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← De Institutione Novitiorum (On the Instruction of Novices)/Book 1 · De Institutione Novitiorum
Chapter 12InstN.1.12

De disciplina servanda in gestu

The Six Faults of Bodily Gesture

The author defines six blameworthy kinds of bodily gesture—soft, slovenly, sluggish, restless, insolent, and agitated—and shows how each reveals a corresponding vice of the soul, citing Solomon's portrait of the apostate man and Isaiah's rebuke of Babylon's pride.

Bodily gesture is the movement and shaping of the body's limbs, related to every manner of acting and behaving; it is found to be blameworthy in six ways: namely, if it is either soft, or slovenly, or sluggish, or restless, or insolent, or agitated. Soft means wantonness, slovenly means negligence, sluggish means laziness, restless means fickle, insolent means pride, agitated means anger. It has already been shown above that disordered bodily movements indicate the corruption and dissolution of the mind — a point where, using Solomon's testimony, we show that a man who has fallen away reveals the turning of his soul by outward signs. For Scripture says: 'The apostate man, the worthless man, walks with a perverse mouth, winks with his eyes, scrapes with his foot, speaks with his finger' — because clearly, when the mind within is released from guarding itself, the limbs outside are stirred to every kind of disorderly act. And just as a paralyzed body indeed has its form but cannot perform the functions of its limbs in their actions, so this person, driven headlong by impatience and mental restlessness toward anything at all, is directed in everything they do by no rational control. But it should be understood that among these flawed gestures, some appear similar to one another in a certain way, and just as the vices they spring from do not differ much among themselves, so too these outward movements observe a kind of perverse harmony among themselves: for example, a soft gesture and an insolent one are alike, a slovenly one and a sluggish one, a restless one and an agitated one, because the vices themselves are also alike — wantonness and boastfulness, negligence and laziness, restlessness and impatience. For this reason, all these disorderly gestures — because they come from the inner corruptions of the soul — are found to be sharply condemned and rebuked in many passages of Scripture; and although we cannot list them one by one, so that we do not seem to treat such a serious matter as nothing by exaggerating it, we will turn over a few of them by way of example. Concerning a soft and insolent gesture, the Lord rebukes wantonness and a proud soul through the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'Come down, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground; there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called soft and tender.'

Pride and Wantonness Condemned in Isaiah

Drawing on Isaiah 47, the author shows how God punishes the soft and insolent bearing of the proud, linking arrogance and wantonness as companion vices deserving severe divine humiliation.

Take up the millstone, grind flour, lay bare your shame, uncover your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the rivers.✦ And after a few verses: Sit down, be silent, retreat into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans, because you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.✦ She who is therefore commanded to descend is rebuked for her insolent bearing and as a figure of arrogance. And so it is well added: 'There is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans' — because often a person is held in that much more contempt by others, the more he lifts himself up through the swelling of arrogance in his own eyes, so that the saying of Truth may be fulfilled in which it is said: 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.'✦✦ To which is further added what was said above: 'Sit, be silent, retreat into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans, because you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.'✦ For great shame then overtakes a person when he sees himself despised by others, even on account of the very thing in which he takes pride. But because wantonness and softness are the companions of the insolent and the proud, having rebuked arrogance, Scripture also reproves wantonness when it adds: 'Take up the millstone, grind flour, lay bare your shame, uncover your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the rivers — because you will no longer be called soft and delicate.'✦ How hateful, therefore, wantonness and insolence are before God is clearly shown by this: that Scripture threatens the arrogant with such severe punishment and humiliation, and the soft with harshness about to come upon them.

The Daughters of Zion: Haughtiness and Vanity Punished

Through Isaiah 3, the author exposes the measured strut and wanton gait of the daughters of Zion, showing how God strips away every mark of vanity as punishment for pride and lasciviousness.

This is why, again through the same Isaiah, it is said against the wanton and the insolent: "These things says the Lord: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and have walked with outstretched neck, and with nods of the eyes they went and they clapped, they walked, and with their own feet, with measured step, they strutted, the Lord will make bald the crown of the daughters of Zion."✦ "They walked with outstretched neck and with nods of the eyes" — here arrogance is being pointed out. "They went and they clapped, they walked, and with their own feet, with measured step, they strutted" — here wantonness is being pointed out. It follows: "The Lord will make bald the crown of the daughters of Zion" — this is the punishment of the arrogant. "And the Lord will strip bare their hair" — this is the punishment of the wanton. And because these vices customarily follow from the luxury of costly garments, the penalty for that luxury is also added, since it is said: "In that day the Lord will take away the adornment of sandals, and crescent-shaped ornaments, and necklaces, and jewels, and bracelets, and mitres, and hair ornaments, and anklets, and shell ornaments, and perfume-boxes, and earrings, and rings, and gems hanging on the forehead, and changes of clothing, and cloaks, and linen cloths, and needles, and mirrors, and fine linen, and ribbons, and garments; and in place of sweet fragrance there will be stench; and in place of a belt, a rope; and in place of curled hair, baldness; and in place of a breast-band, sackcloth."✦ See how carefully he lists every mark of vanity, so as to show that these very things — in which people think there is no fault at all, or only the slightest — are weighed by God with the strictest judgment.

The Sluggard Rebuked by Solomon

Solomon's proverbs on the lazy man—his neglected vineyard, his excuses, his burden on others—are marshalled to condemn sluggish and slovenly gesture as spiritual negligence.

