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← Menosprecio de Corte y Alabanza de Aldea (Contempt of Court and Praise of Village)/Book 1 · Menosprecio de corte y alabanza de aldea
Chapter 21MenosprAldea.1.21

Capítulo XX: JE CÓMO EL AUCTOR SE DESPIDE DEL MUNDO CON MUY DELICADAS PALABRAS ES CAPÍTULO MUY NOTABLE.

The Deception of the World

The author begins a rhythmic, repetitive farewell to the world, exposing its inherent instability and the deceptive nature of court life.

Goodbye, world! for there's no trusting you, and no time to enjoy you; because in your house, O world, the past is already gone, the present slips through our hands, what's still to come has not even begun, what's firmest falls of itself, what's strongest breaks very quickly, and even what's most lasting soon ends—so that you're more dead than a dead man, and in a hundred years of life you don't let us live one hour.1 Goodbye, world! You seize and don't let go, you bind and don't loosen, you wound and don't console, you rob and don't restore, you unsettle and don't make peace, you dishonor and don't soothe, you accuse without grounds and pass sentence without hearing both sides; so that in your house, world,2 you kill us without sentencing us, and they bury us before we've even died.3 Goodbye, world! In you, there is no joy without sudden alarm, no peace without discord, no love without suspicion, no rest without fear, no abundance without want, no honor without stain, no wealth without a troubled conscience, no position without complaint, and no friendship without malice.4 Goodbye, world! for in your palace they promise only so as not to give, serve only so as not to pay, invite only to deceive, work only so as never to rest, flatter only to kill, raise only to cast down, laugh only to bite, help only to overthrow, take only so as not to give, lend only to take it back at once, and they even honor only to defame and punish without forgiving. Farewell, world! In your house, they cast down the favorites and raise up the disgraced; they pay traitors and sideline the loyal; they honor the infamous and defame the famous; they stir up the peaceful and give free rein to the restless; they plunder those who have nothing and give even more to those who already have; they free the malicious and condemn the innocent; they dismiss the wisest and put the greatest fool on the payroll; they trust the simple-minded and avoid the shrewd. In the end, everyone there does whatever they want, and very few do what they ought.56 Farewell, world! In your palace, no one is called by their true name: they call the reckless brave; the coward, reserved; the pushy, diligent; the careless, peaceful; the spendthrift, magnanimous; the stingy, modest; the talker, eloquent; the fool, quiet; the dissolute, a lover; the honest man, cold; the meddler, courtly; the vengeful, a man of honor; the timid, long-suffering; the malicious, simple; and the simple man, a fool. So you sell us, O world,78 the wrong side for the right, and the right side for the wrong.9 Farewell, world! You keep the whole world deceived: you promise honors to the ambitious; changes of place to the restless; court favor to the malicious; offices to the lazy; treasures to the greedy; delicacies to the gluttonous; pleasures to the carnal; revenge to enemies; secrecy to thieves; rest to the old; time to the young; and even security to your favorites.1011 Farewell, world! In your palace, they don't know how to hold to the truth or keep faith; because you leave some sleepless, others drowsy, others stunned, others gaping like fools, others out of their senses, others led astray, others desperate, others brooding, others agitated, others stupefied, others disgraced, and all of them together struck with dread.

The Inversion of Values

The author details how the court inverts moral order, causing suffering, vice, and physical decay for all who participate in it.

