THIRTEENTH DISPUTATION. Of what thing the Ark of Noah was a figure according to the Tropological sense — Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume II

LatineEnglish

THIRTEENTH DISPUTATION. Of what thing the Ark of Noah was a figure according to the Tropological sense.

DECIMATERTIA DISPUTATIO. Cuius rei figura secundum Tropologicum sensum fuerit Arca Noë.

SI quis est, inquit Origenes, qui crescentibus malis et inundantibus vitiis convertere se potest a rebus fluxis et caducis, et audire verbum Dei ac praecepta caelestia custodire, hic intra cor suum arcam salutis aedificat, et ut ita dicam, bibliothecam divini consecrat verbi, longitudinem in ea, latitudinem et altitudinem, fidem dico, spem et charitatem collocans. Fide Trinitatis, ad longitudinem vitae immortalitatem descendit. Latitudine charitatis, indulgentiae benignitatisque fundat affectum. Altitudine spei ad caelestia erigit animum, et in terris ambulans, in caelis habet conversationem. Summam vero actuum suorum refert ad unum. Scit enim quia omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit palmam, scilicet qui cogitationum varietate et mentis instabilitate non fuerit multiplex.

“If there is anyone,” says Origen, “who, amid growing evils and overflowing vices, is able to turn himself away from fleeting and perishable things, and to hear the word of God and keep the heavenly precepts, this man builds within his heart an ark of salvation, and, so to speak, consecrates a library of the divine word, placing in it length, breadth, and height — I mean faith, hope, and charity. By the faith of the Trinity, he reaches the length of life, immortality. By the breadth of charity, he establishes an affection of indulgence and kindness. By the height of hope, he lifts up his mind to heavenly things, and, walking on earth, has his conversation in heaven. And he refers the sum of his actions to one. For he knows that, although all indeed run, yet one receives the prize (1 Cor. 9) — namely, he who has not been made manifold by variety of thoughts and instability of mind.¹

Sed hanc arcam et bibliothecam non ex agrestibus et impolitis, sed ex quadratis et secundum aequitatis lineam directis construit lignis, id est, non secularium auctorum, sed ex propheticis et apostolicis voluminibus. Ipsi enim sunt qui, diversis tentationibus dolati, recisis omnibus vitiis, quadratam continent vitam, et ex omni parte libratam. Nam auctores secularium librorum possunt dici ligna excelsa et umbrosa (sub omni enim ligno excelso et nemoroso accusatur fornicatus esse Israël), quia illi loquuntur quidem excelsa, et florida utuntur eloquentia, non tamen ita faciunt ut loquuntur: et ideo non possunt ligna quadrata nominari, quia non in eis sermo et vita collibrant.

“But he constructs this ark and library not from rough and unpolished timbers, but from squared ones, set straight according to the line of equity — that is, not from secular authors, but from the prophetic and apostolic books. For these are they who, hewn by various temptations, with all vices cut away, maintain a squared life, balanced on every side. For the authors of secular books may be called lofty and shady trees (for ‘under every lofty and leafy tree Israel is accused of having committed fornication,’ Jer. 2), because they indeed speak lofty things and use florid eloquence, yet do not act as they speak: and therefore they cannot be called squared timbers, because in them speech and life are not balanced together.²

Tu ergo si facis arcam, ex propheticis et apostolicis sermonibus confice, et bicameratam ac tricameratam eam facito: ex ipsa narrationes historicas disce: ex ipsa latentia rerum mysteria et sacramenta agnosce. Ex ipsa quoque mores emendare, resecare vitia, purgare animam, atque exsolvere omni vitio captivitatis enitere. Nidos in ea diversarum virtutum et profectuum colloca. Intus et foris eam bitumina, corde fidem gerens, ore confessionem praeferens: intus scientiam, foris operationem habens: intus corde mundus, foris castus corpore incedens. Sic Origenes.

“You therefore, if you make an ark, fashion it from the prophetic and apostolic discourses, and make it two- and three-storied: from it learn the historical narratives; from it recognize the hidden mysteries and sacraments of things. From it too strive to amend your morals, to cut away vices, to purge your soul, and to free yourself from every vice of captivity. Place in it nests of diverse virtues and advancements. Bituminize it within and without, bearing faith in the heart, displaying confession with the mouth; having knowledge within, action without; pure in heart within, walking chaste in body without.” So Origen.³

HUGO autem Sancti Victoris, in libro Allegoriarum in Genesim, capite decimo octavo: Anima, inquit, nostra est velut arca Noë. In arca salvari debemus, et in ipsam intrantes et in ipsa manentes, sicut scriptum est: Redite, praevaricatores, ad cor. Huius arcae longitudo fides est, quae credit omnia quae fecit Deus ab initio saeculi, vel facturus est usque ad finem eius, per se, vel per Angelos, vel per homines. Altitudo spes est, qua erigitur ad speranda bona quae in caelis sunt praeparata diligentibus Deum. Latitudo caritas est, quae extenditur ad Septentrionalem plagam per dilectionem inimicorum, et ad plagam Australem per dilectionem amicorum.

