LXXI. De ignavia.

LXXI. De ignavia.

But the fifth image reveals laziness, which is followed here by a sordid dullness, just as small worms sprout from the earth; because once a hardened man seeks nothing good, he turns to laziness; so that he desires nothing more of honor, nothing more of holiness, but remains tedious and forgetful of all goodness, and does not want to oppose his vices, but draws them to himself through laziness. The creature has a head like a pig, except that its left ear is like the ear of a hare, but it is so large that it completely covers its head; for foolish people think themselves to be virtuous in their ignorance, in which they also love idleness, and they do not provide good things for themselves, but turning to evil gossip, they lazily cling to whispers and slanders; they are so engrossed in these that they darken every intention of their heart with wickedness. However, the remaining part of his body is likened to a worm that lacks bones, lying coiled in its little cave, like an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes. This means that through this same vice, lazy and slothful people turn their trust, which they should have in God's help and in the support of others, toward the filth of their own pleasures, like an unclean worm. They rely more on the softness of their own garments than on divine strength, entering into the hidden thoughts of their minds and wrapping themselves in folly, so that they cannot rise to any goodness of virtue, but remain lazily in the torpor of negligence and foolishness, as that same vice demonstrates in their speech above.