Bestiary: Chastity, Lust, and Moderation
The turtledove, the bat, and the ermine as moral emblems
Three moral emblems from the Notebook H bestiary fill this page. Chastity belongs to the turtledove, which never fails its mate and, if widowed, keeps perpetual chastity, never perching on a green branch nor drinking clear water. Lust is figured by the bat, which couples indiscriminately, male with male and female with female; moderation belongs to the ermine, which eats only once a day and would sooner be caught by hunters than flee into a muddy den and stain its purity. The page carries only Leonardo's mirror-script prose, with no drawing.
On this page
Chastity: the widowed turtledove
The turtledove never fails its mate. If one dies, the other keeps perpetual chastity, never perching on a green branch and never drinking clear water.
Lust: the indiscriminate bat
The bat, through its unbridled lust, observes no universal manner of coupling. Male with male, female with female, just as they happen to come together, they engage in their coupling.
Moderation: the ermine that will not soil itself
The ermine, through its moderation, eats only once a day. It would sooner let itself be taken by hunters than flee into a muddy den, so as not to stain its purity.