Goodbye, world! Because in your company, the one who hits the mark only gets more lost; the one who finds you is worse off; the one who speaks to you is more shamed; the one who follows you goes further astray; the one who serves you is worse paid; the one who loves you is treated worse; the one who pleases you only grows more discontented; the one who flatters you is more wounded; the one highest in favor is most cast aside; and the one who trusts in you is most deceived.12 Goodbye, world! For with you, neither gifts they give you, nor services they do you, nor flatteries they speak to you, nor favors they promise you, nor paths they follow after you, nor loyalty they keep for you, nor even friendship they hold for you, do any good.13 Goodbye, world! For in your palace you deceive everyone, cast everyone down, defame everyone, kick everyone, punish everyone, wound everyone, trample everyone, threaten everyone, put everyone on the edge of ruin, hurl everyone down, drag everyone through the mud, finish everyone off—and even forget everyone.14 Goodbye, world! for in your company everyone laments, everyone sighs, everyone sobs, everyone cries out, everyone weeps, everyone complains, everyone tears their hair, and everyone even wastes away. Goodbye, world! for in your house we learn nothing but to hate until we kill, to speak until we lie, to love until we despair, to eat until we belch, to drink until we vomit, to deal until we steal, to court until we deceive, to argue until we quarrel, and even to sin until we die.15 Goodbye, world! for in following after you, infancy passes us by in forgetfulness, childhood in experiments, youth in vices, manhood in cares, old age in complaints, and even time itself in vain hopes. Goodbye, world! for from your palace one comes out with the head loaded with gray hair, the eyes with rheum, the ears with deafness, the nose with catarrh, the brow with wrinkles, the feet with gout, the thighs with sciatica, the stomach with humors, the body with pains, and even the heart with cares. Goodbye, world! for in your palace no one wants to be good, which is perfectly clear from this: every day they cast traitors into wells, drag highwaymen, behead murderers, burn heretics, take a fifth from perjurers, banish troublemakers, gag blasphemers, nail up the unruly, hang thieves, and even quarter them—window-watching, writing letters, dealing with procuresses, playing dice, retelling their neighbors' lives, going to law with their neighbors, spreading news, inventing lies, hunting gifts, and inventing new vices.1617

The Universal Discontent

A meditation on the inescapable misery and lack of peace found in worldly pursuits, regardless of one's station or efforts.

Goodbye, world! for in your house I see no one content; because if a man is poor, he wants to have; if he is rich, he wants to count for more; if he is cast down, he wants to rise; if he is forgotten, he wants to get ahead; if he is weak, he wants power; if he is insulted, he wants revenge; if he is a court favorite, he wants to hold his place; if he is ambitious, he wants to command; if he is greedy, he wants to expand; and if he is vicious, he wants to take his ease.18 Goodbye, world! for in you nothing is fixed or secure; because lightning splits the castle keeps, floods carry off the mills, mange harms the herds, the borer eats the trees, the locust lays waste the grain, the aphid ravages the vineyards, the woodworm guts the timber, the drones strip the hives, and even vexations kill men.19 Goodbye, world! for in your palace there is no one who wishes well to another; because the ounce fights with the lion, the rhinoceros fights with the crocodile, the eagle with the ostrich, the elephant with the minotaur, the gyrfalcon…20 Goodbye, world! for in your house there is nothing that does not give us pain; because the earth opens under us, water drowns us, fire burns us, the air unbalances us, winter drives us into corners, summer oppresses us, dogs bite us, cats scratch us, spiders poison us, mosquitoes sting us, flies pester us, fleas wake us, bedbugs annoy us, and above all, cares keep us from sleep.21 Goodbye, world! , for no one can travel safely through your land; because at every step they meet stones to stumble on, bridges to fall from, streams to drown in, hills to wear them out, thunder to frighten us, thieves to strip us, companions to mock us, snows to hold us up, lightning bolts to kill us, mud to dirty us, tolls that extort us, innkeepers who cheat us, and even roadside tavern-keepers who rob us.22 Goodbye, world! , for in your house, if there is no contented man, there is no healthy one either; because some have buboes, others scabies, others ringworm, others cancer, others gout, others sciatica, others the stone, others flank pain, others the quartan fever, others palsy, others asthma, and still others madness.232425 Goodbye, world! In your palace, no one does what another does; if one sings, the person beside them weeps; if one laughs, the person beside them sighs; if one eats, the person beside them fasts; if one sleeps, the person beside them keeps watch; if one speaks, the person beside them is silent; if one walks about, the person beside them rests; if one plays, the person beside them watches; and even if one is born, someone a wall and a half away dies.26 Goodbye, world! There isn't a servant in your palace who isn't marked by some defect; if they are tall, they tend to be hunchbacked; if they have a good face, they are cross-eyed; if they have a fine forehead, they are narrow at the temples; if they have a good mouth, they are missing teeth; if they have fine hands, they have bad hair; if they have a good voice, they speak a little through their nose; if they are nimble, they are also deaf; if they are sturdy, they are a little lame; and even if they are red-haired, they don't escape being malicious.2728 Stay behind—goodbye, world! In your palace, no one lives the same way as anyone else; some follow the court, others sail the sea, others wander through fairs, others plow fields, others fish in rivers, others serve lords, others travel roads, others learn trades, others govern kingdoms, and still others rob towns. Stay behind—goodbye, world! for in your house they are neither alike in living nor in dying either; because some die as children, others as young men, others as old men, others hanged, others drowned, others quartered, others cast from cliffs, others of hunger, others of surfeit, others while speaking, others while sleeping, others prepared, others unprepared, others speared, and still others poisoned.29 Stay behind—goodbye, world! In your palace, people don't resemble one another in disposition, and even less in their company; if one is wise, another is a fool; if one is sharp, another is dull; if one is skillful, another is crude; if one is bold, another is a coward; if one is quiet, another is loose-lipped; if one is patient, another is restless; and even if one is sane, another is mad.3031 Stay behind—goodbye, world!32 for there is no one who can live with you, and still less take hold of you; because if I eat little, I'm thin and weak, and if much, I go about puffed up; if I walk, I tire; if I stay still, I grow numb; if I give little, they call me stingy, and if much, a spendthrift; if I'm alone, I grow fearful, and if in company, I'm bothered; if I visit often, they take it as importunity, and if only now and then, as presumption.3334

