Gratitude and Avarice: the Hoopoe and the Toad
Two bestiary allegories on grateful care of parents and on insatiable greed
A mirror-script page of Leonardo's moral bestiary with two allegories. Mercy or gratitude is figured by the hoopoes, which, recalling the care received from their parents, build them a nest when they grow old, brood over and feed them, pluck out their worn feathers, and restore their sight with herbs. Avarice is figured by the toad, which feeds on earth yet stays always lean, never sated, for fear that the earth should ever fail it.
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Misericordia o gratitudine: the hoopoe that tends its aged parents
The virtue of gratitude is said to be greatest in the hoopoes, which, knowing the benefit of the life and nourishment received from father and mother, make them a nest when they see them grown old. They brood over and feed them, pluck out the old and worn feathers with their beak, and with certain herbs restore their sight, so that the parents return to prosperity.
Avarizia: the toad that eats earth yet stays lean
The toad feeds on earth and is always lean, because it is never sated. So great is its fear that the earth might fail it that it can never be satisfied.