Solomon reproves the dissolute and the sluggard, saying: I passed through the field of a lazy man, and through the vineyard of a fool, and behold, nettles had filled it all, thorns had covered its surface, and the stone wall was broken down.✦ When I had seen this, I took it to heart, and through the example I learned discipline.✦ How long will you sleep, O sluggard? How long will you refuse to rise from your sleep?✦ A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come like a runner, and your want like an armed man.✦ And again: Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and learn wisdom. Though she has no leader, no teacher, no ruler, she prepares her food in summer and gathers her harvest in winter.✦ Likewise, of the sluggard: As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.✦ And of the dissolute: The hand of the strong will rule, but the slack hand will be subject to tribute.✦ And again, of the sluggard: The sluggard wants and does not want, but the soul of those who work will be enriched.✦

Further Proverbs Against the Dissolute and the Lazy

Additional proverbs and a passage from Ecclesiasticus are cited to deepen the rebuke of dissolute and lazy behaviour, concluding that Scripture amply mocks these faults.

Again, concerning the dissolute person: Whoever is soft and dissolute in his own work is the brother of one who squanders what he does.✦ Likewise, concerning the lazy person: The lazy person hides his hand under his armpit and struggles to bring it to his mouth.✦ Likewise: Desires kill the lazy person, for his hands have refused to do any work.✦ And again: The lazy person says, 'There is a lion in the road; I shall be killed in the middle of the streets.'✦ Likewise: As a door turns on its hinge, so the lazy person turns over in bed.✦ And in the book of Ecclesiasticus, concerning the lazy, the slow, and the dissolute person, it is said: 'The lazy person will be stoned with a muddy stone, and everyone will speak of his disgrace.' The lazy person will be stoned with ox dung, and everyone who touches him will shake off his hands. There are many other things said in the Scriptures — if I wanted to list them — that serve as rebuke or mockery of these faults. But what has been said here can be enough to exhort you in the present moment.

Restlessness and the Road to Rage

Returning to Solomon's portrait of the apostate man, the author traces how restless gesture destroys inner peace and leads step by step to the fury of uncontrollable anger.

Through Solomon, a hurried or restless, agitated and turbulent bearing is once again rebuked, where, as I have already shown in the previous example, it is said of an apostate man: 'An apostate man, a useless fellow, walks with a perverse mouth, nods with his eyes, rubs with his foot, speaks with his finger, plots evil with a crooked heart, and at all times sows quarrels.'✦ Destruction will come upon such a person at once, and they will have no remedy any longer. For how near to ruin such a person is, they themselves sufficiently show by their own behavior, who through the vice of restlessness lose peace within themselves even before they meet resistance from outside. And how headlong they must be rushed is clear: if they find an occasion for rage, their own inner fickleness and impatience seize them and hurl them headlong into fury, with no one disturbing them from outside. So it is fitting that after listing the signs of inconstancy and fickleness, saying, 'He nods with his eyes, speaks with his finger, rubs with his foot,' finally he expressed the sign of rage, saying, 'At all times he sows quarrels.'✦ Because, as it is said, first through the vice of fickleness and restlessness the peace of inner tranquility is shattered, and so then the agitated mind is hurled into a pit of rage. For although what he said — 'walks with a perverse mouth, nods with his eyes, rubs with his foot, speaks with his finger' — is as much a sign of rage as of restlessness, yet this is commonly the order of ruin: that first a person, through restlessness, abandons the steadiness of gravity, and so at last breaks out all the way into the impatience of rage. This bearing — that is, hurried or restless — also has an affinity with a soft and forward manner, because fickleness sometimes points to wantonness and sometimes to impatience.

The Wanton Woman and the Call to Discipline

Solomon's vivid portrait of the restless prostitute in Proverbs 7 illustrates how wanton bearing leads to death, and the author draws the lesson that bodily discipline restrains the soul's corrupt impulses.

Restless bearing goes hand in hand with wantonness and brazenness, just as Solomon says through the prophet: Through the window of my house, through my lattice I looked out and watched among the simple ones; I observed a senseless young man passing through the streets near her corner, walking along close to her house, in the twilight, as the day faded, in the deepening darkness of night.✦ And behold, a woman meets him, dressed like a prostitute, ready to seize souls — chattering and restless, unable to keep still, not able to stay at home on her feet; now outside, now in the streets, now lurking at the corners, and she seizes the young man and kisses him, flattering him with a bold face.✦ He follows her at once, like an ox led to the slaughter, and like a frisky lamb that does not know any better — and he does not realize that a fool is being dragged toward chains, until an arrow pierces his liver; just as a bird hurries to the snare, not knowing that his very life is at stake. The ways of her house lead down to the realm of the dead, penetrating to the inner chambers of death.✦ Therefore, let no one from now on think it a small matter to leave unchecked those who, against all discipline, twist their limbs into shameful movements and disorderly gestures — because Scripture would never so severely rebuke these outward bodily motions in us unless every indecent posture and unbecoming movement of the person on the outside flowed from an inner corruption of the mind. For this reason discipline is of great value for restraining the soul's corrupt impulses: so that evil desires, held in check by the practice of discipline and kept from spilling outward, may at last grow entirely unused to rising and stirring even within. Since, then, we have described the faults of gesture, the order of our discussion requires that we now define what the standard of discipline should be in every movement of the body. Even if perhaps we cannot cover every single point, it is more profitable to say something on the subject for the reader's instruction than to stay completely silent. First, then, careful attention must be given to two things: that each member of the body keeps to its own function and does not take on what belongs to another, and second, that each one carries out its own task with such propriety and restraint that through any lack of discipline it does not offend the eyes of those watching. For a fault is committed in either case, and both deserve rebuke: whether the members confuse their proper functions with one another, or whether they fail to carry out correctly what they rightly ought to be doing.

