XXXIII. De avaritia.

XXXIII. De avaritia.

The fourth image reveals greed, and after wrongdoing, it becomes a burden, because this is a task and a full work of that person, and also the service of idols, which is the belly of the Devil, remains unfulfilled, since it cannot accomplish any purpose according to its own will. What appears in a person's face shows that they desire earthly things and not heavenly ones, except that they lack hair on their head, because they exercise no integrity in their will. And the man has a beard like a goat, because he loves filth for his own decoration; and he has small pupils and a wide whiteness in his eyes, because he does not rejoice in the prosperity of others, but shows a horrible envy in his intentions. And he draws in the air strongly through his nostrils and exhales, because with an indiscreet desire he lifts up worldly cravings, as much as he can, within himself, and then leads them again toward greater things to acquire; indeed, he is concerned to receive much from little, and great things from small. His hands are like iron, because his actions inflict many harsh and cruel injustices; and his legs are bloody, since he sheds blood to satisfy his own desires, killing people for his own interests; and his feet are like those of a lion, directing all his paths toward ferocity and plunder, sparing no one whenever he finds something to seize. But she is clothed in a tunic woven with white and black threads, because she draws to herself all the wealth she can, whether acquired justly or unjustly, without asking anyone where it comes from or whose it is; it seems to be constricted above, but below, around the legs, it is loosened in width, because it sometimes shows a pretense of holding back from the plunder of spiritual men for the sake of heavenly reward, while among the worldly, who bear earthly concerns, it expands its ample folds for plundering in its estimation. And on his chest, a dark-colored face appears, because his voracity for various plunders nurtures the darkness of his gluttony; he digs his feet into that very chest, for he directs his paths according to the will of his conscience, doing whatever he desires. But he turns his back and tail toward the same image, because he extends his strength and fulfillment of his iniquities toward greed, laboring in every way for it. But the tree stands before it, whose roots dig into hell, and whose fruits are pine and sulfurous apples; this is what greed demonstrates to the hearts of unfaithful men, as it is immersed with all its strength in destruction, producing the fruit of pollution and the foul odor of the most wicked cares; where nothing heavenly is contemplated, but only earthly things are always meditated upon. And this tree is diligently observed by the same image, which eagerly devours its fruit with its mouth, because it cleverly inspects the foolish concerns that greed generates, grasping at those things that produce this in earthly matters, and it comprehends them with a biting gap, drawing them into itself without moderation. People who serve this vice are never secure, nor do they trust in God, but instead they immerse themselves entirely in difficult matters with great fervor. From this, it is surrounded by many horrible worms, because greed is surrounded by unspeakable and monstrous diabolical arts; they make much noise and great movement in the aforementioned darkness, because by the strength and completion of their iniquity, they stir up many clamor and immense anxieties in the darkness of infidelity, since they allow no one to enjoy their own possessions in peace; and they also act through wicked men, just as fish stir the water with the blows of their tails, namely when in them the perversion of wicked deeds is strengthened and completed, disturbing the purity of good knowledge in blessed people, so that they take away what belongs to them and stubbornly gather it for themselves, just as the same vice manifests in its speech above. To those who resist with pure sufficiency, it confidently warns that if they insolently cling to greed, they will incur the bitterness of harsh misfortune; just as Jeremiah testifies about this vice concerning those who pursue it.