Final Renunciation

The author concludes his critique with a definitive rejection of worldly hope and a formal colophon marking the end of his work.

If I put up with insults, they say it's cowardice, and if I avenge them, they say it's cruelty; if I have friends, they pester me, and if I have enemies, they persecute me; if I always stay in one place, I grow sick of it, and if I move to another, I get irritated; in the end, I say they force on me what I hate, and what I love I cannot reach. O unclean world!35 I who was once worldly adjure you, world; I summon you, world; I beg you, world; and I declare against you, world: have no more share in me, for I no longer want anything from you, nor do I want to hope in you any longer—for you know my resolution, and it is this:36 I've put an end to my cares; hope and fortune, farewell. Here ends the book titled Contempt of Court and Praise of the Village, written by the illustrious lord Don37 Antonio de Guevara, Bishop of Mondoñedo, Preacher, Chronicler, and member of His Majesty's Council, in which many excellent teachings are set forth for men who love the quiet of their homes and hate the bustle of the courts. It was printed in the very loyal and most noble town of Valladolid by the work of the honorable printer Juan de Villaquirán, on the eighteenth of June. In the year 1539.

Read the original Latin

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues no hay que fiar de ti ni tiempo para gozar de ti; porque en tu casa, jo mundol, lo passado ya passó, lo presente entre las manos se passa, lo por venir aun no comiença, lo más firme ello se cae, lo más recio muy presto quiebra y aun lo más perpetuo luego fenesce; por manera que eres más defuncto que un defuncto y que en cien años de vida no nos dexas bivir una hora. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues prendes y no sueltas, atas y no afloxas, lastimas y no consuelas, robas y no restituyes, alteras y no pacificas, deshonras y no halagas, acussas sin que ayas que xes y sentencias sin oyr partes; por manera que en tu casa, ¡o mundo! , nos matas sin sentenciar y nos entierran sin nos morir. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en ti ni cabe ti no ay gozo sin sobresalto, no ay paz sin discordia, no ay amor sin sospecha, no ay reposo sin miedo, no ay abundancia sin falta, no ay honra sin mácula, no ay hazienda ain consciencia, ni aun ay estado sin quexa ni amistad sin malicia. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo!

