Liber parabolarum

Thorns and briars are not well drawn out from the feet,

While a small thorn stays left behind within;

The greater the delay, the more the wounds will fester,

And then they cannot be drawn out without pain.

He who draws faults from his heart, let him draw out fresh ones too,

And all of them alike, lest one alone bring death.

What good is it that a doctor has healed two hundred wounds,

If one remains by which the man dies?

A tree that spreads wide with branches, unless it is firm at its base,

Falls easily with its branches when struck by the South Wind.

But the one that has roots deep in the earth

Stands fast, and cannot be uprooted though the storm rages.

He who spreads wide the branches of fame, not the roots of merit,

Let him know that he himself will fall.

Not only to heaven does he who speaks such vain things displease,

But he displeases even the very fault itself.

Water taken from a small spring is no less sweet

Than that which is carried from a great river.

Both the jar and the cask sometimes hold Falernian wine,

Nor is the cask any better than the small jar itself.

Nor is drink any sweeter in splendid gold

Than it is in glass worth less than a penny.

Though every wretched man may bless even good things, let no one

Think base words fitting for a wretched body.

With eyes intent the kite scans the earth from the sky,

And sees scraps left behind from far away;

Though it hungers, it does not descend at once from on high,

But circles the place again and again in varied loops.

For there are those skilled at setting snares baited with food,

So that unwary birds may thus be deceived.

At last, having perceived that none of the fowler's craft is present,

It approaches safely with its claws and takes the entrails.

Not without some example do worms bred from flesh

Show to the eyes the work of what brings death;

With their teeth they attack the flesh they have taken to bite,

They seek no other, while that one still lasts them.

There is no counsel at all, unless salt can come to the rescue;

Salt applied generously bites and drives them off.

This is the way of worms; and it is not left to them alone,

There are men into whom that same fury now passes.

The guest does not praise the bird for its feathers,

Nor does the eloquent horse-dealer praise the horse for its hide;

Indeed, the same use does not run through every single thing alike,

Not every man honors clothes, not every man honors men.

New deeds establish a new custom through the ages,

So that nothing lies vile except the poor man.

The poor man does nothing well; but whatever the rich man does,

Whether good or bad, is held to be by reason.

What good is food taken, which leaves as soon as it is taken,

Nausea vexes the heart, the loosened bowels ache;

When the disease in the belly cannot bear remedies,

I think that is a sign not of life, but of death.

As the belly needs food, so the spirit needs it too,

They are not well fed, when the other has nothing.

Not all who attend schools everywhere actually learn,

For many come only to be seen there.

The ox is a calf but once, the dog itself a puppy but once,

Why is man twice a boy, who ought to be one only once?

Nature makes an old man from a boy, as the order demands,

But vice in turn makes a boy of an old man.

It is not fitting to yoke mice to a bearded man's little cart,

Nor to multiply Lalus's turns by chance;

Twice a boy is man, once a man, whom white old age subdues

Together with his failing strength and sense.

Often the mastiff snatches the sheep from the wolves' jaws,

So that he may eat the plunder himself, not let it go free;

What does it matter whether it is eaten by the wolf, the enemy, or by him,

Since the teeth of both are equally heavy!

In many things reason considers similar acts,

Of which one who has experience can speak words.

Savage Alcon defends men's property from enemies,

So that he may guard those things for himself, not for others.

It is simply forbidden for a blind man to lead a blind man,

Lest the blind man lead his own blind man into the pits;

Yet we cannot stop the madman Alanus

From wishing to lead the blind on a doubtful path.

It is not complained that his feet stumble shamefully as he goes,

But that so few follow him by night.

I marvel and wonder greatly that he takes up the road as guide,

Whom it is well known never to have known or traveled the way.

Achilles, who was hardened for war, departed

When Aegisthus entered the marriage-chamber at home.

He who lies on feathers, having suffered nothing hard in them,

Is not able, as a hardened man would be, to endure evil.

The weary cheek changes color with rains and winds,

And tender skin is easily burned by the sun.

A shoulder accustomed to soft things does not bear a shield well,

Nor does an oiled hand hold a sword firmly.

Not every companion is faithful, not every heart

Is true; I do not wish to join myself to everyone.

Whoever wishes to be my companion, let him become, not another, but

The same as I; for it is not enough to be another self.

Should I keep as a companion one who knows what I do not know, or one who,

When I ask, has that which I do not have?

A learned companion deliberates all things with his companion,

When two hearts agree in harmony with each other.

Tomorrow-man puts off everything in his thankless way,

And from one "tomorrow" makes a thousand tomorrows for me.

Why does he not multiply today, who multiplies tomorrow?

Does not each day mark its own sun?

After today there is usually a tomorrow, brought back with the sun,

But that tomorrow does not hold what he promises me;

That tomorrow will never come, nor will the sun rise on it,

Since his tomorrow to come has no end.