Disorder in the Members of the Body

The author catalogs absurd and undisciplined uses of the body's members—gaping mouths, rolling eyes, affected postures—showing how each limb must keep to its proper function.

Discretion in the movements of the body must be preserved, so that each member does the task for which it was made — so that the hand does not speak, the mouth does not hear, and the eye does not take on the office of the tongue. There are certain people who cannot listen unless their mouths hang open, as if the sense were supposed to flow in through the mouth to the heart — they gape their palate toward the words of the speaker. Others (which is still worse!) … in acting or hearing, thrust out their tongue like dogs panting with thirst, and at every single action they twist their lips around as if working a millstone. Others, while speaking, extend a finger, raise their eyebrows, and roll their eyes in a circle, or fix them with a certain deep gaze, putting on a show of some inner magnificence. Others toss their head, shake out their hair, adjust their garments, and lean to the sides while stretching out their feet — fashioning a ridiculous enough display of ostentation. Others, as if both ears were not made for hearing, turn only one aside on their neck toward the voice that comes, presenting it alone. Others, striking some kind of pose I cannot name, close one eye while seeing and keep the other open.

Monstrous Gestures and the Horace Quotation

Further grotesque examples of undisciplined bearing are given—half-speech, rowing arms, monstrous combinations of human and animal movement—capped by Horace's satirical image of a painted chimera.

Others speak with half their mouth — an even greater absurdity. There are, moreover, a thousand masks, a thousand sneers and wrinklings of the nostrils, a thousand grimaces and contortions of the lips — all of which disfigure the beauty of the face and the dignity of discipline. For the face of discipline is a mirror, and the greater the care that must be given to it, the less can any fault in it be hidden. The face, therefore, must be tempered and disciplined in its expression — so that it is neither provoked into insolence nor dissolved into softness — but always holds both a firm gentleness and a gentle firmness. Others row with their arms as they walk, and — by a kind of twofold monstrosity — at one and the same time they walk downward on earth with their feet and fly upward through the air with their arms. What sort of monster is this, I ask — which fashions in itself at once the gait of a man, the rowing of a ship, and the flight of a bird? Here I am pleased to proclaim, by way of that well-known poetic sneer: 'To a human head the painter may join a horse's neck, if he wishes, and draw on feathers of every kind from limbs gathered all around — so that, shamefully, what began as a beautiful woman above ends as a dark fish below.' .

The Chimera of Undisciplined Bearing

The author reflects on the monstrous, dreamlike quality of disordered gesture, then defends his satirical tone as a necessary teaching strategy, urging the undisciplined to blush in silence.

To me, at least, this seems a truly monstrous kind of figure: . . . . . . . . Like the empty dreams of a sick person, its appearances are fashioned so that neither foot nor head is rendered to a single form. . But lest we seem to offer satire rather than teaching — since very many points of moderation still remain to be enumerated — we ought not to neglect moderation here either. Even so, perhaps by keeping silent we will better show the negligent and undisciplined how much they themselves ought to blush at these things.

Outward Bearing Reveals the Inner Soul

Citing Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, the author argues that disordered gesture always flows from prior interior corruption, and that clothing, laughter, and gait reveal the soul's true quality.

They should know, however, that there is one fault which first disrupts the inward state of the mind and afterwards disturbs the outward order of action in the limbs — just as has already been confirmed many times by the testimony of Solomon, where in the case of the apostate man, a turning away and decline of the mind is said to have come first, and afterwards the confusion and disturbance of action is recorded as having followed.✦ For in the saying 'An apostate man, a useless person,' the decline of the mind is noted; but in the saying 'He walks with a perverse mouth, scrapes with his foot, the eye winks, he speaks with his finger,' the confusion of action is demonstrated.✦ This is also the source of what is said in the book of Ecclesiasticus: 'From his appearance a person is recognized, and from the meeting of his face the wise person is recognized.' The clothing of the body, the laughter of the teeth, and the way a person walks all announce something about that person. Because clearly through what is done outwardly, whether well or poorly, the inner quality of the soul is plainly shown to the eyes of those who look on.1

The Body as Commonwealth: Each Limb in Its Place

The author proposes the organic metaphor of the body as a commonwealth, where each limb has its assigned duty, and argues that the first rule of discipline is that no member usurp another's function.

And so, to calm this disturbance, the guard of discipline must be set in place, so that it restrains each limb to its own function, and while one limb is at work, the other either remains entirely still — or, if perhaps its help is recognized as necessary to the other, it moves with its own motion to assist, fittingly and in good order.2 In this way, nothing is done in a confused or disordered manner in the body's limbs, but each one knows when it ought to come to the other's aid, and when, while another is in motion, it ought to keep itself still. The human body is, as it were, a kind of commonwealth, in which each individual limb has its own duties assigned to it. So when one limb wrongfully claims the duty of another limb for itself, what does it do but disturb the harmony of the whole? And whenever one limb hinders the movement of another by its own motion, it certainly contradicts the arrangement that nature governs. The first requirement of discipline in bearing, then, is that each limb confine its activities to the purpose for which it was created, and not confuse the service of another limb by mixing in its own.3 That is, the eyes are for seeing, the ears for hearing, the nostrils for smelling, the mouth for speaking, the hands for working, the feet for walking — so that the duties of each limb are neither swapped one for another nor thrown into disorderly confusion.4

The Second Rule: Measure and Propriety in Every Action

The author gives the second rule of discipline—that each action be done with proper measure—illustrating with concrete examples of how to laugh, look, speak, walk, sit, and lie down, and concluding that virtue holds the middle path between opposing vices.

