QUADERNALS
OF
MINDS
SECTION THREE
1
He who gives us being, and kneads us,
And who bites us, that we may run hard,
Though he kills us, does not give us death;
But shows the sign one and all.
2
For I never lack money,
I am esteemed the greatest king in the world;
But in one thing I am confused,
That the few are more valuable to me than the many.
3
I take a horse, as at my hand comes,
And away I go with my money uncovered;
Wherefore for this I deserve the crown,
Though the King alone is what he is worth and holds.
4
Though I seem valiant in cards,
Letters give me little trouble,
That though I have of man and beast,
The money makes way for me on every side.
5
I am a knave, but not a woman of noise,
Though I let myself be handled by all;
And the money I have, I want to make it bear fruit,
So long as my Master knows how to send me on my way.
6
If you want money, (ouch!) take a look,
Do not count it, for that would not be honest,
And if this be worth more to thee than ten others,
See that he is not represented to you.
7
Here it is a question of nothing but money,
And yet each one seeks to keep to the little;
But what I say, thou keepest as a joke,
For thou knowest when men are stingy.
8
In this cup is my power,
With it I go to war, so much I esteem it,
And I am among my own always the first to rise,
So long as my rival has no holiday.
9
I do not wrong my royal name,
While I serve only a king with a cup;
Everyone else from him except me is hindered,
(I speak of my seed) is taken, or dead.
10
The office of Coppier perhaps I demonstrate,
Carrying in my hands a shining cup;
But if I am a horse, I am a man and a snake,
How do you expect me to be a monster as a stepper?
11
It is no use to bring others a drink,
He who comes here with the cup to offer;
But to take that other cup, perhaps,
Which he sees falling on the table.
12
I do not give a drink, though I am a golden cape;
On the tables I go, but not at table;
And because I am not of gold, as one thinks,
I am left by each one in the ace at last.
13
More than fifty cups of gold net,
By some I have seen wielded by lot,
Who have not broken them in all a day, nor twisted them,
And have broken them a thousand times, and tightened them.
14
I am King, not of those in the Comedy,
But King, who makes way with his staff;
And I cannot stay dead or imprisoned,
If he that warrieth with me hath no chair.
15
As honour is dear to Donna Real,
Therefore of command I have the club in my hand;
And except for a king I know that no one will kill me,
While my enemy has of my seed.
16
Without so much as leaning on this club,
I ride on horseback, and am on foot;
And I take the wood here, as thou seest,
For I have in a double body a good soul.
17
I am the knave who never varied from my master,
Because in serving him well I use all my wits;
But if he uses it, I still use the wood,
And there is no salary between us.
18
Of the savage Briareo cut off from his offspring
These seem to be, but fear not,
If a figure fall upon them,
They are all used to being a breeder.
19
Do not draw too much upon me,
For I live only when I am mad,
But how wouldst thou have it that a stick
A staff that is a staff, but not of wood?
20
I am a king armed, and I seek my fortune,
Only by virtue of my strong sword;
But if one cannot answer me by chance,
Every little one comes to frighten me.
21
I am Queen of Carthage,
But this is not Aeneas' sword;
And, like Dido, I have not in my head
The thought of opening my breast with it.
22
Look at yourself, if you don't want to stay here dead.
Seeest thou not that I have the sword naked
To take the other swords, and I have a raw desire,
And all at once I am carried and carried?
23
I know with the sword what I can do;
The weapons that I take shall give thee credit;
But if the craft of arms is sad on the foot,
I will prove it, if a horse comes at me.
24
They cannot draw their weapons from their bodies,
Because they were not designed for this;
But he who treats them, if he is not well awake,
The soul from the bag goes out, and sleep from the head.
25
If sword or sword thou wouldst call me,
Lasso, thou seest that I neither pierce nor cut;
But I serve for pleasure, and little I sift,
For I am not good but to leave.
26
If where I enter I always increase the good,
Nor of that of others have I ever taken anything,
And I offend no one, nor am I offended,
Therefore more mad than myself is he who holds me.
27
I am a child, and among the Popes I have the first place,
Nor am I content with that, because it seems to me,
Without another chair I cannot save myself,
That he who is not mad takes me in hand.
28
Pope by name, and King I am by figure,
As you see, and I have two values;
I'm small, but my heart is not lacking,
If one comes under me to give him hard luck.
29
One always rises before me,
Because he goes to many places where I do not go;
But let him go where he pleases, I know,
That two and one at last make me three.
30
Though among the great I shall seem small to thee,
Among the little ones I shall always be the eldest,
From that side in which Love triumphs,
Who is above me by my destiny.
31
My Diva girds my hair from then on,
And Love enters between us armed with arrows;
But if, like the name, it were given me
I would be Master of Rome.
32
Tell me, are you the one who does not know my name?
Are you here too, and do you see me, and do you ask?
I take the little ones, and leave the big ones alone,
And to the water I pour, and never immolate.
33
As a woman each one appreciates me little,
Because, though I have valour for seven,
Whoever puts Astrea on me may be able
Can take a fortress without cannon.