, pues en tu palacio prometen para no dar, sirven a no pagar, convidan para engañar, trabajan para no descansar, halagan para matar, subliman para abatir, ríen para morder, ayudan para derrocar, toman para no dar, prestan a luego tornar y aun honran para infamar y castigan sin perdonar. ¡Quédate adiós, mundol, pues en tu casa abaten a los privados y subliman a los abatidos, pagan a los traidores y arrinconan a los leales, honran a los infames e infaman a los famosos, alborotan a los pacíficos y dan rienda a los bulliciosos, saquean a los que no tienen y dan más a los que tienen, libran al malicioso y condenan al inocente, despiden al más sabio y dan salario al que es más nescio, confíanse de los simples y recátanse de los avisados; finalmente, allí hazen todos todo lo que quieren y muy pocos lo que deven. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu palacio a nadie llaman por su nombre propio: porque al temerario llaman esforçado; al cobarde, recogido; al importuno, diligente; al desouydado, pacífico; al pródigo, magnánimo; al egcaso, modesto; al hablador, eloqüente; al nescio, callado; al dissoluto, enamorado; al honesto, frío; al entremetido, cortesano; al vindicativo, honroso; al apocado, suffrido, y al malicioso, simple, y al simple, nescio; por manera que nos vendes, jo mundo! , el envés por revés y el revés por envés. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues traes a todo el mundo engañado, es a saber: que a los ambiciosos prometes honras; a los inquietos, mudanças; a los malignos, privanças; a los floxos, officios; a los codicio- gos, tesoros; a los voraces, regalos; a los carnales, dele ytes; a los enemigos, venganças; a los ladrones, secreto; a los viejos, reposo; a los mancebos, tiempo, y aun a los privados, seguro. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo!

, pues en tu palacio ni saben guardar verdad ni mantener fidelidad; porque a unos traes desvelados, a otros amodorridos, a otros atónitos, a otros embobescidos, a otros desatinados, a otros descaminados, a otros desesperados, a otros pensativos, a otros alterados, a otros abobados, a otros affrentados, y a todos juntos assombrados.

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu compañía el que acierta va más perdido, el que te halla es peor librado, el que te habla es más affrentado, el que te sigue va más descaminado, el que te sirve es peor pagado, el que te ama es peor tratado, el que te contenta va más descontento, el que te halaga es más lastimado, el que más priva es más desprivado y el que en ti fía es más engañado. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues para contigo ni aprovechan dones que te den, servicios que te hagan, lisonjas que te digan, regalos que te prometan, caminos que te sigan, fidelidad que te guarden ni aun amistad que te tengan. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu palacio a todos engañas, a todos derruecas, a todos infamas, a todos acozeas, a todos castigas, a todos lastimas, a todos tropellas, a todos amenszas, a todos enriscas, a todos despeñas, a todos enlodas, a todos acabas y aun a todos olvidas.

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu compañía todos lamentan, todos sospiran, todos sollozcan, todos gritan, todos lloran, todos se quexan, todos se messan y aun todos se acaban. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu casa no aprendemos sino & aborrescer hasta matar, hablar hasta mentir, amar hasta desesperar, comer hasta regoldar, bever hasta revessar, tratar hasta robar, requestar hasta engañar, porfiar hasta reñir y aun pecar hasta morir. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues andando empos de ti la infancia se nos passa en olvido, la puericia en experiencias, la juventud en vicios, la viril edad en cuydados, la senectud en quexas y aun el tiempo en vanas esperanças. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues de tu palacio sale la cabeça cargada de canas, los ojos de lagañas, las orejas de sordedad, las narizes de reuma , la frente de arrugas, los pies de gota, los muslos de ciática, el estómago de humores, el cuerpo de dolores y aun el coraçón de cuydados.

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu palacio ninguno quiere ser bueno, lo qual paresce muy claro en que cada día empozan traydores, arrastran salteadores, degüellan homicianos, queman hereges, quintan a perjuros, destierran a bulliciosos, enmordazan a blasfemos, enclavan a traviesos, ahorcan a ladrones y aun quartean ventanas, escrevir cartas, tratar con las alcahuetas, jugar a los dados, relatar vidas de próximos, pleytear con los vezinos, contar nuevas, fingir mentiras, buscar regalos e inventar vicios nuevos.

