(1584)

Explanatory epistle

FIRST DIALOGUE

First Part
Second Part
Third Part

SECOND DIALOGUE

First Part
Second Part
Third Part

THIRD DIALOGUE

First Part
Second Part
Third Part




Explanatory Epistle



WRITTEN TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS
AND EXCELLENT KNIGHT,

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, BY THE NOLAN

He is blind who does not see the sun, foolish who does not recog-
nize it, ungrateful who is not thankful unto it, since so great is the
light, so great the good, so great the benefit, through which it
glows, through which it excels, through which it serves, the
teacher of the senses, the father of substances, the author of life.

Now I do not know how I should esteem myself, excellent sir,
if I did not esteem your intellect, did not respect your customs, did
not proclaim your merits, through which you revealed yourself to
me at the very moment I arrived on the island of Britain, insofar
as time permitted you. You manifest yourself to many, whenever
you have the occasion; and you look upon all with favor to that
extent to which your natural and truly heroic inclination indicates
you should.

Then leaving the concern of all to all, and the duty of the many
to the many, may Fate not allow that I, since I have sometimes
shown myself sensitive to the vexatious and inopportune dis-
courtesies of some people, insofar as my private affairs are con-
cerned, thus come to leave before the eyes of eternity a note of
ingratitude by turning my back upon your beautiful, fortunate,
and most courteous fatherland without, at least, a sign of grateful
ness, by paying my respects to you, as well as to that most gener
ous and most kind spirit. Sir Fulke Greville. Just as he is close
to you in the bonds of intimate and long friendship, in which you
were reared, nourished, and raised together, so he resembles you
in the many and worthy, external and internal perfections; and,
with regard to me, he was that second man who, after your first
good offices, extended and offered me the second. These I would
have accepted, and he certainly would have effectuated them if
the envious Erinys of cowardly, malicious, ignoble, and interested
parties had not spread her arsenate.

So therefore, reserving for him some other subject matter, here
I present to you this collection of dialogues, which certainly will
be as good or as bad, as worthy or unworthy, excellent or worth
less, learned or ignorant, lofty or base, profitable or useless, fertile
or sterile, grave or dissolute, religious or profane, as those into
whose hands they may come; some are of one kind, others of an
other, contrary kind. And since the number of the fools and the
perverse is incomparably larger than that of the wise and the just,
it follows that if I want to consider glory or other fruits, to which
the multitude of voices gives birth, so far removed am I from the
expectation of a happy outcome from my study and work that ra-
ther I must expect a source of discontent and must esteem silence
to be much better than speech. But if I take into account the eye
of Eternal Truth, to which things are the more precious and re-
nowned, the more they are, sometimes, not only known, sought
after, and possessed by the fewest but also, besides, considered
worthless, blamed, and attacked, it happens that the more I strive
to cut the course of the impetuous torrent, the more vigor I see
added to it by the turbid, deep, and steep channel.

So then we shall let the multitude laugh at, jest at, mock at,
and entertain itself, by the masks of the mimical and comical
and histrionic Sileni, under which is covered, hidden, and secure
the treasure of goodness and truth, as, on the other hand, there are
more than many persons who, under their severe brows and sub-
dued countenances, their profuse beards and magisterial and grave
togas, studiously, to universal harm, contain ignorance no less vile
than haughty and no less pernicious than the most celebrated
ribaldry. 1

Here, many men who cannot sell themselves as learned and
good men, because of their goodness and doctrine, may easily come
forward, showing how ignorant and vicious we are. But God
knows and is acquainted with the infallible truth that just as that
type of men is foolish, perverse, and wicked, so I, in my thoughts,
words, and deeds, do not know, do not have, do not pretend any
thing else but sincerity, simplicity, and truth. It will, in such man
ner, be judged [of me] where works and heroic effects are not
believed to be fruits of no value and vain; where to believe with
out discretion is not considered the highest wisdom; where the
impostures of men are distinguished from divine counsels; where
perversion of natural law is not looked upon as an act of religion
and superhuman piety; where studious contemplation is not mad
ness; where honor does not consist in avaricious possession, splen-
dor in acts of gluttony, reputation in the multitude of servants,
whatever they may be, dignity in the best attire, greatness in pos-
sessing the most, truth in miracles, prudence in malice, astuteness
in betrayal, prudence in deception, knowing how to live in dis-
sembling, strength in fury, law in force, justice in tyranny, judg-
ment in violence--and so it goes with everything else.

Here Giordano speaks in a vulgar manner, freely designates,
gives the appropriate name to him to whom Nature gives an ap
propriate being. He does not call shameful that which Nature
makes worthy, does not cover that which she reveals openly. He
calls bread, bread; wine, wine; the head, the head; the foot, foot;
and all other parts by their own names. He calls food, food; sleep,
sleep; drink, drink; and likewise signifies the other natural acts
with their proper titles.2 He regards miracles as miracles; acts
of prowess and marvels as acts of prowess and marvels; truth as
truth; doctrine as doctrine; goodness and virtue as goodness and
virtue; impostures as impostures; deceptions as deceptions; the
knife and fire as the knife and fire; words and dreams as words
and dreams; peace as peace; and love as love. He regards philos-
ophers as philosophers; pedants as pedants; monks as monks;
ministers as ministers; preachers as preachers; leeches as leeches;
useless mountebanks, charlatans, triflers, swindlers, actors, and
parrots as they are called, show themselves, and are. He regards
workers, benefits, wise men, and heroes as the same. Come! Come!
We see how this man, as a citizen and servant of the world, a child
of Father Sun and Mother Earth, because he loves the world too
much, must be hated, censured, persecuted, and extinguished by
it. But, in the meantime, may he not be idle or badly employed
while awaiting his death, his transmigration, his change.

Let him today present to Sidney the numbered and arranged
seeds of his moral philosophy, not in order that he know and
understand them as something new, but in order that he examine,
consider, and judge them, accepting all that which must be ac
cepted, excusing all that which must be excused, and defending
all that which must be defended against the wrinkles and the
brows of hypocrites, the teeth and the nose of the presumptuous,
the file and the hiss of pedants. Let him admonish the first that
they should esteem him firm in that religion which begins, grows,
and maintains itself by resuscitating the dead, healing the infirm,
and giving of its own goods, and that there cannot be any affec-
tion where that of another is ravished, where the healthy are crip-
pled and the living slain. Let him counsel the second that they turn
to the Efficient Intellect and Intellectual Sun, imploring it that it
give light to him who does not possess it. Let him make the third
understand that it is not suitable for us to be as they are--slaves
of definite and determined sounds and words.

But, by the grace of the gods, it is permitted us and we are at
liberty to make them serve us, to take and accommodate them at
our convenience and pleasure. Thus, let not the first be trouble-
some to us with their perverse conscience, the second with their
blind seeing, the third with their ill-employed solicitude; if the first
do not want to be accused of foolishness, envy, and malice, the
second do not want to be reprehended for their ignorance, pre-
sumption, and temerity, the third do not want to be branded with
cowardice, frivolity, and vanity; the first for not having abstained
from the rigid censure of our judgment, the second for not having
abstained from the stubborn calumny of our sentiments, the third
for not having abstained from the foolish riddling of our words.

Now, in order to cause anyone who wants, and is able to, to
understand my intention in the present discourse, I protest and
certify that insofar as it pertains to me, I approve that which com-
monly is esteemed worthy of being approved by all wise and good
men, and reprove the contrary along with the same. And there-
fore, I pray and beseech all that there be not anyone of so gross a
mind and so malicious a spirit that he may want to determine, giv-
ing himself and others to understand, that that which is written
in this volume is said by me in an assertive manner. 8 Nor (if he
wishes to believe the truth) let him believe that I, either through
it or through an accident, may at any point want to take aim at
the truth, and hurl stones against the honest, the useful, the
natural, and consequently the divine. But let him consider as cer-
tain that I, for all my striving, expect the contrary. And if, per
haps, it happens that he is not capable of this, let him not deter-
mine, but let him remain in doubt until that time when it will
have been resolved, after his having penetrated into the pith of
the meaning.

Afterward, let him consider that these are dialogues, wherein
are interlocutors, who make their own speeches, and by whom are
reported the discourses of many, many others, who equally abound
in their own meanings, reasoning with that fervor and zeal which,
especially, can be and are appropriate to them. In the meantime,
let there be no one who will think otherwise than that these three
dialogues have been set down and developed only as the material
and subject of a future work; because it seems expeditious to me,
being of the intention of treating moral philosophy according to
the internal light that the divine Intellectual Sun has radiated and
still radiates within me, first to set forth certain preludes, in the
manner of musicians; to sketch certain occult and confused out-
lines and shadows, like the painters; to weave and straighten out
certain threads, like the weavers; and to lay certain deep, pro-
found, and dark foundations, like the great builders. This only
seemed to me to be effectuated more conveniently by placing in
a certain number and order all of the first forms of morality, which
are the capital virtues and vices, in such a manner that you will
see introduced into the present work a repented Jove, whose heaven
was full to overflowing with as many beasts as vices, according
to the forms of forty-eight famous images, a Jove now consulting
about banishing them from heaven, from glory and a place of
exaltation, destining for them, for the most part, certain regions
on earth and allowing to succeed into those same seats the virtues,
already for so long banished and undeservedly dispersed.

Now, while that is put into execution, even if you see things
vituperated, which seem to you unworthy of vituperation, things
scorned, worthy of esteem, things exalted, worthy of censure, con
sider all of this instead as being said indeterminately (considered
so even by those who, by their authority, can say it) as being put
down with difficulty, placed in the arena, set in the theater, all
of this waiting to be examined, discussed, and compared when the
music has been arranged, the image represented, the cloth woven,
and the roof built. In the meanwhile Sophia represents Sophia,
Saulino acts as Saulino, Jove as Jove, Momus, Juno, Venus, and
other Greeks or Egyptians, dissolute or grave, as what and which
ever they are; and [all] can be adapted to the condition and nature
that they are able to represent. If you see serious and jocose sub-
jects, consider that they are all equally worthy of being gazed
upon with not ordinary lenses.

In conclusion, consider as definite only the order and number
of the subjects of moral consideration, together with the founda
tions of such a philosophy, which you will see therein entirely rep
resented. Moreover, let each one gather from this medium the
fruits that he can, according to the capacity of his own bowl; be
cause there is nothing so wicked that it may not be converted to
the profit and usefulness of good people; and there is nothing so
good and worthy that it cannot be the cause and material of scandal
for ribalds. Here, then, considering everything else (whence we
cannot gather any worthy fruit of doctrine) as something doubt-
ful, suspect, and impendent, let our final intention be considered
to be the order, the initiation, the disposition, the index of the
method, the tree, the theater and arena of the virtues and the vices
--where afterward one must discuss, inquire, inform oneself, cor
rect oneself, distend oneself, betake oneself, and pitch one’s tent
on other considerations, when, determining upon everything ac
cording to our own light and intention, we shall explain ourselves
in numerous other particular dialogues, in which the universal
architecture of such a philosophy will be fully completed and in
which we shall reason in a more definite manner.

We here, then, have a Jove, not taken as too legitimate and good
a vicar or lieutenant of the first principle and universal cause, but
well taken as something variable, subject to the Fate of Mutation;
he, however, knowing that together in one infinite entity and sub-
stance there are infinite and innumerable particular natures (of
which he is one individual), which, since they in substance, es-
sence, and nature are one, likewise, by reason of the number
through which they pass, incur innumerable vicissitudes and a
kind of motion and mutation. Each one of these natures then,
and particularly Jove’s, finds itself as such an individual, with such
a composition, with such accidents and circumstances, having been
placed in number, because of differences which arise from con
traries, all of which are reduced to one original and first contrary,
which is the first principle of all the others, the proximate effi
cients of every change and vicissitude. Because of this, just as
he, from one who at first was not Jove, afterward was made
Jove, so he, from one who at present is Jove, finally will be other
than Jove.

He knows that of the eternal corporeal substance (which is
not producible ex nihilo, nor reducible ad nihilum, but rarefiable,
condensable, formable, arrangeable, and “fashionable”) the com-
position is dissolved, the complexion is changed, the figure is
modified, the being is altered, the fortune is varied, only the ele-
ments remaining what they are in substance, that same principle
persevering which was always the one material principle, which
is the true substance of things, eternal, ingenerable, and incor
ruptible.

He knows well that of the eternal incorporeal substance noth-
ing is changed, is formed or deformed, but there always remains
only that thing which cannot be a subject of dissolution, since it is
not possible that it be a subject of composition; and therefore,
either of itself or by any accident, it cannot be said to die; because
death is nothing but the divorcing of parts joined in a composite,
in which state all of the substantial being of each part remaining
(which cannot be lost), that accident of friendship, of accord, of
complexion, union, and order ceases.

He knows that spiritual substance, although it has familiarity
with bodies, must not be considered as really coming into a com-
position or mixture with them; because this [composition] is
brought about, body with body, a part of matter fashioned in one
way, with a part of matter fashioned in another. But there is one
thing, an efficient and formative principle from within, from
which, through which, and around which the composition is
formed; and it is exactly like the helmsman on the ship, the father
of the family at home, and an artisan who is not external but fabri-
cates from within, tempers and preserves the edifice; and in it is the
power to keep united the contrary elements, to arrange together,
as if in a certain harmony, the discordant qualities, to keep and
maintain the composition of an animal. It winds the beam, weaves
the cloth, interweaves the threads, restrains tempers, gives order to
and arranges and distributes the spirits, gives fibers to the flesh,
extends the cartilage, strengthens the bones, ramifies the nerves,
hollows out arteries, fecundates the veins, foments the heart, gives
breath to the lungs, succors all, within, with vital heat and radical
humidity, in order that the said hypostasis may be composed and
the said countenance, figure, and face may appear on the outside.

Thus, the dwelling place in all things said to be animate is
formed from the center of the heart, or from some thing propor-
tionate to it, by its enfolding and shaping the members and con-
serving those which have been enfolded and shaped. Thus, necessi
tated by the principles of dissolution, abandoning its architecture,
it [the efficient and formative principle] causes the ruin of the
edifice by dissolving the contrary elements, breaking the union,
removing the hypostatic composition; because it cannot eternally
nestle among the same temperaments, perpetuating the same threads,
and preserving those same arrangements, in one and the same com-
posite. However, making its retreat from the external parts and
members to the heart, and, as if re-gathering the insensible in-
struments and tools, it indicates clearly that it leaves through
the same door through which it once was fitting for it to enter.

Jove knows that it is neither likely nor possible if corporeal
matter, which is composable, divisible, manageable, contractable,
formable, mobile, and consistent, under the dominion, power, and
virtue of the soul, is not annihilable, is not, in any point or atom,
annulable, that, on the other hand, the most excellent nature, which
commands, governs, presides over, moves, vivifies, vegetates, makes
sentient, maintains and contains, should be of a worse condition.
Jove knows, I say (not what some fools, under the name of philos
ophers, want to believe) it is neither likely nor possible that an
act that results from the harmony, symmetry, complexion, and, fin-
ally, from an accident, because of the dissolution of the composite,
should become nothing, together with the composition, any more
than the principle and intrinsic cause of harmony, complexion,
and symmetry that derive from it, which can no less subsist with-
out the body, than the body, which is moved and governed by it,
and united by its presence and dispersed by its absence, can be
without it.

Jove considers this principle, then, to be that substance which
is truly man, and not an accident which is derived from the com
position. This [principle] is the divinity, the hero, the demon,
the particular god, the intelligence, in which, by which, and
through which, just as diverse complexions and bodies are formed
and form themselves, there likewise succeeds being, diverse in
species, of diverse names, of diverse forms. This, because it is
that [principle] which, as regards the rational acts and appetites,
moves and governs the body according to reason, is superior to it
and cannot be necessitated and compelled by it.

It follows that by virtue of the High Justice that presides over
all things, because of inordinate affects in the same or in another
body, it [being] will be tormented and made ignoble, and that it
must not expect the government and administration of a better
dwelling when it has badly guided itself in the rule of another.
Because, then, of its having there led a life, for example, equine
or porcine, it will be (as many more excellent philosophers have
understood; and I esteem that, if it is not to be believed, it is
much to be considered) ordained by Fatal Justice that there be
woven about it a prison appropriate to such a crime or offense,
and that there be organs and instruments suitable to such a lab-
orer or crafts man.

And so, on and on, always encountering the Fate of Mutation,
it will eternally continue to incur many other worse and better
species of life and of fortune, according to whether it has con
ducted itself better or worse in the immediately preceding condi
tion and lot. So we see that man, changing nature and modifying
his affects, from a good man becomes wicked, from a temperate
man, intemperate; and, on the other hand, that from one who seem-
ed to be a beast, he ends up by seeming to be another better or
worse, by virtue of certain delineations and configurations which,
deriving from the internal spirit, appear in the body, so that they
will never deceive a prudent physiognomist. However, since we
see in the faces of many in the human species, expression, voices,
gestures, affects, and inclinations, some equine, others porcine,
asinine, aquiline, and bovine, so we are to believe that in them
there is a vital principle through which, by virtue of the proximate
past or proximate future mutations of bodies, they have been or
are about to be pigs, horses, asses, eagles, or whatever else they
indicate, unless by habit of continence, of study, of contemplation,
and of other virtues or vices they change and dispose themselves
otherwise.

Upon this sentence (elaborated by us more than the plan of the
present passage requires, not extended without great reason) de-
pends the act of repentance of Jove, who is introduced, as is vul-
garly described, as a god who possessed virtues and kindness, and
possessed human and sometimes brutal and bestial dissoluteness,
frivolity, and frailty, as it is imagined that he possessed when
it is reputed that he changed himself into those various subjects or
forms in order to indicate the mutation of the various affects that
Jove, the soul, and man incur, finding themselves in this fluctuat-
ing matter. That same Jove is made the governor and mover of
heaven in order that he give us to understand how in every man,
in each individual, are contemplated a world and a universe where,
for governing Jove, is signified Intellectual Light, which dispenses
and governs in it [the world], and distributes, in that admirable
structure, the orders and seats of the virtues and vices.

This world, taken according to the imagination of foolish
mathematicians and accepted by no less wise physicists (among
whom the Peripatetics are the most vain, and these are not with
out present fruit), as first divided into so many spheres, and then
separated into about forty-eight images (in which they primarily
conceive an octave, stelliferous heaven, partitioned, and called by
the vulgar the firmament), becomes the starting point and subject
of our work.

Because, just as here, Jove (who represents each one of us),
from one who was conceived, was born, and from a child became
a young man, and robust, and from such has become and is ever
becoming older and older and more infirm, so from an innocent
and inept individual, he becomes noxious and able; becomes
wicked and sometimes becomes good; from an ignorant becomes
a wise individual; from a crapulent, a sober man; from an incon-
tinent, a chaste man; from a dissolute, a grave man; from an in
iquitous, a just man. In addition to this, he is sometimes bent be
cause of the strength that is failing him, both driven and spurred
on by the fear of Fatal Justice, superior to the gods, which
threatens us.

The day, then, on which is celebrated in heaven the Feast of
the Gigantomachy (a symbol of the continuous war, without any
truce whatsoever, which the soul wages against vices and inordi-
nate affects), this father wants to effectuate and define that
which, for some space of time before, he had proposed and deter-
mined; just as a man, in order to change his way of life and
customs, is first invited by a certain light that resides in
the crow’s nest, top sail, or stern of our soul, which light
is called synderesis by some, and here, perhaps, is almost al-
ways signified by Momus.

He, then, proposes to the gods, that is, he exercises the act of
ratiocination of the internal council, and goes into consultation
regarding what is to be done. Now he calls for prayers, arms his
faculties, and adapts his purposes--not after supper and during
the Night of Inconsideration, and without the Sun of Intelligence
and Light of Reason, not on an empty stomach in the morning,
that is to say, without fervor of spirit, and without being well-
warmed by the supernal ardor, but after dinner, that is, after hav-
ing tasted of the ambrosia of Virtuous Zeal and imbibed of the
nectar of Divine Love; around noon, or at the point of noon, that
is, when Hostile Error least outrages us and Friendly Truth most
favors us, during the period of a more lucid interval. Then is ex-
pelled the triumphant beast, that is, the vices which predominate
and are wont to tread upon the divine side; the mind is repurged
of errors and becomes adorned with virtues, because of love of
beauty, which is seen in goodness and natural justice, and because
of desire for pleasure, consequent from her fruits, and because of
hatred and fear of the contrary deformity and displeasure.

This will be considered, accepted, and agreed upon by all, and
among all the gods, when the virtues and powers of the soul rally
to favor the work and the act of whatever that efficient light defines
as just, good, and true, which directs the sense, the intellect, the
discourse, the memory, love, the covetous and irascible faculties,
synderesis, and will, faculties signified by Mercury, Pallas, Diana,
Cupid, Venus, Mars, Momus, Jove, and other divinities.

There, then, where the Bear was, by virtue of the place’s being
the most eminent part of the heaven, Truth is placed first, who is
the highest and most worthy of all things, rather, the first, last,
and middle; because she fills the area of Entity, Necessity, Good
ness, Beginning, Middle, End, and Perfection. She is conceived of
in the contemplative, metaphysical, physical, ethical, and logical
fields; and with the Bear descend Deformity, Falsity, Defect, Im-
possibility, Contingency, Hypocrisy, Imposture, and Felony. The
seat of the Great Bear, for a reason not to be stated in this place,
remains vacant.

Where the Dragon curves and forms an oblique line, in order to
be in proximity to Truth, Prudence is placed, with her maidens,
Dialectic and Metaphysics; she has standing around on her right,
Craftiness, Cunning, and Malice; on her left. Stupidity, Inertia,
and Imprudence. 4 She moves about in the area of Consultation.
From that place fall Casualness, Unexpectedness, Chance, and
Carelessness, with the left and right side bystanders.

Thence, where Cepheus fences alone, fall Sophism, Ignorance of
depraved disposition, and Foolish Faith, with their servants,
ministers, and bystanders; Sophia, 5 in order to be the companion
of Prudence, there presents herself and will be seen moving in
the divine, natural, moral, and rational fields.

There where Bootes observes the chariot, Law ascends in order
to get close to her mother Sophia; and she will be seen moving
about the divine, natural, tribal, civil, political, economic, and per-
sonal-ethical areas, through which she ascends to superior things,
descends to inferior things, distends and widens herself toward
equal things, and turns toward herself. Thence, fall Prevarication,
Crime, Excess, and Exorbitance, with their children, ministers, and
companions.

Where the Northern Crown shines, the Sword accompanying it, one
understands Judgment as the proximate effect of the law and act
of justice. The latter will be seen moving in the five areas of
Apprehension, Discussion, Determination, Imposition, and Exe-
cution; and hence, as a consequence, falls Iniquity, with all its
family. By the Crown, which occupies the quiet left side, are
represented Reward and Recompense; by the Sword, which the busy
right arm rattles, are represented Punishment and Vengeance.
Where, with his cudgel, it seems that Alcides is making space for
himself after the debate of Wealth, Poverty, Avarice, and Fortune
with their gathered courts, Courage, whom you will see moving in
the areas of Attack, Resistance, Assault, Preservation, Offense,
and Defense, goes to make her residence, from whose right side
fall Ferity, Fury, and Pride, and from whose left side, Weariness,
Debility, and Pusillanimity; and around whom are seen Temerity,
Audacity, Presumption, Insolence, and Familiarity, and opposite
her, Cowardice, Trepidation, Doubt, and Desperation, with their
companions and servants. She [Courage] moves about in almost
all of the areas.

There, where one sees the nine-stringed Lyre, ascends the
Mother Muse with her nine daughters, Arithmetic, Geometry,
Music, Logic, Poetry, Astrology, Physics, Metaphysics, and Ethics;
whence, as a consequence, fall Ignorance, Inertia, and Bestiality.
The mothers have the universe as their area; and each of the
daughters has her particular subject. 6

Whither the Swan spreads its wings, ascend Repentance, Purifi-
cation, Palinode, Reform, and Cleansing; and hence, as a conse-
quence, fall Selfish Regard for Oneself, Impurity, Sordidness,
Impudence, and Obstinacy, with their entire families. They move
about and through the area of Error and Fault.

Whence is dismissed enthroned Cassiopea, with Haughtiness,
Pride, Arrogance, Boastfulness, and other companions, who are
seen in the area of Ambition and Falsehood, ascend Moderated
Majesty, Glory, Decorum, Dignity, Honor, and other companions,
with their courts. These by first choice ordinarily move about the
areas of Simplicity, Truth, and similar others, and sometimes, by
force of necessity, move in the area of Dissimulation and similar
others, which, by accident, can be the refuge of virtues.

Where fierce Perseus shows us the Gorgonian trophy, ascend
Labor, Solicitude, Study, Fervor, Vigilance, Commerce, Exercise,
and Occupation, with the spurs of Zeal and Fear. Perseus possess-
es the talaria of Useful Concern and Contempt for Vulgar Wealth,
with their ministers, Perseverance, Intelligence, Industry, Skill,
Investigation, and Diligence; and he recognizes as his daughters,
Invention and Acquisition, each of whom has three vases full of
Material Well-Being, Bodily Well-Being, and Spiritual Well-Being.
He roams in the areas of Robustness, Might, and Freedom from
Harm; Torpor, Sloth, Idleness, Inertia, Indolence, and Laziness, on
one flank, flee before him, with all of their families; and on the
other, flee Restlessness, Foolish Occupation, Vacuity, Meddlesome-
ness, Curiosity, Travail, and Perturbation, which issue forth from
the area of Irritation, Instigation, Compulsion, Provocation, and
other ministers, which build the Palace of Repentance.

To Triptolemus’ seat ascends Humanity, with her family,
Counsel, Aid, Clemency, Favor, Suffrage, Succor, Delivery, and
Relief, with other companions and brothers of these, and their
ministers and children, which move about the area characteristic
of Philanthropy, whither Misanthropy does not approach, with its
court, Envy, Malice, Disdain, Disfavor, and other brothers of these,
which roam through the area of Discourtesy and other vices.

To the house of Ophiuchus ascend Sagacity, Keenness, Subtlety,
and similar virtues, which inhabit the area of Consultation
and Prudence; whence flee Awkwardness, Stupidity, Foolishness,
with their throngs, all of which grow in tufts in the area of
Imprudence and Inconsideration.

In the seat of the Arrow are seen Judicious Choice, Observance,
and Intent, which are exercised in the area of Orderly Study, At
tention, and Aspiration; and from there depart Calumny, Detrac-
tion, Flattery, and other children of Hate and Envy, who delight
themselves in the gardens of Insidiousness, Espionage, and similar
ignoble and most base gardeners.

In the space in which the Dolphin forms an arc are seen Love,
Affability, and Courtesy, which, together with their companions,
are found in the area of Philanthropy and Friendship; whence the
hostile and outrageous throng flees, and withdraws to the areas of
Contention, Dueling, and Revenge.

Whence the Eagle departs, with Ambition, Presumption, Temerity,
Tyranny, Oppression, and other busy companions, for the area of
Usurpation and Violence, there go to sojourn Magnanimity, Mag-
nificence, Generosity, and Dominion, which move about in the
areas of Dignity, Power, and Authority.

Where formerly was the horse Pegasus, behold Divine Fervor,
Enthusiasm, Rapture, Prophecy, and Contemplation, which move
about in the area of Inspiration; whence escape afar Ferine Fury,
Mania, Irrational Impetuosity, Dissolution of the Spirit, and Dis
persion of the Inner Sense, found in the area of Intemperate Melan-
choly, which is the Cavern of Perverse Genius.

Where Andromeda yields, with Obstinacy, Perversity and Fool-
ish Persuasion, which are apprehended in the area of Double
Ignorance, succeed Facility, Hope, and Expectation, which show
themselves in the area of Good Discipline.

Where the Triangle is conspicuous, there Faith, otherwise
known as Fidelity, becomes consistent, which is expected in the
area of Constancy, Love, Sincerity, Simplicity, Truth, and other
virtues, from which are far removed the areas of Fraud, Deception,
and Instability.

At the former palace of the Ram, you have placed Episcopacy,
Duchy, Exemplariness, Demonstration, Counsel, and Indication,
which are happy in the area of Respect, Obedience, Consentience,
Virtuous Emulation, and Imitation; and thence depart Bad Ex
ample, Scandal, and Alienation, which are tormented in the area
of Dispersion, Bewilderment, Apostasy, Schism, and Heresy.

Taurus demonstrates that he has been the embodiment of Patience,
Tolerance, Longanimity, Controlled and Just Rage, which are
employed in the area of Government, Ministry, Service, Labor,
Work, Respect, and others. With him depart Unrestrained Ire,
Anger, Spite, Disdain, Reluctance, Impatience, Lament, Com
plaint, and Wrath, which are found almost in the same areas.

Where the Pleiades used to dwell, mount Union, Civilization,
Congregation, Populace, Republic, and Church, which take their
positions in the area of Social Intercourse, Concord, Communion;
there. Regulated Love presides; and with them [the Pleiades] are
removed from heaven, Monopoly, Throng, Sect, Triumvirate,
Faction, Division, and Addition, which incur danger in the areas
of Inordinate Affection, Iniquitous Design, Sedition, and Con-
spiracy, where Perverse Counsel, with all of its family, presides.

Whence depart the Gemini, ascend Figurative Love, Friendship,
and Peace, which delight themselves in their own areas; and
those banished ones drag along with themselves Unworthy Par
tiality, which obstinately fixes its foot on the area of Ini-
quitous and Perverse Desire.