The second discipline to observe in bodily bearing is that each member do what it does in the manner and measure proper to it — that is, neither more nor less, nor in any way other than it should. So that in every action the body may be both governed and moved in such a way that it never oversteps the boundary or the standard of propriety in any respect — that is, to prove this with just a few examples: laughing without baring the teeth.5 To look without staring fixedly; to speak without stretching out the hands or pointing with the fingers; without twisting the lips; without tossing the head; without raising the eyebrows; to walk without swaying the steps or shrugging the shoulders; to sit without spreading the legs apart, without crossing one foot over the other, without stretching or swinging the shins, without shifting from side to side; to lie down without sprawling the limbs.678 And so that I may at last bring this discussion to an end: a person's bearing in every action should be gracious without softness, composed without looseness, dignified without sluggishness, lively without restlessness, mature without insolence, and stern without turbulence.91011 A turbulent bearing corrects what is too soft, and a soft bearing corrects what is too turbulent; a shameless bearing corrects what is too lax, and a lax bearing corrects what is too shameless; a hasty bearing corrects what is too slow, and a slow bearing corrects what is too hasty — because virtue is the middle path between opposing vices.121314 Let what has been said about bodily bearing suffice for the present teaching. If, however, there are those whose hearts are so hardened that they cannot be shaped by these admonitions, they must indeed be pressed with sharper goads, so that what they refuse to do willingly, they may do even against their will.1516 For I know how difficult it is to bend a heart hardened by wickedness into the shape and standard of discipline — but when a stubborn material will not easily yield to the form, it must be subjected both to the fire of a fiercer flame and to the hammer's heavier blow.171819

Read the original Latin

Gestus est motus et figuratio membrorum corporis, ad omnem agendi et habendi modum; hic sex modis reprehensibilis invenitur, scilicet, si est aut mollis, aut dissolutus, aut tardus, aut citatus, aut procax, aut turbidus. Mollis significat lasciviam, dissolutus negligentiam, tardus pigritiam, citatus inconstantiam, procax superbiam, turbidus iracundiam. Nam quod inordinati motus corporis, corruptionem et dissolutionem indicent mentis superius jam demonstratum est; ubi Salomonis testimonio virum apostatam exterioribus indiciis aversionem animi sui promentem ostendimus. Ait enim: Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso, annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur , quia videlicet cum mens interius a custodia sui solvitur, membra foris ad omnem actum inordinate commoventur. Et velut corpus paralytici modum quidem habet, sed officia membrorum in suis actionibus servare non valet, sic iste impatientia quidem et fluctuatione mentis ad quaelibet praeceps impellitur, sed in omnibus quae agit nullo rationis moderamine gubernatur. Sed sciendum est quod in his vitiosis gestibus quidam inter se similes quodammodo esse videntur, et quemadmodum vitia de quibus nascuntur, inter se non multum discrepant, ita ipsi quoque motus exteriores quamdam inter se concordiam perversitatis observant; sicut similes sunt gestus mollis et procax, dissolutus et tardus, citatus et turbidus, quia et vitia ipsa inter se similia sunt, sicut et lascivia, et jactantia, negligentia et pigritia, inquietudo et impatientia. Propterea omnes isti inordinati gestus, quia de interioribus animae prodeunt corruptionibus, in multis Scripturarum locis graviter argui et reprehendi, inveniuntur; quae, etsi per singula enumerare non possumus, ne tamen pro nihilo rem in tantum exaggerare videamur, quaedam ex his exempli causa revolvemus. De molli et procaci gestu lasciviam et arrogantem animam Dominus per Isaim prophetam arguit, dicens: Descende, sede in pulvere, virgo filia Babylonis, sede in terra, non est solium filiae Chaldaeorum, quia ultra non vocaberis mollis et tenera.

Tolle molam, mole farinam, denuda turpitudinem tuam, discooperi humerum, revela crura, transi flumina . Et post pauca: Sede, tace, intra in tenebras, filia Chaldaeorum, quia non vocaberis ultra domina regnorum . Quae ergo descendere praecipitur, de procaci gestu et typo arrogantiae increpatur. Unde et bene subjungitur, non est solium filiae Chaldaeorum; quia saepe homo apud alios tanto magis despectus habetur, quanto magis apud seipsum per tumorem arrogantiae extollitur, ut impleatur illa sententia Veritatis qua dicitur: Omnis qui se exaltat humiliabitur, et omnis qui se humiliat exaltabitur . De quo adhuc subinfertur cum dicitur: Sede, tace, intra tenebras, filia Chaldaeorum, quia non vocaberis ultra domina regnorum . Magna etenim tunc hominem confusio sequitur, quando se ab aliis despici videt, etiam pro eo in quo ipse gloriatur. Sed quia lascivia et mollities amica est procacibus et superbis, increpata arrogantia, lasciviam etiam arguit cum subjungit: Tolle molam, mole farinam, denuda turpitudinem, discooperi humerum, revela crura, transi flumina, quia ultra non vocaberis mollis et tenera . Quam sit ergo odibilis apud Deum lascivia et procacitas, ex hoc patenter ostenditur, quod Scriptura tam districta animadversione et dejectionem arrogantibus, et asperitatem mollibus superventuram comminatur.