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues que en tu casa a ninguno veo contento; porque si es pobre, querría tener; si es rico, querría valer; si es abatido, querría subir; si es olvidado, querría medrar; si es flaco, querría poder; si es injuriado, querríase vengar; si es privado, querría permanescer; si es ambicioso, querría mandar; si es codicioso, querría se estender, y si es vicioso, querría se holgar. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en ti no ay cosa fixa ni segura; porque a los homenajes hienden los rayos, a los molinos llevan las crescientes, a los ganados daña la roña, a los árboles come el coco, a los panes tala la langoste, a las viñías taça el pulgón, a la madera desentraña la carcoma, a las colmenas hierman los zánganos y aun a los hombres matan los enojos. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues no ay en tu palacio quien quiera bien a otro; porque la onça pelea con el león, el rinoceronte pelea con el cocodrilo, el águila con el avestruz, el elefante con el minotauro, ol girifalte te. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu casa no ay cosa que no nos dé pena; porque la tierra se nos abre, el agua nos ahoga, el fuego nos quema, el aire nos destempla, el invierno nos arrincona, el verano nos congoxa, los canes nos muerden, los gatos nos arañan, las arañas nos empozoñan, los mosquitos nos pican, las moscas nos importunan, las pulgas nos despiertan, las chinohes nos enojan, y, sobre todo, los cuydados nos desvelan.

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues por tu tierra ninguno puede andar seguro; porque a cada passo se topan piedras a do tropiecen, puentes de do cayan , arroyos a do se ahoguen, cuestas a do se cansen, truenos que nos espanten, ladrones que nos despojen, compañías que nos burlen, nieves que nos detengan, rayos que nos maten, lodos que nos ensucien, portazgos que nos cohechan, mesoneros que nos engañian y aun venteros que nos roben. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu casa, si no ay hombre contento, tampoco le ay sano; porque unos tienen buvas, otros sarna, otros tiña, otros cáncer, otros gota, otros ciática, otros piedra, otros ijada, otros quartana, otros perlesía, otros asma, y aun otros locura. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu palacio ninguno haze lo que otro haze; porque si uno canta, otro cabe él llora; si uno ríe, otro cabe él sospira; si uno come, otro cabe él ayuna; si uno duerme, otro cabe él vela; si uno habla, otro cabe él calla; si uno passea, otro cabe él huelga; si uno juega, otro cabe él mira, y aun si uno nasce, otro a pared y medio muere. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues no ay criado en tu palacio que no sea de algún defecto notado; porque si es alto, declina a jiboso; si tiene buen rostro, es en los ojos vizco; si tiene buena frente, es angosto de sienes; si tiene buena boca, fáltanle los dientes; si tiene buenas manos, tiene malos cabellos; si tiene buena voz, habla algo gangoso; si es suelto, es también sordo; si es recio, es algo coxo, y aun si es bermejo, no escapa de malicioso.

¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu palacio ninguno bive de lo que otro; porque unos siguen la corte, otros navegan la mar, otros andan en ferias, otros aran los campos, otros pescan los ríos, otros sirven señores, otros andan caminos, otros aprenden officios, otros goviernan reynos y aun otros roban los pueblos. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu casa ni son conformes en el bivir ni tampoco en el morir; porque unos mueren niños, otros moços, otros viejos, otros ahorcados, otros ahogados, otros quarteados, otros despeñados, otros hambrientos, otros a hitos, otros hablando, otros durmiendo, otros apercebidos, otros descuydadós, otros alançeados y aun otros entosicados. ¡Quédate adiós, mundo! , pues en tu palacio ni se paresoen en la condición ni menos en la conversación; porque si uno es sabio, otro es nescio; si uno agudo, otro es torpe; si uno hábil, otro es rudo; si uno animoso, otro covarde; si uno callado, otro boquirroto; si uno suffrido, otro bullicioso, y aun si uno es cuerdo, otro es loco. ¡Quédate adiós, mun- do! , pues no hay quien contigo pueda bivir y menos se apoderar; porque si cómo poco, estoy flaco, y si mucho, ando hinchado; si oamino, cánsome; si estoy quedo, entorpézcome; si doy poco, llámanme escaso, y si mucho, pródigo; si estoy solo, assómbrome, y si acompañado, importúnome; si visito a menudo, tómanlo a importunidad, y si de tarde en tarde, a presumpción.