Cancer drags along with himself Wicked Repression, Unworthy
Retrogression, Lowly Deformity, and Unpraiseworthy Restraint,
the Lowering of the Claws and the Retraction of the Feet from
good thinking and doing, Penelope’s Reweaving, and similar
consorts and companions, which withdraw into and keep them
selves in the area of Inconstancy, Pusillanimity, Poverty of
Spirit, Ignorance, and many others; and to the stars ascend
Righteous Conversion, Repression of Evil, Retraction from the
false and iniquitous, with their ministers, which rule them-
selves in the area of Honest Fear, Regulated Love, Righteous
Intention, Laudable Repentance, and other associates, opposed
to Bad Progress, to Wicked Advancement, and to Profitable Per-
tinacity.

Leo drags with himself Tyrannical Terror, Fear, Formidabil-
ity, Perilous and Hateful Authority, the Glory of the Presump-
tion, and Pleasure of being feared rather than loved. They move
in the area of Rigor, Cruelty, Violence, and Suppression, which are
there, tormented by the shadows of Fear and Suspicion. And to
the celestial space ascend Magnanimity, Generosity, Splendor, No-
bility, Pre-eminence, which administer within the area of Justice,
Mercy, Just Conquest, and Worthy Condoning, which reach forth to-
ward the study of being loved rather than feared; and there, they
are consoled by Security, Tranquillity of Spirit, and their fami-
lies.

To join Virgo, go Continence, Pudency, Chastity, Modesty,
Shyness, and Honesty, which triumph in the area of Purity and
Honor, despised by Impudence, Incontinence, and other mothers
of hostile families.

The Scales have always been the archetype of Expected Equity,
Justice, Grace, Gratitude, Respect, and other companions, adminis-
trators, and followers, which move about in the threefold area of
Distribution, Commutation, and Retribution, where Injustice, Dis-
grace, Ingratitude, Arrogance, and others of their companions,
daughters, and administrators do not set foot.

Where Scorpio used to curve his hooked tail and spread his claws,
there no longer appear Fraud, Iniquitous Applause, Feigned Love,
Deception, and Betrayal, but the contrary virtues, daughters of
Simplicity, Sincerity, and Truth, which move about in the area
of the mothers.

We see that Sagittarius was the emblem of Contemplation,
Study, and Good Applause, with their followers and servants,
which have as object and subject the area of the True and the
Good in order to form the Intellect and Will, whence are far re
moved Affected Ignorance and Lowly Unconcern.

There, where Capricorn still resides, you see Hermitage, Soli-
tude, Contemplation, and other mothers, companions, and hand-
maidens, which withdraw into the area of Absolution and Liberty,
in which are not secure Conversation, Contract, Curia, Feasting,
and others appertaining to these children, companions, and ad-
ministrators.

In the place of humid and distempered Aquarius, you see Tem-
perance, the mother of many and innumerable virtues, who par-
ticularly shows herself there with her daughters, Civility and
Urbanity, from whose areas escape Intemperance of Affects, with
Wildness, Harshness, and Barbarity.

Whence, with Unworthy Silence, Envy of Knowledge, and De-
fraudation of Doctrine, which move in the area of Misanthropy
and Baseness of Mind, the Pisces are removed, there are placed
Worthy Silence and Taciturnity, which move in the area of Pru-
dence, Continence, Patience, Moderation, and others, from which
flee to contrary shelters Loquacity, Multiloquence, Garrulity,
Scurrility, Buffoonery, Histrionics, Levity of Intentions, Vain Talk,
Whispering, Complaint, and Murmuring.

Where Cetus was grounded, is found Tranquillity of Spirit, which
is secure in the area of Peace and Quiet, whence are excluded
Storm, Turbulence, Travail, Inquietude, and other associates and
brothers.

There, whence Divine and Miraculous Orion disconcerts the
Divinities with Imposture, Adroitness, Profitless Courtesy, Vain
Prodigy, Prestidigitation, Sleight of Hand, and Knavery, which,
as guides, conductors, and doorkeepers, serve Boastfulness, Vain
glory, Usurpation, Rapine, Falsity, and many other vices, in whose
areas they are active, is exalted Militia, zealous against iniquitous,
visible, and invisible powers; it labors in the area of Magnanimity,
Courage, Love for People, Truth, and other innumerable virtues.

Where there still remains the representation of the river Eri-
danus, we must find something noble of which we shall speak at
other times; because its venerable theme does not fit in among
these others.

Whence the fleeing Hare is driven away, with Vain Fear,
Cowardice, Trembling, Diffidence, Desperation, False Suspicion,
and other sons and daughters of Father Indolence and Mother
Ignorance, is contemplated Fear, the son of Prudence and Con
sideration, minister of Glory and True Honor, which are able to
sally forth from all virtuous areas.

Where, in the act of running after the Hare, Canis Major had
distended his back, ascend Vigilance, Custody, Love of the Re
public, Guardianship of Domestic Matters, Tyrannicide, Zeal, and
Salutiferous Preaching, which are found in the area of Prudence
and Natural Justice; and with him, come down Venation and other
ferine and bestial virtues, which Jove wishes to be esteemed as
heroic, although they move about in the area of Rascality, Besti
ality, and Butchery.

Canis Minor drags down with her, Assentation, Adulation,
and Servile Flattery, with their companions; and there, on high,
ascend Placability, Friendliness, Companionship, and Kindness,
which move about in the area of Gratitude and Fidelity.

Whence Navis returns to the sea, together with Lowly Avarice,
Deceitful Commerce, Sordid Gain, Fluctuating Piracy, and other
infamous companions, and most often vituperous, there go to
make their residence Liberality, Courteous Communication,
Timely Provision, Useful Contract, Worthy Pilgrimage, and
Munificent Transportation, with their brothers, companions,
helmsmen, oarsmen, soldiers, sentinels, and other ministers,
which move about in the area of Fortune.

Where the Southern Serpent, called the Hydra, lengthened and
spread her coils, Provident Caution, Judicious Sagacity, and Re-
virescent Virility make their appearance; whence fall Senile Tor
por, Stupid Reversion to childishness, with Insidiousness, Envy,
Discord, Slander, and other table companions.

Whence the Raven is expelled, with Gloomy Blackness, Croak
ing Loquacity, Indecent and Gypsy-like Imposture, with Odious
Affrontery, Blind Contempt, Negligent Service, Sluggish Sense
of Duty, and Impatient Gluttony, succeed Divine Magic with her
daughters, 7 Divination and her ministers and families, among
which Augury is first and foremost, which are wont to exert them
selves for a good end in the area of Military Art, Law, Religion,
and Sacerdotal Office.

Where the Bowl is presented with Gluttony and Ebriety, with
that multitude of ministers, companions, and bystanders, there
is seen Abstinence; there, are Sobriety and Temperance in Liv-
ing, with their ranks and positions.

Where the demigod Centaur perseveres and is firmly fixed in
his sacristy, are together arrayed Divine Parable, Sacred Mystery,
Moral Fable, Divine and Holy Priesthood, with their instituters,
preservers, and ministers, thence falls and is banished, Anil and
Stupid Fable, with its Foolish Metaphor, Vain Analogy, Ineffec
tual Anagogy, Silly Tropology, and Obscure Representation, with
their false courts, porcine convents, seditious sects, confused ranks,
disordered orders, deformed reforms, impure purities, filthy purifi-
cations, and most pernicious knaveries, which move about in the
area of Avarice, Arrogance, and Ambition; over these presides
Grim Malice; and blind and crass Ignorance carries on its business.

With the Altar are Religion, Piety, and Faith. And from its
eastern corner fall Credulity, with so many follies, and Supersti
tion, with so many concerns, small concerns and very small con
cerns; from its western side Wicked Impiety and Insane Atheism
precipitate.

Where the Southern Crown is in waiting, there are Reward,
Honor, and Glory, which are the fruits of wearisome virtues and
virtuous studies, which depend on the favor of the said celestial
influences.

Whence is taken the Southern Fish, there is Enjoyment of the
said honored and glorious fruits; there, Rejoicing, the River of
Delights, the Torrent of Pleasure; there, the Supper; there, the soul
Feeds the mind, so noble that it no longer envies Jove his ambrosia
and nectar. 8

There is the termination of tempestuous travails; there, the Bed;
there, Tranquil Repose; there, Secure Quiet.

Vale.




First Dialogue


Interlocutors: Sophia, Saulino, Mercury



FIRST PART - of the First Dialogue



Sophia. So that if in bodies, matter, and entity there were not muta-
tion, variety, and vicissitude, there would be nothing agreeable,
nothing good, nothing pleasurable.

Saul. You have demonstrated it very well, Sophia.

Sophia. We see that every pleasure consists only in a definite
transit, journey, and motion. Just as troublesome and sad is the
state of hunger; so, displeasing and grave is the state of satiety;
but that which does delight us is the motion from the one [state]
to the other. The state of venereal ardor torments us, the state of
requited lust saddens us; but that which satisfies us is the transit
from one state to the other. In no present being do we find pleas-
ure, if the past has not become wearisome to us. Labor does not
please except in the beginning, after rest; and unless in the begin-
ning, after labor, there is no pleasure in rest.

Saul. If it be so, there is no pleasure without an admixture of sad
ness, since in motion there is the participation of that which satis
fies and of that which wearies.

Sophia. You are right. So to what has been said, let me add that
Jove sometimes, as if he were bored with being Jove, takes certain
vacations, now as a farmer, now as a hunter, now as a soldier;
now he is with the gods, now with men, now with beasts. Those
who are in villas take their holidays and recreation in cities; those
who are in the cities take their relaxation, holidays, and vacations
in the country.1 Walking pleases and benefits him who has been sit
ting or lying down; and he who has run about on his feet finds relief
in sitting. He finds pleasure in the country who has for too long
dwelt under his roof; he yearns for his room who is satiated with
the country. Association with one food, however pleasing, is finally
the cause of nausea. So mutation from one extreme to the other
through its participants,2 and+ motion from one contrary to the
other through its intermediate points, come to satisfy [us]; and,
finally, we see such familiarity between one contrary and the other
that the one agrees more with the other than like with like.

Saul. So it seems to me; because justice has no act except where
there is error, harmony is not effectuated except where there is
contrariety. The spherical does not repose on the spherical, because
they touch each other at a point; but the concave rests on the con-
vex. And morally, the proud man cannot get together with the
proud man, the poor man with the poor man, the greedy man with
the greedy man; but the one is pleased with the humble man, the
other with the rich man, the latter with the splendid man. How
ever, if the matter is considered physically, mathematically, and
morally, one sees that that philosopher who has arrived at the
theory of the "coincidence of contraries" has not found out little,
and that that magician who knows how to look for it where it exists
is not an imbecile practitioner.8 All, then, that you have ut-
tered is most true. But I should like to know, oh Sophia, for
what purpose, toward what end, you say it.

Sophia. What I wish to infer from that is that the beginning, the
middle, and the end, the birth, the growth, and the perfection of
all that we see, come from contraries, through contraries, into con
traries, to contraries. And where there is contrariety, there is action
and reaction, there is motion, there is diversity, there is number,
there is order, there are degrees, there is succession, there is vic-
issitude. Therefore, no one who considers well, will ever, because of
his being or possession, be abased or exalted in spirit, although in
comparison with other conditions and fortunes it may seem to him
good or bad, worse or better. Likewise, I with my divine object,
which is Truth, as a fugitive for so long a time, occult, depressed,
and submerged, have judged that period that is decreed by the ord-
inance of Fate to be the beginning of my return, appearance, exalt-
ation, and magnificence, to be so much the greater, the greater
having been the obstacles.

Saul. So it happens that for him who wants to raise himself from
the earth by jumping more vigorously, it will be necessary that he
first bend himself sufficiently; he who endeavors to conquer more
efficiently the passing over of a ditch sometimes reduces the diffi
culty of doing so by stepping back eight or ten paces.

Sophia. So much the more then, by the grace of Fate, do I hope in
the future for better success, the worse I have found myself up to
the present.

Saul. The more depressed is man
　　　　And the lower he is on the wheel,
　　　　The closer he is to ascending,
　　　　As with it round he turns.
　　　　A man who but yesterday
　　　　To the world gave laws,
　　　　Now upon the block
　　　　Has placed his head.4

But be so good, Sophia, as to be more specific in regard to what
you plan to say.

Sophia. Thundering Jove, after having enjoyed youth for so long
a time, has led a reckless existence and has occupied much of his
time in war and love. Now, as if subdued by time, he is beginning
to break away from lasciviousness, vices, and those tastes which are
inherent in virility and youth.

Saul. Poets indeed, never philosophers, have so described and in-
troduced the gods. So Jove and the other gods grow old? Is it
within the realm of possibility that even they will someday have
to go beyond the shores of Acheron?5

Sophia. Do listen, Saulino; and do not cause me to digress from
what I propose to discuss. Listen to me until I have spoken.

Saul. Please do continue speaking. I shall listen most attentively;
because I am sure that you will utter only great and serious words.
I doubt, however, that my brain is capable of understanding and
retaining what you say.

Sophia. Entertain no doubt. Jove, I say, is becoming mature. He
admits to his council only those persons whose hair is snowy white,
whose brows are wrinkled, whose noses are bespectacled, whose
beards are white, who have lead in their feet, and who are sup-
ported by canes. I say, indeed, that their heads should contain a
bridled imagination, cautious thinking, and a retentive memory.
Their foreheads should show a quick apprehension, their eyes,
prudence, their noses, sagacity, and their ears, attention. There
should be truth on their tongues, sincerity in their breasts, and
well-directed affections in their hearts. In their shoulders they
should show patience, in their backs, forgiveness of wrongs re-
ceived, in their stomachs, discretion, in their bellies, temperance,
in their breasts, continence, in their legs, constancy, and in the
soles of their feet, rectitude. In their left hands, they should hold
the Pentateuch of Decrees; in their rights hands, discursive Reason,
informative Knowledge, regulating Justice, governing Authority,
and executive Power.

Saul. Indeed, Jove is well provided. However, he must first be
thoroughly cleansed and purged.

Sophia. No longer are there beasts into which he transforms him
self; no Europas, who cause him to acquire the horns of a bull;
no Danaes, who cause him to acquire the color of gold; no Ledas,
who cause him to grow the features of a swan; no Asterian nymphs
and Phrygian boys,6 who cause him to grow the beak of an eagle;
no Deoidas [Proserpines], who cause him to become a serpent; no
Mnemosynes, who degrade him into a shepherd; no Antiopes, who
"semi-bestialize" him into a satyr; no Alcmenes, who trans-
form him into Amphitryon.

For that helm which turned and directed this ship of meta-
morphosis has become so weakened that it can barely resist the
violence of the waves, and, perhaps now, is being driven toward
shallow water. The sail is so torn and riddled with holes that the
wind tries in vain to swell it.7 To the oars which, despite contrary
winds and violent storms, used to propel the vessel, the boatswain
will now hiss in vain, "Steer windward, starboard, in the ship's
wake, full speed ahead," because the oarsmen have become like
paralytics, no matter how calm and tranquil in its place be Nep-
tune's field.

Saul. Oh, great misfortune!

Sophia. Hence there will be no one who will still speak of and
fable Jove as one who is carnal and voluptuary; because the good
father's spirit has been subdued.

Saul. Just as he who had so many wives, so many wives' maids,
and so many concubines, who finally, having become most satiat-
ed, bored, and weary, said "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." 8

Sophia. He is thinking of his Day of Judgment, because the period
of the more or less, or exactly, thirty-six thousand years is near,
as has been made public; at which time the revolution of the year
of the world threatens that another Caelus may come to take back
his dominion, judging by the change that the motion caused by the
vibration of the planets brings about, and by their inconstant and
hitherto unseen and unheard-of relationship and behavior.9 He
fears that Fate will ordain that the hereditary succession should
not be like that of the preceding great mundane Revolution, but
should be most varying and different, however the prognosticating
astrologers and other diviners may gabble.

Saul. So it is feared that some more cautious Caelus may come,
who, following the example of Prester John, in order to obviate
possible future inconvenience, will banish his sons to the sera-
glios of [Ethiopian] Mount Amhara; and besides, for fear that some
Saturn might castrate him, he must never make the error of not
tightening his iron drawers, and must not withdraw to sleep with
out diamond breeches. Whereupon the afore-mentioned effect hav-
ing failed, the door will be shut to all other consequences, and in
vain shall we await the birthday of the goddess of Cyprus, the
depression of lame Saturn,10 the exaltation of Jove, the multipli-
cation of sons and sons of sons, grandchildren and grandchildren
of grandchildren, up to the very generation, the very one which is
in our times, and can up to the prescribed term be in future ones.

Nec iterum ad Troiam magnus mittetur Achilles.11

(Nor will great Achilles be sent back to Troy.)

Sophia. The condition of things, then, being in such a state, and
Jove viewing the troublesome memorial of his jaded strength and
enervated manliness as the approach of his death, he daily makes
warm vows and effuses fervent prayers to Fate, in order that things
in future centuries may be disposed in his favor.

Saul. You, oh Sophia, tell me wondrous things. Do you expect
Jove not to know the condition of Fate, which, according to his
own and all too commonly divulged epithet, is called inexorable?
It is indeed likely that during the time of his vacations (if indeed
Fate grants him any), sometimes he may turn to the reading of
some poets; and it is not improbable that the tragedian Seneca
will fall into his hands, and will impart to him this lesson:

Fate guides us, and we surrender unto it;
And our worrysome thoughts cannot change
The fixed threads of the warped spindle.
All things which we do and bear,
On Fate's lofty decree depend;
And the harsh sister does not rewind the twisted thread.
The Fates proceed in a definite order,
While each of us goes with uncertainty
Toward his own destiny.12

Sophia. In addition Fate wills this: that although Jove himself
knows that it is immutable and that there can be no thing else
except that which must be and will be, he cannot by means of this
knowledge avoid meeting his own destiny. Fate has ordained
prayers, as much for obtaining as for not obtaining; and in order
not to burden too much the transmigrating souls it interposes the
drinking from the Lethean river in the midst of the mutations, so
that through oblivion everyone may be especially affected and
eager to preserve himself in his present state.

Therefore, youths do not recall their state of infancy; infants
do not long for the state in their mothers' wombs; and none of
these longs for the state in that life which he lived before he found
himself in such a nature. The pig does not want to die for fear of
not being a pig; the horse fears most to lose his equine nature.
Jove, because of compelling necessities, greatly fears not being
Jove. But Fate's mercy and grace will not change his state without
having saturated him in the waters of that river.

Saul. So that, oh Sophia (an unheard-of thing!), this divinity
also has someone to whom he may effuse his prayers? Is he also
given to fear of Justice? I used to wonder why the gods greatly
feared to forswear the Stygian Swamp ; 13 now I understand that
this proceeds from the penalty that they too must pay.

Sophia. So it is. He has commanded his blacksmith, Vulcan, not
to work on holidays; he has commanded Bacchus not to convene
his court and not to allow his Euhantes 14 to commit acts of de
bauchery except during carnival time and the principal feasts of
the year, and then only after suppertime, after the setting of the
sun, and not without his special and express permission.

Momus, who had spoken against the gods, and had argued, as it
seemed to them, too severely against their errors, therefore had
been banished from their consistory and from conversation with
them, and relegated to the star which is at the tip of Callisto's
tail, without the privilege of passing the limit of that parallel un-
der which Mount Caucus lies. There the poor god was weakened by
the rigors of cold and of hunger, but now is recalled, vindicated,
restored to his pristine state, and made ordinary and extraordinary
herald, with the most ample privilege of being able to reprehend
vices without any regard to the title or dignity of any person.

He has enjoined Cupid to cease wandering in the presence of
men, heroes, and gods so unclad as is his custom; and having en-
joined him that he no longer offend the sight of the denizens
of heaven by demonstrating his buttocks in the Milky Way and
Olympian Senate, but that he go around in the future dressed at
least from the waist down, Momus gave him the most strict man-
date that he should no longer dare to carry darts except in behalf
of natural love; and that he make the love of men similar to that
of other animals, making them fall in love during certain and de-
termined seasons. And thus just as for cats March is customary,
for donkeys, May, for men let those days be accommodated in
which Petrarch fell in love with Laura, and Dante with Beatrice.15
And this statute is in an interim form, until the forthcoming coun-
cil meeting, to be held when the sun is at the tenth degree of
Libra, situated at the source of the river Eridanus, there where the
bend of Orion's knee is.

Then will be restored that natural law, by which it is permis-
sible for each male to have as many wives as he can feed and im-
pregnate; because it is a superfluous and unjust thing and entire-
ly contrary to natural law that upon an already impregnated and
gravid woman, or upon other worse subjects, such as others ille-
gitimately procured, who for fear of disgrace induce abortions,
there should be spilt that man-producing semen, which could give
rise to heroes and fill the empty seats of the empyrean.

Saul. Well discerned, in my judgment. What more?

Sophia. I believe that that Ganymede, who in spite of jealous Juno,
was so much in his [Jove's] favor, and who alone was permitted to
approach him and extend to him the three-forked lightning, while
other divinities reverently kept themselves at a distance of many
paces, if at present he has no other virtue except that which is
almost lost, it is to be feared that rather than being Jove's page
he may favor acting as shield-bearer to Mars.

Saul. Whence this mutation?

Sophia. Concerning Jove's change and why envious Saturn, in
past days, with the pretext of fondling him [Ganymede], con-
tinued moving his rough hand in such a manner over his chin and
vermilion cheeks, it is said that from that touch his face is becom-
ing hairy, that little by little that grace is diminishing which had
the power to seduce Jove from heaven, and cause him to be snatched
by Jove into heaven, wherefore the son of a human being was
deified, and the father of the gods became a bird.

Saul. Matters too stupendous!

Sophia. He has enjoined all the gods not to have pages or gentle
men of the bedchamber of a lesser age than twenty-five.

Saul. Ah! Ah! Now what is Apollo doing, what is he saying about
his dear Hyacinth?

Sophia. Of, if you only knew how unhappy he is!

Saul. I certainly believe that his dejection causes this darkness in
the sky, which has lasted more than seven days; his breath pro-
duces so many clouds, his sighs such stormy winds, and his tears
such copious rains.

Sophia. You have guessed it.

Saul. Now, what will become of that poor child?

Sophia. Apollo has made up his mind to send him to study humane
letters at some reformed university or school, and to submit
him to the rod of some pedant

Saul. Oh fortune, oh treacherous destiny! Does this boy seem to
you a morsel for pedants? Would it not have been better to place
him in the care of a poet, to mold him in the hands of an orator,
or to accustom him to the staff of the cross? Would it not have
been more expedient to commit him to the discipline of....
Sophia. No more, no more! That which must be, shall be; that
which had to be, is. Now to complete the story of Ganymede, the
day before yesterday, expecting the usual welcome, he, with his
customary childish grin, handed Jove his cup of nectar; and Jove,
having somewhat fixed his disturbed eyes upon his face, said, "Are
you not ashamed, oh son of Tros? Do you think that you are still
a child? Perhaps, with the passing of the years your discretion
will increase, and you will add to judgment? Do you not realize
that the time is past when you used to come to deafen my ears,
when as we were leaving through the outer atrium Silenus,
Faunus, he of Lampsacus, 18 and others used to deem themselves
fortunate if they could have the opportunity of stealing a pinch
from you, or at least of touching your garment, and to preserve
the memory of that touch did not wash their hands before going
to eat and doing other things their fancy dictated? Now prepare
yourself, and bear in mind that perhaps it will be necessary for
you to do other work. I am letting you know that I no longer
want good-for-nothings at my heels."

If anyone had seen the change of countenance of that poor boy
or adolescent, I don't know whether compassion or laughter, or
a struggle between these two, would have moved him more.

Saul. This time I believe that "Risit Apollo."25

Sophia. Pay attention, because what you have heard up to now is
only the embellishment.

Saul. Go on.

Sophia. Yesterday, which was the day on which is commemorated
the victory of the gods over the giants, immediately after dinner26
she who alone governs the nature of things, and by virtue of whom
everything prospers under heaven,

　　The beautiful mother of twin love.
　　The divine power among gods and men,
　　She, through whom every being to-be-born in the world
　　Is conceived, and once born, beholds the sun,
　　Before whom winds and storms take flight,
　　When out of the luminous East she bursts forth,
　　The calm sea smiles upon her
　　And the earth bedecks herself anew, with a beautiful mantle
　　And presents to her through the beautiful hands
　　Of the gentle Naiades, Achilles' enameled horn.
　　Filled to the brim with copious branches of flowers and fruits,27

having proclaimed that there should be dancing, approached Jove,
with that grace which would console and entice stormy Charon,
and, as prescribed by protocol, was first to shake the hands of Jove.

He, instead of doing what he was accustomed to, which was to
embrace her with his left arm and press her to his bosom, squeeze
her lower lip with the first two fingers of his right hand, place his
mouth to hers, teeth to teeth, tongue to tongue (the most lascivious
caresses that can be resorted to by a father toward his daughter),
and then rise to dance, said, yesterday, pointing his right hand to
her breast, and holding her back (as if he were saying "Noli me
tangere")28 with a compassionate air and a face full of devotion:
"Ah, Venus, Venus! Is it possible that you will ever consider our
condition even once, and yours in particular? Do you think that
what humans imagine about us is true, that he among us who is
old is always old, that he who is young is always young, that he
who is a boy is always a boy, and thus we eternally continue as we
were when first taken into heaven; and that just as paintings and
portraits of ourselves on earth are always seen unchanged, so like-
wise here our vital complexion does not change again and again?

"Today's feast renews in me the memory of the mood I was
in when I struck with lightning and overpowered those fierce
giants who dared to hurl Ossa on Pelion and Olympus on Ossa;29
when I was strong enough to hurl into the dark caverns of abysmal
hell terrible Briareus, whose mother Terra endowed him with one
hundred arms and one hundred hands so that he might with the
force of a hundred rocks, which he hurled against the gods, over
throw heaven; when I chained presumptuous Typhoeus [Typhon],
there where the Tyrrhenian Sea joins with the Ionian, thrusting
the Trinacrian Isle upon him so that to the living body it should
be a perpetual sepulcher. Whereupon a poet says:

　　Where dauntless and audacious Typhoeus lies,
　　Laden with the weight of Trinacria,
　　There Mt. Pelorus presses upon the right side of his ponderous corpse,
　　And famous Pachynus on the left.
　　Upon his immense shoulders, which the weight has calloused,
　　Rocky and vast Lilybaeum presses,
　　And there Mount Aetna, under which scabrous Vulcan
　　Tempers the thunderbolts with his mighty hammer,
　　Surcharges its frightening crest.30

"I, who upon that other giant thrust the island of Prochyta
[Procida], I, who repressed Lycaon's audacity, and at the time of
Deucalion liquefied the earth, rebellious toward heaven, and with
so many other manifest signs demonstrated myself most worthy of
my authority, now do not have the courage to oppose certain half
men, and am compelled, in spite of myself, to let the world run ac-
cording to the wish of Chance and of Fortune; and may he who
best pursues Fortune attain her, and may he who conquers her
enjoy her.

"I have now become like the old Aesopian lion, whom impune
the ass kicks, and whom the monkey mocks, and against whom,
as if he were an insensitive stump, the pig comes to rub his dusty
belly. There, where I had most noble oracles, shrines, and altars,
now, those having been torn down and most unworthily profaned,
they have in their places erected altars and statues to certain
people whom I am ashamed to name, because they are worse than our
satyrs, fauns, and other semi-beasts, even more vile than the croco-
diles of Egypt; for even these crocodiles, magically guided, show-
ed some signs of divinity; but those people are quite the dung of
the earth.

"All of this has been brought about by the outrage of our
enemy, Fortune, who has elected and elevated them, not so much
to honor them, as for our greater contempt, scorn, and shame. The
laws, statutes, cults, sacrifices, and ceremonies that I have al-
ready, through my Mercuries, given, ordained, commanded, and in
stituted, are broken and nullified; and in their stead is found
the most filthy and most unworthy indolence that this blind dame
could conceive, so that just as through us men used to become
heroes, now they are becoming worse than beasts. To our nostrils
no longer comes the smoke of the roast, made in our service, at
the altars; but if, indeed, sometimes the appetite for it should
come to us, it will be necessary for us to satisfy our yearning in
kitchens, like pantry-pan gods. And although some altars still
smoke with incense {quod dot avara manus), little by little, I fear,
the incense will turn into smoke, so that nothing will any longer
remain as a vestige of our sacred institutions.

"Indeed, we know from experience that the world is exactly
like a spirited horse, who knows very well when he is mounted by
one who cannot firmly manage him, and spurns the rider and at
tempts to remove him from his back; and once he has succeeded in
throwing him on the ground, comes to pay him in kicks. Behold!
My body is drying up, and my brain is moistening; I am scabbing,
and my teeth are falling out; my flesh is becoming gilded, and my
hair, silver; my eyelids are distending, my sight, contracting;
my breathing is becoming short, my cough, stronger; when I am
seated, I feel steady, but shaky when I walk; my pulse is irregular;
my ribs are tightening; my limbs are becoming thin; my joints are
swelling. In conclusion, I am tormented most because my heels are
hardening, and their counterweight is softening; the bag of my
bag-pipe is becoming elongated; and my staff is growing short.

　　　　　　My Juno is no longer jealous of me,
　　　　　　My Juno no longer cares for me.