And Hugh of St. Victor, in his book of Allegories on Genesis, chapter eighteen: “Our soul,” he says, “is like the ark of Noah. In the ark we ought to be saved, both by entering into it and by remaining in it, as it is written: ‘Return, you transgressors, to the heart’ (Isa. 46). The length of this ark is faith, which believes all the things that God has done from the beginning of the world, or will do until its end, whether by himself, or through Angels, or through men. The height is hope, by which one is raised toward hoping for the goods which are prepared in the heavens for those who love God. The breadth is charity, which extends toward the northern region by the love of enemies, and toward the southern region by the love of friends.⁴

In hac arca est Noë, id est, Intellectus rationalis et sensus spiritualis, et quae ex his nascuntur, recta consilia, iusta desideria piaque vota, tanquam filii et cognati Noë. Animalia, opera sunt quae circa res terrenas efficiuntur. Volucres, cogitationes sunt in rebus excelsis et caelestibus versantes. Inundatio aquarum, impetus est tentationum. Montes Armeniae, in quibus requiescit arca, quies est animae in contemplatione rerum divinarum. Corvus emissus nec reversus significat falsos Christianos, qui, dum aliquando ad exteriora necessitatis causa mittuntur, foris remanent visibilibus inhaerentes, neque ad interiorem quietem revertentes, sed foris in fluctuatione temporalium laetantes. Columba vero extra arcam missa sed ad eam reversa, bonos Christianos significat, qui, dum pro utilitate proximorum ad exteriora procedunt, redeunt cum foris quietem non inveniunt: et afferunt ramum olivae, quia peregerunt opera misericordiae.

“In this ark is Noah — that is, the rational understanding and the spiritual sense; and the things which are born from these — right counsels, just desires, and pious vows — are, as it were, the sons and kindred of Noah. The animals are the works which are done about earthly things. The birds are the thoughts that dwell on lofty and heavenly things. The flood of waters is the onset of temptations. The mountains of Armenia, on which the ark rests, are the rest of the soul in the contemplation of divine things. The raven sent out and not returning signifies false Christians who, when they are sometimes sent to outward things for the sake of necessity, remain outside, clinging to visible things, and do not return to inward rest, but rejoice outside in the fluctuation of temporal things. But the dove sent out of the ark yet returning to it signifies good Christians who, while they go out to outward things for the benefit of their neighbors, return when they do not find rest outside; and they bring back an olive branch, because they have performed works of mercy.”⁵

SED idem Hugo in libro secundo de arca Morali, per prima aliquot eius libri capita, dum historiam arcae per Tropologicam interpretationem pulcherrime accommodat ad secretum conscientiae et cordis humani, ubi sedes est sapientiae vigetque contemplatio Dei et creaturarum eius, tam luculentam habet disputationem, ut si eam hoc loco tacitam praeterirem, equidem viderer ipse mihi fraudasse lecto[rem]…

But the same Hugh, in the second book On the Moral Ark, through the first several chapters of that book — while he most beautifully accommodates the history of the ark, by tropological interpretation, to the secret of the conscience and of the human heart, where is the seat of wisdom and where the contemplation of God and of his creatures flourishes — has so brilliant a discussion that, if I were to pass it over here in silence, I should indeed seem to myself to have defrauded the read[er]…⁶

…lectorem ingenti utilitate ac voluptate spirituali, qua ex eius viri piis admodum et eruditis maximeque salutaribus sententiis et documentis haurire licet. Cum igitur ille dixisset arcam Noë adumbrasse secretum et quasi adytum ac penetrale animi nostri, ubi sedet sapientia rerum contemplationi vacans, ad hunc fere modum disputat (exponam enim breviter disputationis eius summam): Anima, inquit, nostra similitudinem Creatoris sui habet: quod, ut in mente Dei rerum omnium causae aeternaliter, sine mutabilitate et distinctione temporali subsistunt, sic in mente nostra praeterita, praesentia et futura per cogitationem simul subsistunt. Si ergo per studium meditationis assiduae cor nostrum inhabitare coeperimus, iam quodammodo temporales esse desistimus, et quasi foris mundo mortui, intus Deo vivimus. Tunc quicquid fortuna extra molitur facile contemnimus, si ibi fixum est desiderium nostrum, ubi mutabilitati non subiacemus: ubi nec praeterita relinquamus, nec occupemur praesentibus, nec expectemus futura; nec cupiamus vitae prospera, nec metuamus adversa.

