Envy, Joy and Sadness: Kite, Cock and Raven
Three bestiary allegories pairing a moral quality with an animal
A mirror-script page of Leonardo's moral bestiary giving three short allegories, each headed by a quality. Envy is figured by the kite, which pecks the flanks of its young when they grow too fat and starves them; joy by the cock, which delights in every small thing and sings with playful movements; sadness by the raven, which grieves at its newborns being white and abandons them until it sees black feathers appear.
On this page
Invidia: the envious kite that starves its fattened young
Of the kite one reads that when it sees its young in the nest too fat, out of envy it pecks their flanks and keeps them without food. The bird's grudging cruelty toward its own brood stands as the emblem of envy.
Allegrezza: the cheerful cock
Joy is fitting to the cock, which rejoices at every little thing. It sings with varied and playful movements, and so figures gladness.
Tristezza: the grieving raven and its white young
Sadness resembles the raven, which, when it sees its newborn young to be white, departs out of great grief. With sad lamentation it abandons them and does not feed them until it sees on them a few black feathers.