"I want you, yourself, to consider your Vulcan (leaving all
other gods aside). It was he who with such vigor used to strike
the heavy anvil, to whose resounding noises, issuing forth into
the horizon, from ignivomous Aetna, Echo used to answer from the
concavities of Campanian Vesuvius and rocky Taburnus.31 Now
where is the strength of my blacksmith and your consort? Is it
not spent? Is it not spent? Or perhaps does he have some strength
left with which to pump the bellows for kindling his fire? Does
he perhaps still have some vigor left necessary to lift his heavy
hammer and strike the heated metal?

"Now, you, my sister, if you do not believe others, ask your
mirror; and you will see that because of the wrinkles you have
developed, and the furrows dug into your face by the plow of
time, day by day, you make it more and more difficult for the
painter, who, if he does not wish to lie, must paint you as you
are.32

"Whereas once you formed, while smiling, those two very
lovely dimples on your cheeks, two depressions, and two points
in the center of those lovable dents, giving you that smile that
used to entice the entire world, to add seven times greater grace
to its countenance, when, jesting (as he still does from his eyes),
Love was darting his sharp and ardent arrows; now, starting from
the corners of your mouth, up to the already commemorated area,
from one corner to the other there begins to appear the form of
four parentheses, which, geminated, seem to want to prevent your
smile, by tightening your mouth, with those circumferential arcs,
which appear between your teeth and ears, so as to make you seem
like a crocodile. I say that, regardless of whether or not you
do smile, the internal geometer33 within your forehead, who is
drying up your vital humor, and by making your flesh come closer
and closer to the bone, by thinning your skin, deepens the inscrip-
tion of the parallels, four by four, pointing out to you by those,
the direct path which leads you, as it were, to the offices of the
Dead.

"Why do you cry, Venus? Why do you laugh, Momus?" he said, as he
sees the latter showing his teeth, and the former shedding tears.
Momus still knows that once one of these buffoons (each one of
whom is wont to impart more truths to the ears of a prince about
his affairs than all of the rest of the court put together, and
because of whom, most often, those who do not dare to talk, do
speak in a kind of jest, and cause to be moved and do move pro-
posals) said that Asclepius had given you a provision of powder
made from deer's horn and a paste from corals, after having re-
moved two of your bad molars so secretly that now there is no
pebble in the heaven that does not know about it.

"You see then, dear sister, how treacherous time subdues us,
how we are all subject to mutation. And that which most afflicts
us among so many things is that we have neither certainty nor
any hope of at all reassuming that same being in which we once
found ourselves. We depart, and do not return the same; and since
we have no recollection of what we were before we were in this
being, so we cannot have a sample of that which we shall be after
ward.

"Thus fear, piety, and our religion, honor, respect, and love
leave, after which depart strength, providence, virtue, dignity,
majesty, and beauty, which fly from us not otherwise than the
shadow together with the body. Only Truth, with Absolute Virtue,
is immutable and immortal. And if she sometimes falls and is sub
merged, she, necessarily, in her time rises again, the same, her
servant Sophia extending her arm to her.

"Let us beware, then, of offending the divinity of Fate by
wronging this twin god, so greatly entrusted to it and so favored
by it. Let us think of our future state, and not, as if we were little
concerned with the universal deity, fail to raise our hearts and
affects to that lavisher of all good and distributor of all other fates.
Let us beseech it that during our transfusion, or passage, or metem-
psychosis, it grant us happy spirits; since, although it is inexorable,
we must indeed await it with prayers, in order either to be pre-
served in our present state or to enter another, better, or similar,
or little worse.

"I say that to be well affected toward the highest deity is like
a sign of future favorable effects from it. Just as for him who is
prescribed to be a man, it is necessary and ordinary that destiny
guide him as he passes through his mother's womb, so, for the
spirit predestined to incorporate itself into a fish, it is necessary that
it first plunge into the waters; likewise for him who is about to be
favored by the gods, it is necessary that he submit himself to
prayers and good works."




SECOND PART of the First Dialogue




The great father of the celestial realm, sighing from time to time
as he spoke, now having terminated his discussion with Venus,
decided to change the proposal calling for dancing into one con-
vening the grand council of the gods of the round table, consist-
ing, that is to say, of all those gods who are not false, but are
genuine, and who have a head for counseling; but excluding the
ram-headed, the oxen-horned, the goat-bearded, the donkey-eared,
the dog-toothed, the pig-eyed, the monkey-nosed, the goat-browed,
the chicken-stomached, the horse-bellied, the mule-footed, and the
scorpion-tailed. However, when the call was issued through the
mouth of Misenus, son of Aeolus (for Mercury now disdains his
former status as trumpeter and pronouncer of edicts), all of those
gods who were scattered throughout the palace soon were as-
sembled.

Following this, all having become silenced, as Jove was walk-
ing before ascending his throne to face the tribunal, with an air no
less sad and gloomy than his presence and pre-eminence were
lofty and majestic, Momus presented himself to him, and with his
usual frank speech, and in a voice so deep that it was heard by all,
said: "This council meeting, oh father, must be postponed for an
other day, and for another occasion, since it seems that your being
disposed to having a conclave now, immediately after dinner, was
prompted by the generous hand of your affectionate cupbearer.
For nectar which cannot be thoroughly digested by the stomach
neither satisfies nor refreshes it, but distorts and saddens our na-
ture, and perturbs our imagination, making some gay and with
out purpose, others unrestrainedly happy, some superstitiously de-
vout, others vainly heroic, others choleric, others builders of great
castles in the air, until the time when, with the vanishing of the
same pipe dreams, passing through brains of different complexion,
everything falls to the ground and vanishes into smoke.

It seems, oh Jove, that somewhat daring and fluctuating thoughts
have disturbed you, and that they have caused you to be come
sad. As regards the reason why all unjustifiably judge you to be
overpowered and oppressed by gloomy biliousness, although I a-
lone dare to say it, they do so because, from what I seem to under-
stand and scent from discourse, you want to treat of such serious
matters on this day on which we have convened not disposed to go
into consultation, on this occasion on which we have gathered for a
feast, at this time after dinner and under these circumstances of
having eaten well and drunk better."

Now, although it is neither customary nor too lawful for other
gods to argue with Momus, Jove, giving him an abortive, almost
spiteful smile, without answering him, ascended to his high seat,
sat down, and gazed about him and at the great Senate which
stood before him in a circle. It must be said that because of his
glance everyone's heart began to pound, be it from the shock of
amazement, from the extreme fear, or because of the greatness of
the reverence and respect which the presence of majesty inspires
in mortal and immortal hearts. After having partially lowered his
eyelids, and soon afterward raising his eyes upward, and heaving
an ardent sigh from his breast, he burst out with these words:


Jove's speech

Do not expect, oh gods, that I shall, as is my custom, intone
into your ears an artful introduction, a polished thread of narra-
tion, and a delightful epilogical agglomeration. Do not expect an
ornate contexture of words, a polished weaving of my sentences,
a rich apparatus of elegant arguments, a sumptuous pomp of
elaborate discourses, and, according to the institute of orators, con
ceits sooner placed three times to the file than once on the tongue:
‘Non hoc ista sibi tempus spectacula poscit.'34 (‘At this juncture,
time does not call for these spectacles.')

"Believe me, oh gods, because you believe the truth; already
twelve times has chaste Lucina35 filled in her silver horns since I
became determined to order this assembly today, at this hour, and
under such terms as you see. And in the meanwhile I have been
concerned more with the consideration of those matters about
which, despite our desire to hear them, I must keep silent, than
with what has been permitted me to premeditate and to say.

"I hear that you are astounded, because at this time, calling you
away from your amusement, I have had you summoned9 to an
assembly, and after dinner, to sudden counsel. I hear you murmur-
ing that on a festive day your hearts are touched by such serious
matters; and there is no one among you who is not disturbed by
the sound of the trumpet, and by the purpose of the decree. But I,
although the reasons for these actions and circumstances depend
upon my volition, which was able to institute them, and although
my will and decree are the very reason of Justice, nevertheless do
not want to fail, before I proceed to another matter, to free you
from this confusion and astonishment. Slow, I say, grave, and
pondered must be the resolutions; mature, secret, and cautious
must be the counsel; but it is necessary that the execution be
winged, swift, and ready.

"Do not believe, however, that I have been so violently assailed
by some strange humor while dining, that, after dinner, it still holds
me bound and chained, because of which I proceed to action, guided
not by reason but rather by the power of nectarean fumes. On the
other hand, from this very day last year I began to deliberate within
my own mind what I was to carry out on this very day at this very
hour after dinner. Because it is not customary to bring sad news
on an empty stomach, and I well know that you would come more
willingly to a celebration than to a council meeting, which is
studiously avoided by many of you. For some fear it, lest they
make enemies, some because of uncertainty about which side will
win and which will lose, some because of fear that their counsel
will be scorned, some because of spite, their opinion sometimes
not having been approved, some because they want to be neutral
in causes that might be prejudicial to one side or the other, some
because they do not wish to burden their consciences--some for
one reason, others for another.

"Now I remind you, oh brothers, sisters, and children, that
those whom Fate has permitted to taste ambrosia, to drink nectar,
and to enjoy the dignity of majesty are also enjoined to bear the
heavy responsibilities that accompany privilege. The diadem, the
miter, the crown, which do not weigh heavily upon the head do not
honor it; and the royal garment and the scepter do not adorn
the body without some inconvenience to it.

"Do you wish to know why I have, to this end, employed the
festival day, and specially one such as the present? Does it seem
to you then, does it seem to you that this be a day worthy of a
feast? And do you think that this should not be the most tragic
day of the entire year? Which of you, after he has well reflected,
will not judge it a most vituperable thing to celebrate the com-
memoration of the victory over the giants at a time when we are
despised and contemned by the rats of the earth? Oh that it might
have pleased omnipotent and irrefragable Fate that we had been
expelled from the heaven at that time, when our rout, owing to
the dignity and valor of our enemies, would not have been so vitu-
perable! For today we are worse in heaven than if we were not
there, worse than we would have been had we been driven out of it,
considering that that fear of us, which used to render us so glorious,
is extinguished.

The great reputation of our majesty, providence, and justice
has been destroyed. What is worse, we do not have the faculty and
strength to remedy our evil, to redress our shames; because Justice,
by which Fate governs the rulers of the world, has completely de
prived us of that authority and power which we so badly em-
ployed, our ignominies being revealed and laid bare before the eyes
of mortals, and made manifest to them; and it causes heaven itself,
with such clear evidence, as the stars are clear and evident, to
render us testimony of our misdeeds. For there are clearly seen the
fruits, the relics, the reports, the rumors, the writings, the histories
of our adulteries, incests, fornications, wraths, disdains, rapines,
and other iniquities and crimes; and to reward ourselves for our
transgressions, we have committed more transgressions, elevating
to heaven the triumphs of vice and the seats of wickedness, leaving
virtues and Justice banished, buried, and neglected in hell.

"And to begin, let us take minor matters, such as venial sins.
Why, I ask, has that Triangle, Deltoton, alone obtained four stars,
near the head of Medusa, under the buttocks of Andromeda, and
above the horns of the Ram? It is to show the partiality that is
found among the gods. What is the Dolphin [Delphinus] doing
joined to Capricorn from the north side, and with fifteen stars in
his possession? The Dolphin is there so that we may contemplate
the assumption into heaven of him, who was a good middleman,
not to say a pander, between Neptune and Amphitrite. Why do
the seven daughters of Atlas sit near the neck of the white Bull?
It is because their father, his majesty being slighted by us gods,
wanted to boast that he sustained us and the disintegrating heaven;
or simply to show the divinities, who conducted the seven daugh-
ters to that spot, their frivolities.

"Why has Juno bedecked the Crab with nine stars, besides the
four surrounding stars, which form no pattern? It is only out of
caprice, because Alcides' heel was nipped by the Crab at the time
he was fighting the huge giant. Who could give me any reason,
other than the simple and irrational decree of the gods, why Ser-
pentarius, called Ophiuchus by us Greeks, receives, with his mate,
an area occupied by thirty-six stars? What grave and opportune
reason causes Sagittarius to usurp thirty-one stars? It is because
he was the son of Euschemo, who was nurse or wet nurse to the
Muses.36 Why was not rather his mother put there? It is because
he also knew how to dance and to perform sleight of hand.

"Why does Aquarius, situated next to Capricorn, contain forty-
five stars? Is it because he rescued Phacete, the daughter of Venus,
from the marsh? Why has this space not been granted to others
to whom we gods are so obligated, to them who are buried in the
earth, rather than to this one who has rendered a service not worthy
of such reward? It is because it has pleased Venus to do so.

"Although the Fishes [Pisces] deserve some favor for having ex-
pelled from the river Euphrates that egg, which, when hatched by
the dove, aroused the compassion of the goddess of Paphos, yet do
they seem to you subjects worthy of obtaining thirty-four stars,
besides the four surrounding stars, and worthy of living out of
water, in the most noble region of the heaven? 37

"What is Orion doing, with his outstretched arms, ready to
fence, all by himself, daubed with thirty-eight stars in the Southern
latitude in the direction of the Bull? He is there, simply because
of the caprice of Neptune, who was not sufficiently satisfied to
give him privileges in matters pertaining to the sea, where he
[Neptune] has his legitimate dominion, but, moreover, because of
so slight a reason, desires to hold sway beyond his realm.

"Do you know that the Hare, Canis Major, and Canis Minor
have forty-three stars in the Southern part of the heaven, and are
so rewarded for only two or three trivial reasons not less unim
portant than the reason that causes the Hydra, the Saucer, and the
Raven to be next to Orion and to receive forty-one stars to com
memorate the occasion when the gods sent the Raven to obtain
some drinking water?

"While he was on his way, the Raven saw a tree which bore figs,
'fiche'38 or ‘field' (you may use the form you wish, because both
genders are accepted by grammarians). Because of his gluttony,
that bird waited until the figs were ripe, and, finally, having eaten
of them, reminded himself of the water. He went to fill the pitcher,
there saw the dragon, was frightened, and returned to the gods
with the empty pitcher. The gods, in order to make evident how
well they have employed their intelligence and their thinking, have
described in the sky the story of so kind and adept a servant. You
can see how well we have employed our time, ink, and paper.

Who has predestined the Southern Crown, which is seen
under Sagittarius' bow and feet, adorned with thirteen sparkling
topazes, to be eternally headless? What fine appearance do you
expect that fish of Notium to present, placed under Aquarius' and
Capricorn's feet, and made visible by twelve lights besides six
others that surround him?

I shall not speak of the Altar, or the Incense Bowl, or the
Shrine, or the Sacristy, or whatever we want to call it. For never
was it more fitting that it be in the sky than now, when it has al-
most no place on earth in which to stay. Now, it stands there
appropriately, as a relic, or even as a plank of the submerged ship
of our religion and cult.

"I say nothing of Capricorn, for he seems to me most worthy
of attaining heaven, because of his having benefited us so much
by teaching us the formula through which we were able to con-
quer the Python; for it was necessary that the gods transform
themselves into beasts if they wanted to make an honorable show
ing in that war. He has also given us the doctrine that teaches us
that he who does not know how to become a beast cannot main-
tain his superiority.

"I do not speak of Virgo, because if she wishes to preserve her
virginity she cannot live safely in any place but in the heaven, hav-
ing as guardians a Leo on this side of her and a Scorpio on the
other. The poor maiden has fled from earth, where women, be-
cause of their excessive lust, the more often they are pregnant the
more they crave coitus, where it is impossible for her to be secure
from contamination, even if she be in her mother's womb; how
ever, let her enjoy twenty-six carbuncles and the other six that
surround her.

"Concerning the upright majesty of those two Asses,39 who
sparkle in the space of Cancer, I do not dare to speak, because to
these, especially belongs the Kingdom of Heaven, by right and by
reason, as on other occasions, with many most efficacious argu
ments, I propose to show you. For of so great a matter I do not dare
to talk, as it were, in passing.40 But for this alone I grieve and greatly
lament: that these divine animals have been given such niggardly
treatment. They are not made to feel that they are in their own
home, but, in the asylum of that retrograde aquatic animal. They
have been rewarded with the pittance of no more than two stars,
one star being given to the one, and one to the other, the two stars
together being no larger than one of the fourth magnitude.

"I do not, now, want to say anything definitive about the
Altar, Capricorn, Virgo, and the Asses, although I grieve that
some of them, since they were not treated according to their dig-
nity, rather than being honored, were perhaps slighted; but I re-
turn to the other arguments that are weighed on the same scales
as those mentioned above.

"Do you not expect the other rivers on earth to grumble be
cause of the wrong that is being done to them, admitting, as
reason dictates, that Eridanus should rather have its thirty-four
lights, which are seen on this side and beyond the Tropic of Capri
corn, than so many others no less worthy and large, and others
even worthier and larger? Do you think that it is sufficient to say
that Phaethon's sisters should occupy this space? Or, perhaps, you
wish to commemorate it, because it was there that the son of
Apollo fell, struck by lightning from my own hand, for having
abused his father's office, rank, and authority?

"Why has Bellerophon's horse ascended to heaven to take pos
session of twenty stars, although his master is buried on earth?

"For what reason does that Arrow illuminate the area of the
Eagle and the Dolphin with the radiance of its five firmly held
stars? Certainly it is greatly wronged by not being allowed to be
near Sagittarius so that he might make use of its services after he
has shot that arrow which he is now aiming; or at least it should
not be prevented from appearing where it could give some justifi-
cation for its presence.

"Then I yearn to understand what that Lyre, made of ox horns
in the form of a tortoise, is doing between the remains of Leo and
the head of that sweet white Swan. I should like to know whether
that region is inhabited in honor of the tortoise, the horns, or the
lyre. Or is it that everyone should be aware of the skill of Mercury,
who made it, as a testimony of his dissolute and vain boasting?

"Here, oh gods, are our works, here our remarkable handi-
works, by which we honored ourselves in the eyes of heaven!
What beautiful creations, not too unlike those that children are
wont to create when they work with clay, paste, small branches,
and straw as they attempt to imitate the works of their elders! Do
you think that we shall not have to justify these things and account
for them? Can you be convinced that we will be summoned, in-
terrogated, judged, and condemned less frequently for our idle
works than for our idle words? The goddess Justice, the goddess
Temperance, the goddess Constance, the goddess Liberality, the
goddess Patience, the goddess Truth, the goddess Mnemosyne,
the goddess Sophia, and many other goddesses and gods, are being
banned not only from heaven but also from the earth; and in their
stead in the lofty palaces constructed for them as their residences,
by exalted Providence, are seen dolphins, goats, ravens, serpents,
and other filth, levities, caprices, and frivolities.

"If what I tell you seems distasteful, and we have an uneasy
conscience for the good we have failed to do, how much more you
should consider, as I do, that we should be pricked and pierced
by sorrow for our most grievous acts of wickedness and crime;41
which acts having been committed, not only did we not repent and
mend our ways but, what is more, we commemorated them in tri-
umphant celebration, and also erected trophies, not in a fragile
and destructible shrine, not in an earthly temple, but in eternal
heaven, among the everlasting stars. We may suffer and easily
condone, oh gods, errors committed because of our frailty or not
too judicious levity. However, what compassion and what pity can
be shown toward sins committed by those who, although they
were made to be the guardians of justice, as a recompense for the
most criminal errors, add greater errors by honoring, rewarding,
and exalting to heaven the crimes together with the criminals?

"For what great and virtuous deed has Perseus obtained twenty
stars? It is because he, in the service of infuriated Minerva, with
the aid of his talaria and his shining shield, which rendered him
invisible, killed the sleeping Gorgons, and then presented her with
the head of Medusa.42 And it was not enough that he alone be
there; in order that she might acquire a long-lived and celebrated
reputation, it was necessary that his wife Andromeda should ap-
pear, with her twenty-three stars, his son-in-law Cepheus,43 with
his thirteen, he who exposed his innocent daughter to the jaws of
Cetus because of the caprice of Neptune, who was angered only be
cause her mother Cassiopea thought she was more beautiful than
the Nereids. Her mother now also is seen residing in her seat,
honored by thirteen other stars, at the borders of the Arctic Circle.

"Why does that guardian of sheep with golden wool bleat on
the point of the Equinox, with his eighteen stars, not counting the
seven surrounding stars?44 He is probably there so that he may
sermonize on the folly and on the madness and foolishness of the
king of Colchis, the lewdness of Medea, the unrestrained temerity
of Jason, and on our own iniquitous providence.

"What do those two boys [Gemini] who follow Taurus in the
sign-bearer, who comprise eighteen stars, not counting the seven
other stars that surround them, which do not form a pattern, show
that is good or beautiful in that sacred seat, except the reciprocal
love of two effeminates?

"For what reason does Scorpio receive the reward of twenty-
one stars, without the eight that are in the claws of Cancer, the
nine that are around him, and three others that do not form a pat-
tern? As a reward for a murder ordered by the frivolity and envy
of Diana, who made him kill the emulous hunter, Orion.

"You know that Chiron and his beast obtain sixty-six stars in
the Southern latitude of the sky for having been the tutor of that
son born out of the stuprum of Peleus and Thetis.

"You know that Ariadne's crown, in which eight stars sparkle,
and which is honored yonder in front of Bootes' breasts and the
coils of the eel, is there only for the perpetual commemoration of
the debauched love of father Liber, who embraced the daughter
of the king of Crete after she had been rejected by her ravisher,
Theseus.

"What is that Leo, who wears the basilisk on his heart, and
who obtains thirty-five stars, doing next to Cancer? He is there
perhaps in order to be in the company of his fellow warrior and
his fellow servant in the service of irate Juno, who armed the lion
that he might be the devastator of the land of Cleonae and await
the coming of Alcides so that he might get the better of him.

"Indeed, to tell the truth, it does not seem fitting to me that
unconquered Hercules, my hard-working son, who with the re-
mains of his lion and with his stick seems to be protecting his
twenty-eight stars, which he has earned by performing more heroic
deeds than anyone else, should hold that seat whence his spirit
reveals before the eyes of Justice the wrong done to my Juno's
marriage bond by me and by my mistress Megara, his mother.45

"The ship of Argo, in which are firmly fixed forty-five resplend-
ent stars in the wide space near the Antarctic Circle, is it there
for a reason other than that of eternizing the memory of the great
error committed by wise Minerva, because of whom I established
the first pirates, so that the sea, no less than the earth, should have
its diligent plunderers?46

"And in order to return to the spot where the belt of the heaven
turns, why does Taurus, situated near the point where the zodiac
begins, obtain thirty-two bright stars, without counting that one
at the apex of the horn facing North, and eleven others, which are
called formless? Because, alas, he is that Jove who robbed Agenor
of his daughter, Cadmus of his sister.47

"Who is that Eagle who usurps for himself a corridor of fifteen
stars, in the firmament, there beyond Sagittarius, toward the pole?
Woe is me! It is that Jove, who there is celebrating the triumph
identified with the abduction of Ganymede and those victorious
conquests of burning passion and love.

"Why, oh gods, is that Ursa placed in the most beautiful and
eminent part of the world, as if she were reflected in a high mirror
set, as it were, in a most luminous square presenting the most cele-
brated spectacle that the universe could offer before our eyes? She
is there, perhaps, so that no eye will fail to see the fire by which
the father of the gods was seized after the conflagration caused by
Phaethon's chariot had broken out on earth, while I was protect-
ing the ruins of that conflagration and restoring them by calling
back the rivers which, frightened and fleeing, had withdrawn into
caverns. And while effectuating this, in my beloved land of Ar-
cadia, lo and behold, another fire seized my heart which, proceed
ing from the splendor of the face of the Nonacrian virgin, struck
my eyes, ran through my heart, heated my bones, and penetrated
to my marrow; so that there was no water, no remedy, which
could give succor and cool the fire within me. In this fire was the
arrow, which pierced my heart, the love knot, which bound my
soul, the claw, which seized me and made me a prey to her beauty.

"I committed the sacrilegious act of stuprum, violated Diana's
companion, and hurt my most faithful consort, for which deed,
the ugliness of my foul debauchery was presented before me in the
form of a Bear.48 But I was far from conceiving horror at that
abominable sight, and that monster seemed to me so beautiful and
pleased me so greatly that I willed that her lifelike image should
be exalted in the highest and most magnificent site in the archi-
tecture of the heaven. This is that error, that ugliness, that horrible
blot, which the waters of the ocean disdain and loathe to cleanse,
for which Thetis, fearing to contaminate her waves, does not even
wish to approach her abode, and for which Dictynna49 has for
bidden her ingress to her forests for fear that she might profane
her sacred college, and for the same reason the Nereids and
Nymphs deny her the rivers.

"I, a wretched sinner, admit my guilt, my most grievous guilt,
in the presence of upright and absolute Justice, and before you,
that up to now I have most grievously sinned; and because of my
bad example, I have extended even to you the permission and privi
lege to do likewise. And with this I confess that I, together with
yourselves, have deservedly incurred the wrath of Fate, which no
longer allows us to be recognized as gods; and since we have
yielded heaven to the scum of the earth, it has ordained that the
temples, pictures, and statues that we possessed on earth should be
smashed, so that there be deservedly lowered from on high those
who have unworthily raised to the heights vile and base things.

"Woe is me, oh gods! What are we doing? What are we think
ing? Why are we delaying? We have prevaricated; we have been
perseverant in errors; and we see suffering joined to, and continued
with, error. Let us prepare ourselves then, let us prepare our
selves for our destinies; because just as Fate has not denied us the
possibility of falling, so it has conceded us the possibility of rising
again; therefore, just as we were ready to fall, so are we prepared
to get back on our feet. We shall be able to depart without diffi
culty from that suffering into which through our error we have
fallen, and from worse than that which could befall us, by means
of reparation which lies in our hands. By the chain of errors we
are bound; by the hand of Justice we free ourselves. Where our
frivolity has abased us, there it is necessary that our seriousness
exalt us. Let us be converted to Justice, because since we have de-
parted from her, we have departed from ourselves; so that we are
no longer gods, are no longer ourselves. Let us then return to her,
if we wish to return to ourselves.

"The order and manner of making this reparation is that, first,
we lift from our shoulders the heavy load of errors that impedes
us; that we remove from our eyes the veil of little consideration
that hinders us; that we remove from our hearts the self-love that
retards us; that we expel from ourselves all those vain thoughts
that weigh upon us; that we adapt ourselves to demolishing the
machines of errors and the edifices of perversity that impede our
passage and encumber our path; that we revoke and annul, as
much as possible, the triumphs and trophies of our criminal deeds;
so that there may appear in the tribunal of Justice true repentance
for committed errors.

"Come now, come now, oh gods! Let there be expelled from
the heaven these ghosts, statues, figures, images, portraits, recita
tions, and histories of our avarice, lusts, thefts, disdains, spites,
and shames. May there pass, may there pass this black and gloomy
night of our errors; for the enticing dawn of the new day of Jus-
tice invites us. And let us prepare ourselves, in such a manner, for
the sun that is about to rise, so that it will not disclose how im-
pure we are. We must cleanse and make ourselves beautiful; it
will be necessary that not only we but also our rooms and our
roofs be spotless and clean. We must purify ourselves internally
and externally.

"Let us prepare ourselves, I say, first in the heaven which intel-
lectually is within us, and then in this sensible one which cor
poreally presents itself before our eyes. Let us drive away from the
heaven of our mind the Bear of Deformity, the Arrow of Detrac-
tion, the Foal of Levity, the Canis Major of Murmuring, the Canis
Minor of Adulation. Let there be banned from us the Hercules
of Violence, the Lyre of Conspiracy, the Triangle of Impiousness,
the Bootes of Inconstancy, and the Cepheus of Harshness. Let
there stay far away from us the Dragon of Envy, the Swan of
Imprudence, the Cassiopea of Vanity, the Andromeda of Indo-
lence, and the Perseus of Vain Concern. Let us crush the Ophiu-
chus of Slander, the Eagle of Arrogance, the Dolphin of Lust, the
Horse of Impatience, the Hydra of Concupiscence. Let us dispel
from within us the Cetus of Gluttony, the Orion of Pride, the River
of Superfluity, the Gorgon of Ignorance, the Hare of Vain Fear.
May there no longer be in our hearts any part of the Argo-Navis
of Avarice, the Bowl of Insobriety, the Scale of Iniquity, the Cancer
of Ill Regress, the Capricorn of Deception. May it not come about
that the Scorpio of Fraud, the Centaur of Animal Affection, the
Altar of Superstition, the Crown of Pride, the Fish of Unworthy
Silence, approach us. With these let there fall the Gemini of Un-
wholesome Familiarity, the Taurus of Concern for Lowly Things,
the Ram of Inconsideration, the Leo of Tyranny, the Aquarius of
Dissolution, the Virgo of Infructuous Association, the Sagittarius
of Detraction.

"If thus, oh gods, we shall have purged our dwelling place, if
thus we shall have renewed our heaven, new will be the constella-
tions and influences, new the impressions, new the fortunes; for
upon this higher world everything depends; and contrary effects
are dependent upon contrary causes. Oh happy, oh truly fortunate
we, if we shall have made a good colony of our mind and thought!
To those of you who do not like the present state, may the present
council be pleasing! If we wish to change our state, let us change
our customs. If we desire that that state be good and better, these
[customs] must not be what they are now, or worse.