Hinc est rursum quod per eumdem Isaiam contra lascivos et procaces dicitur: Haec dicit Dominus: Pro eo quod elevatae sunt filiae Sion, et ambulaverunt extento collo, et nutibus oculorum ibant et plaudebant, ambulabant, et pedibus suis composito gradu incedebant, decalvabit Dominus verticem filiarum Sion . Ambulabant extento collo et nutibus oculorum, hic notatur arrogantia. Ibant et plaudebant, ambulabant, et pedibus suis composito gradu incedebant, hic notatur lascivia. Sequitur: Decalvabit Dominus filiarum Sion, haec est poena arrogantium. Et Dominus crinem earum nudabit, haec est poena lasciviorum. Et quia haec vitia luxus pretiosarum vestium sequi solet, poena quoque ejus subinfertur cum dicitur: In die illa auferet Dominus ornatum calceamentorum et lunulas, et torques, et monilia, et armillas, et mitras, et discriminalia, et periscelidas, et murenulas, et olfactoria, et inaures, et annulos, et gemmas in fronte pendentes, et mutatoria, et pallia, linteamina, et acus, et specula, et sindones, et vittas, et theristra; et erit pro suavi odore, fetor; et pro zona, funiculus; et pro crispanti crine, calvitium; et pro fascia pectorali, cilicium . Ecce quam diligenter omnia vanitatis insignia enumerat, ut haec in quibus homines nullam vel admodum parvam culpam esse putant, quam districte a Deo pensentur, ostendat.

Dissolutum et tardum Salomon arguit dicens: Per agrum hominis pigri transivi, et per vineam viri stulti, et ecce totum repleverant urticae, operuerant superficiem ejus spinae, et maceria lapidum destructa erat. Quod cum vidissem, posui in corde meo et exemplo didici disciplinam . Usquequo piger dormis, usquequo de somno non consurgis? Paululum dormies, modicum dormitabis, pauxillum manus conseres ut quiescas, et veniet quasi cursor egestas tua, et mendicitas tua quasi vir armatus . Et rursum: Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias ejus et disce prudentiam, quae, cum non habeat ducem, nec praeceptorem, nec principem, parat aestate cibum sibi, et congregat quod comedat in hieme . Item de pigro: Sicut acetum dentibus, et fumus oculis, sic piger iis qui miserunt illum . Et de dissoluto: Manus fortium dominabitur, quae autem remissa est, tributis serviet . Et iterum de pigro: Vult et non vult piger, anima autem operantium impinguabitur .

Rursum de dissoluto: Qui mollis et dissolutus est in opere suo, frater est sua opera dissipantis . Item de pigro: Abscondit piger manum suam sub ascella, et laborat si ad os suum applicuerit eam . Item: Desideria occidunt pigrum, noluerunt enim quidquam manus ejus operari . Et iterum: Dicit piger: Leo est in via, in medio platearum occidendus sum . Item: Sicut ostiam in cardine suo, sic piger vertitur in lecto . Et in libro Ecclesiastico de pigro, tardo et dissoluto dicitur: In lapide luteo lapidabitur piger, et omnes loquentur super aspernationem illius. De stercore boum lapidabitur piger, et omnis qui tetigerit eum, excutiet manus suas . Multa sunt alia si enumerare velim, quae ad increpationem, vel ad irrisionem horum in Scripturis dicuntur, de quibus haec ad exhortationem praesentem vobis dicta sufficere possunt.

Citatus vel inquietus simul et turbidus gestus per Salomonem iterum reprehenduntur, ubi, sicut jam in superiori exemplo demonstravimus, de viro apostata dicitur: Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso, annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur, pravo corde machinatur malum et omni tempore jurgia seminat . Huic extemplo veniet perditio sua, nec habebit ultra medicinam. Quam sit enim perditioni proximus, ipse sua actione satis demonstrat, qui per inquietudinis vitium in semetipso pacem perdit etiam priusquam foris obsistentem inveniat. Et quo praecipitandus sit patet, si occasionem furoris invenerit, quem nullo turbante exterius sua intus levitas et impatientia ad furorem praecipitem rapit. Unde bene postquam inconstantiae et levitatis signa enumeravit, dicens: Annuit oculis, digito loquitur, terit pede, novissime indicium furoris expressit, dicens: Omni tempore jurgia seminat. Quia, sicut dictum est, primum per levitatis vitium et inquietudinem pax internae tranquillitatis dissolvitur, ac sic deinde agitata mens in foveam furoris praecipitatur. Quamvis enim id ipsum quod dixit, graditur ore perverso, annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur, tam furoris quam inquietudinis signum sit, tamen hic esse solet ordo perditionis, ut primum homo per inquietudinem, constantiam gravitatis deserat, ac sic tandem usque ad impatientiam furoris erumpat. Habet etiam hic gestus, id est citatus sive inquietus, cum molli ac procaci affinitatem, quia levitas aliquando lasciviam, aliquando impatientiam designat.

