Bestiary: Magnanimity and Vainglory
The noble falcon; the peacock displaying its tail
A text-only page of Leonardo's moralized bestiary in mirror script, with no diagrams. Magnanimity is figured by the falcon, which preys only on large birds and would sooner starve than feed on small ones or eat foul-smelling flesh. Vainglory belongs above all to the peacock, forever contemplating the beauty of its tail, spreading it out like a wheel and drawing the gaze of the other animals with its cry — and this, Leonardo adds, is the last vice a person can conquer.
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Magnanimity — the falcon that scorns small prey
Magnanimity is the falcon, which never preys except on large birds, and would sooner let itself die than feed on small ones or eat foul-smelling flesh.
Vainglory — the peacock and its wheeling tail
Vainglory is the peacock, more subject to this vice than any other animal, for it forever contemplates the beauty of its tail, spreading it out in the form of a wheel and with its cry drawing to itself the gaze of the surrounding animals. This, it is said, is the last vice that can be overcome.