…the reader of the immense profit and spiritual delight which one may draw from that man's very pious and learned and most salutary opinions and lessons. When, therefore, he had said that the ark of Noah foreshadowed the secret and, as it were, the shrine and inmost recess of our soul, where wisdom is seated, devoting itself to the contemplation of things, he argues roughly in this manner (for I shall briefly set forth the sum of his discussion): “Our soul,” he says, “has the likeness of its Creator: for, as in the mind of God the causes of all things subsist eternally, without mutability and temporal distinction, so in our mind the past, present, and future subsist together through thought. If, therefore, through the practice of constant meditation we begin to dwell within our heart, we now in some manner cease to be temporal, and, as though dead to the world without, we live within to God. Then whatever fortune contrives outside, we easily despise, if our desire is fixed there where we are not subject to mutability — where we neither leave behind the past, nor are occupied with the present, nor await the future; where we neither covet life's prosperities, nor fear its adversities.⁷

Habeamus ergo rectas, utiles et castas cogitationes: quia de tali materia fabricabimus arcam nostram. Ista sunt ligna quae in aquam missa natant, in igne posita ardent: quia tales cogitationes fluxus carnalium delectationum deorsum non premit, sed flamma caritatis incendit. Nec timeas hunc ignem in tectis tuis. Vae tibi, si non arserit ex hoc igne tabernaculum tuum. Postea bituminabis arcam tuam intus et extra. Extra, ut mansuetudinem exhibeas; intus, ut caritatem non amittas. Nullatenus enim in secreto conscientiae tuae suaviter quiescere poteris, nisi prius malos et extra per mansuetudinem tolerare, et intus didiceris per caritatem non odisse. Bitumen calidae naturae est, et nascitur de terra fulminata: et caritas procreatur in anima timore divini iudicii percussa.

“Let us therefore have right, useful, and chaste thoughts, because from such material we shall build our ark. These are the timbers which, cast into water, float; placed in fire, burn: because the flux of carnal delights does not press such thoughts down, but the flame of charity sets them aflame. Do not fear this fire in your roofs. Woe to you, if your tabernacle has not burned with this fire. Afterward you shall bituminize your ark within and without. Without, that you may show gentleness; within, that you may not lose charity. For in no way will you be able to rest sweetly in the secret of your conscience, unless you have first learned both to bear the wicked outwardly through gentleness, and not to hate inwardly through charity. Bitumen is of a hot nature, and is born from earth struck by lightning: and charity is begotten in a soul struck by the fear of divine judgment.”⁸

TRECENTORUM cubitorum longitudo arcae praesens saeculum, ab initio eius usque ad finem, per tres differentias temporis — Praeteriti, Praesentis et Futuri — variatum significat. Si ergo tu, cogitationem tuam ab exordio mundi ducens usque ad extremum eius, consideraveris quot et quanta Deus operatus et operaturus sit propter electos suos, trecentorum cubitorum longitudinem in corde tuo metiris. Si vitam et facta fidelium contemplans in exemplum tibi proponas, in latitudinem quinquaginta cubitorum cor tuum extendis. Si vero divinae paginae, quae triginta libris continetur, scientiam adeptus fueris, ad altitudinem triginta cubitorum cor tuum erigis. Haec est arca quam in corde tuo aedificare debes: requiesce intra eam, hic securus manebis. Procella et tempestas foris saevit: quocunque prodieris, naufragium patieris.

“The length of three hundred cubits of the ark signifies the present age, from its beginning to its end, varied through the three differences of time — Past, Present, and Future. If, therefore, leading your thought from the beginning of the world to its uttermost end, you consider how many and how great are the things God has done and will do for the sake of his elect, you measure out in your heart the length of three hundred cubits. If, contemplating the life and deeds of the faithful, you set them before yourself as an example, you extend your heart to the breadth of fifty cubits. But if you attain the knowledge of the divine page, which is contained in thirty books, you raise your heart to the height of thirty cubits. This is the ark which you ought to build in your heart: rest within it, and here you will remain secure. The storm and tempest rage outside: wherever you go forth, you will suffer shipwreck.⁹