"Let us cleanse our interior affect, since after the formation of
this internal world, it will not be difficult for us to make progress
toward the reformation of this sensible and external one. The first
purgation, oh gods, I see you are accomplishing; I see that you
have accomplished it Your determination, I see; I have seen that
it was arrived at; and it was arrived at swiftly, because it is not
subject to the counterweights of time. Come now, let us proceed
to the second phase of our purgation. This phase concerns the ex
ternal, corporeal, sensible, and inhabited world. However, before
we make up our minds we must wait, compare one problem with
the other, this reason with that one. Although the disposition of
corporeal things depends on time, its execution cannot be realized
in a moment.

"You have before you a period of three days, in which you do
not have to decide or determine among yourselves whether or not
this reform is to be carried out; because as soon as I proposed it to
you, carrying out Fate's command, all of you judged it to be most
desirable, necessary, and excellent. It is not as an external sign,
figure, and shadow that I perceive your affect, but as reality and
truth, just as you in turn see mine. And no less quickly than I
moved your ears to listen to me by my proposal, you have moved
my eyes to tears by the splendor of your immediate consent.

"What remains to be done then is that you consider and confer
among yourselves and give some thought concerning the manner
in which we shall deal with those things which we remove from
the heaven, for which it will be necessary to procure and set aside
other lands and dwellings; and also you must consider how to fill
these seats so that the heaven shall remain, not deserted, but rather
better cultivated and inhabited than before. When the three days
have passed, you will come into my presence, after having medi
tated upon one place and another and one thing and another, so
that only after you have had every possible discussion, shall we
convene on the fourth day to determine and make a pronounce
ment upon the form of this colony. I have spoken."

Thus, oh Saulino, Father Jove himself, who attracted the ears,
kindled the spirits, and moved the hearts of the celestial Senate
and people, while he prayed, clearly recognized in their faces and
gestures that in their minds was concluded and determined that
which was being proposed to them by him.

The great Patriarch of the gods having then made his last con
clusion and imposed silence upon his speech, all with one voice
and with one thunder said: "Most willingly, oh Jove, do we con
sent to effectuate all that you have proposed and Fate has truly
predestined." There then followed the roar of the multitude, here
rising as a sign of happy resolution, there as that of willing hom-
age, here as that of a doubt, there as that of a reflection, here
as an applause, there as the shaking of the heads of some inter
ested parties, here as one thing and there as another; until finally,
suppertime having arrived, some withdrew in one direction, others
in another.

Saul. Things of no small moment, oh Sophia!




THIRD PART of the First Dialogue




Sophia. The fourth day having arrived, and it being exactly
midday, they convened once again in the general council chamber,
wherein were permitted to be present not only the most important
aforesaid divinities but also those others to whom heaven is con
ceded by right of natural law. Then the Senate and the Nation of
the Gods being seated, and Jove, in his usual manner having as
cended his throne of sapphire and gold, bedecked with that form
of diadem and robe in which he is wont to appear during the most
solemn councils, all being ready, the multitude set at attention, and
a profound silence having been established, so that the assembled
gods seemed like so many statues or so many pictures, there ap-
peared in their midst, with his orders, insignia, and circum
stances, my handsome divinity Mercury. And arriving in the pres-
ence of the Great Father, he briefly announced, interpreted, and
exposed what was not occult to all of the council, but which, in
order to preserve the form and decorum of the statutes, must be
pronounced: that is to say that the gods were ready and disposed,
without simulation and guile, but with free and spontaneous will,
to accept and put into execution that which would be concluded,
established, and ordained by the present synod. He, after having
spoken, turned to the surrounding gods and requested that they,
by raising their hands, make manifest and ratify all that he, in
their names, had revealed in the presence of the High-Thunderer.
And so it was done.

Then the great protoparent opened his mouth, and made him
self heard in such a tenor: "If glorious, oh gods, was our victory
over the giants, who in a brief space of time again rose against us,
they who were strangers and declared enemies, who were only
fighting us from Olympus, and who could not nor attempted other
than to precipitate us from the heaven, how much more glorious
and worthy will be that victory over ourselves, who were victorious
over them? How much more worthy and glorious, I say, is that
victory over our affects, which have for so long a time triumphed
over us, which are domestic and internal enemies that have tyran-
nized us from every side, and have shaken and removed us from
ourselves?

"If, then, worthy of a feast that day has seemed to us, which
for us gave birth to such a victory, whose fruit disappeared in a
moment, how much more festive must this day be whose fructuous
glory will be eternal in future centuries? Let, then, the day of
our victory continue to be festive; but let what used to be said
about the victory of the giants, be said about the victory of the
gods, because on this day we have conquered ourselves. Besides,
let there be instituted as a festival day the present day on which
heaven is being purged; and may it be more solemn for us than
could ever have been the emigration of the leprous people for the
Egyptians, and for the Hebrews, the passage from the Babylonian
captivity. Today, disease, plague, and leprosy are exiled from
heaven into the deserts; today, broken is that chain of crimes and
smashed are the shackles of errors that were binding us to eternal
punishment.

"Now, then, all of you being most desirous of proceeding to
this reform, and all of you having, as I understand, premeditated
upon the manner by which we ought to and could come to the
matter, so that these seats may not remain uninhabited and that
to transmigrating beings convenient places may be ordained, I
shall begin to give my opinions concerning them one by one. And
when that has been accomplished, if it seems to you worthy of
being approved, say so; if it seems inconvenient to you, explain
yourselves; if you think it can be done better, declare it; if we must
take away from it, express your opinion; if you think that some
thing is to be added to it, make yourselves understood. For each
of you has plenary liberty to proffer his vote; and whoever is
silent is understood to give his assent." Now almost all of the
gods arose, and with this sign ratified the proposal.

"In order, then, to give commencement and to start from the
beginning," said Jove, "let us first see the things that are found
on the boreal side, and make provisions concerning them; then,
little by little, in an orderly manner, we shall proceed to the end.
Tell me what are your opinion and judgment regarding that
Ursa?"

The gods, who were touched by these opening words, dele-
gated Momus to answer in their behalf, and he spoke thus: "It is
a great ignominy, oh Jove, and a greater one than you yourself
are aware of, that you have placed that Ursa in the most celebrated
position of heaven, an area which Pythagoras, who conceived the
world as having a head, arms, legs, bust, and a head, considers to
be its highest part, to which is contrasted its opposite extreme,
which he considers to be the lowest region. Compare in juxtaposi
tion the words sung by a poet of the Pythagorean sect:

Hie vertex nobis semper sublimis, at ilium
Sub pedibus Styx atra videt manesque profundi:50

(This pole of ours is ever lofty, but the other,
Black Styx and the shades of the underworld see beneath their feet.)

"You have placed that ugly, huge animal in that very part of
the sky which sailors consult during the course of their devious
and uncertain sea voyages, toward which all those who are dis-
tressed by a storm at sea, lift up their hands; there in the site
coveted by the giants, where the cruel generation of Bel raised
the Tower of Babel, there where the magicians look into the
Chalybean mirror to consult with the oracles of Floron, one of
the great princes of the Northern spirits, in that region where the
Cabalists say Samael [sic] wished to raise his throne, so that he
might resemble the first high-thunderer. You have placed this
ugly and terrible beast, whom, not by a glance, not by a turned-
out mustache, not by some image of the hand, not by a foot, not
by some other less ignoble part of the body, but with a tail (which
Juno, counter to the nature of the ursine species, decided should
remain tied behind her), you cause to come to show to all terres
trial, maritime, and celestial contemplators the magnificent pole-
and axis of the world, as if she were a sign worthy of so great
a place. To the same extent, then, that you did wrong in fixing
her there, you will do good in removing her; and see to it that
you make us understand where you want to send her, and what
you want to succeed to her place."

"Let her go," said Jove, "where it seems to you and pleases you
that she should go, either to the Bears of England or to the Orsini
or Cesarini of Rome,51 if you want her to live in the city in com
fort." "I should like to see her imprisoned in the cloister of Bern,"
said Juno. "Not so much contempt, my wife," replied Jove. "Let
her go where we want her to, providing she is free, and that she
leave that place in which I, because it is the most eminent seat,
want Truth to make her residence; for there the claws of Detrac
tion do not reach, the lividness of Envy does not poison, the
shadows of Error do not sink. There she [Truth] will dwell stable
and firm; there she will not be shaken violently by waves and
storms; there she will be the safe guide of those who go wandering
through this tempestuous Sea of Errors; and thence she will show
herself as a clear and polished mirror of contemplation."

Asked Father Saturn,52 "What shall we do with that Great
Bear? Let Momus propose." And he [Momus] said, "Let her go,
because she is old, as a lady companion of that smaller and younger
one; and see to it that she does not become her procuress; if this
happens, may she be sentenced to serve some beggar, who, by
exhibiting her and allowing her to be mounted by children and
others similar, in order to cure quartan-ague and other minor dis-
eases, might earn a living for himself and her."

"How are we to deal with this terrible Dragon, oh Jove?" asked
Mars. "Let Momus speak," answered the Father. "He is a useless
beast and is better dead than alive," responded Momus. "How-
ever, if it seems to you that we should do so, let us send him to
graze in Hibernia or on one of the Orkneys. But be most careful;
because there is the danger that with his tail he may wreak havoc
among some stars and cause them to fall headlong into the sea."
"Have no doubt, oh Momus," answered Apollo, "for I shall com
mand some Circe or Medea to use the same verses with which
we put him to sleep when he was custodian of the golden apples,
and soon, when he is again asleep, that he be transported very
gently to the earth. And I do not think that he should die; rather,
he should be exhibited wherever barbarous beauty is present. Be
cause the golden apples will represent beauty, the dragon, ferocity,
Jason, the lover, and the enchantment that put the dragon to
sleep,


　　　　　There is no heart so cruel
　　　　　That it will not be moved
　　　　　By good intention, by time,
　　　　　By weeping and loving
　　　　　And sometimes paying;
　　　　　Nor is there desire so cold
　　　　　That it cannot be warmed.53


"Whom do you want to take his place, oh father?" "Prudence,"
answered Jove, "who should be in the proximity of Truth, for
the latter should not govern herself, move and operate without the
former, because it is not possible that the one could ever profit or
be honored without the company of the other."

"Well decided," replied the gods.

Mars added: "When that Cephus was king, he knew how to
wield his arms with cruelty to enlarge that realm which Fortune
had granted him. Now, it is not good that he, here, in that man-
ner in which he is acting, by extending his arms and lengthening
his stride, should thus make for himself a wide expanse in the
heaven." "It is well then," said Jove, "that he be given to drink
of the water of Lethe in order that he may forget and become
oblivious of earthly and heavenly possessions, and that he be re-
born as an animal which has neither legs nor arms."

"So should it be," answered the gods; "but let Sophia succeed
to his place, for the unfortunate one must also partake of the
fruits and fortunes of Truth, her inseparable companion, with
whom she has always communicated in sorrows, afflictions, in-
sults, and labors; besides which, if that one is not there to coad-
minister them, we do not know how she could be acknowledged
and honored." "Most willingly, oh gods," said Jove, "I agree with
it and grant you my consent, because all order and reason demand
it; especially since I would consider that I had unjustly assigned
the former to her place without the latter, and there, far from her
so greatly beloved sister and cherished companion, she could not
be happy."

"Momus," asked Diana, "what action do you think we should
take in regard to Bootes, who, so well covered with stars, guides his
wagon?" Answered Momus: "Because he is that Areas, the fruit
of that sacrilegious womb, and that noble parturition, which still
renders testimony to the horrible thefts of our great father, he
must depart from here. Now, make provision for his habitation."
Apollo replied: "Because he was Callisto's son, may he follow his
mother." "And because he was a bear hunter," added Diana, "let
him follow his mother, providing he does not pierce her back
with the point of a partisan." Mercury added: "And because you
see that he does not know how to follow any other route, may he,
indeed, always go watching his mother, who should be returning
to the Erymanthian forests."

"Thus it will be better," said Jove; "and because the wretched
creature was forcibly violated, I wish to make amends for her
injury by sending her back to that place, if it still so pleases Juno,
in her pristine beautiful form." "I shall be satisfied," said Juno,
"after you have first restored her to her state of virginity, and,
consequently, to Diana's favor."

"Let us talk no longer of this matter for now," said Jove;
"but let us see what thing we want should succeed to that one's
place." After many, many discussions had been held, Jove sen
tenced: "There, let Law succeed, for it is now necessary that she
be in heaven, owing to the fact that she is the daughter of the
celestial and divine Sophia, just as that other one54 is the daughter
of the inferior Sophia, through whom this goddess sends her in
fluence and radiates the splendor of her own light at that time
when she wanders through the deserted and solitary places of
the earth."

"Well disposed, oh Jove," said Pallas; "for there is no true or
good law which does not have as its mother, Sophia, and as its
father, Rational Intellect; being in that place, therefore, this
daughter will not have to be far from her mother. And in order
that down on earth men may contemplate how things must be
ordered among themselves, let us now dispose in this manner, if
it so pleases Jove.

"Then follows the seat of Corona Borealis, made of sapphire,
enriched by so many sparkling diamonds, and forming that most
beautiful perspective with four and four, which are eight ardent
carbuncles. Because this [crown] is a thing made below, trans-
ported from below, it seems to me most worthy of being presented
to some heroic prince, who is not unworthy of it; however, let our
father see who should least unworthily be remunerated by us."
"Let it remain in the sky," replied Jove, "awaiting the time when
it must be given as a prize to that future unconquered arm, which,
with its club and fire, will bring back the so-longed-for peace to
wretched and unhappy Europe, making impotent the many heads
of this monster, worse than the monster of Lerna, which with
multiform heresy spreads its fatal poison, and which at too great
a pace slithers to all parts through her veins."55

Momus added: "It will be sufficient if that hero puts an end
to that idle sect of pedants, who, without doing good, according
to divine and natural law, consider themselves and want to be
considered religious men pleasing to the gods, and say that to do
good is good, and to do ill is wicked. But they say it is not by the
good that is done, or by the evil that is not done, that one becomes
worthy and pleasing to the gods, but rather it is by hoping and be-
lieving, according to their catechism.56 Behold, oh gods, if there
ever existed ribaldry more open than this, which by those alone
is not seen, who do not see anything."

"Indeed," said Mercury, "he who is not acquainted with that
knavery does not recognize this one, which is the mother of all.
If Jove, himself, and all of us together, should propose such terms
to men, we should be said to be more abominated than death, we,
who like those, to the greatest prejudice of human society, are
concerned only with our own vainglory."

"The worst of it is," said Momus, "that they defame us, saying
that this [religion of theirs] is an institution of the gods; and it
is with this that they criticize effects and fruits, even referring to
them with the title of defects and vices. Whereas nobody works for
them and they work for nobody (because their only labor is to
speak ill of works), they, at the same time, live on the works of
those who have labored for others rather than for them,57 and who
for others have instituted temples, chapels, lodgings, hospitals,
schools, and universities. Wherefore they are outright thieves and
occupiers of the hereditary wealth of others who, if they are not
perfect, nor so good as they should be, will not be, however (as
are the first), perverse and pernicious to the world, but rather will
be necessary to the republic, will be experts in the speculative sci-
ences, scholars of morality, solicitous of augmenting their zeal and
concern for helping one another and of upholding society (for
which all laws are ordained) by proposing certain rewards to bene
factors and threatening certain punishments to delinquents.

"Besides, whereas the first say that all their concern is for in-
visible things, which neither they nor others ever understood, they
tell us that for the attainment of those things, destiny alone is
sufficient (which is immutable), with the aid of certain inner
affects and fantasies upon which the gods especially nourish them-
selves."

"However," said Mercury, "it should neither disturb them nor
arouse their concern that some believe that works are necessary;
for their destiny, as well as the destiny of those who believe the
contrary, is pre-established,58 and does not alter because their belief
or disbelief changes, because their belief is of one or the other
kind. And for the same reason they [the Calvinists] should not be
troublesome toward those who do not believe in them and who
consider them most wicked; for even though they [the Catholics]
come to believe and esteem those others as good men, their own
destiny will not change. Besides, according to the doctrine of the
Calvinists, it does not lie within the freedom of choice of these
others to change to this faith. But those who have the contrary
belief [the Calvinists] may legally, according to their consciences,
not only be harmful to the others but also consider it as a great act
of homage to the gods and of benefit to the world if they perse-
cute, kill, and exterminate them from the face of the earth. For
they are worse than maggots, sterile locusts, and those harpies who
did no good but only abused and sullied with their feet the good
things they could not devour, and impeded those who worked."

"All those who have natural judgment," said Apollo, "judge
laws to be good, because they have experience as their end; and
the best laws are those that, in comparison, offer better opportunity
to better experience.59 For of all the laws that exist, some were
given by us, others were especially fashioned by men for the con-
venience of human life; and because some do not see the reward
of their virtues in this life, there is therefore promised and pre-
sented before their eyes the good and evil of their next life, its
rewards and punishments, in accordance with their deeds.

"Of all those, then, who believe and teach differently from us,"
said Apollo, "these alone deserve to be persecuted by heaven and
earth, and exterminated as pests of the world;60 and they are no
more deserving of pity than wolves, bears, and serpents, whose
extermination will be a meritorious and worthy thing. However,
he who will drive them [the Calvinists] away, will deserve in
comparably more; for how much greater is the pestilence and
ruin brought by these than that brought by the others. But Momus
correctly pointed out that the Southern Crown especially awaits
him who is destined by Fate to wipe out this stinking filth of
the world."

"It is well," said Jove. "Thus I want and thus I determine, that
this Crown be disposed of in the manner reasonably proposed by
Mercury, Momus, and Apollo, to which you consent. This plague
cannot last too long, because it is violent and against human and
natural law; as you can perceive, these Calvinists have a most
hostile destiny or fate, for their numbers never increased except
for the purpose of bringing about a more widespread ruin." "The
Crown," said Saturn, "is a worthy reward for him who will drive
them away; but that these wicked people should be excluded only
from intercourse with men is, however, a small and dispropor-
tionate penalty. It rather seems to me more just that once they have
left their present bodies, they transmigrate from body to body,
through various changes and modifications, and that they go to
dwell in the bodies of pigs, which are the idlest animals in the
world; perhaps, indeed, they might become oysters of the sea,
which are attached to rocks."

"Justice," said Mercury, "demands the contrary. It seems fitting
to me that labor should be given as a penalty for idleness. Thus
it is better that they become asses, in which existence they will re-
tain their ignorance and divest themselves of their idleness; and
in that supposition, as wages for their continuous labor, they should
have little hay and straw for food, and many blows as a reward."

All the gods together approved this opinion. Then Jove de-
creed that the Crown shall forever belong to him who will have
given them the last blow; and that they for three thousand years
shall continue migrating from asses into asses. He further de-
creed that in the place of that particular Crown there should suc-
ceed the ideal and eternally communicable one, so that out of it
might be created infinite crowns, just as from a lighted lamp,
without its dimunition and without its at all lessening in virtue
and efficacy, there are illuminated infinite others.

To this Crown he proposed that the ideal Sword should be
added, which likewise has more real being than any other particu
lar one subsistent within the limits of natural operations. By this
Sword and Crown, Jove wishes to signify Universal Judgment,
by which everyone in the world may be rewarded and punished
according to the measure of merits and crimes. All the gods
strongly approved this provision in view of the fact that it is fit
ting that Law should have her seat next to Judgment; for the
latter must govern herself by the former, and the former must ex-
ercise herself by means of the latter; the latter must execute, and
the former will dictate; in the former must consist all theory, in
the latter, all experience.

After many discourses and digressions were made concerning
the disposition of this seat, Momus pointed out Hercules to Jove
and asked, "Now, what shall we do with this bastard of yours?"
"You have heard, oh gods," answered Jove, "the reason why my
Hercules must go elsewhere with the others. But I do not want his
departure to be the same as that of all the rest; since the cause,
manner, and reason for his assumption have been very dissimilar.
Inasmuch as he has merited the heaven solely and singularly be-
cause of the virtues and the merits of his heroic exploits, he has
proved himself, although spurious, nevertheless worthy of being a
legitimate son of Jove. And you see clearly that he is denied the
heaven owning to the fact that he is adventitious, and not naturally
a god; and the error for which I am noted, because of him, as it has
been said, is mine and not his. I believe, furthermore, that your
conscience would prick you if any one man were excepted from
that rule and determination, and that man were not Hercules.

"If, however, we remove him from here and send him down to
earth, let us see to it that he be not without his honor and repu-
tation, which should be no less than it would have been had he
continued to be in the heaven." Many gods arose, I say the ma
jority of them did, and said: "Father, with more, if that is pos-
sible." "I declare then that upon this occasion he, as is due a
laborious and strong person, be given such a charge and respon-
sibility by reason of which he will become a terrestrial god, so
great that he will be honored by all as being greater than when
he was made a genuine celestial demigod." And the same gods
answered: "Be it so." And because some of them were neither
then absorbed in thought nor now speaking, Jove turned to them
and said that even they should let their thoughts be known. So,
some of them answered: "Probamus"; others, "Admittimus." "Non
refragamur," added Juno.

Then Jove proceeded to proclaim his decree as follows: "Be-
cause, during these times, in certain places of the world, are found
monsters, which if they are not the same as they were in the days
of its ancient inhabitants, are probably worse, I, Jove, father and
general provider, do decree that Hercules go down to earth as my
lieutenant and minister of my potent arm, if not endowed with
similar or greater bodily dimension, at least endowed and en-
riched with a greater vigilance, more concern, and greater strength
of intellect and spiritual efficacy. And just as he first proved him
self great after he was conceived and born upon that earth, by
having overcome and conquered so many cruel monsters, and a
second time, victorious upon his return from hell, by having made
an appearance as an unhoped-for consoler of his friends and unex-
pected destroyer of outrageous tyrants, so may he now descend
to be seen for the third time by his mother in the role of a new,
jnost necessary, and greatly longed-for provider.

"As Hercules passes over the earth, let him see whether some
Nemean lion is once again destroying the Arcadian cities, and
whether the Cleonaean lion is again appearing in Thessaly. May
he be on the lookout to see whether that Hydra, that pest of
Lerna, has again come to life to assume her newly growing heads.
Let him see whether Diomedes, who used to feed his mares at
the Hebrus on the blood of wanderers, has been resurrected in
Thrace. Let him turn his gaze toward Libya to see whether per-
haps Antaeus, who used to regain his spirit so often, has even once
reassumed his body. Let Hercules see whether there is some three
bodied Geryon in the land of Iberia. Let him raise his head to see
whether at this time those most pernicious Stymphalian Birds are
flying in the sky. I say that he should see whether those Harpies
are flying, which sometimes used to becloud the sky and impede
our view of the luminous stars. Let him beware lest a bristly boar
be roaming idly in the Erymanthian deserts; lest he should en-
counter a bull not unlike the one who used to instill horrible terror
among so many peoples. Let him see whether he should allow
some three-headed Cerberus, who yelps, to sally forth into the
open air so that he may vomit the deadly aconite; whether some
flesh-bearing Busiris is still spilling blood before cruel altars;
whether a certain hind, her head adorned with golden horns,
makes her appearance in those deserts, just like the one who with
her brazen feet used to run as swiftly as the wind; whether a new
Amazon queen has assembled her rebellious forces; whether some
faithless and fickle Achelous, with his inconstant, multiform, and
changeable aspect, still tyrannizes anywhere; whether any Hes-
perides have committed the golden apples to the guardianship of
the dragon;61 whether the unmarried, audacious queen [Pen-
thesileia] of the Thermodonians again makes her appearance;
whether a certain thief, Lancinius, is still fattening himself in the
land of Italy, or some predatory Cacus defends his plunder by
means of smoke and flames.

"If these or similar or other new and unheard-of monsters
should encounter and attack him as he goes exploring on the spa-
cious back of the earth, may he turn them away, reform, expel,
persecute, imprison, subdue, despoil, scatter, break, tear, shatter,
abase, submerge, burn, destroy, kill, and annihilate them. In re-
ward for these deeds, and for his numerous and most singular
labors, I ordain, if Fate does not contradict me, that in the places
where he will effectuate his heroic undertakings, there be erected
trophies, statues, colossi, and other shrines and temples."

"Truly, oh Jove," said Momus, "now you do seem to me to be
quite a just god; because I perceive that your paternal affection
does not transport you to the point of ignoring the terms of retri
bution owed to your Alcides, according to his merits. Not only is
he deserving of so much, but he is perhaps worthy of something
more, even in the judgment of Juno, who, I see by her laughing,
also approves of what I say."

But here is my long-awaited Mercury, oh Saulino, for whose
sake it is fitting that this discussion of ours be deferred to another
occasion. However, be good enough to leave us so that we can talk
in private.

Saul. Well, then, good-by until tomorrow.

Sophia. Here is he to whom I addressed my prayers yesterday.
He finally comes to me, after having delayed a little too long. My
prayers should have reached him last evening, should have been
listened to during the night, and answered by him this morning.
If he did not quickly respond to my call, a matter of great con
cern must have detained him; for indeed I consider myself no less
loved by him than by myself.

Here he is. I see him coming out of that bright cloud, which,
moved by the southern spirit, speeds toward the center of our
horizon, and yielding to the flashing rays of the sun, opens up
into a circle, as if it were crowning my noble planet. Oh sacred
father, thou high majesty, I thank thee, because I behold my
winged divinity appearing from the center of the circle, with his
wings extended, striking the air, happy, with the caduceus in his
hand, cleaving the heaven in my direction with greater speed than
Jove's bird, more gentle than the breath of Juno, more excellent
than the Arabian Phoenix. Having dashed toward me at great
speed, he now politely stands before me and reveals himself to me
uniquely affectionate.

Mercury. Because you sent for me, here I am, oh Sophia, obedient
and favorably disposed toward your prayers. And as for your en-
treaty, it did not reach me, according to its custom, in the form of
aromatic vapor, but as the piercing and well-feathered arrow of
resplendent light.

Sophia. But you, my divinity, what is the reason why you did not
immediately, as according to your custom, present yourself to me?

Merc. I shall tell you the truth, oh Sophia. Your prayer came to
me at the time when I had already returned to hell, to commit into
the hands of Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus 246,522 souls,
who, through divers battles, tortures, and necessities, have com
pleted the course of animation of present bodies.62 There, with
me, was the heavenly Sophia, vulgarly known as Minerva and
Pallas, who, from its appearance and movement, immediately
knew that that message was yours.

Sophia. She could well recognize it; because it frequently was
wont to negotiate with her, no less than with you.63

Merc. And she said to me: "Turn your eyes, oh Mercury, because
this message comes for you from our terrestrial sister and daughter.
I want that one who lives by my spirit and at a greater distance,
close to the shadows, and proceeds from my father's light, to be
recommended to your care."

"It is a superfluous thing," I answered her, "oh thou born of
Jove's brain, to recommend to me our so greatly beloved common
sister and daughter." Then, I approached your message, embraced
it, kissed it. I summarized it, unbuttoned my cloak, and stuffed it
between my shirt and my breast, under which the pulse of my
heart was beating repeatedly.

Jove (who was present, somewhat removed, conversing se
cretly with Aeolus and Oceanus, who were booted, about to re-
turn quickly to their affairs down here on earth) saw what I had
done, and interrupting the conversation in which he was en-
gaged, became so curious as to ask me forthwith what memo-
randum it was that I had placed in my bosom. And after I had
answered him that it was a matter concerning you, he said: "Oh,
my poor Sophia! How is she faring? What is she doing? Alas, the
poor thing! Judging from that cornet of paper, which is not too
elegantly rolled, I understood that the news could not be other
than what you say. It is indeed a long time since we have received
any news concerning her. Now, what is she asking of you? What
does she need? What is she proposing to you?" "Nothing else,"
I said, "but that I be in her presence to listen to her for an hour."

"It is well," he said; and he returned to finish his conversation
with those two gods; and then, hurriedly he summoned me to his
presence, saying, "Come, come, quickly let us put our affairs in
order before you go to see what that poor creature wants; and I
shall return to see this most troublesome wife of mine, who cer
tainly weighs upon me more heavily than all the weight of the
universe." He immediately demanded that I make a note in my
own hand of all that today must be provided for on earth (for thus
it has recently been decreed in heaven).

Sophia. Let me hear of some of these matters, if it pleases you,
since you have aroused this concern in my heart.

Merc. I shall tell you.64 Jove has ordained that today, at noon,
two melons, among the others found in Franzino's 65 melon patch,
be fully ripened, but that they not be picked until three days later,
at which time they will not be considered fit for eating. He wishes
that, at the same time, thirty jujubes, perfectly ripe, be picked
from the jujube tree which stands at the foot of Mount Cicala on
the property of Gioan Bruno;66 thirty of them should be picked
perfectly ripe, seventeen should fall to the ground unripe, and
fifteen should be worm-eaten.

He decreed that Vasta,67 the wife of Albenzio, while she tries
to curl the hair on her temples, shall burn fifty-seven of them
because she overheated her iron, but that she will not burn her
head, that she will not swear this time upon smelling the stench,
but rather bear it with patience.

He decreed that two hundred fifty-two maggots be born out
of the dung of Albenzio's ox; that of these, fourteen be trampled
upon and killed by Albenzio's foot; that twenty-six of them die
from being turned upside down; that twenty-two live in a cavern;
that eighty wander about the courtyard; that forty-two go to live
under the tree stump near the door; that sixteen turn their feelers
wherever they see fit; and that the rest go in search of their for
tune.

He decreed that Laurenza68 lose seventeen hairs when she
combs herself; that thirteen be pulled out; and that of the former
number, ten grow back within three days, and seven return no
more.

