LatineEnglish
Thou shalt make little rooms in it.1
Mansiunculas in ea facies.
Hoc, quantum ad verborum sententiam, supra explanatum est. Hic tantum explicare oportet quot fuerint in Arca mansiunculae, quo ordine dispositae, quantae magnitudinis singulae, quemadmodum inter se distinctae, quam idonee et commode ad usum habitationis animalium designatae et constitutae. In primo igitur cenaculo (primum dico ab inferioribus Arcae ascendentibus ad superiora, et praetermisso fundo Arcae), ubi futura erant animalia, trecentas mansiunculas designare licet, non modo cunctis animalibus terrestribus quae in arca fuerunt, sed multo etiam pluribus capiendis atque continendis abunde sufficientes. Eas porro trecentas mansiunculas distribuimus in sex ordines, extensos secundum longitudinem arcae, disiunctos autem et separatos inter se secundum eiusdem arcae latitudinem.
This, as regards the sense of the words, has been explained above. Here it only remains to explain how many little rooms there were in the Ark, in what order they were arranged, of what size each was, how they were distinguished from one another, and how fitly and conveniently they were designed and set up for the use of the habitation of the animals. In the first cenaculum, then (the first, I say, ascending from the lower parts of the Ark to the upper, and the bottom of the Ark being passed over), where the animals were to be, one may lay out three hundred little rooms, amply sufficient for taking in and holding not only all the land animals that were in the ark, but many more besides. And these three hundred little rooms we distribute into six rows, extended according to the length of the ark, but disjoined and separated from one another according to the breadth of the same ark.2
Cuilibet autem mansiunculae tribuuntur sex cubita longitudinis totidemque latitudinis, altitudinis vero novem vel octo cubita. Nam etsi nonnulla sunt animalia terrestria tantae proceritatis ut eorum par unum plus spatii ad habitandum requirat (bini enim elephantes qui fuerunt in arca ampliorem utique locum desiderabant), attamen quoniam pleraque animalia eius sunt magnitudinis ut minori loco contineri possint, idcirco mensura illa cuiusque mansiunculae longitudinis sex cubitorum totidemque latitudinis satis superque fuerit; perpauca enim animalia plus loci occuparunt, quamplurima vero minori loco circumsepta et contenta sunt. Erant autem mansiunculae omnes assamentis et cancellis conclusae. Assignando igitur cuilibet mansiunculae sex cubita longitudinis, cum illud cenaculum esset longum trecentis cubitis (quanta...
And to each little room are assigned six cubits of length, as many of breadth, and nine or eight cubits of height. For although there are some land animals of such tallness that one pair of them requires more space to dwell in (for the two elephants which were in the ark certainly needed a larger place), yet, because most animals are of such a size that they can be contained in a smaller place, that measure of each little room — six cubits of length and as many of breadth — was more than enough; for very few animals took up more space, while very many were enclosed and contained in a smaller place. And all the little rooms were closed with planking and lattices. Assigning, then, to each little room six cubits of length, since that cenaculum was three hundred cubits long (which…3
...nempe longitudo erat totius arcae), necesse est quemlibet illorum sex ordinum qui secundum totam eius cenaculi longitudinem extendebantur habuisse quinquaginta mansiunculas; cumque latitudo arcae esset quinquaginta cubitorum et cuique mansiunculae tributa sint sex cubita latitudinis, illi sex ordines mansiuncularum triginta sex cubita latitudinis arcae implebant; supererat igitur alia quatuordecim cubita latitudinis arcae, quae distribuere oportet in aliquot ambulationes tam in longum quam in transversum inter sex illos ordines mansiuncularum interiectas, quo scilicet possent homines discursare omniaque perlustrare quae ad utilitatem animalium pertinebant, facilius prospiciendi et suppeditandi gratia. Quod si plus spatii quatuordecim illis cubitis ad commodiorem earum ambulationum usum videatur esse conferendum, poterit quantumcunque fuerit opus vel ex magnitudine mansiuncularum detrahi; idcirco enim et plures et grandiores quam opus erat eiusmodi mansiunculas designavimus.
