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The Thirteenth Book
OF NO BENEFIT TO HIM ARE ALL MEDICAL SKILLS; CARRIED INTO THE CITY OF ASSISI, HE IS NOT AFRAID OF THE HOUR OF DEATH, AND HE SINGS HIS OWN FUNERAL RITES, AS HIS SWAN-SONG.a
UPON his entry to the city, the papal court residing
There, greets his arrival with solemnity. All speedily
Come running; not one of them gives thought to his own
Affairs, and no matter what loss of rights of their own
5They incur, to have seen Francis is gain enough.b There is
No bargaining one with another: this one chance is sufficient
For all.c Great may it have been to set eyes on two-bodied
Chiron,d or the bull of Minos that ravaged the Athenians,e
Or the lynxes of Bacchus with their all-piercing stare,f
10Or rejuvenated Phoenix after momentary death,g
Or the wild boar let loose in Calydon,h or the Emperor's
Elephant,i or the wild asses whose nostrils spouted
- Ancient poets reported that the swan uttered a melodious sound, the nearer to death, the sweeter the song; Ovid, Fasti II 109-10: "The doleful swan, pierced by an arrow, sings of harsh times played out as if in harmony"; Metamorphoses VII 372ff; Heroides VII, 1-2: " ‘when the fates fly’ the white swan sings in harmony." Others deny such song, e.g., Pliny, Historia naturalis X, 32 (al. 23).
- There is not even a word in 1C 99 of such a gathering of people, only "the whole Roman Curia received him kindly and honorable."
- Vergil, Georgica IV, 184.
- Chiron was a Centaur, son of Saturn, Ovid, Metamorphoses II 630ff: "Chiron, half-man mixed with horse of golden body."
- Minos, King of Crete, waged war on the Athenians who killed his son; seven boys and seven girls, whom the Athenians were forced to send him in place of tribute, were thrown to the Minotaur (half-man, half-bull) to be devoured. Ovid, Metamorphoses VI 456ff; VIII, 152ff; AA, II, 24. Of Minos it was said: "The crowds rushed and longed to know a man of such renown."
- Lynxes, tigers and panthers were captured in India by Bacchus who yoked them to his chariot; Ovid, Metamorphoses III 668; IV 25; XV 413.
- The Phoenix was a bird that arose fresh from its ashes. Ovid, Metamorphoses XV 393-4; 401-2.
- The story is that Diana sent a giant boar to Calydon in western Greece to destroy crops and slaughter cattle, and the strongest men of Greece launched a famous hunt to capture and kill it. Ovid, Metamorphoses VIII 260ff.
- Henri here recalls the elephant of Emperor Frederick II (1212 - 1250), which Salimbene admired in 1235. The poet makes that wonder and spectacle contemporary. Salimbene reports: "Frederick sent an elephant to Lombardy along with many camels, and with many leopards and many falcons and hawks. They passed through Parma, and I saw them with my own eyes"; Cronica. It appears that the same elephant of Frederick II had made an appearance in Ravenna in 1231 or 1232.
Legenda Sancti Francisci Versificata, Fontes Franciscani, p.
Liber XIII
Tertius a decimo medicis nihil artibus illum profecisse refert; et quomodo vectus in urbem Assisii mortis non formidaverit horam, exsequiasque suas cantaverit instar oloris.
Urbis in ingressu venientem Curia papae
Exsistentis ibi solemniter excipit; omnes
Occurrunt celeres, sua nullus agenda procurat,
Et iuris quaecumque sui dispendia passis
5Franciscum vidisse sat est: non altera cuiquam
Appetitur merces, haec sufficit omnibus una.
Cum sit enim magnum Chirona videre bimembrem,
Aut subvertentem taurum Minois Athenas,
Aut lynces Bacchi penetrantes omnia visu,
10Aut Phoenica brevi reparantem morte iuventam,
Immissumque ferum Calydonibus, aut elephantem
Caesaris, aut onagros, quorum cava naris ut arcus
Hostica Maeotidas emittit in ora paludes,