180 Ulisse Aldrovandi

...n sow while others reap. This is proclaimed when some have labored, and afterwards others receive the profit. "Every man remembers his own business." With this adage, the common habit of men is criticized, for they tend to doze off regarding another's business but are wide awake for their own.

If the mind turns toward poverty, adages will not be lacking. For instance, "A hungry man must steal." This applies to those driven by extreme necessity who will do anything. "A beggar's scrip is never filled." This adage signifies that beggary is insatiable, but it can be twisted to refer to the wicked who are always demanding something from friends, or even to greedy rich men who are never satisfied with their wealth, as Ovid says: "And though they possess the most, they seek for more."

"Modesty is useless to a man in need." The adage warns that when necessity presses, shame must be cast aside. "To a beggar, not even parents are friends." Since wealth gains friends, poverty keeps not even those friends whom nature joined. "A man barer than a wooden peg." This refers to a man in extreme necessity, since one can even strip the bark from stakes. Not unlike this is another: "A man naked as if from his mother." it is quoted regarding extreme poverty; for indeed we are born most naked, which is not the case for other animals. "To strip the clothes off a naked man" means hoping for profit from a place where none can be extracted. "Let a needy man move in a crowd," since profit is made where there is a multitude of people. Finally, the Greeks have *anthropos ptochomesos*, that is, a man wise for the sake of gain. This applies to grammarians and other needy folk who learn letters for no other reason than the sake of their belly.

Regarding the rewards of uprightness, several adages emerge. First, it is often said: "Good men are prone to tears." This refers to those who are moved by prayers and stirred to mercy; just as those who are incited to mercy by no words are called inexorable and adamantine. "In a crisis, it appears who is a man." This is spoken of a dangerous and difficult matter which demands a man endowed with vigor and virtue.

"A man more a dispenser than a storer." This is spoken of someone liberal who easily distributes things he has acquired, taking a metaphor from a household steward, whose job it is to bring things out (*promere*) from the larder and store things back into it (*condere*). "A square man" applies to him who does not change in adversity or prosperity; the simile is taken from a four-angled figure, which, whichever way it is rolled, is always the same. "A man of all hours" is said of one who easily adapts to both serious and humorous matters. "A man chaster than Melanion." He is so called who shrinks from the company of women. For they say that a certain Melanion retreated into solitude because of his hatred of women.

"A new man." This was formerly spoken of a man coming from an unknown region; moreover, those who were not illustrious through ancestral portraits, but gained nobility for themselves only by the power of virtue, were called "new men"—as if appearing suddenly—and "sons of Heaven." "Let a brother stand by a man." This is said regarding faithful help and is cited by Plato; for in dangerous matters, a brother is rarely ever absent for a brother.

"The slow man overtakes the swift." This is cast at one who, though having weak strength, overcomes someone more powerful by art and ingenuity. They trace the origin of this proverb to the story of Vulcan in the *Odyssey*; though he was lame and suspected his wife Venus, and did not have the strength to catch her lover, he turned to arts and surrounded his wife's bed with invisible chains. He then ensnared Mars and Venus together in these bonds and called all the gods as witnesses to the caught adultery; as Ovid says:

"Mars too, caught, felt the craftsman's chains; no story was better known in heaven."

Beauty also offers adages to be weighed. For example, "A handsome man without beauty." This refers to those who try to gain an exotic beauty through ointments and cosmetics. "A man handsome at the door." This is spoken of those who are considered charming. The adage seems taken from the custom of the ancients, who wrote the names of the handsome and their lovers on the bark and leaves of trees and on walls; indeed, the proverb could refer to those praised through flattery.

"Fair-skinned men are of no use." This concerns soft and effeminate men, who are considered useless in conducting business.

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