註釋集 第 1 章 第 1/4 段

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.'