He decreed that Antonio Savolino's69 bitch conceive five
puppies, of which three will live out their time, and two will be
thrown away; and that of those three, the first should resemble
the mother, the second be different, the third resemble partly his
father and pardy Polydorus'70 father.

He ordained that at that time the cuckoo should be heard
singing from Starza,71 and that he must "cuckoo" neither more
nor less than twelve times; and that he then must depart to make
his way to the ruins of the Cicala Casde,72 for eleven minutes out
of every hour, and thence fly away to Scarvaita.73 And as to what
is to be done afterwards, we shall provide later on.

He decreed that the gown that Master Danese74 is cutting on
his bench should be spoiled.

He decreed that twelve bedbugs come out of the boards of Cos-
tantino's75 bed and make their way to the pillow, seven being of
the largest, four of the smallest, and one of average size; and
for what is to become of them at candlelight, we shall provide.

He decreed that at fifteen minutes of the same hour, the old
woman of Fiurulo,76 by the motion of her tongue moving about
in her palate, will succeed with the fourth movement in causing
the third molar in her right lower jaw to fall out. Its loss will be
bloodless and painless, because the said molar has come to the end
of its state of trepidation that has lasted exactly seventeen annual
revolutions of the moon.

Jove ordained that Ambruoggio,77 after the one hundred twelfth
thrust, will interrupt and postpone his affair with his wife, and that
he will not impregnate her this time, but will do so on another
occasion with that semen into which is converted that hot leek
which he is eating now with juice and millet bread.

He ordained that pubic hair begin to appear on the mons pubis
of Martinello's son;78 and that at the very same time his voice
begin gradually to crack. Furthermore, the red lace of Paolino's79
breeches will break off because of the violent movement he will
make while trying to pick up a broken needle from the ground;
"for which reason, if he should swear, because of it [said Jove], I
want him to be punished in the following manner: tonight, his
soup should be too salty and have a smoky taste; his flask, filled
with wine, should fall and break; if he should swear because of
it, we shall attend to it later on."

He ordained that of seven moles, which left the bowels of the
earth four days ago, taking various routes toward the open air, two
shall come to the surface at the same hour, the one at the stroke of
noon, the other fifteen minutes and nineteen seconds after, removed
from one another by three paces, one foot and one half finger's
length, in Antonio Faivano's garden. Concerning the time and
place of the others, provision will be made later on.

Sophia. You have much to do, oh Mercury, if you wish to tell me
about all of these acts of Providence performed by Father Jove;
and in wanting me to listen to these specific decrees, one by one,
you seem to me like one who would want to take a count of all the
grains of sand on earth. You have taken so long to report a few
insignificant occurrences out of an infinite number that took place
simultaneously in a small area of the countryside, where there are
four or five not-too-significant beings; now what would happen
if you had to relate in detail the things that were ordained for this
city situated at the foot of this Mount Cicala? Certainly, a year
would not suffice for you to explain them one by one in the man-
ner in which you have begun to do so.

What do you believe would happen if, besides, I wanted to re-
port about the things that happened in the city of Nola, in the
kingdom of Naples, in Italy, in Europe, and on all of the terrestrial
globe, and every other globe in the infinite,80 as indeed the worlds
placed under Jove's Providence are infinite? In truth, in order to
report only that which happened and was decreed to be contained
in one moment, in the orbit of only one of these globes or worlds,
it would not be enough for you to ask for one hundred iron tongues
and mouths, as the poets do,81 but a thousand thousand million of
them for the period of one year, and then you would not have re-
ported the one thousandth part of it.

And to tell you the truth, oh Mercury, I do not know what
this report of yours signifies, with which some of my worshipers,
called philosophers, believe that this poor, great Father Jove is
much concerned, occupied, and disturbed; and they believe that
his fortune is such that there is not even one mortal who should
envy his state. I say that during that time he spent in proposing
and decreeing these effects, there occurred on an infinite number
of occasions an infinite number of opportunities for him to decree,
and to have decreed, other effects; and if you should want to dis-
charge your office while relating them to me, you will have had to
go through and will have to go through, other infinities an in-
finite number of times.

Merc. You know, Sophia, if you are Sophia, that Jove does all
things without effort, solicitude, and trouble; because he provides
for innumerable species and infinite individuals by giving them
order and by having given them order, not by a certain successive
process, but instantaneously and all at once. He does not create
things according to particular efficient causes, one by one, by means
of many actions, arriving at infinite acts by means of infinite ac-
tions; but with one simple and singular act, he creates all of the
past, present, and future.

Sophia. I know this very well, oh Mercury: that you gods do not
relate and execute these things all at once, and that they are not
of one simple and singular subject; therefore, the efficient cause
must be proportionate to those things, or at least become propor-
tionate to them through the act.

Merc. What you say is true. It must be so, and not otherwise, in
the particular, immediate, and natural efficient; because the meas-
ure and reason of the particular act, regarding the particular sub-
ject, follow according to the reason and measure of the effective
particular virtue. However, that is not so in the universal efficient,
for it is proportioned, if we can express it thus, to the total infi-
nite effect, which depends on it, according to the reason of all
places, times, modes, and subjects, and definitely not to specific
places, subjects, times, and modes.

Sophia. I know, oh Mercury, that universal knowledge is different
from the particular, just as the finite differs from the infinite.

Merc. Or better say: as unity differs from infinite number. And
you must also know, oh Sophia, that unity is in infinite number,
and that infinite number is in unity; that besides, unity is an im-
plicit infinite, and that the infinite is explicit unity. Therefore,
where there is no unity, there is no number, either finite or
infinite; and wherever there is number, either finite or in-
finite, there, necessarily, is unity. The latter, therefore, is the sub
stance of the former, so that he who sees unity, not as accident
(as some particular intellects do), but as essence (as universal
intelligence does), understands unity, the one and the number, the
finite and the infinite, the end and goal of intelligence, and the
abundance of all things; and he is able to perform all things, not
only in the universal but also in the particular. So since there is
no particular that is not contained in the universal, there is no
number in which unity is more truly contained than number it-
self. Thus then, Jove, without difficulty or annoyance, provides
for all things, in all places and times, just as being and unity are
necessarily found in all numbers, in all places, in all times and
atoms of time, places, and numbers; and the only principle of
being is in infinite individuals who were, are, and will be. But this
disputation is not the reason for which I have come here and for
which, I believe, I was summoned by you.

Sophia. It is true that I know well that these are matters which
are worthy of being decided upon by my philosophers, and are
not fully understood by me, who can only understand them with
difficulty, in comparisons and similes, but are understood by the
heavenly Sophia and by you. By your narration, however, I have
been moved to consider such a matter before I discuss that which
regards my particular interests and designs. Indeed, oh judicious
divinity, you seem to me to have entered into that discussion of
such insignificant and lowly matters without purpose.

Merc. I have done it, not with vanity, but with great providence,
Sophia, because I have judged necessary this animadversion of you,
who, from what I understand, by your many afflictions are in such
manner disturbed that easily your affect might be transported
toward wanting not too piously to opine concerning the rule of
the gods; it is just and sacrosanct, ad finem finalem, although
things appear, in the manner in which you see them, most con-
fused. I have wanted, therefore, before dealing with other things,
to provoke you to such contemplation so as to render you free from
the doubt you might entertain and, perhaps, many times demon-
strate; because you, being earthly and discursive, cannot clearly
understand the importance of Jove's providence and the concern
of us, his collaterals.

Sophia. But yet, oh Mercury, how do you explain the fact that this
zeal has moved you rather more at present than at other times?

Merc. I shall tell you (that which I have deferred telling you up
to the present) why your entreaty, your prayer, your message,
although it arrived in heaven and came to us swiftly and readily,
was, however, frozen in midsummer, was irresolute, was trem-
bling, as if it were thrown into the lap of Fortune rather than sent
and committed to Providence; as if it were dubious that it could
have the effect of reaching ears such as ours, attentive to things
esteemed more important. But you deceive yourself, Sophia, if
you believe that minimum matters are not of so much concern to
us as important ones, inasmuch as very great and important things
do not have worth without insignificant and most abject things.
Everything, then, no matter how minimal, is under infinitely
great Providence; all minutiae, no matter how very lowly, in the
order of the whole and of the universe, are most important; for
great things are composed of little ones, and little things of the
smallest, and the latter, of individuals and of minima. I am of the
same opinion concerning great substances as concerning great
efficacies and great effects.

Sophia. It is true; for there is no architecture so great, so mag-
nificent, and so beautiful that it does not consist of things which
appear and are judged to be small, most lowly, and formless.

Merc. The act of divine cognition is the substance of the being of
all things; and, therefore, just as all things have either finite or
infinite being, so are all known and ordained and provided for.
Divine cognition is not like ours, which follows after things, but
is before things and is found in all things, so that if it were not
there, there would be no proximate and secondary causes.

Sophia. And therefore, oh Mercury, you want me not to be dis-
mayed by anything minimal or great that befalls me, not only by
anything principal and direct but also by anything indirect and
accessory; and [to know] that Jove is in all and fills all and listens
to all.

Merc. It is so; however, in the future remember to make your
message warmer, and not to send it so carelessly clad and cold in
the presence of Jove; and both he and your Pallas have enjoined
me that before I speak of anything else to you, I should, aided by
sagacity, make you aware of this.

Sophia. I thank you all.

Merc. Now explain the reason why you summoned me to you.

Sophia. Because of the mutation and change of customs, which I
apprehend in Jove, and because of what I, through other discus-
sions, have learned from you, I have attained the confidence with
which to ask and entreat him about that which, at other times, I
did not dare to, when I used to fear that some Venus or Cupid or
Ganymede might reject and send back my message when it pre-
sented itself before the door of Jove's chamber. Now that every
thing has been changed, and that other doormen, guides, and
assistants have been ordained, and that he is well disposed toward
Justice, I desire that my request, which deals with the great wrongs
being perpetrated against me by several kinds of men on earth, be
presented to him through you, and that you beseech him to be
favorable and propitious toward me, according to what his con
science shall dictate.

Merc. Since this request of yours is lengthy and of no small im
portance, and also since it was recently proclaimed in heaven that
all messages, whether of a civil or criminal nature, be recorded
in the chamber, not without their due ceremony, pomp, and cir
cumstances, it is therefore necessary that you place it in my hands
in writing, and that I present it so to Jove and the heavenly Senate.

Sophia. What is the reason for this new decree?

Merc. In order that, in this manner, each one of the gods will be
compelled to dispense justice; because through recording, which
eternizes the memory of acts, they may fear to incur eternal shame
and eternal blame with the condemnation which must be expected
from Absolute Justice, which reigns over all rulers and presides
over all the gods.

Sophia. I shall do so, then. But one needs time to think and to
write; therefore, I beseech you to come back to me tomorrow, or
indeed the day after tomorrow.

Merc. I shall not fail. Ponder upon what you are doing.


End of First Dialogue




Second Dialogue



FIRST PART of the Second Dialogue



Saul. If you please, Sophia, before we proceed to other matters,
give me the reason for this order and disposition of divinities
which Jove has made among the stars. And first let me hear why
he has decided that in the most eminent seat (for so it is com
monly believed to be by the vulgar) Truth should be placed.

Sophia. Easily. Above all things, oh Saulino, is situated Truth;
because she is the unity that presides over all, is the goodness that
is pre-eminent among all things; because the entity, the good, and
the true are one, as are likewise the true, the entity, and the
good. Truth is that entity which is not inferior to anything; for
if you wish to imagine some thing which is before Truth, you must
consider that thing to be other than Truth. And if you imagine it
to be other than Truth, you will necessarily understand it as not
having truth within itself and, being without truth, as not being
true; whence, consequendy, it is false, it is worthless, it is noth
ing, it is not entity. I say that nothing can be before Truth, if it
is not true that it is first and above Truth; and there can be no true
being except by virtue of Truth. So it cannot be another thing to
gether with Truth, and be that same thing without Truth; so that if
by virtue of Truth, it is not true, it is not entity, it is false, it
is nothing. Likewise, there can be nothing after Truth, because if it
is after her, it is without her; if it is without her, it is not true,
be cause it does not contain truth within itself; it must then be
false, it must then be nothing.

Thus Truth is before all things, is with all things, is after all
things, is above all, with all, after all; she contains the reason
for the beginning, middle, and end. She is before things, as cause
and principle, inasmuch as through her, things have their dependence;
she is in things and is herself their substance, inasmuch as through
her they have their subsistence. She is after all things inasmuch as
through her they are understood without falsity. She is ideal, nat-
ural, and notional; she is metaphysics, physics, and logic. Above
all things, then, is Truth; and that which is above all things, al
though it is conceived differently according to another reason
and otherwise named, nevertheless, in substance must be Truth
herself.

Because of this, then, Jove reasonably has desired that in the
most eminent place of the heaven Truth should be seen. But cer-
tainly this [truth] which you sensibly see and which you, by the
loftiness of your intellect, can understand, is not the highest and
first, but a certain figure, a certain image, a certain splendor of
her, who is superior to this Jove about whom we often speak, and
who is the subject of our metaphors.

Saul. Deservedly, oh Sophia, for Truth is the most sincere, the
most divine of all things. Rather, Truth is the divinity and sin-
cerity, the goodness and beauty of things, who is neither driven
away by violence, nor corrupted by antiquity, nor diminished by
occultation, nor dispersed by communication. For sense does not
confound her, time does not wrinkle her, place does not hide her,
night does not interrupt her, shadow does not envelop her. Rather,
the more and more she is impugned, the more and more she is
resuscitated and grows. Without a defender and protector, she
defends herself; and yet she loves the company of a few wise men.
She hates the multitude, does not show herself before those who
do not seek her for her own sake, and does not wish to be declared
to those who do not humbly expose themselves to her, or to all
those who fraudulently seek her; and therefore she dwells most
high, whither all gaze, and few see. But why, oh Sophia, does
Prudence follow her? Perhaps because those who wish to contem-
plate Truth and who want to preach her must be governed by
Prudence?

Sophia. This is not the reason. That goddess who is joined to
and close to Truth has two names: Providence and Prudence. She
is called Providence inasmuch as she influences and is found in
superior principles, and she is called Prudence inasmuch as she is
effectuated in us; just as the sun is wont to be referred to as that
body which both warms the earth and diffuses light and as that
light and diffused splendor which is found in the mirror and in
other subjects besides.

Providence, then, is said to be in the highest things, is the com
panion of Truth, and is not found without her; and she is both
liberty itself and necessity itself; so that truth, providence, liberty,
and necessity, unity, truth,82 essence, and entity are all absolutely
one, as I shall better demonstrate to you on other occasions. But
for the convenience of present contemplation, know that she in-
stills Prudence in us, which Prudence is placed and is consistent
in certain temporal discourse; and she [Prudence] is the principal
law that flows toward the universal and the particular. She has as
her handmaiden. Dialectic, and as her guide, Acquired Wisdom,
commonly known as Metaphysics, who considers the universals of
all things that fall into human cognition; and these two refer all
their considerations to the use of Prudence. She has two83 insidious
enemies who are vicious: To her right are found Cunning, Crafti-
ness, and Malice; to her left, Stupidity, Inertia, and Imprudence.
And she flows toward consultative virtue, as does strength toward
impetuosity of wrath, moderation toward assent to concupiscence,
justice toward all operations, external as well as internal.

Saul. Through Providence, then, you want Prudence to influence
us, in the archetype world the former to correspond to the latter,
who is in the physical world. It is the latter who gives to mortals
the shield through which, by means of reason, they fortify them-
selves against adverse things; through which they are taught to
take more speedy and perfect caution where very great losses
threaten and are feared; through which inferior agents adapt
themselves to things, to times, and to occasions, and minds and
wills do not change but adapt themselves. Because of this, to those
who are well affected nothing comes as if it were sudden and un-
expected; they doubt nothing, but expect all; they suspect noth-
ing, but guard themselves against everything by remembering their
past, planning their present, and foreseeing their future. Now tell
me why Sophia follows and is close to Prudence and Truth?

Sophia. Sophia, like Truth and Providence, is of two species. The
one is that superior, supracelestial, and ultramundane one, if one
can express it thus, and she is Providence herself, both light and
the eye; the eye which is light itself, light which is the eye itself.
The other is the consecutive, mundane, and inferior; and she is
not Truth, herself, but is truthful and partakes of Truth; she is
not the sun, but the moon, the earth, and the star which shine
because of another. So she is Sophia, not in essence, but by partici-
pation; and she is an eye which receives light and is illuminated
by an external, wandering light; she is not an eye in herself, but
is so because of another. She has no being in herself, but through
another. For she is not the one, not the entity, not the true; but
she is of the one, of the entity, of the true; out of the one, out of
the entity, out of the true; because of the one, because of the en
tity, because of the true; within the one, within the entity, within
the true; from the one, from the entity, from the true.

The first is invisible, both infigurable and incomprehensible,
above all, in all, and among all. The second is figured in the
heaven, illustrated in minds, communicated through words, di-
gested through art, refined through conversation, delineated
through writings. For her, he who says that he knows what he
does not know, is a rash sophist; he who denies knowing what he
does know, is ungrateful to the active intellect, injurious toward
Truth, and outrageous toward me. And all those become likewise
who do not seek me for my own sake, or for the sake of the su-
preme virtue and love of the Divinity which is above all Joves and
all heavens, but would rather sell me for money or honors, or for
other kinds of gain, or desire me, not so much for knowing, but
rather to be known, or to detract, and to be able to impugn and
stand against the happiness of certain troublesome censors and
rigid observers. And of these, the first are wretched, the second
vain, the third wicked and of base mind. Those, however, who
seek me so that they may edify themselves are prudent; those who
observe me so that they may edify others are humane; those
who seek me absolutely are curious; those who inquire after me
for love of the supreme and first Truth are wise, and consequendy
happy.

Saul. Whence does it happen, oh Sophia, that not all who simi
larly possess you are similarly affected; rather sometimes, he who
best possesses you is least edified?

Sophia. Whence does it come about, oh Saulino, that the sun does
not warm all those upon whom it shines, and sometimes warms
least such persons upon whom it shines most?

Saul. I do understand you, Sophia; and I apprehend that you are
she who in various ways contemplates, comprehends, and explains
this truth and the effects of that supreme influence of your being,
toward which, through various steps and diverse ladders, all as-
pire, strive, study, and, by rising, force themselves to reach. And
the same end and scope appear and present themselves in different
studies, and succeed in actuating diverse subjects of intellectual
virtues, according to diverse measures, as they direct it toward that
one and simple Truth. Just as there is no one who can touch her
at all, so there is not found here below anyone who can perfectly
understand her; because she is understood and equaled only by
that [being] in whom she dwells as essence, and this is none other
than she herself.

And therefore, outwardly she is seen only as shadow, simili-
tude, a mirror, both in surface and in manner of appearance,
whom no one in this world approaches more closely through the
act of Providence and the effect of Prudence than you, Sophia,
while you lead diverse sects to her. Of these some aspire toward
Truth by wondering, others by parabling, others by inquiring,
others by opining, others by judging and determining; others by
a sufficiency of natural magic, others by superstitious divination;
others by means of negation, others by means of affirmation; others
by way of composition, others by way of division; others by way
of definition, others by way of demonstration; others by means of
acquired principles, others by means of divine principles. Mean-
while she cries out to them, nowhere present, nowhere absent,
proposing to them before the eyes of sentiment, by means of writ-
ing, all natural things and effects, and intones in the ear of their
inner mind, by means of conceived species of visible and invisible
things.

Sophia. Sophia is followed by her daughter, Law; and through
Law, Sophia wishes to operate, wishes to be employed; through
Law princes reign, and kingdoms and republics are maintained.
Law, adapting herself to the complexion and customs of peoples
and nations, suppresses audacity through fear, and sees to it that
goodness is secure among the wicked. And she is the reason for
which, among the wicked, there is always remorse of conscience,
with the fear of justice and the expectation of that punishment
which crushes proud boldness and introduces humble consent, with
its eight servants, which are talion, prison, blows, exile, ig-
nominy, servitude, poverty, and death.

Jove has placed her in heaven and exalted her with this con-
dition: that she allow that the powerful be not secure because of
their pre-eminence and power; but that by referring all to greater
providence and superior law (through which civil law is regu
lated, as is the divine and natural), she make it understood that
for those who come out of spiders' webs there are ordained nets,
cords, chains, and fetters, since by decree of Eternal Law it is
sanctioned that the most powerful be most powerfully compressed
and bound, if not under one mantle and inside of one cell, then
under another mantle and within another cell, which will be
worse.84

Then he ordained and enjoined her that she deal with and be
especially rigorous regarding things for which, from the begin
ning and first and principal cause, she has been ordained (con-
cerning, that is to say, whatever appertains to the communion of
men, to civilized behavior), in order that the potent be sustained
by the impotent, the weak be not oppressed by the stronger; that
tyrants be deposed, just rulers and realms be constituted and
strengthened, republics be favored; that violence not tread upon
reason, ignorance not despise knowledge; that the poor be aided
by the rich; that virtues and studies, useful and necessary to the
commonwealth, be promoted, advanced, and maintained, and that
those be exalted and remunerated who profited from them; and
that the indolent, the avaricious, and the owners of property be
scorned and held in contempt.85

Let there be preserved the fear and the cult of invisible powers,
and honor, reverence, and respect toward our proximate living
rulers. Let no one be placed in power who himself is not superior
in merits through the virtue and the intelligence in which he may
prevail, either by himself, which is rare and almost impossible, or
even through the communication and counsel of others, which is
proper, ordinary, and necessary.

Jove has given Law the power to bind, which will consist
chiefly in this: that she will not become such as to incur contempt
and indignity, which she might encounter by directing her steps
along two paths, of which one is that of iniquity, by commanding
and proposing unjust things, the other, that of difficulty, by pro-
posing and commanding things, which are both impossible and
unjust. So that, therefore, two are the hands by which she has the
power to bind every law; one is that of justice, the other is that of
possibility. And of these the one is moderated by the other, since,
although many things are possible which are not just, nothing
is just which cannot be possible.

Saul. You say well, oh Sophia, that no law that is not adjusted
to the experience of human society must be accepted. Jove has well
disposed of and ordered her; because whether it descends from
heaven or arises from the earth, that institution or law which does
not bring the utility and convenience that lead us to an excellent
end must be neither approved nor accepted. We cannot conceive
a greater end than that which so directs minds and reforms in-
clinations that from them are produced fruits useful and neces-
sary to human behavior. For certainly that must be a divine thing,
art of arts and discipline of disciplines, through which men must
be governed and repressed, men, who among all animals are most
distinct in complexion, most varied in customs, and in inclination
most divided, in wills most diverse, in impulses most inconstant.

But alas! oh Sophia, that we should have come to such a pass
(who would ever have thought it possible?) that the religion
considered most highly should be that which maintains that ac-
tions and good works are insignificant and lowly, and considers
them errors, some saying that the gods are not concerned with
good works, and that through these works, however great they
may be, men do not become just.86

Sophia. Certainly, oh Saulino, I must be dreaming. I believe that
what you are saying is a phantasm, a figment of a troubled brain
and not a real thing; and yet, it is certain that there are such per
sons who propose this to the wretched people and make them
believe it. But have no doubts; for the world will easily realize
that this cannot be readily digested, as it will also easily under
stand that it cannot subsist without law and religion.

Now we have seen in some way how well Law has been or
dained and placed. You must now hear on what conditions Judg
ment has been joined next to her. Jove has placed into the hand
of Judgment the Sword and the Crown; with the latter she re-
wards those who do good works and abstain from evil; with the
former she punishes those who are inclined toward crimes, and
are useless and infrugiferous plants. He has charged Judgment
with the defense of and concern with true law, and the destruc-
tion of wicked and fraudulent law dictated by geniuses who are
perverse and inimical to a tranquil and happy human society; he
has commanded that Judgment, together with Law, should not
extinguish, but as much as possible should kindle, the appetite for
glory in human hearts; for this appetite is the only, the most
efficacious, spur that is wont to incite men and fire their enthusi-
asm for those heroic deeds which enlarge, maintain, and fortify
republics.

Saul. Our professors of false religion call all of these glories
vain; they say, however, that we must glory in I know not what
cabalistic tragedy.87

Sophia. Besides, he has commanded that she [Judgment] should
not be concerned with what each one imagines or thinks, provid-
ing that words and deeds do not corrupt the tranquil state of
affairs. She should especially turn toward improving and maintain-
ing all that which is contained in works and judge the tree not by
its beautiful leaves, but by its good fruit; and those who do not
produce fruit should be driven away, and cede their place to those
who yield them. She should not believe that the gods are in any
way interested in those things in which no man feels himself inter-
ested, because the gods are concerned only with those things with
which men can be concerned. And not by anything done or said
or thought in behalf of them are they moved or angered, unless,
because of that thing, the respect by which republics are main-
tained might be lost; since the gods would not be gods if they
felt pleasure or displeasure, sadness or joy, in what men do or
think; on the contrary, the former would be more wanting than
the latter, or, at least, the former would receive benefit and
profit from the latter, as the latter from the former.

Since the gods are removed from all passion, they, consequently,
can have only active and not passive anger and pleasure; and
therefore, they threaten punishment and promise reward, not for
any evil or good which arises in them [men], but for that which
is committed among peoples and civilized societies, which they
have succored with their divine laws, human laws not being suffi-
cient for them. Yet, it is unworthy, foolish, profane, and repre-
hensible to believe that the gods seek the reverence, fear, love, wor-
ship, and respect of men for any other good end and benefit than
that of men themselves. Since they are glorious in themselves, and
since no glory outside of themselves can add to theirs, they have
instituted laws, not so much in order to receive glory, as to spread
it among men. Thus the farther human laws and opinions are re-
moved from the goodness and truth of Law and Judgment, the
farther they remove themselves from regulating and approving that
which is especially contained in the moral actions of men in rela-
tion to other men.

Saul. By this ordinance of Jove's, oh Sophia, it is efficaciously
demonstrated that the trees that are in the gardens of laws are
ordained by the gods to bear fruits, and especially those fruits upon
which men feed and nourish themselves and by which they are
preserved. And it is demonstrated that the gods delight themselves
with the fragrance of no other fruits than these.

Sophia. Listen! From this, Jove wants Judgment to infer that the
gods especially want to be loved and feared for the purpose of
benefiting mankind, and want to warn men especially against
those vices which bring them annoyance. Internal sins, however,
must be considered sins only to the extent that they produce, or
could produce, an external effect; and internal justice is never
justice without external practice, just as plants are plants in vain
without producing fruits either in the present or in expectation.
And he wants us to know that, in comparison with others, those
errors are the greatest which have a prejudicial effect upon the
republic; that those prejudicial to a particular and interested party
are lesser errors; that that which occurs between two individuals
in agreement with one another is the least error; and that those
sins are nought which arise in the complexion of the individual
from his accidental impulses, and do not proceed to set a bad ex
ample or have a bad effect. And these are the same sins which cause
the eminent gods to be offended most, less, least, and not at all;
and by works which are contrary to these sins, they esteem them-
selves served most greatly, least, or not at all.

Furthermore, Jove has commanded Judgment that in the future
she approve of Repentance, but that she not place her on an equal
footing with Innocence; that she approve of Belief and Respect,
but never on an equal footing with Execution and Work. He pro-
poses that she do the same regarding Confession and Discourse,
with deference to Correction and Abstinence; and that she com
mend thoughts to the extent that they are resplendent in expressed
signs and possible effects.

She should not permit that he who in vain tries to subdue his
body should sit next to him who tries to discipline his mind; and
she should not make a comparison between this lonely and useless
man and that other who engages in profitable conversation. Let
her distinguish between customs and religions, not so much be-
cause of differences in togas and garments, as because of their good
and better garments of virtues and disciplines. Let her smile, not
so much upon him who has restrained the fervor of his lust and
who is probably impotent and cold, as upon another, who has
mitigated the violence of his wrath, and who certainly is not
timid, but patient. Let her applaud, not so much the man who
probably has unnecessarily obligated himself not to show himself
lustful, as the other man who resolves no longer to be a slanderer
and malefactor. Let her not consider a proud appetite for glory, out
of which there results some good for the republic, to be a greater
sin than the sordid lust for money. Let her give great acclaim,
not so much to one because he has healed a humble and useless
lame man who, cured, is worth little, or no more than when he
is infirm, as to another one who has liberated his country and re-
formed a perturbed spirit. She should not esteem as a heroic jest
one's having been able, in some mode and some manner, to ex-
tinguish the fire of an ardent furnace, without water, as much as
or more than his having extinguished the seditions of an inflamed
people, without bloodshed.

May she not allow that statues be erected to good-for-nothings
who are hostile to the state of republics and who, with prejudice
to customs and human life, offer us words and dreams, rather than
to those who raise temples to the gods, increase the cult and zeal
for such a law and religion, through which are kindled magnani-
mity and ardor for that glory which is derived from the service
to the fatherland and is to the advantage of mankind; whence
there seem to have been instituted universities for the disciplines
of customs, letters, and arms. And let her guard against promis-
ing love, honor, and the reward of eternal life and immortality to
those who approve of pedants and prattlers, rather than to those
who, by their striving toward the perfectioning of their own
intellect and that of others, by their service to the community,
and by their express observance of acts of magnanimity, justice,
and mercy, are pleasing to the gods.

