A Winter Proverb and Sums for the Ditch
'Good winter weather lasts as long as bad summer weather,' above a column of large excavation figures
At the upper left a proverb observes that fine weather in winter lasts as long as foul weather in summer. Below it runs a long, faint column of large figures (1739, 64, 9472, 200, up to 1,894,400 and 29,600) worked in multiplication and division. These are the running totals for excavating the fortress ditch, the same figures set out in words on the facing page. Much of the sheet is faint, with further untranscribed marks and show-through from the opposite leaf.
On this page
A column of large calculations
A vertical column multiplies and divides sizeable sums, among them 1739, 64, 9472, 200 and 1,894,400, arriving at figures such as 29,600, 118,400 and 177,600. The numbers are stacked as working totals rather than a finished statement. They belong to the excavation costing continued from the adjoining page.
A proverb on winter and summer weather
A single sententious line remarks that good weather in winter lasts as long as bad weather in summer. It sits apart from the calculations, in the upper left of the leaf.