…namely was the length of the whole ark), each of those six rows which extended along the whole length of that cenaculum must necessarily have had fifty little rooms; and since the breadth of the ark was fifty cubits, and to each little room six cubits of breadth were assigned, those six rows of little rooms filled thirty-six cubits of the ark’s breadth; there remained, therefore, another fourteen cubits of the ark’s breadth, which must be distributed into several walkways, both lengthwise and crosswise, interposed among those six rows of little rooms, so that the men could run about and survey everything pertaining to the welfare of the animals, for the sake of more easily watching over and supplying them. And if more space than those fourteen cubits should seem to be allotted for the more convenient use of those walkways, however much may be needed can be taken from the size of the little rooms; for it was for this reason that we laid out such little rooms both more numerous and larger than was needed.4
Alterum vero et medium cenaculum, condendis servandisque cibariis comparatum, multis erat apothecis distinctum, disparis tamen magnitudinis et capacitatis, scilicet pro varietate commeatuum; namque foenilia, palearia, et ubi frondes servabantur, grandiora esse oportuit quam frugum et leguminum conditoria. Omnes autem apothecae tabulatis separabantur. Aliqua item eius cenaculi parte, in vasis ligneis aut fictilibus, ingens erat copia aquae dulcis in potum animalium hominumque et in usum lavandi. Sicut etiam in illa celebri regis Hieronis navi narrat Athenaeus fuisse ad proram ingens aquae receptaculum capiens metretarum duo millia, assamentis, pice, linteisque compositum; et prope hoc fuisse piscinam laminis plumbeis assibusque compactam, aquae marinae plenam, in qua magna vis piscium habebatur.
But the second and middle cenaculum, prepared for storing and keeping food, was distinguished by many storerooms, of unequal size and capacity, however, according to the variety of provisions; for the hay-lofts, chaff-stores, and where the foliage was kept, had to be larger than the granaries of grain and legumes. And all the storerooms were separated by partitions. In some part also of that cenaculum, in vessels of wood or clay, there was a great store of fresh water for the drink of the animals and men and for the use of washing. Just as also, in that famous ship of King Hiero, Athenaeus relates that there was at the prow a huge water-receptacle holding two thousand metretes, made of planks, pitch, and linen; and near this was a fishpond compacted of leaden plates and boards, full of sea water, in which a great quantity of fish was kept.5
Erant praeterea in hoc ipso cenaculo multifariam disposita foramina et meatus directo superstantes praesepiis animalium, quae in singulis eorum mansiunculis facta erant ad pabulum; sicut etiam ibidem receptacula erant aquae ad potum. Ex medio igitur cenaculo per illa foramina in praesepium cuiusque mansiunculae dimittebatur pabulum quod in esum victumque satis esset; erant quoque in eo cenaculo multi canales lignei et tanquam aquae ductus, per quos aqua in mansiunculas animalium ad eorum potum derivabatur. Nec dubitare fas est Noë, praescium omnia quae in terris erant cataclysmo peritura, copiosam supellectilem tam rusticam quam urbanam, ferramentorumque genus omne fabrilium, tam huius medii cenaculi quam superioris vacantibus locis reposuisse.
There were, moreover, in this same cenaculum, holes and channels disposed in many places, standing directly over the mangers of the animals, which were made in each of their little rooms for the fodder; just as there were also there receptacles of water for drink. From the middle cenaculum, then, through those holes, there was let down into the manger of each little room the fodder that would be enough for eating and sustenance; and there were also in that cenaculum many wooden channels, like aqueducts, through which water was conducted into the little rooms of the animals for their drink. Nor is it permissible to doubt that Noah, foreknowing that all things on earth would perish in the cataclysm, stored a copious supply of furniture, both rustic and urban, and every kind of iron smith’s tools, in the vacant places both of this middle cenaculum and of the upper one.6
Sequitur tertium et supremum cenaculum, in quo domicilium erat hominum et avium. Huius partes omnes ad varios usus hominum et volucrum accommodatas, quia Ioannes Buteo satis apte designavit et breviter expresseque descripsit, ponam hic descriptionem eius iisdem ipsis verbis quibus ille usus est. In suprema, inquit, regione Arcae amplum fuit cenaculum ubi erat hominum habitatio, illuminatum arcae fenestra, quae, cum grandior esset, valvas habuit speculari lapide seu vitro crystallove munitas, ut iniuriam caeli, non lucem, arceret. Cenaculo iungebatur cella penaria atque culina, cui focus erat lapideo tabulatu; erantque ibi molae trusatiles cum libanis, item andronitis atque gynaeceum, distincta scilicet cubicula virorum atque mulierum; creditur enim, quoad fuere in arca, mulieres et viros seorsum cubasse et usu coniugii abstinuisse. Haec autem membra secundarium lumen (ut vocant Optici) a cenaculo capiebant; in aliis vero, quoties opus erat, lucernarum usus adhibebatur.