For this reason they [the gods] exalted the Roman people
above others; because with their magnificent deeds they, more
than the other nations, knew how to conform with and resemble
them, by pardoning the subdued, overthrowing the proud,88 right-
ing wrongs, not forgetting kindness, helping the needy, defend-
ing the afflicted, relieving the oppressed, restraining the vio-
lent, promoting the meritorious, abasing criminals and spreading
terror and the utmost destruction among them by means of scourg-
es and axes, and honoring the gods with statues and colossi.
Whence, consequently, that people appeared more bridled and re-
strained from vices of an uncivilized and barbarous nature, more
excellent and ready to perform generous enterprises than any other
people that has ever been seen. And as long as such were their
law and religion, their customs and deeds, such were their honor
and their happiness.

Saul. I should like to have seen Jove ordain that Judgment take
specific action against the temerity of these grammarians who in
our times are fattening themselves throughout Europe.89

Sophia. Very well, oh Saulino, has Jove commanded, ordered,
and enjoined that Judgment see whether it seems true to her that
those men [the Calvinists] induce peoples to the contempt of, or
at least to little concern for, legislators and laws, by making it
clear to them that they propose impossible things, and rule as if
in jest, that is to say, by letting men know that the gods well
know how to command that which they cannot put into execution.
Let her see whether, while they say that they want to reform the
deformed laws and religions, they do not succeed in spoiling all
that which is good in them, and approve and raise to the stars
all that can be, or seems to be, perverse and vain in them. Let
her see whether these men bring any fruits other than those used
to suppress discussions, to dissipate harmony, to dissolve unity,
and to cause children to rebel against their fathers, servants against
their masters, subjects against their superiors; to cause schisms
between peoples and peoples, nations and nations, comrades and
comrades, brothers and brothers; to create division among families,
cities, republics, and kingdoms.

And in conclusion, let her see whether, while they utter greet-
ings of peace, they do not carry, wherever they enter, the Knife
of Division and the Fire of Dispersion, taking away the son from
his father, neighbor from neighbor, the inhabitant from his coun-
try, and causing other divorces, horrendous and against every
nature and law. Let her see whether, while they call themselves
ministers of one who resurrects the dead and heals the infirm, it
is they who, worse than all the others whom the earth feeds, cripple
the healthy and kill the living, not so much with fire and with the
sword as with their pernicious tongues. Let her see what sort of
peace and harmony they propose to the wretched peoples, and
whether they perhaps want and eagerly desire that all the world
agree with and consent to their malicious and most presumptuous
ignorance, and approve their wicked conscience, while they want
neither to agree with, nor consent to, any law, justice, and doc-
trine; and let her see whether in all the rest of the world and of
the centuries there appear so much discord and dissonance as is
evidenced among them.

So among ten thousand such pedants there is not one who has
not compiled his own catechism, and who, if he has not pub-
lished it, at least is about to publish that one which approves of
no other institution but his own, finding in all the others some
thing to condemn, reprove, and doubt; besides, the majority of
them are found in disagreement among themselves, rescinding
today what they wrote the day before.

Let her see what success these have, and what customs they
inspire and provoke in others in that which appertains to acts of
justice and compassion and the conservation and increase of public
wealth. And let her see whether, through their doctrine and teach-
ing, academies, universities, temples, hospitals, colleges, schools,
and institutions of disciplines and art are erected; or whether, even
where those things are found, they are not the same things estab-
lished by the same faculties that were in existence before these
people came and made their appearance among nations. After-
ward, let her see whether, because of their concern, these things
have increased or, rather, because of their negligence, have de-
creased, fallen into decay, dissolution, and dispersion. Further
more, let her see whether they are the appropriators of the goods
of others or, rather, the bestowers of their own goods; and, finally,
let her see whether those who side with them increase and stabilize
public wealth, as their opponents and predecessors used to do, or,
rather, together with these, dissipate, dismember, and devour it;
and whether, while they belittle good works, they extinguish in
people all enthusiasm for the construction of new works and the
preservation of the old.

Jove commands that if what they [the Calvinists] say is true
(and they are so persuaded and convinced of it), and if after they
are warned, revealing themselves incorrigible, they stand firm on
their feet of Obstinacy, Judgment should, under penalty of dis-
grace and losing of that rank and pre-eminence she holds in heaven,
dissipate, scatter, and annihilate them; and that she, by the use of
any kind of force, power, and industry, should extinguish the very
memory of the name of such a pestiferous germ. And to this he
adds that she should make known to all the generations of the
world that they, under penalty of their destruction, must arm them-
selves in favor of that Judgment until such time as there shall be
fully put into execution Jove's decree against this blot upon hu
manity.

Saul. I believe, oh Sophia, that Jove will not ultimately want so
rigidly to dissolve this wretched kind of men, and will not begin to
affect them in such a manner, meting out final ruin to them, until
he has tried to correct them and, by making them aware of their
curse and error, provoke them to repentance.

Sophia. Yes, it is well. Jove, however, has ordered Judgment to
proceed in that manner which I prescribe. He wants them to be
deprived of all those properties 90 that those who used to preach,
praise, and teach good works had acquired, which were left and
set in order by those who used to labor and had confidence in good
works, and were established by those who believed that by those
works, benefits, and legacies they would become pleasing to the
gods.

And so let them still execrate the fruits of those trees which
issue forth from that seed so hateful to them; and let them maintain,
preserve, defend, and nourish themselves solely on those fruits,
on those incomes and aids which those who believe, approve, and
defend this opinion bring and have brought to them. And, further
more, let it not be lawful for them to occupy by rapine and violent
usurpation, by expedients contrary to a contrary end, that which,
to common utility, the others, with a free and grateful mind, have
generated and sown. And so let them depart from those profaned
dwellings and not eat of that accursed bread; but let them go and
inhabit those pure and uncontaminated houses and feed upon
those victuals that have been destined to them by means of their
reformed law,91 and recently brought forth by these pious indi-
viduals--they who hold completed works in such low esteem, and
only because of an importune, vile, and foolish imagination con-
sider themselves rulers of heaven and children of the gods, and
believe more in, and attribute more to, a vain, bovine, and asinine
faith than to a useful, real, and magnanimous effect.

Saul. Soon, oh Sophia, it will be seen how capable of earning an
inch of land for themselves these [Calvinists] are, who are so
effusive and prodigal in giving away kingdoms of heavens, and it
will be known of these rulers of the empyrean heaven how liberally
they, who perhaps because of the little faith they have in works of
charity, will reduce their Mercuries, their celestial messengers,
made of their own substance, to the necessity of going to work the
fields or of pursuing another trade. These [the Calvinists], without
otherwise puzzling their brains, reassure the others concerning I
do not know what justice of another [Christ] that has become
their own. They tell them that because of the purity and justice
of this man alone they [the Calvinists] will be forgiven, they who
are dismayed because of the assassinations, rapine, violence, and
homicides that they may have committed, and who do not at all
confide, rely, and have hope in acts of charity, liberality, com
passion, and justice.

Sophia. How is it possible, oh Saulino, that consciences so affected
can ever have a true love of doing good, and a true repentance and
fear of committing any kind of ribaldry, if for committed errors
they are so reassured, and regarding acts of justice are thrown
into such doubt?

Saul. You see the effects, Sophia; for it is a true and certain thing,
as they are true and certain, that when a man changes from any
other belief and faith to this one, he, from one who was once
liberal, becomes avaricious; he, from one who was once gentle,
becomes insolent. You see him change from humble to proud;
from a donor he becomes a robber and usurper of other peoples'
wealth; from a good man he becomes a hypocrite; from a sincere
man he becomes wicked; from a simple man he becomes cunning;
from a grateful man he becomes most arrogant; from one who is
capable of some goodness and learning, he becomes prone to every
kind of ignorance and ribaldry; and in conclusion, from one who
was capable of being bad, he has become so very bad that he could
not be worse.




SECOND PART of the Second Dialogue




Sophia. Now let us continue the discussion that was interrupted
yesterday by the arrival of Mercury.

Saul. It is high time that after the reason has been given for the
collocation and the placement of the good divinities in the places
where those beasts used to be, we examine those who were or-
dained to succeed to the places of the others, and, if it pleases you,
let it not be burdensome to you always to let me know the reason
and cause. We had yesterday reached the point in our narration
where we saw how Father Jove had dispatched Hercules; and,
consequendy, we must first see who it is Jove has allowed to be
his successor.

Sophia. I, oh Saulino, have in reality understood that there oc-
curred in heaven as regards the debate among Wealth, Pleasure,
Sanity, and Strength more than that which Crantor92 sees in phan-
tasy, in dreams, in shadows, and in the spirit of prophecy. For
when Jove had excluded Hercules from heaven, Wealth quickly
came forward and said: "This is a fitting place for me, oh Father."
To which Jove answered, "For what reason?" And she replied: "I
am rather amazed that you have so long deferred placing me, and
that before remembering me you not only gave seats to other god-
desses and divinities, who should yield to me, but besides have
maintained that it was necessary that I myself come to oppose and
stand against the harm and wrong you do me."

And Jove replied: "Do you plead your case. Wealth, although
I do not think that I have wronged you by not giving you one of
the seats already provided for. Nor do I believe that I am doing
you an injustice by denying you this seat, which is to be decided
upon; and perhaps, indeed, you may become aware of something
worse than you expect."

"And what worse could and must befall me, in your judgment,
than that which has befallen me," retorted Wealth. "Tell me, for
what reason have you preferred Truth, Prudence, Sophia, Law,
and Judgment, if I am she by virtue of whom Truth is esteemed,
Prudence is dispensed, Sophia is valued, Law reigns, Judgment dis-
poses, and without whom Truth is worthless. Prudence is wretched,
Sophia is neglected. Law is mute, Judgment is lame? Why do I
give space to the first, give fiber to the second, light to the third,
authority to the fourth, strength to the fifth, jocundity, beauty,
and ornament to all of them together, and liberate them from
trouble and misery?"

Replied Momus: "Oh Wealth, you speak the truth no more
than falsehood; for you are also she because of whom Judgment
limps. Law maintains silence, Sophia is trampled upon, Prudence
is incarcerated, and Truth is humiliated, when you become the
companion of liars and ignoramuses, when you, with the arm of
chance, favor madness, when you kindle and make minds captives
to pleasures, when you minister to violence, when you resist
justice.

"And, afterward, you bring him who possesses you no less
trouble than jocundity, no less deformity than beauty, no less ugli-
ness than ornament; and you are not that one who puts an end to
troubles and misery, but that one who modifies and changes them
into other species. Indeed, according to opinion you are good, but
in truth you are, rather, wicked; in appearance you are dear, but
in existence, worthless. According to the imagination you are
useful, but in effect you are most pernicious; since, according to
your teaching, when you invest a certain perverse person with
yourself (for ordinarily I always see you in the house of wicked
people, rarely in the vicinity of good men), you have, down there
on earth, caused Truth to be banished out of the cities into the
deserts, have broken the legs of Prudence, have embarrassed
Sophia, have shut the mouth of Law, have deprived Judgment of
courage, and have made all most cowardly."

"And in this, oh Momus," answered Wealth, "you are able to
recognize my power and excellence: that I, by opening and clos-
ing my fist and by imparting myself here or there, make it pos-
sible for these five divinities to prevail, to have power, and to
act, or, indeed, on the other hand, for them to be scorned, banish-
ed, and rejected; and, frankly speaking, I can chase them into
heaven or hell."

Here Jove answered: "We want only good divinities in heaven
and in these seats. Let those divinities who are wicked be driven
away from here, both those who are more evil than good and
those who are indifferently good and evil, among whom I believe
you belong, you who are good with good people and very bad
with the wicked."

"You know, oh Jove," answered Wealth, "that in myself I am
good and am not in myself indifferent or neutral, or of the one
and the other kind, as you say, except inasmuch as others want to
use me well or badly."

Here Momus made answer: "You then, oh Wealth, are a man-
ageable goddess, serviceable, tractable, and do not govern by
yourself, and are not really that one who governs and disposes of
others. But you are she of whom others dispose, and who is gov-
erned by others; whereupon you are good when others manage
you well, bad when you are badly guided. You are, I say, good in
the hands of Justice, Sophia, Prudence, Religion, Law, Liberality,
and other divinities; you are wicked if their opposites manage
you, such as Violence, Avarice, Ignorance, and others. Since, then,
you are in yourself neither good nor bad, so I believe, if Jove con-
sents, that you in yourself have neither shame nor honor; and that,
consequently, you do not deserve to have your own seat either on
high, among the heavenly gods and divinities, or below, among the
infernal deities, but deserve to wander eternally from place to
place and from region to region."

All the gods laughed upon hearing the words of Momus, and
Jove pronounced the following sentence: "Indeed, Wealth, when
you belong to Justice, you shall reside in the seat of Justice; when
you belong to Truth, you shall reside in the seat of that goddess'
excellence; when you belong to Wisdom or Sophia, you shall sit
on her throne; when you belong to voluptuary pleasures, you shall
be found where they are; when you belong to gold and silver, then
hide yourself in money bags and coffers; when you belong to wine,
oil, and grain, then bury yourself in cellars and storehouses; when
you belong to sheep, goats, and oxen, then go graze with them
and lie with the flocks and herds."

So Jove ordained what she must do when she is with madmen,
how she must behave when in the homes of the wise, and how she
should in the future, as she has done in the past (perhaps because
it cannot be helped), allow herself to be found easily in a certain
guise and with difficulty in another guise. But he did not make his
motive and manner of reasoning understandable to many. Momus,
however, raised his voice and gave them another reason, which,
if it was not that very same reason, was as follows: "May no one
be able to find you, unless he has repented for having had a good
mind and a sound brain." I believe that he meant by this that one
must lose his reflection and prudent judgment, must never think
of the uncertainty and treachery of the times, must have no fear of
the dubious and unstable promise of the sea, must not believe in
Heaven, must have no interest in justice or injustice, honor or
shame, calm or tempest, but entrust all to Fortune.

"And may you beware [continued Momus] of ever becoming
friendly with those men of too much judgment, who seek you;
and may those men see you less who pursue you with more snares,
traps, and nets of providence. But may you ordinarily go there
where are found the most senseless, mad, negligent, and foolish
men. And, in conclusion, when you are on earth may you beware
of the wisest, as you would of fire; and thus may you always ap-
proach and become familiar with semi-bestial people, and always
follow the same rule as Fortune."

Saul. It is customary, oh Sophia, that the wisest persons are not
the richest, either because they are satisfied with little, and con-
sider that little a great deal, if it is sufficient for preserving
life. Or, perhaps, it is for other reasons, such as this: that
while they are intent upon more worthy enterprises, they do not
go wandering too much to and fro in order to meet one of these
divinities, Wealth or Fortune. But, pursue your discussion.

Sophia. As soon as Poverty saw Wealth, her enemy, excluded, she
came forward with a more than poor grace and said that for the
very reason which made Wealth unworthy of that seat she should,
because she was her antagonist, be esteemed most deserving of it.

To this, Momus replied: "Poverty, Poverty, you would not be
completely Poverty, if you were not still so poor in arguments,
syllogisms, and good consequences. Not because you are her oppo-
site, wretched one, does it follow that you must be invested with
that of which she is despoiled or deprived, and that you should
be that very thing which she is not. As for instance (since it is
necessary that you be given to understand by means of example),
you must be Jove and Momus, because she is neither Jove nor
Momus. And in conclusion, that which we deny about her should
be affirmed about you, because those who are richer than you in
dialectic know that contraries are not the same as positives and
privatives, contradictories, variants, differentials, otherness, sepa
rateness, distinctness, and diversity. They know also that by reason
of your being opposites, it follows that you cannot be together in
the same place; but it does not follow that where she is not and
cannot be, you must or can be."93

At this point all the gods laughed when they saw that Momus
wanted to instruct Poverty in logic; and this proverb has remained
in heaven: "Momus is Poverty's teacher, or rather, Momus in
structs Poverty in dialectic." And this they say whenever they
want to deride a fact counter to the fact.

"What then do you think should be done with me, oh Momus?"
asked Poverty. "Determine immediately; for I am not so rich in
words and ideas that I could dispute with Momus, nor so abundant
in intelligence that I could learn much from him."

Then Momus asked Jove whether he would for that occasion
give him permission to make a decree. To this Jove replied: "Are
you not still mocking me, oh Momus, you who alone have so much
license that you are more licentious (he meant to say licensed)
than all the rest? Do indeed pronounce sentence upon that one
without fear, because if it is a good one, we shall approve it."

Then Momus said: "It still seems to me congruous and fitting
that Poverty should go walking through those squares on which
Wealth is seen wandering, that she run back and forth, and that
she come and go through the same countryside; for (as the canons
of ratiocination require), by reason of such contraries, she should
enter only those places whence the other takes flight, and must
succeed the other only into places which she leaves; and Wealth
must only succeed to and enter places whence Poverty departs and
flees. And let the one always be at the other's shoulder, and let
the one shove the other, never touching her face to face; but where
one has her breath, let the other have her back, as if they were
playing (as we sometimes do) the game la rota del scarpone."94

Saul. What did Jove and the others say concerning this?

Sophia. All confirmed and ratified the sentence.

Saul. What did Poverty say?

Sophia. She said: "It does not seem just to me, oh gods (if in-
deed my opinion is valid and I am not completely deprived of
judgment), that my condition should be at all similar to that of
Wealth." To which Momus answered: "Proceeding from the ante-
cedent that the same tragedy or comedy is being directed and
acted in the same theater, you must not draw the conclusion that
you will be of the same condition, quia contxaria versantur circa
idem." "I see, oh Momus," said Poverty, "that you mock me, that
even you, who profess to speak the truth and to speak ingenuously,
do belittle me. And this does not seem to me to be your duty, be-
cause Poverty is sometimes, rather most of the time, more worthily
defended than Wealth."

"What can I do for you," replied Momus, "if you are poor,
altogether poor? Poverty is not worthy of defense, if she is poor
in judgment, in reason, in merits and syllogisms, such as you
are, you who have compelled me to speak again according to the
analytical laws regarding the Prior Analytics and Posterior Ana
lytics of Aristotle."95

Saul. What are you telling me, Sophia? The gods then sometimes
reach for Aristotle? And they, for example, study the philosophers?

Sophia. I shall not speak to you further about what is said of
Pippa, Nanna, Antonia, Burchiello, the Ancroia, and about an
other book whose author is unknown, but which is in question
as to whether it is Ovid's or Virgil's; and I do not remember its
name, nor those of similar works.96

Saul. And even now, they deal with such weighty and serious
matters?

Sophia. And does it seem to you that those matters are not serious,
are not weighty? Saulino, if you were more of a philosopher, I
say more sagacious, you would believe that there is no lesson, no
book, that is not examined by the gods, that, if it is not altogether
without salt, is not used by the gods and that, if it is not altogether
senseless, will not be approved and chained to the shelves of a
public library. For they take delight in the multiform representa
tion of all things and in the multiform fruit of all minds, because
they are pleased with all things that exist and with all repre-
sentations that are made; they are no less concerned that these
should exist, and give orders and permission that they be made.
And you, ponder on the fact that the judgment of the gods is
otherwise than that of our common judgment; and not all that is
sinful to us and according to us is sinful to them and according to
them. Certainly those books as well as those theologies must not
be common among ignorant men, who are, themselves, wicked;
for which reason they obtain wicked instruction from them.

Saul. Now, are there not books written, perhaps for an evil pur-
pose, by men of bad repute who are dishonest and dissolute?

Sophia. It is true. But they are not without the instruction and the
fruits of the cognition of that one who writes, who has the cogni-
tion of how he writes, of why and whence he writes, of what he
speaks, of how he speaks of it, of how he is deceived, of how others
are mistaken about him, of how he declines from, and inclines
toward, a virtuous or wicked affect, of how laughter, vexation,
pleasure, and nausea are aroused. And in all there is wisdom and
prudence; and in everything there is everything; and especially,
where the one contrary is, there is the other; and the latter is de-
rived from the former.

Saul. Now let us return to the discussion from which the name
of Aristotle and the fame of Pippa diverted us. How was Poverty
dismissed by Jove, after having been so scorned by Momus?

Sophia. I do not wish to refer to all the ridiculous discussion
that took place between Momus and her, who knew how to "Momus"
him no less than he, to "Momus" her. Jove declared that Poverty
had certain privileges and prerogatives in these matters, which the
other [Wealth] does not possess down here.

Saul. Tell me what those things are.

Sophia. Said the father, "I want you, Poverty, first to be circum-
spect, to know how to return easily to that place from which you
once departed, and to drive away Wealth, with your utmost
strength; I want, on the other hand, that you be driven away by
her, whom I wish to be perpetually blind. Then I want you, Pov-
erty, to be winged, dexterous, and swift, with feathers fashioned
like those of an eagle or vulture; but in your feet, I want you to
be like an old ox who drags the heavy plough with which he digs
deeply into the veins of the earth. And Wealth, on the contrary,
should have slow and heavy wings, adapting to herself the wings
of a goose or swan; but her feet should be those of the swiftest
steed or deer, so that when she takes flight from some place, using
her feet, you by beating your wings will present yourself there.
And that place whence you remove yourself by the employment
of your wings, I want her to be able to reach by the use of her
feet, so that you, with the same swiftness by which you will be
put to flight or pursued by her, will pursue and put her to flight.

Saul. Why does he not make both strong of wing or both strong
of foot? If nothing else, they could agree to pursue and put each
other to flight, either slowly or rapidly.

Sophia. Because Wealth, always traveling with a load, will in
some way impede her wings by her load; and Poverty, always
walking barefoot, because of rugged paths will easily receive in
juries to her feet. However, the latter would in vain have swift
feet, and the former, speedy wings.

Saul. This resolution satisfies me. Now continue.

Sophia. Besides, Jove especially wants Poverty to follow Wealth,
and that she [Poverty] be driven away by her when she frequents
earthly palaces and those seats where Fortune holds sway. "But
[said Jove]97 when she attaches herself to things that are lofty and
removed from the wrath of time and of that blind lady, I do not
want her to have such great daring or strength as to assault her
in order to drive her away and to deprive her of her place. For I
do not want her to depart with ease from that place whither one
must arrive by means of difficulty and dignity.

"And so you [Poverty], on the other hand, show that firmness
in regard to inferior things that she [Wealth] may have in regard
to superior things. Rather," added Jove, "I want that, in some
manner, there be between you some agreement, not one of a light
nature, but one of the utmost importance. I say this so that you
may not think that by being expelled from heaven, you will again
be relegated to hell, any more than that you may think that, on
the contrary, by being driven out of hell, you will be placed in
heaven, so that the status of Wealth, of which I have already
spoken, will be incomparably better than yours. However, I want
the possibility to be very remote that the one might drive away
the other from the seat of her greatest dominion; but rather I want
one to maintain and interest herself in behalf of the other, so that
between you there may be the closest friendship and familiarity."

Saul. Let me know quickly how this could be.

Sophia. Jove said, adding to what he had already said, "You,
Poverty, when you are a part of inferior beings, will not be per-
mitted to be joined, bound, and locked to Wealth in superior
things, just as your contrary, Wealth, could not be joined, bound,
and locked to you in inferior things; because no one who is wise
and wishes to know will ever deem it possible to associate himself
with great things in the company of the latter, inasmuch as riches
offer an impediment to philosophy, and Poverty gives us a sure
and expeditious path. Then, since there cannot be contemplation
where a throng of many servants stands about, where the multi-
tude of debtors and creditors, the computations of merchants, the
arguments of husbandmen, the feeding of so many ill-bred stom-
achs, the intrigues of so many thieves, the eyes of avid tyrants, and
the exactions of treacherous ministers are importune (so that no
one can relish that which is the spirit of tranquillity unless he be
poor or similar to a poor man), I want that man to be great who in
his poverty is rich because he is content; and I want that man to
be a cowardly slave who in his wealth is poor because he is not
satisfied.

"You shall be secure and tranquil, she, confused, solicitous,
suspicious, and restless; you shall be greater and more magnificent
by showing contempt for her than she can ever be by valuing and
esteeming herself. In order that you be satisfied, I want opinion
alone to suffice; but I do not want the possession of all things to be
enough to make her satisfied. I want you to be greater by subtract-
ing from your desires than the other can be by adding to her pos-
sessions. I want your friends to be revealed to you, that one's
enemies, concealed from her. I want you to be rich according to
the law of Nature, her, with all her studies and refined pursuits,
to be very poor; because it is not that man who has little who is
really poor, but he who desires much. For you (if you fasten tightly
the sack of cupidity), the necessary will be a great deal, and a little
will be sufficient; and may nothing be enough for her, although
she may seize everything with outstretched hands. You, by sup-
pressing your desire, will be able to contend with Jove in happi-
ness; and may she, by widening the fringes of her concupiscence,
sink more and more into the abyss of miseries." When Jove had
completed Poverty's expulsion, she, very satisfied, asked leave to
go on her way; and Wealth made a sign of again wanting to ap-
proach Jove in order to petition the council with some other new
proposal; but she was not allowed to speak further.

"Away! Away!" said Momus to her. "Do you not hear all who
are calling you, shouting for you, begging you, sacrificing to you,
lamenting you, and appealing to you with such loud prayers and
cries that they have by now deafened us all? And you go about
tarrying so long and running to and fro in these parts? Depart at
once and go to the devil, since you do not want to leave with our
blessings!" "Do not interfere in this matter, oh Momus," said
Father Jove; "let her leave and go whenever it seems to her she
should and when it pleases her to do so." "Truly," said Momus,
"she seems to me a creature deserving both of pity and of a kind
of severity on the part of that one who can, but does not, provide
against her going less frequently to whosoever calls and recalls
her more, and approaching less frequently him who deserves her
more." "I want what Fate wants," said Jove.

Saul. Momus should have said, "Do otherwise."

Sophia. "I want her [continued Jove] to be deaf concerning things
down there on earth, and never to respond or come when she is
called, but, guided by Destiny or Fortune, to go about groping
blindly to communicate with him who will come to meet her
from among the multitude." "Then it will come to pass," said
Saturn, "that she will more readily communicate with one of the
wicked good-for-nothings and thieves, whose number equals that
of the grains of sand, rather than with one who is a mediocre man
of worth; and she would preferably communicate with one of
these mediocre men, who are many, than with those more out-
standing men, who are very few, and perhaps never, most cer-
tainly never, with one who is more deserving than the others,
and is a unique individual."

Saul. What did Jove say to this?

Sophia. [He said] "It is necessary that it be so. This condition
was imposed upon Poverty by Fate: that she be summoned long-
ingly by very rare and very few individuals, but that she com-
municate with and present herself to very many, and to the great-
est multitude. May Wealth, on the contrary, who is called, desired,
invoked, adored, and awaited by almost all, go and make herself
abundantly accessible to a very rare number of people and to those
who do not even cultivate and await her. May she be totally deaf
so that she will not be moved, no matter how great the noise and
clamor; and may she be so stubborn and strong that she, dragged
by hooks and windlasses, will hardly be brought close to him who
pursues her. And may the other be so attentive, so swift, and so
ready that she will immediately answer and be present at the slight
est whistle or signal, no matter from what distant part she is called,
and even besides, when she ordinarily finds herself at the home of
one and behind one who not only does not summon her but even
most diligently hides himself from her."

While Wealth and Poverty were yielding, Momus said: "Say
there, what shadow is that which is familiar with those two oppo-
sites, and which is both with Wealth and with Poverty? I am ac-
customed to seeing different shadows from one and the same body;
but never until now have I noticed the same shadow from different
bodies." To which Apollo answered: "Where there is no light, all
is a shadow. If they [bodies] are without light (notwithstanding
the fact that there are several shadows), they commingle and be
come one, just as when there are many lights, unless the density
of an opaque body blocks them or interposes itself all concur to
form one splendor." "Here," said Momus, "it does not seem to
me to be so; because where Wealth is, and Poverty is completely
excluded, and where Poverty is suppositively distinct from Wealth,
one sees that shadow as a shadow that is with the one and with the
other, not as two lights concurring in one illuminable subject."

"Look well at it, oh Momus," said Mercury, "and you will see
that it is not one shadow." "I did not say it is one shadow," an
swered Momus, "but that it is joined to those two divinities as
one and the same shadow to two bodies. Oh, I am considering it
now. It seems to me that it is Avarice who is a shadow, that she
is both the darkness that is in Wealth and the darkness that is in
Poverty." "So it is," said Mercury. "She is Poverty's daughter and
companion, most inimical to her mother, and takes flight from her
as frequently as she can. She is enamored of, and attracted to,
Wealth, and although joined to Wealth, always feels the severity
of her mother, who torments her. And although she is close to
her [Wealth], she is far from her; and although she is far from
her, she is close to her; because even if she removes herself from
her, she is, according to Truth, intrinsic to her and joined to her,
according to opinion.

"And do you not see that since she is a companion of Wealth
and close to her, she causes Wealth to be unlike Wealth, and being
removed from Poverty, causes Poverty to be unlike Poverty? This
darkness, this obscurity, this shadow, is that which causes Poverty
to be bad and prevents Wealth from being good; and she is not
found without rendering one of the two, or both, wicked. Very
rarely is it that neither the one nor the other is made wicked; and
this occurs when they are surrounded on all sides by the light of
reason and intellect." Now Momus asked Mercury to explain to
him how she prevented Wealth from being Wealth. To him he
replied that the wealthy, avaricious man is most poor; because
Avarice is not found where there are riches unless also present is
Poverty, who is no less truly present therein by virtue of affect than
she is by virtue of effect. So this shadow, in spite of herself, can
remove herself no less from her mother than from herself."

