242 Ulisse Aldrovandi

address. These lips, then, should be soft and kind, so that they may soften and temper the hardness of the teeth—that is, the severity of divine justice. Next are the cheeks, the parts of the face that share in softness, whiteness, and redness; through them, outward character is revealed, reflecting moral beauty. Thus, they should mirror the softness of piety, the crimson of charity, and the brilliance of purity. It is clearly evident that the mouth is essential for nutrition. For if the mouth, in preparing food, did not send it down to the stomach, the human limbs would undoubtedly fail. In the Church of God, the mouth represents the Doctor of theological wisdom, who distributes the carefully examined food of divine doctrine to the members—that is, the listeners—to refresh and nourish their souls. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the human mouth is small, whereas brutes are equipped with very wide mouths. Man, as a participant in reason, was gifted by nature with a small mouth so that he might be moderate in speech and consume a small quantity of food, in accordance with the proverb: *He who guards his mouth, guards his soul.* On the other hand, the vast mouths observed in brutes, and indeed in the criminal-minded, exist because such individuals are not only talkative but also exercise no temperance to moderate the impulse of their appetites.

From the mouth, we transition to the throat, where two paths lie open: one leading to the lungs and the other to the stomach. The first carries air, while the second carries food to the belly. In moral teaching, the throat signifies the mind marked by two paths—the affections—one of which is called spiritual and the other voluptuous. Through the spiritual path, the "air" of goods pertaining to the soul is drawn in; through the other, pleasurable goods are sought. Just as in the throat, air and food take different routes—air descending through the windpipe to the heart, and food through the esophagus to the stomach—a danger looms due to their proximity. A portion of food might enter the air passage, causing great discomfort to the sufferer. In moral terms, since air represents the highest good and food represents material wealth (the first seeking the heart, the second the stomach or "purse"), there is a frequent risk that material wealth might block the path to the heart. This is exactly what happens to the greedy: their riches wander from the path of the purse and seek the heart, suffocating the soul and preventing them from seeing the calamities of the needy or hearing their cries. For this reason, a certain poet compared the miserly man to an unfeeling object in this way:

"The chest swells with coins, yet he feeds not his needy companions; If it could speak, chest, you would feed the wretched. You are more of a chest yourself than the weights you keep safe; A chest you are—for that object alone was worthy of the name of man."

In this same region, the voice is formed. If it is sweet, it cheers the sorrowful, wins love, eases labor, and calls the mind back from fear to courage, or from anger to clemency. Such is the voice of divine praise and excellent learning, which brings hope and joy to sinners, excites piety toward God, and softens labor and grief through repentance. Thus, it wins the speaker a reputation for praise before both God and man. A perfect and excellent voice is produced when the lung passages are smooth and free of waste; if they are filled with some humor, they render the voice heavy and uneven. These channels represent the preachers of the Gospel and the Doctors of theological wisdom. If they are smooth and free from the "excrement" of crimes, they will pour out a sweet voice—that is, a doctrine pleasing to the people. But if they are infected with vices, they will communicate a learning that is unpleasant to those who hear it. On this point, Gregory spoke these words: "Authority is lost when deeds do not accompany the voice," following the common saying:

"Thus is censure prepared, and thus are examples set, When the teacher himself does what he advises others to do."

Indeed, superiors often offend others remarkably through their depraved examples. To this point, Scaliger, in a certain epigram, introduces a youth imitating the ways of the ancient gods, speaking thus:

"If someone blames me as a vice that I wander As a slave to love, catching everything with flighty eyes; Let him know that Jove, and Dis, and the Lord of the deep Have given their enslaved necks to the yoke of Cupid."

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