Si suffro injurias, dizen que es poquedad, y si las vengo, que es crueldad; si tengo amigos, importúnanme, y si enemigos, persíguenme; si estoy siempre en un lugar, siento hastío, y si me mudo a otro, enójome; finalmente, digo que lo que aborrezco me hazen tomar y lo que amo no puedo alcançar. O mundo inmundo! , yo que fuí mundano conjuro a ti, mundo, requiero a ti, mundo, ruego a ti, mundo, y protesto contra ti, mundo, no tengas ya más parte en mí, pues yo no quiero ya nada de ti ni quiero más esperar en ti, pues sabes tú mi determinación, y es que:

POSUI FINEM OURIS; SPES ET FORTUNA, VALETE Aqui se acaba el libro llamado MENOSPRECIO DE CORTE Y ALABANÇA DE ALDEA, compuesto por el ilustre señor D. Antonio de Guevara, Obispo de Mondoñedo, Predicador y Cronista y del Consejo de su Majestad, en el qual se tocan muchas y muy buenas doctrinas para los hombres que aman el reposo de sus casas y aborrescen el bullicio de las Cortes. Fué impresso en la muy leal y muy noble Villa de Valladolid por industria del honrado varón impressor de libros Juan de Villaquirán, a diez y ocho de junio. Año de mill y quinientos y treynta y nueve.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Normalized 'jo mundol' as the vocative '¡o mundo!' (O world!), matching the refrain and parallel forms later in the chapter.
  2. 2 ↩Corrupt span 'acussas sin que ayas que xes' read as 'acusas sin que hayas quejas' (you accuse without having any charge/grounds). 'afloxas' = aflojas; 'oyr partes' = oír partes (hear both parties).
  3. 3 ↩Person shifts from singular 'matas' (you, the world, kill) to plural 'entierran' (they bury); kept as in the source. 'sin nos morir' = without our dying—buried while still alive in the world's living death.
  4. 4 ↩'hazienda ain consciencia' read as 'hacienda sin consciencia' (wealth without a clean conscience). 'en ti ni cabe ti' treated as corrupt; sense taken as the inventory of goods that cannot stand pure in the world. 'quexa' = queja.
  5. 5 ↩Source reads 'mundol'; translated as 'mundo' (world), matching the chapter refrain.
  6. 6 ↩'privados' rendered as court favorites/confidants; 'arrinconan' as sideline; 'nescio' as fool; 'recátanse de los avisados' as keep clear of the shrewd.
  7. 7 ↩Corrected plausible OCR/print forms: 'desouydado' → descuido/careless; 'egcaso' → escaso/stingy; 'jo mundo' → o mundo / O world.
  8. 8 ↩Flattering court renamings: 'recogido' as reserved; 'suffrido' as long-suffering; 'simple' for the malicious as naively harmless; closing 'nos vendes' as sell us a false bill of goods.
  9. 9 ↩'envés' / 'revés' are cloth/side terms: the reverse sold as the face and the face as the reverse; completes the selling image from s4.
  10. 10 ↩Restored hyphenated/broken forms: 'codicio- gos' → codiciosos (the greedy); 'dele ytes' → deleites (pleasures).
  11. 11 ↩'privanças' as favor/preferment at court; 'mudanças' as changes of place or fortune; 'regalos' as delicacies/luxuries; 'privados' again as favorites; 'seguro' as security/safety.
  12. 12 ↩Early modern 'priva' / 'desprivado' is court language for being in or out of favor; rendered as 'highest in favor' / 'cast from favor' rather than bare 'privy' or 'deprived'.
  13. 13 ↩'regalos' can mean gifts or courtly favors; 'favors' keeps the court register alongside 'dones' as 'gifts'.
  14. 14 ↩Early modern forms preserved in sense: derruecas (derrocar), acozeas (acocear), tropellas (atropellar), amenszas (amenazar), enriscas (enriscar: set on a crag / put in peril).
  15. 15 ↩Normalized source has 'sino & aborrescer'; the stray '&' is treated as a typesetting artifact and omitted in English.