There follows the third and highest cenaculum, in which was the dwelling of men and birds. Since John Buteo designated all its parts, fitted to the various uses of men and birds, aptly enough, and described them briefly and expressly, I will here set down his description in the very words he used. ‘In the highest region of the Ark,’ he says, ‘was an ample cenaculum where the men’s habitation was, lighted by the window of the ark, which, being rather large, had shutters fitted with mirror-stone (specular stone) or glass or crystal, so as to keep off the harm of the weather, not the light. To the cenaculum was joined a pantry and a kitchen, whose hearth was on a stone flooring; and there were hand-mills with their hoppers, likewise a men’s apartment (andronitis) and a women’s apartment (gynaeceum) — that is, separate chambers of the men and of the women; for it is believed that, as long as they were in the ark, the women and men lay apart and abstained from the use of marriage. And these chambers took a secondary light (as the opticians call it) from the cenaculum; but in others, whenever there was need, the use of lamps was employed.’7
Prope culinam lignile fuit, ex lignis costis quae dicuntur Graece akapna, id est sine fumo, et insuper cella carbonaria. Posthac horreum sequebatur, et apotheca fructibus rusticis omnis generis referta, atque deinceps alia cibis avium dicata; quarum omnium ornithones et caveae in hac suprema contabulatione fuerunt, viarumque directiones, intermissis iuncturarum modice spatiis, ut essent velut aestuaria quibus refrigesceret aër subiectorum animalium halitu calefactus, essetque spiramentum salubrius. Adhoc etiam habuit ora superior ab utraque longitudinis parte spiracula, operis quadam necessitate relicta, prohibente scilicet cantheriorum crassitudine ne trabibus arrectariorum transversis asseres superni iungerentur; unde tamen, propter subgrundiorum ecphoras, nec lumen nec pluvialis aqua descendebat in arcam. Scalas praeterea locis opportunis admotas esse non est dubitandum, per quas facilis ad omnia tabulata pateret aditus; vectorum denique et onerum distributionem ita factam in Arca existimare oportet ut ea super aquis librata positione ferretur; cuius figura longior, sicut ferendo oneri commoda fuit, ita et huiusmodi libramento ac temperamento praecipue opus habuit. Hactenus ex Buteone.
‘Near the kitchen was a woodshed, of split timbers which are called in Greek akapna, that is “smokeless,” and besides a coal-cellar. After this followed a granary, and a storeroom filled with rustic fruits of every kind, and then another devoted to the food of the birds; the bird-houses (ornithones) and cages of all of which were in this highest decking; and the lines of the passages, with the joints’ spaces left moderately apart, so that they might be as it were vents by which the air, warmed by the breath of the animals beneath, might cool, and the ventilation might be more wholesome. To this also the upper edge had, on each side along the length, air-holes, left by a certain necessity of the work — namely, the thickness of the rafters (cantherii) preventing the upper boards from being joined to the cross beams of the uprights (arrectarii); whence, however, because of the projections of the eaves (subgrundia), neither light nor rain-water descended into the ark. That ladders, moreover, were set in convenient places must not be doubted, by which easy access lay open to all the stories; and finally, one must suppose that the distribution of the bars and burdens was so made in the Ark that it was borne on the waters in a balanced position; whose longer figure, as it was convenient for bearing the load, so it especially had need of such balancing and proportioning.’ Thus far from Buteo.8
Ceterum illud obiter ac breviter disputandum hoc loco est, utrum extra Arcam, ipsi tamen affixae, fuerint mansiones aliquae ad habitationem eorum animalium quae appellantur amphibia; hoc enim multos sensisse refert Hugo, eamque sententiam videtur ipse approbare ac sequi. Sic enim ille scribit libro primo de Arca morali capite tertio: In parietibus huius Arcae foris facti erant nidi sive mansiunculae quasi ad ipsos parietes affixae, ita ut introitus eorum extrinsecus pateret, ipso pariete integro permanente intrinsecus. Et hos nidos dicunt factos esse propter illa animalia quae nec semper in aqua nec semper in arida degere possunt, sicut est luter et vitulus marinus. Sic Hugo. Verum hanc opinionem equidem censeo minime probabilem esse, quin eam licet quinque argumentis refutare. Primo, inaequalis illa structura mansionum extra Arcam exstantium incommodissima fuisset Arcae, propter maximam vim aquarum quadraginta continuos dies magno impetu superne cadentium, et earum quae ad latera Arcae vehementer allidebantur. Deinde aut illae mansiunculae extrinsecus, id est versus aquam, fuissent apertae et patentes, aut clausae; si apertae, id fuisset magno detrimento et exitio animalibus inibi latentibus propter incursiones frequentes et vehementes fluctuum qui ad latera impinge-...
