Bestiary: the Elephant continued, its mercy and social order
The herd's caution, its order of march, its modesty and clemency
The continuation of the elephant entry from folio 19r, in upside-down mirror script. Clement and aware of danger, the elephant sets a lost man back on his road, but on finding human footprints it fears treachery, snorts a warning and forms the herd into a wary troop. The passage adds that the eldest leads and the second-eldest closes the march, that the elephants mate only by night out of shame and wash before rejoining the herd, and that they will not harm creatures weaker than themselves, even a flock of sheep.
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Mercy, wariness and the order of march
Merciful and alert to danger, the elephant gently sets a lost man back on his road, yet on finding human tracks it fears treachery, halts, snorts and warns the herd, which forms a troop and moves cautiously. They always travel in order, the oldest in front and the next in age closing the rear.
Modesty and clemency of the elephant
They fear shame, mating only by night and in secret and washing in the river before returning to the herd. Unlike other animals they do not fight over females, and are so clement that by nature they are loath to harm creatures weaker than themselves, even when meeting a herd or flock of sheep.