  16. 16 ↩Rendered as confiscating a fifth of a perjurer's goods (period sense of quintar). If the witness is corrupt for another punishment verb (e.g. flogging), sense would shift.
  17. 17 ↩Read as closing the public-punishment catalogue with quartering, then shifting asyndetically into everyday court vices (window-idling, intrigue letters, etc.). 'Ventanas' is a bare noun among infinitives; the join is rhetorically loose in the source.
  18. 18 ↩privado is taken in the court sense (royal favorite / privy intimate), not mere privacy; valer for the rich is rendered as social weight/prestige rather than bare monetary worth.
  19. 19 ↩homenajes rendered as castle keeps (torres del homenaje). coco as a tree-boring pest. hierman taken as yermar, 'lay waste / strip bare.' langoste = langosta (locust).
  20. 20 ↩Source ends mid-phrase: 'ol girifalte te.' Read ol as el; girifalte = gyrfalcon. The expected parallel (X pelea con Y) is truncated after the gyrfalcon, so the English closes with an ellipsis rather than inventing a missing opponent.
  21. 21 ↩chinohes normalized as chinches (bedbugs). destempla = disorders the humors/temperament (weather/air making us unwell). congoxa = congoja (oppresses/distresses).
  22. 22 ↩portazgos que nos cohechan: rendered as tolls that extort us (toll-gates / toll-collectors extracting bribes); cohechar can mean either to bribe or to take bribes.
  23. 23 ↩buvas (bubas): early modern term for buboes / venereal sores; rendered as buboes.
  24. 24 ↩ijada: pain in the side/flank, often associated with renal colic; rendered as flank pain.
  25. 25 ↩quartana: intermittent fever recurring every fourth day (malarial quartan fever).
  26. 26 ↩a pared y medio: idiomatic proximity, literally a wall and a half away (just next door / a thin partition off).
  27. 27 ↩suelto: rendered as nimble (loose-limbed / free-moving), paired with sordo; could also mean free-spoken in other contexts.
  28. 28 ↩bermejo: red-haired; early modern folklore often linked red hair with a malicious temper—the closing sting of the catalogue.
  29. 29 ↩Source reads 'a hitos'. Read here as 'ahitos' (from surfeit/overfeeding), pairing with 'hambrientos'; less likely alternatives are 'staring fixedly' or an unresolved manner of death.
  30. 30 ↩Read as 'parecen' (they resemble); period/print garble.
  31. 31 ↩Golden Age 'conversación' often means social dealings/company/way of living, not mere talk; rendered as 'company'.
  32. 32 ↩Line-break hyphenation of 'mundo'; no semantic issue.
  33. 33 ↩Read as 'si como poco' (if I eat little); 'cómo' is almost certainly 'como'.
  34. 34 ↩Read as 'camino' (I walk); clear print/OCR garble.
  35. 35 ↩Spanish mundo/inmundo is a deliberate pun (world / unclean). Rendered as 'unclean world' to keep the moral force; the sound-play is untranslatable.
  36. 36 ↩conjuro / requiero / ruego / protesto form a rising legal-devotional adjuration series (adjure, summon, beg, solemnly declare). Kept in formal register without archaism.
  37. 37 ↩Source reads OURIS; almost certainly a typesetting corruption of Latin CURIS (cares/anxieties) in the formula Posui finem curis; spes et fortuna, valete. Translated as cares.

Menosprecio de Corte y Alabanza de Aldea (Contempt of Court and Praise of Village) companion

Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat

Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.

Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.

  • A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
  • One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
  • Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit
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