Inquietus gestus lascivo et procaci concordat, sicut per Salomonem dicitur: De fenestra domus meae per cancellos prospexi, et video parvulos, considero vecordem juvenem, qui transit per plateas juxta angulum, et prope viam domus alienae graditur in obscuro, advesperante die, in noctis tenebris et caligine. Et ecce mulier occurrit illi ornatu meretricio, praeparata ad capiendas animas, garrula et vaga, quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis; nunc foris, nunc in plateis, nunc juxta angulos insidians, apprehensumque deosculatur juvenem, et procaci vultu blanditur . Statim eam sequitur quasi bos ad victimam, ductus, et quasi agnus lasciviens et ignorans, et nescit quod ad vincula stultus trahatur, donec transfigat sagitta jecur ejus, veluti si avis festinet ad laqueum, et nescit quia de periculo animae illius agitur; viae inferi domus ejus, penetrantes interiora mortis . Nemo ergo deinceps putet parum relinquere eos qui contra disciplinam ad turpes motus, et inordina as gesticulationes membra sua inflectunt, quia nunquam Scriptura tam severe istos exteriores corporis motus in nobis reprehenderet, nisi omnis exterioris hominis inhonesta figuratio et motio indecens, ab interiori mentis corruptione manaret. Propterea multum valet disciplina ad coercendos pravos motus animi, quatenus mala desideria dum per custodiam disciplinae stringuntur ne foras effluant, tandem aliquando etiam interius surgere ac moveri omnino desuescant. Quia igitur vitia gesticulationum descripsimus, ordo exigit, ut nunc quis sit in omni gestu modus disciplinae, definiamus, quod etsi fortasse per singula facere non possumus, magis tamen expedit aliquid inde ad eruditionem dicere, quam omnino silere. Primum ergo diligenter observandum est, ut singula membra suum teneant officium, neque usurpent alienum, deinde ut unumquodque suum opus tam decenter ac modeste impleat, quatenus per indisciplinam aspicientium oculos non offendat. Nam in quolibet horum peccetur, dignum reprehensione est, sive scilicet membra inter se actus suos confundant, sive id quod juste agere debent, recte non expleant.

Discretio actionum in membris conservanda est, ut scilicet id agat unumquodque membrum ad quod factum est, ut neque loquatur manus, neque os audiat, nec oculus linguae officium assumat. Sunt enim quidam qui nisi buccis patentibus auscultare nesciunt, et quasi per os sensus ad cor influere debeat, palatum ad verba loquentis aperiunt. Alii (quod adhuc pejus est! ) in agendo vel audiendo quasi canes sitientes linguam protendunt, et ad singulas actiones velut molam labia torquendo circumducunt. Alii loquentes digitum extendunt, supercilia erigunt, et oculos in orbem rotantes, aut profunda quadam consideratione defigentes, cujusdam intrinsecus magnificentiae conatus ostendunt. Alii caput jactant, comam excutiunt, vestimenta adaptando componunt, et latera cubitando, pedesque extendendo ridiculam satis ostentationis formam fingunt. Alii quasi ambae aures ad audiendum factae non sint, alteram tantum collo detorto voci venienti opponunt. Alii typum nescio quem figurantes, oculorum inter videndum alterum claudunt, alterum aperiunt.

Alii majori ridiculo dimidiato ore loquuntur. Sunt praeterea mille larvae, mille subsannationes et corrugationes narium, mille valgia et contortiones labiorum, quae pulchritudinem faciei et decorem disciplinae deformant. Est enim facies, disciplinae, speculum, cui tanto major custodia adhibenda est, quanto minus si quid in ea peccatum fuerit, celari potest. Temperanda est igitur facies et mortificanda in gestu suo, ita ut nec proterve exasperetur, nec molliter dissolvatur, sed semper habeat et rigidam dulcedinem, et dulcem rigorem. Alii navigant brachiis incedentes, et duplici quodam monstro, uno et eodem tempore pedibus deorsum in terra ambulant, et lacertis sursum in aere volant. Quod est quaeso monstrum hoc, quod simul in se fingit et hominis incessum, et navis remigium, et avis volatum? Libet in hoc, poeticae illius subsannationis elogio proclamare: Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam Jungere si velit, et varias inducere plumas Undique collatis membris, ut turpiter atrum Desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne. .

Certe tale mihi videtur hoc portentosae figurationis schema: . . . . . . . .

. Cujus velut aegri somnia vanae Fingentur species, ut nec pes nec caput uni Reddatur formae. . Sed ne forte satiram potius quam doctrinam edere videamur (cum plurima adhuc enumeranda supersint) modestiae hic quoque oblivisci non debemus. Etiam sic fortassis negligentibus et indisciplinatis quantum ipsi in his erubescere debeant, melius silendo ostendemus. Scire tamen debent unum esse vitium quod prius intrinsecus statum mentis dissipat, ac postmodum extrinsecus in membris ordinem actionis perturbat, sicut jam saepius memorato Salomonis testimonio comprobatum est, ubi in apostata homine prius quidem mentis aversio atque defluxio praecessisse dicitur, ac postmodum confusio atque perturbatio actionis subsecuta memoratur. In eo enim quod dicitur: Homo apostata vir inutilis , notatur defluxio mentis, in eo autem quod dicitur, graditur ore perverso, terit pede, annuit oculus, digito loquitur , demonstratur confusio actionis. Hinc etiam est illud quod dicitur in libro Ecclesiastici Ex visu cognoscitur vir, et ab occursu faciei cognoscitur sensatus.

