Octopus, cuttlefish, snail, murex, crab, oyster and mussel, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

15 Oct

This text offers a fascinating mix of medieval natural history and moral allegory. It begins by describing the octopus, a clever creature that evades hooks by using its arms and the cuttlefish, which uses its ink in such a way that it metaphorically makes men see Ethiopians when added to a lamp—a reference to its ink’s potency. Molluscs, like snails, are said to grow and shrink with the moon and some even conceive pearls from the dew of the heavens. The sea snail, murex, sheds purple tears when cut, from which valuable purple dye is made.

Crabs, cunning shellfish, wait patiently for oysters to open in the sunlight and then drop pebbles into their shells, preventing them from closing. This trick allows the crabs to feast on the oyster’s flesh. The text draws a moral parallel between the crab’s deception and people who use cunning to feed off others’ hardships. It urges readers to avoid deceit and rely on their own simplicity and virtue, emphasising the value of honest poverty over greed-driven wealth. In closing, it offers a strange piece of folklore about tying crabs with basil to attract scorpions, leaving us with a mix of wonder and wisdom.

The allegorical message is clear: true wealth comes from living in harmony and avoiding the cunning exploitation of others.

Colippus est ita ingeniosus; ut
brachiis hamum amplectatur. et sic escam circum-
rodit. Sepia ore concipit sicut vipera. Cuius attra-
menti vis tanta est; ut si lucerne addatur; ethio-
pes facit homines videre. Concharum id est cocleae
multa genera sunt. Et crescente luna; crescunt. et
decrescente; decrescunt; Quedam ex hiis nocturno tem-
pore littora appetunt. et ex celesti rore; margaritam
concipiunt. Murica est coclea maris. dicta conchil-
cum. quia circumscisa ferro; lacrimas(corrected) purpurei colo-
ris emittit. ex quibus purpura tingitur. Cancri sunt
conche. crura habentes. retro incedentes. ostreis iiiiii-
ci. ex quorum carnibus nutriuntur. Explorant enim
quando ostrea claustra testarum aperiunt. et sic latenter
lapillum iniciunt. et sic carnes eorum rodunt;
strea sunt quorum carnis mollicies testa tegitur
que concipiunt lacte musculi coclearum id est mas-
culo(changed from culi) coclearum; Et dicuntur musculi quasi masculi;

The octopus, pōlўpus, is so clever that it coils around the hook with its arms, thus gnawing around the bait. The cuttlefish, sepia, takes hold with its mouth like a viper and its ink has such a great power that if it is added to a lamp, it causes men to see Ethiopians[2]. There are many kinds of molluscs, for instance, snails, cŏclĕae. As the moon waxes, they grow and as it wanes, they shrink. Some of them seek the shores at night and conceive pearls from the celestial dew. The murex is a type of sea snail, called conchȳlĭum, for it sheds purple tears when cut with iron wherefrom purple dye is made. Crabs, cancri, are shellfish with legs and move backward. They feed on oysters, which they carefully watch, waiting for the moment the oysters open their shells. Then, they secretly throw in a pebble and gnaw their flesh. Oysters, ostrea, are those whose soft flesh is covered by a shell and they conceive from the milk of mussels, that is, from the male of the snails. Mussels are called muscŭli, almost as if they were like males, mascŭli.

Nota quod cancer quia aperire clausum ostreum nulla
vi potest. et periculosum est si chelam eius includat; ad ar-
gumenta confugit. et insidias nova fraude molitur. Itaque
quia omnia genera piscium delectatione aliqua mulcentur;
explorat si quando ostreum remotis in locis ab omni vento contra solis
radium aperiat os suum. et referet claustra testarum. ut
libero aere visceris sui voluptatem quandam capiat. et
tunc clanculo calculum immittat qui lapidem conclusio-
nem ostrei inpediat. Ac sic aperta claustra aperiens. inserit che-
las. visceraque interna depascitur. Sic igitur in visi sunt qui
cancri usu in alieno usu circumscriptionis irrepunt. et infir-
mitatem proprie virtutis astu quodam suffulciunt. fratris
bonum vescuntur. et alterius pascuntur erumpna. tu
ut dolum autem propriis esto contentus. et aliena te dampna non pascant
Bonus cibus est simplicitas innocentie. sua bona habens.
Insidiari nescit alienis. nec avaricie fascibus inardescit. cui lu-
men omne ad virtutem dispendium est; ad cupiditatem;
incendium. Et ideo beata est si bonam noverit cum veritate
paupertatem. et omnibus preferenda thesauris. quia melius

without fear. Hospitality to everyone in harmony is better than the preparation of fattened calves in disagreement.

Let us therefore use our intelligence to seek harmony and preserve our salvation, not to harm the innocence of others. We may indeed follow the examples of others, be inspired by the sea, in order to attain salvation and not to harm others. Some say that if a hundred crabs are tied with a bunch of basil, all the scorpions present will gather in that place. There are two kinds of crabs: freshwater and marine.

Endnotes

[1] Transcription error from pōlўpus, octopus.

[2] A term probably used in the Middle Ages to refer to people with dark skin from regions like Africa.

Jacob Scott

Octopus, cuttlefish, snail, murex, crab, oyster and mussel, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

Further Reading

Endnotes

Kent Archaeological Society

Octopus, cuttlefish, snail, murex, crab, oyster and mussel, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

Further Reading

Endnotes

Wolf fish, sea bream, red mullet, grey mullet, thymallus, scarus, stargazer, millago, eel and moray, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

Tortoise, frog and trout, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230

Kent Archaeological Society