But this must here be disputed in passing and briefly: whether, outside the Ark, yet affixed to it, there were any lodgings for the habitation of those animals which are called amphibious; for Hugh reports that many held this, and he himself seems to approve and follow that opinion. For he writes thus, in the first book On the Moral Ark, ch. 3: ‘In the walls of this Ark, on the outside, were made nests or little rooms, as it were affixed to the walls themselves, so that their entrance lay open from without, while the wall itself remained whole within. And these nests, they say, were made for those animals which can live neither always in water nor always on dry land, such as the otter and the seal.’ Thus Hugh. But this opinion I, for my part, judge to be by no means probable; nay, it may be refuted by five arguments. First, that uneven structure of lodgings standing outside the Ark would have been most inconvenient for the Ark, because of the greatest force of the waters falling from above with great violence for forty continuous days, and of those which were vehemently dashed against the sides of the Ark. Next, either those little rooms outside, that is toward the water, would have been open and exposed, or closed; if open, it would have been to the great harm and ruin of the animals hiding therein, because of the frequent and vehement onslaughts of the waves which were dashed against the sides…9
...bantur et allidebantur; sin autem erant clausae, non igitur potuissent animalia quae ibi erant, quoties opus erat, exire in aquam ad captandum et comparandum sibi pabulum aquatile, sine quo putarunt isti ea non potuisse vitam degere. Adhaec Moses, in describendo structuram Arcae, tantum indicavit mansiones fuisse factas intra arcam; si quae autem aliae extra arcam factae essent, eas ille similiter exposuisset; silentium igitur earum apud Mosen nullas fuisse eas in arca manifestum argumentum est.
…and dashed against; but if they were closed, then the animals which were there could not, as often as was needful, go out into the water to catch and procure for themselves aquatic food, without which these men supposed they could not pass their life. Besides, Moses, in describing the structure of the Ark, only indicated that lodgings were made within the ark; but if any others had been made outside the ark, he would have set them forth likewise; the silence about them in Moses, therefore, is a manifest argument that there were none such on the ark.10
Praeterea Moses nec semel nec non apertis verbis tam in capite sexto quam in septimo ostendit omnes animantes quae servatae sunt a diluvio in arcam esse introductas. Ex cunctis animantibus, dixit Dominus ad Noë, universa carnis bina induces in arcam ut vivant tecum, etc.; et rursus, Bina de omnibus ingredientur tecum ut possint vivere; quod et postea factum esse scriptura repetit, dicens: De animantibus quoque mundis et immundis, et de volucribus, et ex omni quod movetur super terram, Duo et duo ingressa sunt ad Noë in arcam, masculus et femina, sicut praeceperat Dominus Noë.
