150 Ulisse Aldrovandi

...is to be understood how easily a wife’s love and her memory of a deceased husband can vanish from her heart. Finally, as a confirmation of the deceitful nature of women, let us add another fable from Abstemius. In ancient times, when it was the custom for a new bride to be led to her husband's home preceded by a lit torch, a certain prudent man—who had recently swallowed the matrimonial hook—was asked what that burning torch meant, which the bride carries as she leaves her parents' home to enter her husband's. He immediately replied: "That torch signifies that today I am bringing fire taken from my father-in-law's house into my own." From this fable, one may gather that some women bring with them sparks of fire that all too often consume the husband's wealth.

# DREAMS

Humans, more than all other creatures, are said to see things during their rest. Therefore, in the opinion of philosophers, if those who have never experienced any images while sleeping should happen to dream as time goes on, they will shortly thereafter encounter either death or a serious illness.

Consequently, Cardano and other dream-interpreters (known as Oneirocritics) explain what each part of the human body seen during rest might signify. Starting then from the upper parts: they wrote that a head seen in dreams denotes a prince, honors, the mind, and the master of the house. By the hair, they believe roof tiles, ornaments, the beauty of a house, or serious misfortunes are indicated; and by the brain, prudence and learning.

By the eyes, they understand children, brothers, parents, and jewels. Consequently, if someone seems to have three eyes in their sleep, they should conceive a great hope for children, provided they marry soon. Conversely, they claim that if one dreams of being deprived of both eyes, they will be orphaned of children, brothers, or parents. Children are likened to eyes because things pleasing to us are said to be "carried in our eyes." Brothers are also compared to eyes because they are bound together in a kind of sibling union by the optic nerve. Similarly, parents are said to relate to the eyes since they are the reason children enjoy the benefit of light.

On the other hand, if blindness should seem to happen in a dream to someone already oppressed by calamity, dream-interpreters predict security from this, since a man in distress will no longer have to look upon his misfortunes. But according to Artemidorus, for an eye to appear in the ear during sleep is a sign of blindness, as the person must perceive through the benefit of his ears what he used to comprehend with the help of his eyes. He confirms this nonsense further by stating that dreamers who have eyes on the tips of their fingers incur the danger of blindness, since the blind use their hands in place of eyes.

After the eyes, the eyelashes and eyebrows present themselves for consideration. By the eyelashes, they understand tutors and guardians of children; and by the eyebrows, dignities, ornaments, and women. Therefore, a thick and well-colored eyebrow seen during rest is said to be a sign of liberty; conversely, if someone dreams of a hairless eyebrow, they predict mourning. They assert a ridiculous reason for this: that by ancient custom, it was standard to pluck the eyebrows in mourning.

Next, to the nose, as it is a most conspicuous feature, they assign beauty, ornament, and sagacity; thus, a large nose seen during rest is said to portend remarkable wisdom. Indeed, if someone weighed down by illness imagines himself without a nose in a dream, he should presage imminent death; the reason given is flimsy—namely, that a human head with its nostrils cut off resembles a skull.

Furthermore, those peddlers of trifles, the dream-interpreters, attribute reputation, learning, and servitude to the ears. Hence, those who dream they are burdened with donkey ears portend a life of servitude—unless the dreamer is a philosopher, for then such a dream predicts good, owing to the slower movement of the ears, which they take to mean the steadfast listening of philosophers. Again, they threaten a dreamer who has many ears with long servitude, because many ears suggest many commands to follow. If, however, this dream should happen to the head of a household, it signifies the greatness