LXXII. De ira.

LXXII. De ira.

The sixth image indeed proclaims anger, which is related to laziness; because laziness deserves disgrace, through which the fire of anger is kindled, to ignite and consume those disgraces. The face of a person reflects anger, because anger arises in a person from knowing evil; except that their mouth is like the mouth of a scorpion, for it hisses murder, as the sting of death is like poison, and it draws out a whiteness from the eyes more than the pupils, because anger produces a pestilence of fury in its intention more than the straightness of tranquility, where a person neither considers themselves nor others; but overturning justice, as if they were blind, they unleash storms of fury. His arms are like the arms of a man, because the power of anger, without the fear of God, is associated with human authority in the knowledge of evil. The devil had an opinion in his malice when he wanted to do what he could not accomplish; however, a person perfects his own wickedness by thinking, considering, and acting, so that it clearly appears. But irrational animals sometimes inflict harm on others, because they lack knowledge of their actions; sometimes, however, they prevent harm, fearing that they might be hurt; and sometimes, indeed, others invade out of their own hunger and consume what they find. Yet a person, both loving himself and hating himself in the malice of his anger, tears himself apart, and often returns evil for good to the one who does good to him. But his hands are curved with long claws, because all his works are bent and stretched out toward greed, through which he also tears apart the works of others in great madness. But the chest, belly, and back are like a cancer, because a person, through anger, does not count the time of peace, the law, or the rightly established institutions in the dwelling of their knowledge; instead, all these things dissipate their stability. They do not even nourish themselves with spiritual food because of rage or the impulse of irritations they harbor within. They do not burden themselves with God's commandments; rather, they cast aside all that is just, right, and moderate, along with the gentleness of fitting causes. They do this through the wrinkles of bad changes and by walking backward toward the Devil, like a cancer, going in reverse. But the legs are like those of a locust, and the feet like those of a viper, because in their legs they show vain glory, and in their gait they reveal envy, since in the vain glory of pride they leap over all justice, and in envy they tear apart whatever they can seize. But what is entangled in the standing wheel of the mill is this: it does not move along a straight path, but rests in its own will, because it follows nothing other than its own heart; so that with its hands it holds the upper spokes of the same wheel, and with its feet it stands on the lower spokes, since its actions boldly fulfill the exaltation of its own free will, where it even places its footprints in what is worse in that same freedom; because it always tends not to justice, but to iniquity. He has no hair on his head because anger strips away the mind of a person of all honor, good reputation, and salvation, so that even in his anger, a person cannot see what is good and just. Therefore, she is completely bare in body because she does not put on the garment of correction for herself, but even in her fury, which is a sign of her own weakness, she sometimes reveals it. Therefore, a man emits burning and sparkling words from his mouth like sparks, because he speaks with a voice full of wrath and vindictiveness; when he is stirred to anger, he forgets even God, as if he were declaring the same fault in his previous words. Divine patience rebukes him for his furious stubbornness; just as Jacob spoke to his two sons, who had committed a massacre in their rage, saying: