Fable of the plant, the dry stake and the brambles
An allegory of protection, with a marginal catchword and the name Francesco
The leaf is filled with mirror-script writing in red chalk and carries no finished drawing. Its main passage is a short fable in which a plant complains of the dry old stake set beside it and of the dry brambles that hem it in, only to recognise that one keeps it upright while the other guards it from bad company. A catchword stands along the upper margin and the name Francesco is written beneath the fable.
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The plant, the stake and the brambles
A plant laments the dry old stake placed at its side and the dry brambles surrounding it. It then acknowledges that the stake holds it straight and the brambles shield it from bad company, turning the complaint into a moral about the value of hard protection.