Moreover, Moses, more than once and in plain words, both in the sixth chapter and in the seventh, shows that all the living things which were saved from the Flood were brought into the ark. ‘Of all living creatures,’ said the Lord to Noah, ‘thou shalt bring two of all flesh into the ark, that they may live with thee,’ etc.; and again, ‘Two of every kind shall enter in with thee, that they may live’; which Scripture repeats was afterward done, saying: ‘Of beasts also clean and unclean, and of birds, and of everything that moveth upon the earth, two and two went in to Noah into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noah.’11
Illud etiam quod ab istis dicitur videtur falsum, animalia illa amphibia non posse diu in aquis degere et terrestri pastu indigere. Non enim crocodilus et vitulus marinus necessitatis causa terram appetunt, sed uberioris praedae et commodioris ac tutioris loci, ad generationem et conservationem prolis captandi, gratia. Nec verum est istiusmodi animalia sine aquatili pabulo diu vitam posse degere; narrat enim Buteo vidisse se Lutetiae duos vitulos marinos e longinquo vectos ad regem Galliae spectaculi gratia, qui non minus avide carnes quam pisces appetebant et vorabant. Quid multa? Etiamsi concedamus istiusmodi animalia nec extra Arcam nec sine aquatili pastu vivere potuisse, nec locus tamen illis ad habitandum defuit in Arca; et in supremo eius cenaculo ubi erant homines amplissimum supererat spatium ad faciendam ingentem piscinam, quae piscium plena cibum istis animalibus in totum annum abunde suppeditaret, quemadmodum supra ex Athenaeo diximus in illa nobili regis Hieronis navi magnam fuisse piscinam piscibus omnis generis abundantem.
That too which is said by these men seems false — that those amphibious animals cannot live long in the waters and need land food. For the crocodile and the seal do not seek land out of necessity, but for the sake of richer prey and a more convenient and safer place for the begetting and preservation of their young. Nor is it true that such animals cannot long pass their life without aquatic food; for Buteo relates that he himself saw at Paris two seals brought from afar to the king of France for a show, which sought and devoured flesh no less eagerly than fish. In short: even if we should grant that such animals could live neither outside the Ark nor without aquatic food, yet a place to dwell in was not lacking to them in the Ark; and in its highest cenaculum, where the men were, there remained a most ample space for making a huge fishpond, which, full of fish, would amply supply food to those animals for the whole year — just as we said above from Athenaeus, that in that noble ship of King Hiero there was a great fishpond abounding in fish of every kind.12
Translator’s notes
- The lemma of Gen 6:14 repeated for this disputation. ↩
- §47: in the animals’ deck, 300 little rooms can be laid out in six rows along the length. ↩
- §48: each room 6 cubits long, 6 broad, 8–9 high (the elephants needed more); all closed with planking and gratings. ↩
- §48 (continued from p. 210): six rows of fifty rooms fill 36 of the 50 cubits’ breadth, leaving 14 for walkways. ↩
- §49: the middle deck (food-store) — granaries, hay-lofts, water-vessels; the parallel of Hiero’s ship (Athenaeus). Margin: Athenaeus. ↩
- §50: feeding-holes and water-channels ran from the middle deck down into each manger; Noah, foreseeing all would perish, surely stored abundant tools and furniture. ↩
- §51 (continues on p. 212): the top deck (men & birds) — Buteo’s description, in his own words: the crystal-glazed window, pantry and kitchen, hand-mills, separate men’s and women’s cabins (the sexes living apart in the ark). Margin: John Buteo. ↩
- §51 (continued from p. 211): Buteo on the woodshed (smokeless wood), coal-cellar, granary, fruit-stores, bird-feed, aviaries and cages, air-vents, vents in the upper edges, ladders, and the ship’s balanced loading. ↩
- §52 (continues on p. 213): whether amphibian-pens were built outside the Ark (Hugh) — Pererius refutes it (five arguments); first, such outer structures would be ruined by the waters. Margin: ‘Whether some little rooms were attached to the Ark outside, as some held’; Hugh. ↩
- §52 (continued from p. 212): if closed, the animals couldn’t get out for water; and Moses mentions only rooms inside the ark. ↩
- the further argument: Moses repeatedly shows all the animals were brought INTO the ark (Gen 6–7). ↩
- §53: it is also false that amphibians cannot live long in water or need land food (Buteo saw seals at Paris eating flesh as eagerly as fish); and there was ample room in the top deck for a huge fishpond to feed them (as in Hiero’s ship). Margins: Buteo; Athenaeus. ↩