'Cognosce' stands for 'cognoscere' (to know).

'Torpens' means 'growing sluggish, failing.' But 'the house of Israel only' — he charged them to go only to Israel, lest the Jews should have occasion to say to others, 'They go on and leave us.' For this reason he so named them, that they should be called Israel. The words are the poet's, by way of parenthesis. 'Gratis' is an adverb from 'gratia' (grace). Now grace is a spontaneous gift, which is bestowed on someone without merit, as if the Lord were saying: 'You too are mine, and the sheep are mine, and the pastures are mine. Do not, then, sell to my sheep the pastures' — that is, doctrine or the Holy Spirit, which is given by the imposition of the hand. He said this, that the priests might have an example, so that they should not sell the priestly ministry. In paradise there is a certain fountain, from which proceed four rivers: Gihon is the Nile itself;

Pishon is the Ganges itself; the Tigris and Euphrates are called by their proper names. 'Synagogue' means 'gathering together,' just as 'church' means 'calling together.' 'Dimenso' means 'diminished.' 'Reduci' means 'returning.' 'He takes away nothing,' as physicians are wont to cut away something of the limbs, that the whole body may be healed. 'Instaurans' means 'restoring.' 'Chelydrus' means 'the devil.' 'Cherson' means 'land,' 'hydor' means 'water'; whence the 'chelydrus' is a serpent, because it can live on land and in water. 'Despectans' means 'looking down.' 'Iuges' means 'continuous'; he says 'continuous' lest you should think the infirmity ran for only a few years. 'They seek the depths' means 'they gape after earthly riches'; to 'gape' is to strain after. Now he allegorizes. That woman signifies those who, pressed down by the weight of sins, take delight in earthly riches.

'Greater miracles' than even Moses worked — for it was a greater thing to satisfy a great multitude from two fishes and five loaves than from the immense largesse of the quails. The quail ('coturnix') is the same as the 'ortygometra.' The 'cophinus' and the 'corbis' and the 'canthara' (basket) are the same. 'Aucta' means 'amplified'; such an abundance of fragments was gathered up as had not been set out. 'Diem' means 'the sun.' 'Pallor' means 'darkness.' It is poetic that he says 'snatching away,' for the poets say that the sun sinks late into the ocean and rises in the morning in the east. Hesperus is a star which rises after the setting of the sun and is called Venus; at midnight, but in the morning it is called Lucifer. 'Arva' means 'the plains of the sea.' 'Arva' are whatever sustains something: the 'arva' of birds are the field, the 'arva' of ships the sea, the 'arva' of men the land.

'Glaucis' means 'of a green colour'; 'glaucus' means 'green,' and it is a colour between white and black. 'Sub calle pedestri' means 'beneath the path of the feet.' Gennesaret is a region beyond the Sea of Galilee, and it is called Gennesaret, 'generating a breeze for itself,' just as the sea generates a tempest. 'Quot' means 'how many.' Tyre and Sidon are coastal cities; Tyre is interpreted 'narrowness,' Sidon 'hunting,' which also was formerly called Sarra... 'For a vice' means 'an infirmity.' Ham was the son of Noah, whence all the Canaanites are named. 'Fragrant,' because it receives fragrance from foods; 'odorum' is that which gives off fragrance of itself, 'odoratum' that which receives it from elsewhere, like a garment; 'odorisequum' that which follows after a scent, like a dog. 'In thorns' means 'in the error of heathenism.'

'From the grass' means 'from the teaching of the Gospel, from the knowledge of the divine Scriptures,' which were given to the Hebrews. For the Hebrews then believed in God, but the other nations did not yet believe; whence the Psalmist: 'God is known in Judah.' 'Attemperat' means 'fits together'; he calls the functions of the limbs an 'instrument' ('organum'), for our body is composed as it were by the function of the musical art, because just as the musical art is tuned outwardly by strings, so the body by the equilibrium of the elements. For the infirmity of the body is nothing other than the inequality of the elements, while health is their equality. 'Organa' means 'the harmony of the limbs'; the sinews are the bonds of the body. 'Geminanda' means 'to be multiplied' — namely, if they returned fasting, the very toil of the journey would increase their hunger. 'What a crowd.' 'Enorme' means 'immeasurable';