CAPUT XXIX. Quomodo ex abstinentia, humana laus surgit, et quam caute ejus appetitus temperandus sit
The Mandrakes of a Good Name
The chapter opens by identifying the mandrakes as an allegory for the wide-spreading scent of a good reputation and the praise it brings, drawn from Reuben's finding them in Scripture.
But how great, and what kind of fragrance, does a good reputation spread from a person who isn't held back from obedience by any reserve or lack?1 These are the mandrakes that Reuben found, which his mother Leah took from him. For what should we interpret the mandrakes to mean—those that usually scatter their scent far and wide—if not the fame of a good reputation?
Reason Governs the Pleasure of Praise
When the heart delights in public acclaim, reason (Rachel) demands that the affection (Leah) share the praise, so that the mind may be fruitful in virtue under the Spirit's guidance; thus possession of the mandrakes is brought under reason's power.
Leah receives them, in fact, when offered praise touches her emotions, when the mind is stirred by the public acclaim of praise for itself, and takes a twisted delight in the breeze of popular favor.2 Rachel asks for a share of them; Leah grants it, so that she may receive her husband—she who yearns for children.3 For the mind that, though reason urges it, does not curb its appetite for empty praise—the Holy Spirit most certainly does not make that mind fruitful in producing the offspring of virtue. So it is one Spirit who enriches both sisters with the fruitfulness of offspring, because the same Spirit both enlightens reason to know the truth and inflames the emotions to love virtue. Therefore reason urges the emotions to moderate their appetite for human favor under one governing restraint, if they want to multiply the offspring of the virtues and rejoice in union with the divine Spirit.4 So possession of the mandrakes is brought under Rachel's power when the craving for praise is tempered under the rule of reason.
From Tempering to Entire Detachment
Reason notes that praise is hard to resist, so it should first be tempered and then, if possible, entirely cut away; the allegory of Leah granting only a share and later giving all illustrates the soul's progress when spiritual sweetness inflames desire for God.
It's well worth noting how modestly Rachel asks—not for the mandrakes themselves, but for a share of them. Because reason also knows this: no matter how much the mind resists, it's very hard for it not to light up with joy when praise is offered.5 So the love of human praise should first be tempered; later, if possible, it should also be cut away entirely. That is why we read that Rachel asked for a share of the mandrakes; but Leah, speaking afterward to Jacob, does not boast of only a share. "You will come in to me," she says, "for I have hired you as wages for my son's mandrakes." "For the mandrakes," she says, "not for a share of my son's mandrakes." While her husband was still away, Leah barely grants a share; but when he arrives, more strongly kindled by desire for him, she no longer wants anything reserved for herself from them. In just this way, of course, when the human mind is touched by spiritual sweetness, it gladly forgets whatever it had earlier craved of human praise. In this way the mandrakes are usefully taken from Leah's possession and brought under Rachel's power.
The Right Use of Good Repute
Reason (Rachel) knows how to use the mandrakes better than affection (Leah) by redirecting all praise to God's glory, and the chapter asks why Reuben, the firstborn, discovered these mandrakes.
For Rachel knows how to make better use of the mandrakes than Leah does: whatever the heart's affection seizes for its own praise, reason more rightly turns back to the glory of God. But what does this mean—that of all Leah's sons, it was Reuben who could find mandrakes of good repute?6
Read the original Latin
Sed quantus qualisque bonae opinionis odor de seipso circumquaque spargitur, qui nulla modestia, nulla inopia a studio obedientiae praepeditur? Hae sunt mandragorae quas Ruben invenit, quas ab ipso mater ejus Lia accepit. Quid enim per mandragoras quae odorem suum solent late spargere, nisi bonae opinionis famam debemus accipere? Quas quidem tunc Lia accipit, quando oblata laus affectum tangit, quando in laudis suae praeconiis animus afficitur, et in aura popularis favoris perversae delectatur. Harum partem Rachel petit, Lia concedit, ut virum accipiat, quae prolis desideria flagrat. Mentem etenim quae, suadente ratione, appetitum vanae laudis non temperat, profecto Spiritus sanctus ad virtutis prolem minime fecundat. Unus itaque Spiritus est qui utramque sororem prolis fecunditate ditat, quia idem Spiritus et rationem ad veritatis cognitionem illuminat, et affectionem ad virtutis amorem inflammat. Suadet ergo affectioni ratio humani favoris appetitum sub uno moderamine temperare, si ad multiplicandam virtutum prolem cupit de divini Spiritus copula gaudere.
Mandragorarum itaque possessio sub Rachel potestate redigitur, quando laudis appetitus sub rationis dominio moderatur.
Notandum sanc quam temperate Rachel non mandragoras, sed mandragorarum partem petat: nam nec hoc rationem latet valde esse difficile ut animus quamvis renitens ex oblata laude non hilareseat. Debet itaque amor humanae laudis prius temperari; postmodum, si posset fieri, debet etiam penitus abscindi. Unde est quod Rachel partem mandragorarum petiisse legitur; Lia vero postmodum ad Jacob loquens, non de sola parte gloriatur. Ad me, inquit, intrabis: mercede enim conduxi te pro mandragoris filii mei. Pro mandragoris, inquit, non pro parte mandragorarum filii mei. Absente adhuc viro, vix Lia partem concedit, sed in ejus adventu ejus desiderio uberius accensa, nihil sibi ex eis ulterius reservari voluit. Sic nimirum mens hominis dum spirituali dulcedine tangitur, quidquid prius de humana laude concupierat libenter obliviscitur. In hunc modum mandragorae utiliter de possessione Liae, rediguntur sub Rachel potestate.
Novit enim Rachel quam Lia mandragoris melius uti: nam quidquid affectio cordis usurpat ad laudem sui, rectius sane ratio retorquet ad gloriam Dei. Sed quid hoc dicimus esse quod prae caeteris filiis Liae, Ruben bonae opinionis mandragoras potuit invenire.
Notes
- 1 ↩modestia could mean reserve, restraint, or false modesty; inopia means want/lack (of means). Both are things that might impede the zeal for obedience.
- 2 ↩perversae may be adverbial with delectatur ('is perversely delighted') or may color the popular favor as disordered; rendered as twisted/disordered delight.
- 3 ↩In the Genesis story Leah trades mandrakes for a night with Jacob; the relative quae most naturally tracks the subject of accipiat (Leah receiving the husband), though Rachel is the one classically associated with longing for children. Allegorically Rachel is reason, Leah affection.
- 4 ↩copula is the marital/union image of the allegory (Spirit as husband of the soul's powers), not a technical Trinitarian term here.
- 5 ↩Source reads 'sanc' (likely for 'sane') and 'hilareseat' (likely for 'hilarescat'); sense translated as intended.
- 6 ↩bonae opinionis is taken as a genitive of quality with mandragoras ('mandrakes of good repute'), fitting the chapter's allegory of human praise; it could also be read more loosely as Reuben's finding of praise-bearing reputation.
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