Amictus corporis et risus dentium et ingressus hominis enuntiant de illo . Quia videlicet per illud, quod foris sive bene sive male agitur, interior animi qualitas intuentium oculis patenter indicatur. Et idcirco oportet ut ad hanc perturbationem sedandam custodia disciplinae opponatur, quae unumquodque membrum ad suum officium restringat, quatenus dum alterum membrum operatur, alterum aut omnino quietum maneat, aut si forte ejus opera illi necessaria esse cognoscitur, suo motu ad cooperandum illi decenter et ordinate moveatur. Ita ut nihil confuse, nihil praeposterum in membris corporis agatur, sed ut sciat utrumquodque in quo alteri debeat succurrere, et in quo dum aliud movetur, se debeat quietum custodire. Est enim quasi quaedam respublica corpus humanum, in quo singulis membris sua officia distributa sunt. Dum ergo unum membrum alterius membri officium inordinate sibi vindicat, quid aliud quam concordiam universitatis perturbat? Cumque aliud suo motu alterius motum impedit, certe illi quam natura moderatur, dispositioni contradicit. Prima igitur est custodia disciplinae in gestu, ut unumquodque membrum in eo ad quod creatum est officia se contineat, neque alterius membri ministerium sui admistione confundat.

Id est, ut oculi videant, aures audiant, nares olfaciant, os loquatur, manus operentur, pedes ambulent, quatenus neque transmutentur officia membrorum neque inordinate permisceantur.

Secunda est custodia disciplinae in gestu, ut unumquodque membrum id quod facit, eo modo atque mensura faciat quo faciendum est, id est nec plus nec minus, nec aliter quam oportet, faciat. Quatenus in actu suo sic et dirigatur et moveatur, ut in nulla unquam parte temperantiae limitem aut formam honestatis excedat, hoc est (ut id paucis exemplis probemus) ridere sine apertione dentium. videre sine defixione oculorum, loqui sine extensione manuum et intentatione digitorum, sine contorsione labiorum, sine jactatione capitis, sine elevatione superciliorum; incedere sine modulatione gressuum, sine gesticulatione scapularum; sedere sine divaricatione crurum, sine alterutra superjectione pedum, sine extensione vel agitatione tibiarum, sine alterna accubitatione laterum, jacere sine disjectione membrorum. Et ut tandem de hac parte finem loquendi faciamus, gestus hominis in omni actu esse debet gratiosus sine mollitie, quietus sine dissolutione, gravis sine tarditate, alacer sine inquietudine, maturus sine protervia, et sine turbulentia severus. Mollem gestum temperat turbidus, et turbidum mollis, dissolutum procax, procacem dissolutus, citatus tardum, et tardus citatum, quia inter vitia contraria medius limes virtus est. Haec de gestu ad praesentem doctrinam dicta sufficiant. Si qui vero tam duri cordis fuerint, ut his admonitionibus informari nequeant, illos quidem acrioribus stimulis urgeri oportet, ut quod sponte facere nolunt, faciant vel inviti. Scio enim quam difficile sit, cor malitia induratum ad formam disciplinae et speciem honestatis incurvare, sed necesse est ut dura materia cum facile ad formam non flectitur, ei et acrioris flammae incendium et mallei gravioris tunsio adhibeatur.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Isa.47.2 — Take the millstones and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off your robe, bare your legs, and cross the rivers.
  2. ↩Isa.47.1-Isa.47.5 — Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called tender and delicate. Isa.47.2 — Take the millstones and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off your robe, bare your legs, and cross the rivers. Isa.47.3 — Your nakedness will be uncovered, and your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, and I will not spare anyone. Isa.47.4 — Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Isa.47.5 — Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
  3. ↩Luke.14.11;Matt.23.12 — For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Matt.23.12 — Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
  4. ↩Isa.47.1 — Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called tender and delicate.
  5. ↩Isa.47.1-Isa.47.5 — Come down and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called tender and delicate. Isa.47.2 — Take the millstones and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off your robe, bare your legs, and cross the rivers. Isa.47.3 — Your nakedness will be uncovered, and your shame will be seen; I will take vengeance, and I will not spare anyone. Isa.47.4 — Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Isa.47.5 — Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
  6. ↩Isa.47.2 — Take the millstones and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off your robe, bare your legs, and cross the rivers.
  7. ↩Isa.3.16-Isa.3.17 — And the LORD said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet, Isa.3.17 — And the Lord will strike the scalps of the daughters of Zion with sores, and Yahweh will lay bare their private parts.
  8. ↩Isa.3.18-Isa.3.24 — In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents— Isa.3.19 — the pendants, the charms, and the veils Isa.3.20 — the headdresses, the ankle chains, the sashes, the amulets, and the charms Isa.3.21 — the rings and the nose-rings, Isa.3.22 — the robes, the capes, the cloaks, and the purses Isa.3.23 — and the mirrors, and the linen garments, and the turbans, and the veils, Isa.3.24 — And instead of perfume there will be rot, and instead of a sash a rope, and instead of braided hair baldness, and instead of a fine robe a sackcloth wrapping — for beauty will be ashes.
  9. ↩Prov.24.30-Prov.24.31 — I passed by the field of a sluggard, and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, Prov.24.31 — And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; its face was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.
  10. ↩Prov.24.32 — Then I saw, I gave my heart attention; I looked, I took correction to heart.
  11. ↩Prov.6.9 — How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?
  12. ↩Prov.6.10-Prov.6.11 — A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down Prov.6.11 — So will your poverty come like a robber, and your want like an armed man.
  13. ↩Prov.6.6-Prov.6.8 — Go to the ant, you lazy one; observe her ways and become wise. Prov.6.7 — which has no commander, officer, or ruler— Prov.6.8 — It prepares its bread in summer; it gathers its food at harvest.
  14. ↩Prov.10.26 — Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy one to those who send him.
  15. ↩Prov.12.24 — The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slacker will become forced labor.
  16. ↩Prov.13.4 — The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
  17. ↩Prov.24.30-Prov.24.34 — I passed by the field of a sluggard, and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, Prov.24.31 — And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; its face was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Prov.24.32 — Then I saw, I gave my heart attention; I looked, I took correction to heart. Prov.24.33 — A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down. Prov.24.34 — and so your poverty comes like a prowler, and your want like an armed man
  18. ↩Prov.26.15 — The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
  19. ↩Prov.13.4;Prov.21.25 — The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Prov.21.25 — The desire of the sluggard will be his death, for his hands refuse to work.
  20. ↩Prov.22.13;Prov.26.13 — The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the public squares." Prov.26.13 — The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open squares!"
  21. ↩Prov.26.14 — As a door turns on its hinge, so a sluggard turns on his bed.
  22. ↩Prov.6.12-Prov.6.14 — A worthless man, a man of iniquity, goes about with a crooked mouth. Prov.6.13 — who winks with his eye, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers Prov.6.14 — Perversity is in his heart; he plots evil continually; he sows discord.
  23. ↩Prov.6.12-Prov.6.14 — A worthless man, a man of iniquity, goes about with a crooked mouth. Prov.6.13 — who winks with his eye, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers Prov.6.14 — Perversity is in his heart; he plots evil continually; he sows discord.
  24. ↩Prov.7.6-Prov.7.10 — For at the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked out Prov.7.7 — And I looked among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths a young man lacking sense, Prov.7.8 — passing through the street near her corner, and the path of her house he walks Prov.7.9 — In the twilight, in the evening, at the dark of night and in the gloom. Prov.7.10 — And behold, a woman comes to meet him, dressed as a prostitute, with a guarded heart.
  25. ↩Prov.7.11-Prov.7.13 — She is loud and defiant; in her house her feet never rest. Prov.7.12 — Now in the street, now in the squares, and beside every corner she lies in wait. Prov.7.13 — She seizes him and kisses him; with a brazen face she says to him,
  26. ↩Prov.7.22-Prov.7.23 — He goes after her suddenly, as an ox goes to the slaughter, and as a fool to the stocks for correction— Prov.7.23 — until an arrow pierces his liver, as a bird rushes into a snare — and he does not know that it is at the cost of his own life.
  27. ↩Prov.6.12-Prov.6.13 — A worthless man, a man of iniquity, goes about with a crooked mouth. Prov.6.13 — who winks with his eye, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers
  28. ↩Prov.6.12-Prov.6.13 — A worthless man, a man of iniquity, goes about with a crooked mouth. Prov.6.13 — who winks with his eye, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers

