Whale, Rochester Bestiary, c.1230
The whale attracts people through its enormous size. Mariners camp on its back but are drowned when the creature dives into the ocean. Similarly, small fish are attracted by a sweet odour emanating from its mouth, only to be swallowed. The bigger fish keep clear of the whale just as great saints keep away from the world’s temptation.
Transcription
Translation
illa que excepit ionam. tante magnitudinis
ut putari posset infernus dicente ipso iona. Exau-
divit me dominus de ventre inferi. Hec in medio
pelagi elevat dorsum suum super undas maris. et
tante est magnitudines. ut de sabulo maris per
ventum agitato; fiat planicies super dorsum eius
et quasi certa terra. et arbusta et virgulta ibi
crescunt. Unde navigantes hanc inmobiliter
stare videntes; putant insulam magnam esse.
et applicant naves et palos figunt quibus naves
alligant. et focos faciunt ut cibos coquant. Que
navem secum trahit. Hec belua figuram diaboli gerit.
qui eos qui spem ponunt in eo et se suis operibus illi obli-
gant. secum in baratrum trahit. Secunda autem natura
huius belue est. quod quando esurit; aperit os suum. et odo-
rem quendam bene olentem exalat de ore eius. cuius
dulcedinem ut sentiunt minores pisces; congregant se in
ore eius. Cum vero senserit os suum repletum; subi-
to claudit os suum et transglutit eos. Magni autem
pisces; fugiunt eam. Sic paciuntur omnes qui sunt modi-
ce fidei. voluptatibus ac lenociniis quasi quibusdam
odoribus diabolicis adescati. subito absorbentur ab
eo. sicut pisciculi minuti. Magne vero fidei sancti in-
telligunt astucias diaboli et fugiunt eas. Unguen-
tis enim et variis odoribus delectantur stulti; ut dicit
scriptura. et sic confringitur anima a ruinis.
Whale or a whale is a beast in the sea, the one that caught Jonah, of such a size that hell could be thought of by saying Jonah himself. The Lord heard me from the bowels of hell. This one in the middle of the ocean raises its back above the waves of the sea, and is as big as the sand of the sea blown by the wind; let there be plains upon its back, and as if it were firm ground, and trees and shrubs grow there. Whence the sailors seeing her standing motionless; they think that the island is large, and they build ships and fix poles to which they tie the ships, and make fires to cook their food. That feeling the ardor of the fire; suddenly he plunges into the water and drags the ship with him. This beast bears the form of the devil, who drags with him into the abyss those who put their hope in him and commit themselves to him by their works. But the second nature of this beast is that when it is hungry; he opens his mouth, and exhales from his mouth a certain sweet-smelling odor, the sweetness of which seems to be felt by smaller fishes; they gather at its mouth. But when he felt his mouth full; he suddenly shuts his mouth and swallows them. But the fish are large; they run away from her. In this way all those who have a little faith, attracted by pleasures and indulgences, as if by some diabolical odors, are suddenly absorbed by him, like little fish. But the saints of great faith understand the wiles of the devil and flee from them. For fools delight in ointments and various scents; as the scripture says, and so the soul is crushed by ruins.
inmense magnitudinis. Ab effundendo et imit-
tendo aquas vocata. Ceteris enim bestiis maris altius
iacit undas ab ore suo. Bal enim grece emittere di-
citur. Masculus dicitur balene musculus. Eius enim
coitu; concipit balena.
Now the whale is quite a smaller animal than the cetacean, but of immense size. Called from the pouring out and imitating of the waters. For he casts waves from his mouth deeper than the other beasts of the sea. For in Greek it is said to cast out Bal. The male is called a muscle whale. For his intercourse; he conceives a whale.
habens immanes. Hec cum viderit navem in
pelago velificantem elevat pennas suas super aquas.
et contendit velificare contra navim stadiis tri-
ginta vel quadraginta. et non sustinens laborem
deficit. et deponens pennas ad se trahit eas. Unde
vero maris iam lassa; reportant eam ad locum suum
in profundum. Et dicitur serra; quia serratam habet
cristam. Hec belua figuram habet huius seculi. Navis vero in same hand, to go after cristam is qua naves subtus secat. et perforat
iustorum est exemplum. Qui sine periculo et naufragio
There is a beast in the sea called a serra, having huge wings. When he sees a ship sailing in the sea, he raises his wings above the water, and strives to sail against the ship thirty or forty furlongs, and not being able to endure the effort fails, and laying down his wings draws them to him. Whence, indeed, the sea was already tired; let them carry it back to its place in the deep. And it is called a saw; because he has a serrated crest. This beast has the shape of this century. But the ship in the same hand, to go after the crest which cuts the ships under, and is an example of the perforators. Who without danger and wreck.