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Library/Paris Manuscript H/60

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Paris Manuscript H — 60

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Bibliothèque de l'Institut de France, Paris

Capovolto. A penna.

Ichneumone.

Questo animale è mortale nemico all'aspido. Nasce in Egitto e quando vede presso al suo sito alcuno aspido, subito corre alla lita ovver fango del Nilo e con quello tutto s'infanga, e poi, risecco dal sole, di novo di fango s'imbratta, e così seccando l'un dopo l'altro, si fa tre o 4 veste a similitudine di corazza; e di poi assalta l'aspido, e ben contasta con quello in modo che, tolto il tempo, se li caccia in gola e l'anniega.

Crocodillo.

Questo nasce nel Nilo, ha 4 piedi, nuoce in terra e in acqua, né altro terreste animale si truova sanza lingua che questo, e solo morde movendo la mascella di sopra. Cresce insino in 40 piedi, è unghiato1, armato di corame atto [a] ogni colpo; e'l dì sta in terra e la notte in acqua. Questo cibato di pesci s'addormenta sulla riva del Nilo colla bocca aperta e l'uccello detto

Upside down. In pen.

Ichneumon.

This animal is a mortal enemy of the asp. It is born in Egypt, and when it sees some asp near its haunt, it at once runs to the shore or mud of the Nile and daubs itself all over with it; and then, dried by the sun, it smears itself with mud anew, and so, drying one coat after another, it makes itself three or four coverings like a cuirass; and then it assaults the asp, and contends so well with it that, seizing the moment, it thrusts into its throat and drowns it.

Crocodile.

This is born in the Nile; it has four feet, and does harm on land and in water; nor is any other land animal found without a tongue save this one, and it alone bites by moving the upper jaw. It grows up to forty feet, is clawed, armed with a hide fit to withstand any blow; and by day it stays on land and by night in the water. This one, fed on fish, falls asleep on the bank of the Nile with its mouth open, and the bird called

Bestiary: the ichneumon and the crocodile

The mud-armored ichneumon that drowns the asp, and the forty-foot Nile crocodile.

Fables & Prose Horses & Animals

A full text page of the bestiary in mirror script, written with the notebook inverted and without illustration. The first entry gives the ichneumon, mortal enemy of the asp, which coats itself in layers of dried Nile mud like a cuirass before attacking and drowning its foe. The second treats the crocodile of the Nile: four-footed, harmful on land and in water, said to be the only land animal without a tongue and the only one to bite by moving its upper jaw. It grows to forty feet, is armored in an impenetrable hide, and sleeps on the bank with its mouth open, awaiting the bird named in the text that continues on the next folio.

On this page

The ichneumon armored in Nile mud

The ichneumon, mortal enemy of the asp, runs to the mud of the Nile and coats itself, drying in the sun and repeating until it wears three or four crusts like a cuirass. So armored it assaults the asp, seizes its moment, thrusts into the throat and drowns it.

The Nile crocodile and its moving upper jaw

The crocodile of the Nile has four feet and harms on land and in water; it is called the only land animal without a tongue, and the only one to bite by moving its upper jaw. It grows up to forty feet, is clawed and armored in a hide proof against any blow, lying on land by day and in water by night. Fed on fish, it sleeps on the bank with mouth agape, awaiting the bird named in the text that follows.

Reader's Edition — described with AI from the e-Leo transcription.