While the gods discussed this matter, Momus, who is not with
out very good sight (although he does not always see things at first
glance), after having given closer attention to the shadow, said:
"Oh Mercury, that which I told you seemed to me to be like a
shadow, I now see as so many beasts herded together; for I see it
as being canine, porcine, ram-like, monkey-like, ursine, aquiline,
deer-like, falcon-like, leonine, asinine and as all the ‘ines' and
‘likes' that ever were. So many beasts, and yet there is but one body.
It certainly appears to me to be the pantomorphosis of brute ani
mals." "Better say," retorted Mercury, "that it is a multiform
beast. It seems one and is one; but it is not uniform, since it is the
nature of vices to have many forms, so that they are shapeless and,
in contrast to virtues, have no faces of their own. Likewise you see
that her enemy, Liberality, is simple and one, that Justice is one
and simple; and, as you see, health is one, and diseases innumer-
able."

While Mercury was saying this, Momus interrupted his discus-
sion and said to him: "I see that she, in her accursedness, has three
heads. I thought, oh Mercury, that my sight was disturbed when
upon this beast's single body I beheld one head, another, and still
another; but when, turning my gaze in every direction I saw that
there was nothing else that appeared to me to be similar to her,
I concluded that she was nothing else but that one whom I see."
"You see very well," replied Mercury. "Of those three heads, one
is Illiberality, another is Dishonest Profit, the other is Tenacity."
Momus asked whether those heads spoke. And Mercury answered that
they did, and that the first says: "It is better to be richer than
to be considered more liberal and more pleasing"; that the second
says: "Do not die of hunger in order to be a gentleman"; and that
the third says: "If it is not honorable, it is useful to me."
"And yet they do not have more than two arms?" queried Momus. "Two
hands suffice," answered Mercury, "of which the right is open, very
wide open, so that it can grasp; the other hand is closed tight, very
tight, so that it can hold and dispense things by means of distilla-
tion and alembic, without consideration of time and place, as well
as without consideration of measure."

"Both you, Wealth, and you, Poverty, come closer to me," said
Momus, "so that I can better see the grace of your beautiful hand
maiden." This being done, Momus said: "There is one face, and yet
there are many faces; there is one head, and yet there are several
heads. She is a female, she is a female! She has a very small head,
although her face is more than average in size; she is old, is vile, is
sordid; she has a slothful countenance and is black. I see that she
is wrinkled and has straight black hair, watchful eyes, an open and
panting mouth, a hooked nose, and claws; and (it is amazing)
that, although she is such a small animal, she has a belly so capa-
cious, cavernous, stupid, mercenary, and servile that she bends back
her head and raises it toward the stars. She digs, buries herself
into the ground, and, in order to find something, bores her way
into the depths of the earth; and so, turning her back to the light
of day, she makes her way into subterranean passages and caves,
where the difference between day and night never arrived. She
is an ingrate, for whose perverse desire nothing that is given to
her will be much, a great deal, or enough; and the more she fills
herself, the more morose she becomes; just like the flame, which,
the larger it grows, the more voracious it becomes.

"Send, send away, and drive, immediately drive away, oh Jove,
both Poverty and Wealth from these regions; and do not permit
them to approach the abodes of the gods, unless they come without
this vile and abominable beast!" Jove answered: "They will come
after you and fall upon you as soon as you are disposed to receive
them. For now, let them depart according to our present resolu
tion; and let us quickly return to our task of determining which
divinity will occupy this area."

And behold, as the father of the gods turns around, Fortune,
on her own and with a not uncommon arrogance, impudently
comes forward and says: "It is not right, oh you gods of the Coun-
cil, and you, Jove, great judge, that where Poverty and Wealth
speak and can be heard for so long a time, I be looked upon as
pusillanimous, observing silence because of cowardice, rather than
as one who presents herself before you and, with every justification,
shows her resentment. I, who am so worthy and so powerful, ad-
vance Wealth, guide and move her wheresoever it seems to me I
should and it pleases me to do so; and I can expel her whence I
want and lead her whither I want, by effecting her succession and
vicissitude in relation to Poverty.

"And everybody knows that felicity of external Goods can be
ascribed no longer to Wealth, as her principle, but to me; just
as the beauty of the music and the excellence of someone's har-
mony should not be attributed more to the lyre and to the instru-
ment than to the art and to the artist who produces them. I am that
divine and excellent goddess so much longed for, so sought after,
and so dearly treasured, for whom most of the time thanks are
given to Jove, from whose open hand proceed riches, and because
of whose clenched palms all the world weeps, and cities, king-
doms, and empires are overthrown. Who ever offers prayers to
Wealth or Poverty? Who ever thanks them? Everyone who desires
and yearns for them calls upon me and invokes me, sacrifices to
me ; 7 whoever is satisfied by them, renders thanks unto me, shows
gratitude unto Fortune. Because of Fortune, one burns aromatic
herbs; because of Fortune, the altars send forth smoke.

"And I am a cause who, the more I am obscure, the more I am
to be venerated and feared; the less friendly and familiar I become,
the more I am desirable and appetible; for in things which are less
revealed, more occult, and most secretive, there are ordinarily
found more dignity and majesty. It is I who, by my brilliance,
obscure virtue, blacken truth, subdue and scorn the greatest num-
ber and the best of these goddesses and gods whom I see prepared
and arranged in such a manner as to form themselves into a
square in heaven; and furthermore it is I, alone, who here in the
presence of such and so great a Senate instill terror in all. For
(although I do not have sight which can serve me), I still have
ears through which I apprehend the teeth of a great number of
them, chattering and clicking from the fear they conceive in my
formidable presence, they who in spite of all do not lose the dar
ing and presumption to come forward, to have themselves desig
nated, there where it has not first been decreed by my authority, by
which I, often, nay more than often, hold sway over Reason,
Truth, Sophia, Justice, and other divinities. These, if they do not
want to deny that which is most evident to the entire universe,
will be able to say whether they can render an account of the
number of times that I have thrown them down from their chairs
of learning, benches, and tribunals, and, for my own purpose, have
repressed, bound, shut in, and incarcerated them. And again,
thanks to me, they then and on other occasions have been able
to sally forth, to free, to re-establish, and to re-strengthen them-
selves, never without fear of misfortunes from me."

Momus said: "Commonly, oh blind lady, all the other gods ex-
pect for themselves the reward of these seats for the good works
they have done, are doing, and can do. And for such [good works]
the Senate has proposed to reward those people; and you, while
you plead your case, produce the list and the proceedings of those
crimes of yours, for which you should be banned not only from
heaven but from earth as well."

Fortune replied that she was no less good than other good ones;
and if she was so, she was not wicked; for whatever Fate decrees
is all good; and if her nature were the same as that of the viper,
which is naturally poisonous, this would not be her fault but the
fault of Nature, or of another who made her so. Furthermore,
nothing is absolutely bad; for the viper is not deadly and poison-
ous to the viper; nor the dragon, the lion, and the bear, to the bear,
to the lion, to the dragon. But each thing is bad in respect to some
thing else. "Just as you, virtuous gods, are bad in respect to those
who are corrupt," said Fortune, "so those who believe in day and
light are bad in respect to those who believe in night and obscurity.
And you are good among yourselves, and they are good among
themselves; just as now happens among sects of the world, hostile
to one another, where the opponents call themselves children of
the gods and just; and these, no less than the others, call the most
outstanding and honored men the worst and most reprobate of
men. I, Fortune, then, although in the opinion of some am a
reprobate, in the opinion of others am divinely good; and it is the
judgment, approved by the greater part of the world, that the for-
tune of men is suspended from heaven; whence it is said that there
is no star, tiny or great, that appears in the firmament of which
I do not dispose." 8

Here Mercury answered, saying that too often her name was
taken equivocally; for, sometimes, by Fortune we mean only an
uncertain turn of events, which uncertainty in the eyes of Provi-
dence is no thing, although it is of the greatest importance in the
eyes of mortals. Fortune did not hear this, but continued talking,
and to what she had said, added that the most remarkable and
excellent philosophers of the world, such as Empedocles and Epi-
curus, attribute more to her than to Jove himself, rather, more to
her than to the entire Council of the gods put together. "So," she
continued, "all others consider me both a goddess and a celestial
goddess, according to this verse, which I believe is not new to your
ears (and there is no primer which does not relate it), and which
declares as follows: "Te facimus, Fortuna, deam, caeloque lo-
camus.' 9 (‘Fortune, we make you a goddess, and place you in
heaven.')

"And I want you to know, oh gods, with how much justification
I am called mad, foolish, rash, by some, whereas it is they who
are so mad, so foolish, so rash, that they cannot adduce an ex-
planation for my being. And where I find those who are esteemed
more learned than the others, who do in effect demonstrate and
conclude to the contrary, when they are compelled to do so by truth,
they say that I am irrational and am without discourse, although
they do not, because of this, consider me brutal and foolish; be-
cause by such a negation they do not want to detract from me,
but rather attribute more to me, just as I sometimes want to deny
small things in order that I may concede greater things. I am
understood by them, not as one who is reasonable and who operates
by reason and with reason, but rather as one who is beyond all
reason, beyond all discourse, and beyond all intelligence. I even
say that, in effect, people are aware and do confess that I especially
obtain and exercise rule and dominion over those who are ra-
tional, intelligent, and divine. And there is no wise man who will
say that I affect with my authority things deprived of reason and
intellect, such as stones, beasts, children, the insane, and others
who have no apprehension of final cause, and who do not know
how to work toward a goal."

"I shall tell you, oh Fortune," said Minerva, "why you are
said to be without discourse and reason. He who lacks a certain
sense lacks some knowledge, and especially that knowledge which
is dependent upon that sense. Now, take yourself into considera-
tion, you who are deprived of the light of eyes, which are the
greatest source of knowledge." Fortune answered that Minerva
either was deceiving herself or wanted to deceive Fortune, and
was confident of doing so, because she saw that the other was
blind. "But although I am deprived of my eyes, I am not deprived
of ears and intellect," said Fortune to her.

Saul. And do you think that this is true, oh Sophia?

Sophia. Listen and you will see how she is able to distinguish
philosophies and how they are not occult to her, Aristotle's Meta
physics 10 among other things. "I know," she said, "that there are
those who say that sight is most to be desired for acquiring know-
ledge; but never did I know a man so foolish who asserted that it
is chiefly sight that enables us to understand. And when someone
said that sight was most to be desired, he meant to say, however,
that it was necessary only for the cognition of certain things, such
as colors, figures, corporeal symmetries, beauties, charms, and
other visible things, which are rather wont to disturb the imagina-
tion and alienate the intellect, but was not absolutely necessary
for all or the best species of cognition. For he knew very well
that many, in order to become wise, have plucked out their eyes,
and that of those who have been blind, by accident or by nature,
many are considered most admirable, among whom I could show
you many Democrituses, many Tiresiuses, many Homers, and
many like the blind man of Adria. 11

"Then I want you to understand, if you are Minerva, that when
a certain Stagirite philosopher said that sight is most to be de-
sired for the acquisition of knowledge, he was not comparing
sight with other means of acquiring knowledge, such as hear-
ing, cogitation, and intellect, but was making a comparison be-
tween this end of sight, which is knowledge, and any other end
that sight might set forth for itself. However, if it does not dis-
please you to go to the Elysian Fields to speak to him (providing
he has not made his departure for another life and drunk of the
waters of Lethe), you will see that he will make this comment:
‘We desire sight chiefly for the purpose of knowing,' and not
the other comment: ‘Of all the other senses, we desire sight chiefly
for the acquisition of knowledge.' "

Saul. It is wondrous, oh Sophia, that Fortune should be able to
discuss and to understand texts better than Minerva, who is pre
eminent in this intelligence.

Sophia. Do not be amazed. For when you will have seriously con-
sidered them and when you will have frequented and very atten-
tively conversed with them, you will have found that those gods
who are graduates in the sciences, in eloquence and laws, are not
more judicious, not wiser, and not more eloquent than the others.
Now, Fortune, to continue the discussion concerning her cause,
which she was defending before the Senate, speaking to all, said:
"My blindness deprives me of nothing, of nothing at all, oh gods,
of nothing that is of value, of nothing that is necessary for the
perfectioning of my being; for if I were not blind, I should not
be Fortune. Rather than that you should be able to diminish or
attenuate the glory of my merits because of this blindness, it is I,
who from the very thing whence I draw the argument in favor of
the greatness and excellence of the above-mentioned men shall suc-
ceed in convincing you that I, by that blindness, am less attracted
by acts of self-interest and cannot be unjust in my distributions."
Said Mercury to Minerva: "You will not have done little, when
you have demonstrated this."

And Fortune continued: "For my justice, it is fitting to be so.
For true justice the function of sight is not necessary, is not suit-
able, is rather repugnant and offensive. The eyes are made for dis
tinguishing and recognizing differences (although I do not want
now to demonstrate how often those who judge are deceived by
their sight).

"I am a kind of justice who does not have to distinguish, who
does not have to differentiate; but just like all beings I am prin
cipally, truly, and finally one entity, one and the same thing (for
the entity, the one, and the true are the same). So I am compelled
to put all beings on a basis of a certain equality: to esteem all
alike, to consider all things one, not to be more inclined to look
upon one being, not to be more inclined to call upon one being
rather than another and to be more favorably disposed toward
giving to one rather than to another, and to be more favorable
toward one who is near rather than toward one who is far away.
I do not perceive miters, togas, crowns, knowledge, and intelli-
gence, do not discern merits and demerits. Because even if those
things are found, they are not things that are of a nature that is
one thing in this, and another in another, but rather, most certainly,
because of circumstances, occasion, or accident that offers itself,
of a nature that meets and flows in this thing or that. And there
fore, when I give, I do not see the person to whom I am giving;
when I take from someone, I do not see him from whom I take,
so that in this manner I may succeed in treating all equally and
without any distinction whatsoever. And in this way I do indeed
succeed in understanding and doing all things fairly and jusdy,
and dispense to all jusdy and fairly.

"I put all beings into one urn, and in its most capacious
stomach, blend, mix, and stir them. Then it is the game of zara
as to whose lot it is. 12 And it is well for him whose lot is good,
and it is unfortunate for him whose lot is bad! In this manner,
within the urn of Fortune the greatest being is no different from
the smallest. There, rather, all beings are equally great and equally
small, because difference in them is understood by another, rather
than by me, before they enter the urn and after they leave the urn.
While they are within, all are tossed around by the same hand, in
the same vase, and by the same shake. Therefore, after the lots
are drawn, it is not reasonable that he whom ill luck befalls com
plain either of whosoever holds the urn or of the urn itself, either
of its movement or of her who puts her hand into it. But he
must, with the best and greatest patience of which he is capable,
bear with what Fate has decreed, with how it has decreed it or
with how it is disposed to decree it, inasmuch as he was inscribed
in the same way as the others, had a scroll similar to that of all
the others, was likewise numbered, put into the urn, and shaken.

"I, then, who treat the entire world equally and consider all as
one mass, of which I esteem no part more worthy or unworthy
than the other, because it is a Vessel of Opprobrium--I who throw
all into the same urn of mutation and motion am the same to all,
look upon all equally, or do not look upon any particular being
more than upon another--succeed in being most just, although
the opposite might appear true to all of you.

"Now, when the hand that enters the urn takes and draws the
lot for him whose turn it is to receive evil and for him whose turn
it is to receive good, a great number of unworthy and, rarely,
worthy beings present themselves. This proceeds from the in-
equality, iniquity, and injustice of you who do not make all equal
and who have eyes for comparisons, distinctions, inequalities, and
categories, through which you learn and through which you create
differences. From you, I say, from you proceed every inequality
and every iniquity, because the goddess Goodness does not give
of herself equally to all. Wisdom does not communicate with all in
equal measure; Temperance is found in few; and Truth shows
herself to very few. So you, good gods, are deficient in judgment,
are most biased, when you make the widest differences, enormous
inequalities, and most confused disproportions in particular things.
It is not I, not I who am iniquitous, I who look upon all without
distinction and appear to all as of one character, as of one quality,
as of one condition. When my hand draws the lots, it more fre-
quently happens that because of you more ordinarily the wicked
rather than the good, the stupid rather than the wise, the false
rather than the truthful, run up against not only evil but also
good, not only ill-fortunes but also good fortunes.

"Why this? Why? Prudence comes and drops only two or
three names into the urn. Sophia comes and puts only four or five
names into it. Truth comes and leaves only one name in it and
would leave less if it were possible. And then, out of the hundreds
of thousands of lots which are poured into the urn, you expect that
my sorting hand should chance upon one of these eight or nine,
rather than the eight or nine hundred thousand others.

"Now, you do the opposite! You, Virtue, I say, see to it that
the virtuous be more numerous than the wicked. Wisdom, see to
it that the number of the wise be greater than that of the fools.
You, Truth, see to it that you become open and manifest to the
greatest number of people. And certainly, most certainly, more of
your people, rather than their opposites, will encounter the usual
rewards and punishments. See to it that all are just, truthful, wise,
and good; then certainly, most certainly, no rank or dignity that
I may dispense could reach the mendacious, the wicked, and the
insane.

"Therefore, I, who treat and affect all in the same manner,
am not more unjust than you yourselves, who do not make all
equal. Consequently, when it happens that a poltroon or rogue
rises to the position of prince or man of wealth, it is not my
fault. But it is because of the iniquity of you, who since you are
deficient in light and splendor, do not ‘unpoltroon' and ‘unrogue'
him before, or do not ‘unpoltroon' and ‘unrogue' him now, or at
least afterward succeed in purging him of his roguish poltroonery,
so that such a person shall not be in power. It is not an error that
a prince be made a rogue, but it is an error that a rogue be made
a prince. Now, there being two things, that is to say, principality
and roguishness, the fault certainly does not lie in the principality
that I grant, but in the roguishness that you allow to exist.

"Because I shake the urn and draw the lots, I do not consider
one more than another. And therefore, I did not first ordain that
one be a prince or a rich man (although it is necessary that de-
terminately one man, among all the others, fall into my hands).
But you, who make distinctions with your eyes by looking upon
some, and communicating, more with some and less with others,
too much with some, not at all with others, have succeeded in
allowing that man to be determinately a rogue and a poltroon. If
then iniquity consists not in the making of a prince and in en-
riching him, but in determining who shall be a subject of roguery
and poltroonery, then, it is not I who shall be iniquitous, but
you. Behold then how Fate has made me most just and could not
have made me wicked. For it makes me without eyes, so that in
this manner I shall be able equally to promote all."

Now Momus added: "We do not say that you are iniquitous because
of your eyes, but we say that you are because of your hand." To
this Fortune responded: "Not even because of my hand, oh Momus,
for I, I, who take them [the lots] as they come, am no more the
cause of evil than are they that do not come out as I reach for
them. I mean to say that they come to me without discrimination
as I, without discrimination, reach for them. I am not the cause
of evil if I take the lots as they chance to come, but they that
present themselves to me as they are, and the others [the gods] who
do not allow them to be otherwise, are the cause. It is not I who
am perverse, I who, blind, indifferently extend my hand to what
ever presents itself, whether clear or obscure, but he who makes
it so, leaves it so, and so directs it to me."

Momus added: "But if all [beings] should come indifferent,
equal, and similar, you would, nevertheless, not fail to be in-
iquitous. Because even though all are equally deserving of a prin-
cipality, you will not make all of them princes, but only one
among them." Smiling, Fortune answered: "We are speaking, oh
Momus, of one who is unjust and not speaking of one who is said
to be unjust. And certainly with your manner of proposing or
answering you seem to me most sufficiently convinced, since you
have proceeded from that which, in fact, is, to that which is said
to be. And inasmuch as you cannot say that I am iniquitous, you
proceed to say that I am said to be iniquitous. It follows then, ac-
cording to your concession, that I am just, but am said to be un-
just, and that you gods are unjust, but are said to be just.

"Yet to what has been said I add, moreover: not only am I not
less just, but would not be less just even if you offered me all equal
beings. Because, as regards that which is impossible, neither justice
nor injustice is expected. Now it is not possible that a principality
be given to all; it is not possible that all should have one lot. But
it is possible that it be offered to all without distinction. From this
possibility follows the necessity that among all, only one must
succeed, and it is not in this that injustice and evil consist; be-
cause it is not possible that there be more than one. But the error
lies in what follows: that that one is cowardly, that that one is a
rogue, that that one is not virtuous. And Fortune, who gives
him the being of a prince and the being of an affluent man, is not
the cause of this evil, but rather the cause is the goddess Virtue,
who does not give him, nor did give him virtuous being."

"Fortune has stated her reasons most excellently," said Father
Jove, "and she seems to me in every way worthy of having a seat
in heaven. But that she should have a seat of her own does not
seem fitting to me, since she already has no fewer seats than there
are stars. For Fortune is in all of them, no less than she is on earth,
since they are worlds, no less than the earth. Besides, according to
the general opinion of men, Fortune is said to be suspended from
all of them; and certainly, if they [men] had a more abundant
intellect, they would say something useful. However (let Momus
say what he pleases), since, oh goddess, your reasons seem to me
to be indeed all too efficacious, I come to the conclusion that if
the gods do not bring forth allegations against your defense,
stronger than those hitherto adduced, I should not dare to assign
you to one seat, as if indeed I wished to confine or tie you to it.
But I do give you, rather I leave you with that power that you
seem to have throughout heaven, since you, in your own right,
have so much authority that you open for yourself those places
that are closed to Jove himself as well as to all the other gods. And
I dp not want to say any more about that for which all of us are
very, very much obligated to you. By unlocking all doors and clear
ing all paths for yourself and by availing yourself of all seats,
you make all things yours that belong to others. And therefore
it does not fail that the seats that belong to others should be yours
also. For all that which is governed by the fate of mutation passes
through the urn, through its revolution, and through the hand of
your Excellency."




THIRD PART of theSecond Dialogue

[Continuation of Sophia's speech ]



In such a manner then did Jove deny Hercules' seat to Fortune,
but he left that seat and all the others that are upon the universe
at her disposal. From this sentence, such as it was, none of the
gods dissented. And the blind goddess, seeing the determination
they had arrived at, in the face of all her insults, took leave of
the Senate, saying: "I then go away, both most revealed to, and
most concealed from, all the universe. I frequent exalted and
humble residences, and, no less than death, know how to raise
most lowly things and abase the highest things; and finally, by
dint of vicissitude, I succeed in making everything equal. And
with an indefinite succession and irrational reason (because I am
found above and outside of particular reasons), and by indetermi-
nate means, I turn the wheel and shake the urn, so that my inten-
tion will not be censured by any individual.

"Now, Wealth, come to my right side, and you, Poverty, to
my left. Take with you your retinue, you, Wealth, your aids, who
are so pleasing, and you, Poverty, yours, who are so annoying to
the multitude. I say, let Trouble and Joy follow first, then Happi
ness and Unhappiness, Sadness and Mirth, Gladness and Melan-
choly, Labor and Rest, Idleness and Occupation, Sordidness and
Adornment. Then let Austerity and Delight follow, then Luxury
and Sobriety, Lust and Abstinence, Inebriety and Thirst, De-
bauchery and Hunger, Appetite and Satiety, Cupidity, Weariness
and Superabundance, Fullness and Emptiness. Besides, let Giving
and Taking follow, Profusion and Parsimony, Investing and Di-
vesting, as well as Gain and Loss, Income and Expenditure, Profit
and Cost, Avarice and Liberality, Number and Measure, Excess
and Deficiency, Equality and Inequality, Debit and Credit. After
wards there should follow Security and Suspicion, Zeal and Adula-
tion, Honor and Contempt, Reverence and Scorn, Homage and
Disrespect, Favor and Disgrace, Assistance and Destitution, Dis-
comfort and Comfort, Envy and Congratulation, Emulation and
Compassion, Confidence and Diffidence, Dominion and Slavery,
Liberty and Captivity, Company and Solitude.

"You, Occasion, walk ahead, precede my footsteps, open thou-
sands and thousands of paths to me. Go irresolutely, unrecognized,
and hidden, because I do not want my coming to be too easily
foreseen. Slap the faces of all seers, prophets, diviners, fortune-
tellers, and prognosticators. Rap the ribs of all those who come to
impede our journey. Remove from the path of my feet every pos-
sible stumbling block. Clear away and uproot each and every
thicket designed to be harmful to a blind divinity, so that through
you, my guide, it will easily be made clear to me where I must
climb or rest, turn to the right or left, move or stop, and step for
ward or backward. In one moment and simultaneously, I go and
come, establish myself and move, rise and sit, as I extend my hands
to diverse and infinite things by various means that Occasion
offers. Let us, then, flow from all, through all, in all, to all, here
with gods, there with heroes, here with men, there with beasts."

Now this quarrel having been terminated and Fortune having
been expelled, Jove, turning toward the gods, said: "It seems to
me that Courage should succeed to the seat of Hercules; for where
there are Truth, Law, and Judgment, Courage must not be far
off; because that will that administers judgment with prudence
through law, according to truth, must be constant and strong.
Since, just as truth and law form the intellect and prudence, judg-
ment and justice regulate the will, so constancy and courage lead
us to the effect. Whence it is said by a wise man: ‘Do not become
a judge, unless by means of your courage and virtue you are
strong enough to crush the machines of iniquity.' "

All the gods answered: "You have disposed well, oh Jove, that
up to now Hercules should have been the model of courage that
was to be contemplated among the stars. You, Courage, succeed
to that seat, with the lantern of reason before you, because other-
wise you would not be courage, but rather stupidity, fury, and
audacity. And you would not be considered courage, nor would
you even be courage, because by your madness, error, and aliena-
tion of mind, you would not come to fear evil and death. That
light will see to it that you will not be daring where one must
fear, since only the fool and madman do not fear whatever one
should fear, the more prudent and wise he is. It will see to it
that where public honor and service, the dignity and perfection
of one's own being, and the observance of divine and natural laws
are concerned, you will not be frightened by terrors that threaten
death. It will see to it that you will be swift and expeditious where
others are torpid and slow, that you will easily endure that which
others bear with difficulty, and that you will consider little or
nothing that which others esteem much or a great deal.

"Temper your bad companions, both her who walks on your
right side with her aids, Temerity, Audacity, Presumption, In-
solence, Fury, and Familiarity, and her who walks on your left
side with Poverty of Spirit, Dejection, Fear, Cowardice, Pusil-
lanimity, and Desperation. Lead your virtuous daughters, Sedulity,
Zeal, Tolerance, Magnanimity, Longanimity, Intrepidity, Alacrity,
and Industry by means of the book that contains the catalogue
of things governed by Caution, or by Perseverance, or by Flight,
or by Sufferance, in which are jotted down things that the cou-
rageous man must not fear: that is, those things which do not
make us worse, such as hunger, nudity, thirst, grief, poverty, soli-
tude, persecution, and death; and among the others, such things
as crass ignorance, injustice, infidelity, prevarication, avarice,
and similar things, which, because they make us worse, are to be
avoided with every diligence.

"So by tempering yourself, bowing neither right nor left, and
not by removing yourself from your daughters, by reading and fol-
lowing your catalogue, by not extinguishing your light, you will
be the only protection of virtues, unique custodian of justice, and
singular tower of truth. You will be impregnable to vices, un-
conquered by labors, steadfast against perils, inflexible against
pleasures, scornful of Wealth, a subduer of Fortune, and trium-
phant over all. You will not recklessly dare, not rashly fear, you will
not pursue pleasures, not turn your back on sufferings. You will
not be delighted by false praise and will not be awed by vitupera-
tion. You will not be exalted by prosperous times, will not give up
because of adversities. The gravity of affliction will not weigh you
down, the wind of frivolity will not uplift you. Wealth will not
inflate you, and Poverty will not confuse you. You shall scorn
excess and shall have little consciousness of want. You shall turn
away from lowly matters and shall always be intent upon high
undertakings."

"Now what disposition will be made regarding my Lyre?"
asked Mercury. To this Momus answered: "Keep it for yourself as
your pastime, for the time when you are on a boat, or even when
you are at an inn. And if you choose to make a present of it by giv-
ing it to the man who comports himself most meritoriously, and
do not have too strong a desire to wander off looking for him,
go off to Naples to the Piazza de l'Olmo, 1 or to Venice to the
Piazza San Marco, 2 toward evening. For in these two places there
appear the coryphaei of those who mount the bench, and there
you may come across that best man to whom iure meriti it must
be given." Mercury asked: "Why, rather to the best of this species
than to the best of another?" Momus answered that in these times
the lyre has become the principal instrument for charlatans, by
means of which they win over and hold their audience and more
easily sell their pills and vials, just as the rebec has now become
the instrument of blind mendicants.

Mercury asked: "Is it within my power to do with it that which
pleases me?" "So it is," said Jove, "but not indeed to let it remain
in the heaven at this time. And I want (if it still is agreeable to
you of the Council) that in the place of this Lyre of his, with the
nine strings, the great Mother Mnemosyne should succeed to
gether with the nine Muses, her children." Here all the gods
nodded their heads in a sign of approbation, and the goddess who
had been promoted with her daughters, rendered thanks.