Notes

  1. 1 ↩animi rendered as 'soul' per lexeme policy (anima/animus → soul for the interior person before God); here animi is the genitive of animus in the sense of the inner mind or soul.
  2. 2 ↩opera (nom. sg.) and operatur (verb) are from the same root but function differently; 'help' captures opera here as 'assistance' rather than 'work' to avoid confusion with operatur ('works/operates').
  3. 3 ↩admistione (abl. sg.) rendered as 'mixing in' to capture the sense of interference or improper blending; the word is rare and the gloss is uncertain.
  4. 4 ↩The Latin ut introduces a comparative statement of natural function ('just as the eyes see…'), while quatenus introduces the purpose clause ('so that…'). The neque…neque construction ('neither…nor') binds the two prohibitions together: duties must not be exchanged between limbs, nor must they be mingled in disorder.
  5. 5 ↩temperantiae rendered as 'propriety' rather than 'temperance' to capture the broader sense of honestas/decorum in bodily conduct, not the cardinal virtue specifically.
  6. 6 ↩defixione oculorum rendered 'staring fixedly' — the Latin suggests an unbroken, locked gaze; 'staring' captures the excess.
  7. 7 ↩alterutra superjectione pedum rendered 'crossing one foot over the other' — literally 'throwing one foot over the other,' a posture of casual indiscipline.
  8. 8 ↩tibiarum rendered 'shins' (tibiae); 'shins' chosen over 'legs' to avoid redundancy with crura (legs) earlier and to specify the lower leg's restless motion.
  9. 9 ↩gestus rendered 'bearing' rather than 'gesture' to encompass the whole outward demeanor, not merely hand or arm movements.
  10. 10 ↩gratiosus rendered 'gracious' — carrying the sense of pleasing, winning propriety rather than mere elegance.
  11. 11 ↩protervia rendered 'insolence' — the Latin suggests forwardness, impudence; 'insolence' captures the vice of premature boldness.
  12. 12 ↩The medius limes virtus est formulation echoes the Aristotelian mean transmitted through Christian moral theology; rendered plainly to preserve the structural parallel.
  13. 13 ↩procax rendered 'shameless' — the Latin carries a sense of impudent boldness; 'shameless' chosen to contrast with dissolutus (lax/loose).
  14. 14 ↩citatus rendered 'hasty' and tardus 'slow' — the pair captures the vice of restless haste versus sluggish delay.
  15. 15 ↩acrioribus stimulis rendered 'sharper goads' — the metaphor is physical (goads, spurs); retained as a vivid image of coercive discipline.
  16. 16 ↩informari rendered 'shaped' — literally 'formed'; chosen to echo the formam/ad formam language earlier in the chapter.
  17. 17 ↩The metallurgical metaphor (flamma, malleus, tunsio) for coercive correction is vivid and concrete; rendered literally to preserve its force.
  18. 18 ↩incurvare rendered 'bend' — literally 'curve'; 'bend' captures the sense of forcing a rigid object into shape.
  19. 19 ↩dura materia rendered 'stubborn material' — the metaphor shifts from the heart to raw material being worked; 'stubborn' conveys the resistance.

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