Source:
Egidius de Vadis, Dialogus inter naturam et filium philosophiae, ed. Bernard Gilles Penot, Frankfurt am Main: Johannes Saur for Johann Rex, 1595, sig. F1v = pag. 66 [BP.Penot.1595-01]
Summary: Penot emphasizes that the rules he has compiled from various authors are meant to succinctly convey the entirety of the art to those who are genuinely inclined and apt for its study. He advises that those who do not feel a calling towards these teachings should abstain, invoking the adage "Let the cobbler not go beyond his last" to suggest that individuals should stick to their areas of expertise. Bernard warns of divine retribution for those who venture into this sacred knowledge without being duly called, asserting that this celestial wisdom is not meant for the obstinate, the corrupt, or the wicked. Instead, it is destined for the holy or those it will make holy, urging the admonished to pursue righteousness and the corrupt to reform, as the sacred teachings are reserved for the sacred, not to be profaned by the unworthy. (generated by ChatGPT)
Text
[p. 66] B[ernardvs] à Portv Sanctæ Aqvitanvs Lectori salutem.
Hae regulæ ex variorum authorum Libris per me excerptæ, quibus artis studiosus quilibet, integram artem breuiter depictam intelliget: Modo aptus idoneusque sit: Qui vero, se ad hæc accitum non senserit, quiescat: Ne sutor vltra crepidam: Igitur in vocatione qua quisque vocatus est ambulet. Alioqui vltricem Dei manum experietur. Etenim scientia hæc, cœlitus est; haud hominum arbitrio. Quæ tandem ad duræ ceruicis artificem siue militum, aut hominum sceleratorum manus, nusquam peruenit: sanctum potius hominem hæc ars inuenit, aut illum ipsum facit sanctum: discite ergo ô moniti iustitiam, vosque peruersi bene agite: quia sacra sacris, haud sanctum dare canibus licet.
Modern English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT on 25 February 2024. Attention: This translation is a machine translation by artificial intelligence. The translation has not been checked and should not be cited without additional human verification.
Bernard of Port of Saint Aquitaine greets the Reader.
These rules, excerpted from the books of various authors by me, will allow any student of the art to understand the entire art briefly depicted, provided they are suitable and apt for it. However, those who do not feel called to these matters should rest: "Let the cobbler not go beyond his last." Therefore, let each walk in the calling to which they have been called. Otherwise, they will experience the avenging hand of God. For this knowledge is from heaven; it is not at the discretion of men. It never reaches the hands of hard-necked craftsmen, soldiers, or wicked men; rather, this art finds a holy man or makes him holy: therefore, learn righteousness, O you who are admonished, and you who are perverse, do good: for the sacred is for the sacred, and it is not permitted to give what is holy to dogs.