Arithmetic, who is her first-born, said that she was thanking
them more times than she conceived of individual numbers and
numerical species, and more thousands and thousands of times
than the intellect, by means of additions, could conceive. Geometry
said that she was thanking them more times than there are forms
and figures that can be designed and points she could encounter
through her fantastic solutions of continuatives. Music said that
she was rendering them ever more thanks than there are har-
monic forms and symphonies that phantasy could combine. Logic
said that she was rendering them more thanks than there are
absurdities made by her grammarians, more than there are false
persuasions made by her rhetoricians, and more than there are
sophisms and false demonstrations made by her dialecticians.
Poetry said that she was thanking them more times than her
singers have feet for the circulation of their many fables, for as
many times as her singers have composed, and are about to com
pose verses. Astrology thanked them more times than there are
stars in the immense space of the ethereal region, more, if more
could be said. Physics rendered them as many thanks as there can
be proximate principles, first principles, and elements in the bosom
of Nature, Metaphysics, more thanks than there are genera of
ideas and species of ends and efficients concerning natural effects,
according to the reality that is in things, as well as according to
the representative concept. Ethics thanked them as many times as
there could be customs, habits, laws, just acts, and crimes in this
and other worlds of the universe. Mother Mnemosyne said: "I
render you as many thanks and rewards, oh gods, as there are
particular beings, subject to memory and oblivion, to knowledge
and ignorance."

And in the meanwhile Jove ordered his first-born, Minerva,
to hand him the box he kept under the pillow on his bed, after
which he drew forth nine boxes containing nine collyria, prescribed
to purge the human mind in respect both to its knowledge and to
its disposition. And to begin with he gave three of them to the
first three [Muses], saying to them: "Here for you is the best
unguent with which you will be able to purge and make clear
your perceptive virtue as regards the number, the size, and the
harmonious proportion of sensible things." He gave one to the
fourth and said: "This will serve to regulate the inventive and
judicative faculties." "Take this," he said to the fifth, "which, by
bringing about a certain melancholic reaction, has the power to
incite enjoyable frenzy and prophecy." He gave the sixth hers,
showing her the way by means of which she could open the eyes
of mortals to the contemplation of archetypal and supernal things.
The seventh received that one through which the rational faculty
is best remolded as regards the contemplation of nature. The
eighth received the other no less excellent one, which moves the
mind to the comprehension of supernatural things as regards their
influence on nature, and which are in a certain manner detached
from it.

The last, largest, most precious, and most excellent one he put
into the hands of the last-born, who is as much worthier than the
others as she is posterior to them in birth; and said to her: "Here,
Ethics, you have that one with which you prudently, together
with sagacity, shrewdness, and with generous philanthropy, will
know how to institute religions. Ordain cults, give laws, and exe-
cute judgments, and approve, strengthen, preserve, and defend all
that which is well established, regulated, put forth, and executed,
by adapting, as much as possible, affects and effects to the cult of
the gods and to the society of men."

"What shall we do about the Swan?" asked Juno. Momus an
swered : "Let us send it in the name of its devil to swim with the
others, either in Lake Pergus, or in the Caystros River, where it
shall have many companions." 8 "I do not want it to be so," said
Jove, "but ordain that its beak be branded with my seal and that
it be put into the Thames. For there it will be more secure than
elsewhere, since, because of fear of capital punishment, it will not
so easily be stolen from me." 4 ‘Wisely, oh great father, have you
provided," added the gods, and they waited for Jove to decide as
to its successor. Whereupon, the first presiding god continued with
his decree, and said: "It seems to me most fitting that Repentance,
who, among the virtues, is like the swan among the birds, should
be placed there. For she does not dare, nor is able, to fly high be-
cause of the weight of her modesty and her low estimation of
herself; so she stays low. Nevertheless, removing herself from the
odious earth and not daring to rise to the sky, she loves the rivers,
plunges into the waters, which are the tears of compunction in
which she tries to wash, purge, and purify herself, displeased after
she has sullied herself on the muddy shore of error, and, moved by
the feeling of such grief, is seized with the determination of cor-
recting herself and of becoming, as much as it will be possible,
like candid innocence. By means of this virtue, the souls that have
tumbled from heaven and have been immersed in shadowy Orcus
rise again, having passed through the Cocytus of sensual pleasures,
and having been burned by the Pyriphlegethon of covetous love
and appetite for generation; the first of which encumbers the
spirit with sadness, and the second renders the soul proud.

"Returning to herself, as it were, because of the memory of her
high lineage, she is displeased with herself on account of her
present state; she regrets that in which she once delighted, and
wishes it had not been pleasing to her. And in this manner, she
succeeds little by little in divesting herself of her present state,
by attenuating the weight of its carnal matter and crass substance.
She bedecks herself entirely in feathers, is kindled and heated by
the sun, conceives a fervent love of sublime things, becomes aerial,
betakes herself to the sun, and once again is converted to its prin-
ciple."

"Repentance is deservedly placed among the virtues," said
Saturn, "because although she is the daughter of Father Error
and of Mother Iniquity, she is nevertheless like the vermilion rose
that comes forth from dark and piercing thorns. She is like a bril-
liant and clear flame which leaps forth from the black and hard
flint, rises and reaches toward her cognate, the sun." "Well decided
upon, well determined!" said the entire Council of the gods. "Let
Repentance sit among the virtues; let her be one of the heavenly
deities!"

Upon hearing this general sentence, furious Mars, before an
other could talk about Cassiopea, raised his voice and said: "Let
there be no one, oh gods, who will deprive my bellicose Spain 6
of this matron, who, so arrogant, haughty, and magisterial, was
not satisfied to ascend to heaven without taking her chair with its
canopy. I should like you (if it so pleases the great thundering
father and if you do not want to displease me, at the risk of suf-
fer ing the same in good measure when you fall into my hands) to
determine that she sojourn there, because she possesses the customs
of that nation and seems to have been born, nourished, and raised
there." And Momus answered: "Let no one take away arrogance
and this woman, who is a living picture of it, from the brave squad
ron captain." To which Mars answered: "With this sword I shall
not only teach you, you poor thing who have no other virtue and
strength than that of a rotten tongue without salt, but, besides, any
one else (outside of Jove, because he is superior to all) who says
that beneath that which you call my boastfulness there are not
found any beauty, glory, majesty, magnanimity, and strength
worthy of the protection of the Martian shield. And these insults,
I say, are not unworthy of being vindicated by this terrible sword
point, which has resolved to subdue both men and gods."

"Indeed, have her," added Momus, "and a curse be with you,
because among us other gods you will not find another so bizarre
and mad that he, in order to earn for himself one of these diabolic
and ra ging beasts, wants to expose himself to the risk of having
his head broken."

"Do not become furious, Mars, do not become angry, Momus,"
said the benign protoparent. "This request, oh God of War, which
is not of too great importance, can be easily and freely granted to
you, inasmuch as we are sometimes compelled, in spite of our
selves, to permit that you with the sole authority of your flashing
sword commit so many acts of stuprum, so many adulteries, so
man y thefts, usurpations, and assassinations. Go, then, for I, to
gether with the other gods, shall commit her completely to your
libidinous desire, providing that you do not any longer allow her
to linger among the stars near so many virtuous goddesses. Let
her go down with her chair and lead Boastfulness with her. And
let her yield her place to Simplicity, who turns away from the
right side of her who feigns to have and boasts about more than
she possesses, and from the left side of Dissimulation, who hides
and pretends not to possess that which she does have and indicates
that she possesses less than that which is present. This handmaiden
of Truth must not wander far from her queen, although some
times the goddess Necessity compels her to turn toward Dissimula
tion, so that she, Simplicity, or Truth will not be trodden upon,
or to avoid other inconvenience. Since this is done by her not with
out plan or order, it can also easily be done without error and de
fect."

As she went to take her place, Simplicity seemed to have a sure
and confident gait, contrary to Boastfulness and Dissimulation,
who, as they demonstrated by their timi d steps and frightened
countenances, walked not without fear. The countenance of Sim
plicity pleased all the gods, because, by means of her uniformity,
she in a certain manner represents, and has a resemblance to, the
divine aspect. Her face is amiable, because it never changes; and
therefore, because of that reason by which she once begins to please,
she will always please. And not because of her fault, but because
of that of another, does it happen that she ceases to be loved.

But Boastfulness, who is wont to please because she gives us to
understand that she possesses more than she has, will when she is
recognized easily incur not only displeasure but sometimes even
contempt. Similarly, Dissimulation, because she is recognized to
be otherwise than that which we allowed ourselves to be con
vinced of, can, not without difficulty, come to be hated by him to
whom she was at first pleasing. Of these, then, the one and the
other were deemed unworthy of heaven and of being united to
what is used to being found in its midst. But not so, Dissimula
tion, of whom the gods are still wont to make use; because some
times Prudence, in order to avoid envy, criticism, and abuse, is
accustomed in the garments of that one to dissemble Truth.

Saul. It is well and good, oh Sophia. And not without spirit of
truth did the poet of Ferrara show that she is much more con
venient to men, even though sometimes she is not disagreeable to
the gods.®

Although dissimulation is most often reprehended
And gives proof of bad intention,

It is indeed found in many things,

And in many things to have produced benefits, numerous and obvious,
And to have obviated injuries, blames, and death;

For in this mortal life, much more gloomy than serene,

Filled with envy throughout,

We do not always converse with friends . 7

But I should like to know, oh Sophia, in what way you under
stand Simplicity as having resemblance to the divine countenance.
Sophia. In this manner: that she cannot add to her being with
boastfulness, or subtract from it with dissemblance. And this pro
ceeds from her not having intelligence and understanding of her
self, just as that man who is most simple, since he does not want
to be other than most simple, does not understand himself. For
that which is discerned and contemplated becomes in a certain
way much, and, to put it better, one thing and another, because it
becomes object and potency, knowing and knowable; for in the
act of intelligence, many things come together into one. That most
simple intelligence, however, is said not to understand herself as
containing a reflected act of the intelligent and the intelligible;
however, because she is a most absolute and most simple light and
inasmuch as she cannot be occult to herself, she is said to under
stand herself only negatively. Simplicity then, inasmuch as she is
not aware of, and does not meditate upon, her being, is understood
to have a divine aspect. Arrogant Boastfulness, a great distance
removed from her, shuns her. But not so, studious Dissimulation,
for whom Jove sometimes makes it lawful to show herself in
heaven, although no longer as a goddess, but sometimes as the
servant of Prudence, sometimes as the shield of Truth.

Saul. Now let us proceed to consider what has been done regard
ing Perseus and his seat.

Sophia. "What will you do, oh Jove, with this bastard of yours
to whom you had Danae give birth?" asked Momus. Jove an
swered: "Let him go, if it so pleases the entire Senate (because it
seems to me that some new Medusa is upon earth who, no less than
she who lived a long time ago, has the power to convert into stone
by her gaze whosoever looks upon her), let him go to her, not as
one sent by a new Polydectes but as one sent by Jove and the entire
celestial Senate. And let him see whether by means of the same
skill he can overcome a monster, as horrible as it is recent." Here
Minerva answered, saying: "And I, for my part, shall not fail to
furnish him with a no less useful shining shield with which he
may dazzlt the sight of the hostile Phorcides, designated as cus
todians of the Gorgons; and, under present circumstances, I wish
to assist him until that time when he has severed the head of this
Medusa from her body." "Thus, you will do much good, my
daughter," said Jove, "and I impose this responsibility upon you,
to which I want you to apply yourself with all diligence.

"But I should not want him again, at the expense of the poor
peoples, to bring about from the drops that will flow from Medusa's
incised veins, the generation of new serpents on earth, where,
against the will of the wretched, they are found both in great and,
indeed, in too great numbers. Let him ride, however, mounted on
Pegasus, who will come forth from her fecund body (protecting
himself from the flow of the poisonous drops), 8 no longer through
Africa, where he may become captive of some captive Andromeda
and be bound in diamond chains by her, bound in those of iron.
But let him ride through my beloved Europe mounted on his
winged steed. Let him there investigate to ascertain where those
proud and monstrous Atlantides are, enemies of Jove's progeny,
by whom they fear that the golden apples that they keep hidden
in the custody and within the enclosures of Avarice and Ambi
tion will be taken away from them. Let him linger where there
are more generous and more beautiful Andromedas, who, be
cause of the violence of false religion, are bound and exposed to
sea monsters. Let him see whether some violent Phineus, hard
pressed by the multitude of pernicious ministers, comes to usurp
the fruits of another's industry and labors. Let him see whether
a number of ingrate, obstinate, and incredulous Polydecteses are
governing there. Let the mirror come very quickly before them,
present itself before their eyes where they may look upon her
[Medusa's] loathsome image, and, having been turned to stone
by her horrible appearance, they may lose every perverse sensa
tion, movement,and life." 9

All has been well ordained," said the gods. "For it is suitable
that Perseus, joined to Hercules, who with the arm of Justice and
the club of Judgment has been made the subduer of corporeal
forces, should appear, he who, with the luminous mirror of doc
trine and with his presentation of the detestable portrait of schism
and heresy, may drive a nail into the pernicious conscience of
nefarious and obstinate minds, depriving them of the function of
their tongues, hands, and senses."

Saul. Come now, Sophia, and enlighten me as to who is to suc
ceed to the place whence that one made his departure.

Sophia. A virtue who is in the garb and with gestures not at all
dissimilar to him, and is called Diligence or Solicitude. She has
Labor as her companion and is considered a companion by Labor,
by virtue of whom Perseus was Perseus and Hercules was Hercules,
and every strong and industrious man is industrious and strong.
Through her the great grandson of Abas has deprived the Phor-
cides of light, cut off Medusa's head, taken away the winged steed
from the truncated body, the sacred apples from the son of Cly-
mene and Iapetus, snatched the daughter of Cepheus, Androm
eda, from Cetus, defended his wife against his rival, revisited
Argos, his fatherland, deprived Proetus of his kingdom, 10 re
stored it to his brother, Acrisius, after having revenged himself
against the ungrateful and discourteous king [Polydectes] of the
island of Seriphus. Through her, I say, every care is conquered,
every adverse circumstance is truncated, every road and access is
made easy, every treasure is acquired, all violence is subdued,
every captivity is put to an end, every desire is obtained, every
possession is defended, every port is reached, all adversaries are
beaten down, all friends are exalted, and all insults are avenged,
and finally, every design is attained.

Then Jove ordained, and all the gods approved this decree, that
hard-working and diligent Solicitude should come forward. And
then she appeared, having assumed the talaria of divine impulse
with which she tramples what is considered the highest good by
the vulgar, scorns the gentle caresses of pleasures, which like
insidious sirens attempt to hinder her from the course of the work
that solicits and awaits her.

After having seized with her left hand the shield, radiant with
the brilliance that encumbers indolent and inert eyes with stupid
wonderment, and having held in her right hand the serpentine
lock of pernicious thoughts, under which lies that horrible head
whose unhappy face, deformed by a thousand passions of con
tempt, wrath, fright, terror, abomination, wonderment, melan
choly, and lugubrious repentance, petrifies and stupefies whoever
fixes his eyes upon it, she rides mounted on that winged horse of
studious perseverance with which, the more she perseveres, the
more she reaches and attains, overcoming every obstacle of a steep
mountain, every hindrance of a deep valley, every impetus of a
rapid river, every barrier of the densest hedges and of walls, how
ever thick and high.

Then, having come into the presence of the sacrosanct Senate,
she heard these words from the highest presiding god: "I want
you, oh Diligence, to obtain this noble space in heaven, because
you are she who nourishes generous minds with work. Ascend, over-
come, and pass over in one breath, if it is possible, every rocky
and rugged mountain. Render your affect so fervent that you will
not only resist and conquer yourself but also will have no sense
of your difficulty, will have no consciousness of your being Labor.
For this reason Labor must not be labor to herself, just as a serious
man is not serious to himself. You will not, however, be worthy
labor, if you do not likewise conquer yourself, you who do not
consider yourself to be what you are, that is Labor; since when
ever you have sense of yourself, you cannot be superior to your
self. But if you are not depressed or suppressed, you will at least
come to be oppressed by yourself.

The highest perfection lies in not feeling labor and suffering
when we undergo labor and suffering. You must conquer your self
with that sense of pleasure which does not sense pleasure, that
pleasure, I say, which if it were naturally good, would not be
scorned by many as the origin of diseases, poverty, and censures.
But you, Labor, when outstanding works are concerned, be pleas
ure unto yourself and not labor. Become, I say, one and the same
with her who outside of those works and acts will not be pleasure
unto herself, but intolerable labor. You then, if you are a virtue,
do not be concerned with lowly things, with frivolous things, with
vain things. If you want to be there where the sublime pole of
Truth will be vertical to you, pass over these Apennines, ascend
these Alps, cross this reefy ocean, conquer these rude Riphaeans,11
traverse this barren and frozen Caucasus, penetrate the inacces
sible slopes, and enter into that happy circle where light is con
tinuous and neither shadows nor cold is evident, but where there
is a perpetual warm climate and where, for you, dawn or daytime
will be eternal.

"You advance then, oh goddess Solicitude, or Labor; and I want
(said Jove) Difficulty to run before you and flee from you. Crush
Misfortune, seize Fortune by the hair. Hasten, when it seems best
to you, the course of her wheel and, when it seems fitting to you,
drive a nail into it so that it will not run. I want Sanity, Robust
ness, and Safety to come with you. Let Diligence be your shield-
bearer and Exercise, your standard-bearer. Let Acquisition follow
you with her defenses, which are Corporeal Well-Being, Spiritual
Well-Being, and, if you will, Material Well-Being. And of these
three, I want you to love those that you yourself have acquired
more than that one that you receive from another, not unlike a
mother who, being the one who knows them best, loves her chil
dren more because they are hers. I do not want you to be able
to divide yourself, because if you dismember yourself, being con
cerned partly with works of the mind and partly with bodily
activities, you will become defective in the one and the other part.
And the more you devote yourself to one side, the less you will
prevail upon the other; if you completely turn toward material
things, you will amount to nothing in intellectual things, and vice
versa. I command that when it is necessary, after having called
you in a loud voice, or by a sign, or in silence, Occasion should
exhort you or entice you, incite you or compel you.

"I command Advantage and Disadvantage to advise you when
heavy weights must be loaded and when they must be put down,
and when it is sometimes necessary that you go forward. I want
Diligence to remove every obstacle before you; I want Vigilance
to be your sentinel, watching about and around you, so that noth
ing will approach you unexpectedly. I want Indifference to warn
you against concern for, and attention to, vain things; and if she
is not listened to by you, Repentance should finally come to you,
she who will make you realize that it is more laborious to have
waved empty hands than, with hands filled, to have thrown stones.
You, run and hasten as fast as you can with the feet of Diligence,
before force majeure intervenes and takes away Liberty, or ex
tends her might and arms to Difficulty."

So Solicitude, having thanked Jove and the others, started on
her way and spoke in the following maimer: "Behold, I, Labor,
move my feet, gird myself, and bare my arms. Go away from me,
all torpor, all laziness, all negligence, all idle sloth! Depart,
all sluggishness! You, my Industry, place before the eyes of Con-
sider ation your advantage, your goal. Render salutiferous all the
many calumnies of others, the many fruits of the malice and envy
of others and that understandable fear of yours which drove you
away from your native dwelling, which alienated you from your
friends, which removed you far from your country and banished
you to not-too-friendly countrysides. Industry of min e, make glori
ous with me my exile and travails. Above that fatherland let there
reign quiet, tranquillity, comfort, and peace.

"Come, Diligence, what are you doing? Why do we idle and
sleep so much alive, if we so very long must idle and sleep in
death ? Indeed, although we still await another world or another
manner of being ourselves, that life will not be the same as that
possessed by us at present; so that this life, without ever expect-
ing to return, passes on forever.

"You, Hope, what are you doing, since you do not stimulate
me, since you do not arouse me ? Come now, make it possible that
I may expect a salutary outcome from difficult matters, unless I
flee from circumstances and do not yield to them. And do not
allow me to promise myself anything, no matter how attractive,
no matter how very attractive.

"You, Zeal, always be my assistant, so that I may not attempt
things unworthy of a worthy deity, and so that I may stretch out
my hands to those labors which may be the cause of greater labor.
Show me before my eyes how ugly it is to behold love of glory
and how base a thing is concern for security at the outset and
beginning of labor.

"Sagacity, see to it that I do not recoil from uncertain and
doubtful things, or turn my shoulders away, but that I remove
myself from them little by little in safety. You, yourself, as you
follow me, obliterate my footsteps, so that I will not be found a-
gain by my enemies, and their furor be vented upon me. You, make me
direct my steps through paths that are far removed from the seats
of Fortune, since her hands are not long and she can seize only
those who are close to her, and shake only those who are inside
her urn. You will see to it that I do not attempt anything except
when I can aptly perform it; and in labor, make me more cautious
than brave, if you cannot make me equally cautious and brave. See
to it that my work be both concealed and open, open so that not
everyone will look for and inquire about it, concealed so that not
all but a very few will find it. For you know well that concealed
things are investigated, and that those that are locked up invite
thieves. Furthermore, that which is seen is deemed of litde worth,
the open safe is not diligently searched; and that object is con
sidered to be of little worth that is not seen to be put into safe
keeping with great diligence.

"You, Boldness, when Difficulty presses, outrages, and resists
me, do not fail frequendy to intone into my ear with the voice of
your great ardor that saying: ‘Tu ne cede malis, sed contra auden-
tior ito.' 12 (‘Do not yield to misfortunes, but go forth to meet
them all the bolder.')

"You, Consultation, will give me to understand when it is fitting
that I dissolve or discontinue ill-employed occupation, which
will justly take as its goal, not the gold and opulence of vulgar
and sordid minds, but those treasures that, less hidden and dis-
persed by time, are celebrated and cultivated in the field of eternity;
so that it will not be said of us as of those scarabs: ‘Meditantur
sua stercora scarabaei.' (‘Scarabs contemplate their excrement.')

"You, Patience, strengthen me, restrain me, and administer to
me that elect Leisure of yours, not that one of whom Sloth is a.
sister, but that one who is a brother of Tolerance. You will make
me turn away from Inquietude and bow to non-meddlesome Solici
tude. Then you will forbid me to run when it interests me to run
whither there are precipitous, infamous, and mortal obstacles.
Then you will not allow me to lift anchor and loosen the stern
from the shore when it happens that I entrust myself to the in
superable turbulence of the stormy sea. And at this time you will
give me first, the leisure to confer with Consultation, who will
make me look at myself, second, the employment that I must
engage in; third, you will tell me to what end and why, fourth,
under what circumstances, fifth, when, sixth, where, seventh, with
whom. Administer to me that leisure with which I can do more
beautiful, better, and more excellent things than those I leave be
hind, because in the house of Leisure there sits Counsel, and there
one is concerned with a life of blessedness, which is better than
in any other place. There events are better contemplated. From
that place one can leave for his labor with more efficacy and
strength, because without being sufficiendy rested at first it is
not possible for one to run well later.

"You, Leisure, give me the assistance as a result of which I may
be considered less idle than all the others, in order that through
you it will come about that I by my speech and exhortation shall
serve the republic and help the defense of the fatherland more
than the soldier, the tribune, and the emperor with their sword,
lance, and shield.

"Come close to me you generous, heroic, and solicitous Appre
hension, and by your stimulus see to it that I am not the first to
perish either from the ranks of the illustrious or from the ranks
of mortals. See to it that before Torpor and Death deprive me of
my hands I find myself so well provided that they cannot deprive
me of the glory of my works.

"Solicitude, see to it that the roof is completed before the rain
comes; see to it that the windows are protected before the North
Winds and the South Winds of moist and restless winter blow.

"You, Memory of a well-employed span of life, shall see to it
that old age and death take me before my mind is deranged. You,
Fear of losing glory acquired in life, will make my old age and
my death not bitter but dear and longed for."

Saul. Here, oh Sophia, is the most worthy and honored prescrip
tion to remedy the sadness and pain of our mature age and the
inopportune terror of death, which from the hour we have use of
our senses is wont to tyrannize over the spirit of us living beings.
Of this the Nolan Tansillo rightly said:

They rejoice who are not displeasing to Heaven,

And who were not cold to, and disrespectful of, high enterprises.
They then, when snow and frost fall
Upon the hills, barren of grass and flowers,

Have no reason for which to mourn their happy seasons,

If they, changing in hair and countenance.

Will change life and pursuits.

The farmer has no reason to grieve.

If, at the proper time, he gathers his fruit . 13

Sophia. Very well said, Saulino. But it is time that you retire, for
here is my most friendly divinity, that most desirable grace, that
most eminent countenance, who is approaching me from the direc
tion of the east.

Saulino. Fine then, my Sophia, tomorrow at the accustomed hour,
if it so pleases you, we shall see each other again. And I in the mean
while shall go and outline for myself all that I have heard from
you today, in order that I may better renew the memory of your
concepts when it is necessary, and more easily in the future make
another participate in it.

Sophia. It is amazing that he is coming to meet me with wings,
speedier than usual. I do not see him coming according to his cus
tom, playing with his caduceus and gently striking the very clear
air with his wings. I seem to see him fretfully intent on business.
Here he is looking at me, and he has his eyes turned toward me
in such a manner that makes it manifest that his perturbed state
is not caused by me.

Merc. May Fate always be propitious toward you! May the anger
of time be impotent against you, my beloved and charming
daughter, sister, and friend!

Sophia. Although, as far as I am concerned, you are no less liberal
than on other occasions with your most jocund grace, what is it,
oh my handsome god, that makes you so perturbed in counte
nance? Why have I seen you come in haste and more ready to go
on than disposed to linger awhile with me ?

Merc. The reason for this is that I was hurriedly sent by Jove to
make provisions for, and take protective measures against, the
fire that mad and fierce Discord 14 has threatened to kindle in
this Parthenopaean Realm. 15

Sophia. In what manner, oh Mercury, has this pestiferous Erinys
hurled herself from beyond the Alps and the sea upon this noble
country?

Merc. She was summoned by the foolish ambition and insane
audacity of someone; was invited with very liberal but no less in
definite promises. She was impelled by fallacious hope, and is
awaited by a twofold jealousy, which creates in the nation the de
sire of wanting to maintain itself in the same state of liberty in
which it has always found itself, and the fear of entering into a
more stringent servitude; and it creates in the prince the fear of
losing all because of having wanted to embrace too much.

Sophia. What is the prime origin and principle of this?

Merc. Great Avarice, who continues working with the pretext of
wanting to preserve Religion . 16

Sophia. In truth the pretext seems false to me, and, if I am not
mistaken, is inexcusable. For protection or care is not required
where no ruin or peril threatens, where minds are exactly the
same as they were, and where the cult of that goddess does not
linger.

Merc. And if it were so, it is not up to Avarice but up to Prudence
and Justice to remedy it, because here we have this prince who has
aroused the people into a furor; and on this occasion the time
seems to be at hand for inviting rebellious spirits, not so much to
defend a just liberty as to aspire to an unlawful license and to
govern themselves according to pernicious and contumacious lust,
for which the bestial multitude was always ready.

Sophia. Tell me, if it is not burdensome to you, in what manner
would you say Avarice wishes to remedy matters ?

Merc. By worsening the punishments of delinquents in such a
manner that many innocent people, and sometimes the just, will
share the punishment of a criminal, so that by this, the prince
will grow fatter and fatter.

Sophia. It is a natural thing that sheep who have a wolf as their
ruler should be punished by being devoured by him.

Merc. But it is to be feared that sometimes merely the ravenous
appetite and gluttony of the wolf are sufficient to make them ap
pear guilty in his eyes. And it is against every law that the lambs
and their mother should be mulcted because of a defect in their
father.

Sophia. It is true that I have never found such an opinion, except
among savage barbarians; and I believe that it was first found
among Jews, because they are such a pestilent, leprous, and gener
ally pernicious generation, who deserve to be extinguished before
they are born. So, to get back to our business, is this the reason for
which you are disturbed and in suspense, and for which it is urgent
that you leave me soon?

Merc. So it is. I have wanted to take this journey in order to visit
you before getting to those parts whither I have directed my flight,
so as not to make you wait in vain and not to break the promise I
made yesterday. I have placed before Jove some matters regarding
your misfortunes, and I find him more than usually inclined to
please you. But for four or five days, and today among others, I
do not have the leisure to deal and confer with you about the
negotiation concerning the petition you must make. But in the
meanwhile you will be patient, since it is better to go to see Jove
and the Senate when they are free from other concerns than when
they are in the state in which, as you can imagine, they are at
present.

Sophia. I should like to await that time, since the matter, because
it will be proposed later, can be more easily arranged. And to be
truthful, I, being in great haste (in order not to fail in my duty
regarding the promise I had made to you to commit the request
into your hands today), have not been able to satisfy myself, since
I believe that things should be disclosed in greater detail than they
have been in this note. Here, I give it to you, so that you may see
(if you chance to have leisure during your journey) the number
of my complaints.

Merc. I shall look at this note. But you will do well to avail your
self of the convenience of this time to make a longer and clearer
memorandum so that all can be fully provided for. Now, so that
I may confound Strength, I first want to to go to arouse Astute
ness, 17 so that, having attained Deception, she [Strength] may
dictate a letter of betrayal against Rebellion, alleged to be ambi
tious, by which false letter the maritime power of the Turk 18
may be diverted and stand against Gallic fury, which in long strides
is approaching by land on this side of the Alps. So because of the
defect in Strength, may Daring be subdued, the people be tran-
quilized, the prince be assured, and may Fear quench Thirst for
Ambition and useless Avarice. And with this, finally, may ban
ished Harmony be recalled; and with the abolition of perilous and
ungrateful Innovation, may Peace be placed on her throne through
the strengthening of the ancient Way of Living.

Sophia. Go then, my divinity, and may it please Fate that your
designs be felicitously fulfilled, so that my enemy. War, shall not
come to disturb my state as well as that of others.

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(Arthur D. Imerti Translation)