34
They are the eight, but not those of a nurse,
On the contrary, they are the Eight together, and Justice;
Therefore those who have good news of me,
do not take my person into account.
35
Look at Fortune who moves her wheel
Where ignorance majestically raises;
And derelict virtue to the ground it throws,
That you will see things at once used and new.
36
Ten times for play each one calls me,
I ride in my chariot, I am of Heaven a God;
But my valour is not too highly esteemed,
If I have not the fire, the canker, and the fame.
37
On my shoulders I have one who mulls the hours;
So that I go less stooped, lame, and old;
Let this serve as a mirror for you,
Love can be overcome in time.
38 .
Where was it ever found that one who was hanged
To feel how cruel fate is?
For I am again subject to death,
And I have no life, yet I'm killed.
39
If with Un you see me united
Who with his blood breaks the diamond,
If you turn me round, and the Un turns before you,
I know that Death will be pleasing to you.
40
I cannot die, for I am an Angel,
And yet my own house kills me;
But show me a little if there's a wager,
Then you'll see if I'm bad or good.
41
Do not trouble yourself to take me for rent,
For worse than me there is not to be found
Any house in the world, either old or new,
For the Devil himself is its master.
42
All love, all zeal, and all faith,
With clasped hands I adore a crown;
But perhaps the vulgar crowd, because it is of gold,
That I do this out of avarice believes.
43
I hold the mirror in my hand because I have judgment,
And I have the serpent symbolic of Prudence;
But the people bring me no tenderness,
For being virtue I serve out of vice.
44
Virtue I am esteemed little or nothing,
And of that animal is given me the name,
That lives in the flames, and I know not how
I show you the ring, and I am a maiden.
45
No wonder that in this place
I am not appreciated by the people,
Even though I have in my hand the burning flame
That charity is not well at play.
46
Call me Fire, for I am content;
But far clearer shall my name you say,
If here you make two crosses with your pen,
Or in plural numbers the wind declines.
47
Let the sea be troubled when the sky thunders,
I am a ship that is always calm;
He who sends me round, and he who smears me,
Wants me to serve as a game to every person.
48
They show that they drink, nor even to drink do they desire,
At the foot of a bridge, various alpine beasts;
And above is a pine tree that never makes pine,
And yet at the mercy of man it flourishes here.
49
The airs poured forth by others can hurt,
And these here do not move the phlegm;
But if they are not counted, why do I narrate
Their virtue, which is of little or no value?
50
At my feet lies a feathered porcupine,
And I, who know just how much I weigh,
That no one may be offended by me,
I try to do to all their due.
51
I am no angel, nor martyr, as I am a pair;
Yet the palm I have lent, and the wing I have ready;
I know that I count not, and yet if any one count me
More than three times, I reach a hundred.
52
I am the sixth upon the fire placed,
Only that others may enjoy it by playing;
But if I could use my tail,
You would not handle me so often.
53
Though here on earth I come mingling
Among various beasts, where I'm caught, and catch,
When up in heaven Latona's son
He warms my imagination, I know it is a good sign.
54
Four ways seven, see what he does,
If thou wouldst have some news of me;
But know that my crown is mine, and that it belongs
Only of him who does not see it and has it.
55
I am at once horse and rider;
But nothing I see, if others have not me,
Because I am not counted; hence I bring you
The use that zero has of figures.
56
Either in Latin, or in Tuscany,
I always sin in speaking my name;
For in this I catch a crab dry,
And in that one I say a strange blasphemy.
57
If out of the water some of us are not worthy,
While without speech we are in life;
On the thirty-first here we play in the dry,
And the water on us now might make us heavy.
58
I do not regret to pour wine into heaven,
Provided I find a way to please Jove;
Now here they have placed me, where this water I pour,
Only that I may catch the fish without a net.
59
More than in beauty I prize myself in being strong,
While I live, so that each one yields to me;
But here I contend again with Ganymede;
Indeed, if he comes under me, I give him death.
60
My strength is in one place, and if I set myself
To war with the lions, I have the honour;
But if my name you wish to know, reader,
Go, read now where the Latins have read.
61
Double beauty, whose mantle no one covers,
It passes every sign, and goes as far as the stars;
And if the air does not harm these beauties,
Nothing else will be, that to their harm is adopted.
62
With the maidens I try my luck,
Because with them I win the battle;
So that more than me they may be esteemed, or be worthy,
What thou shalt not find beneath the moon.
63
He looks not at whether my body grows or wanes,
He who in his power here keeps me;
Though he behold two majors on earth;
Till the sun is raised, he trembles.
64
I well show by signs how many are my poses,
That by night and day I am the earthly Sun;
But nevertheless I rise to lie,
Because certain great airs harm me.
65
Air I have of greatness, and over the Sun I reign;
But not content with the second honour,
I cannot suffer one who is greater than myself,
Who by winning me has conquered the whole world.
66
When with angelic and divine forms
I'll appear and give the trumpet its sound,
Woe to him who is greedy of good,
Is reduced to his end with his goods in his hand.
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