XXXVII. De inani gloria.

XXXVII. De inani gloria.

But the third image declares vain glory, which here follows envy, because it is the companion of the restlessness of foreign things; for when people envy the progress of others, they desire to boast in themselves. This has the form of a human being, because it exists in desires and carnal cravings; except that its hands are hairy, since the works that should direct rational thought toward understanding are turned to bestial actions; and its legs and feet are like those of a crane, because it stretches its feet toward the empty choices in the devil's objections, placing its footprints inconstant; where it aims for a vain height without the virtue of good deeds, leading to foolish irrationality, rather than to right and true wisdom, in those who imitate it. Therefore, he wears a cap made from the grass of the field on his head, because those who pursue vain glory in their minds worship earthly and fleeting honors, which now flourish only briefly, while they are clothed in the dryness of withered grass. And the same person is clothed in a black garment, because the same vice is not present in life, but is surrounded by the darkness of unfaithfulness in the sleep of death. But when a man holds a green branch in his right hand and some flowers in his left, which he inspects with great diligence, this is what people do: they show off their empty glory through spiritual works, as if they possess a certain vitality in the heavens, but they do so in vain through their boastful display. Sometimes they demonstrate secular works, as if they flourish in earthly matters due to their own goodness, for the sake of worldly favor; and they place their intention in all these things, because they desire to boast in their prayers through the vanity of their boasting, just as the same flaw is declared in their speech above. But it shows that it is detestable to be so, and it reveals that it is a disgraceful thing.