Si superbe per sapientiam tuam divina secreta scrutari conaris, quae Deus nobis per scripturam suam aperire noluit, altitudinem triginta cubitorum transcendis. Si usque in finem saeculi Ecclesiam Christi duraturam esse non credis, sed aliquando Dei destituendam esse auxilio, trecentorum cubitorum longitudinem trans[is]…

“If you proudly attempt, through your own wisdom, to search out the divine secrets which God has not willed to open to us through his Scripture, you exceed the height of thirty cubits. If you do not believe that the Church of Christ will endure to the end of the age, but that it will at some time be deprived of God's help, you overstep the length of three hundred cubits…”¹⁰

…fis. Si frequenter de amatoribus huius mundi et de vana eorum conversatione cogitare delectat, quinquaginta cubitorum latitudinem transgrederis.

“…If you frequently take delight in thinking about the lovers of this world and about their vain way of life, you transgress the breadth of fifty cubits.”¹¹

VERUM de ostio et fenestra huius arcae dicamus. Etsi tutum et iucundum est intra arcam, id est, cordis nostri secretum, remotos a strepitu huius mundi latere, attamen quia ipsa nostrae condicionis infirmitas diu nos in silentio intimae contemplationis morari et quiescere non patitur, exitum habemus per ostium et fenestram. Ostium significat exitum per operationem: fenestra, exitum qui fit per cogitationem. Ostium deorsum est, fenestra sursum: quia operationes ad corpus pertinent, cogitationes ad animam. Hinc est quod per fenestram aves exierunt, per ostium bestiae et homines. Sicut enim avis ad volatum, sic homo nascitur ad laborem. Sic enim nati sumus, ut si volumus animam ad contemplationem sublevare, necesse sit corpus per exercitia laboris atterere.

But let us speak of the door and the window of this ark. Although it is safe and pleasant to lie hidden within the ark — that is, the secret of our heart — removed from the din of this world, nevertheless, because the very weakness of our condition does not permit us long to tarry and rest in the silence of inmost contemplation, we have an exit through the door and the window. “The door signifies an exit by action; the window, an exit that is made by thought. The door is below, the window above: because actions pertain to the body, thoughts to the soul. Hence it is that through the window the birds went out, through the door the beasts and the men. For as the bird is born for flight, so man is born for labor (Job 5). For we are so born that, if we wish to lift the soul to contemplation, it is necessary to wear down the body by the exercises of labor.”¹²

Ostium in latere arcae positum fuisse significat nunquam nos e secreto cordis nostri per operationem exire debere ex proposito intentionis, sed tantum ex accidenti occasione necessitatis. Et fortasse non sine causa hoc de fenestra tacuit scriptura: quia etsi per cogitationem voluntate aliquando licet exire, nunquam tamen per operationem foras prodire debemus nisi ex necessitate. Quod etiam convenienter insinuatur eo quod homo ipse, quando voluit, fenestram aperuit ut aves emitteret. Ostium vero foris a Deo et clausum et rursus apertum esse legitur, ut homo exiret.

“That the door was placed in the side of the ark signifies that we ought never to go out from the secret of our heart by action from a set purpose of intention, but only from the incidental occasion of necessity. And perhaps not without cause did Scripture keep silent about this regarding the window: because, although through thought we may sometimes go out by our own will, nevertheless we ought never to go forth by action except from necessity. This is also fittingly suggested by the fact that the man himself, when he wished, opened the window to send out the birds. But the door is read to have been both closed from outside by God, and again opened, that the man might go out (Gen. 8).”¹³

QUATUOR autem modis eximus per actionem. Namque actiones aliae sunt carnales, id est, ad usum corporis pertinentes; aliae spirituales, pertinentes ad instructionem mentis. Ad utrasque boni et mali exeunt. Qui ad explendam voluptatem terrenis actionibus foris inserviunt, similes sunt immundis animalibus quae de arca exierant. Qui eas ad usum necessitatis administrant, animalia quidem sunt, sed munda. Qui vero Ecclesiastici regiminis curam, quae actio spiritualis est, gerendam suscipiunt, et a secreto internae quietis non ex ambitione, sed ex praecepto obedientiae ad publicum prodeunt, similes sunt Noë, qui exiens de Arca sacrificium obtulit: quia saepe tales eo magis per abstinentiam omnes in se carnis motus occidunt, quo graviora internae quietis damna per occupationem in se pertulisse cognoscunt.

Now we go out by action in four ways. For some actions are carnal — that is, pertaining to the use of the body; others spiritual, pertaining to the instruction of the mind. To both, the good and the bad go out. Those who, to fulfill pleasure, devote themselves outwardly to earthly actions, are like the unclean animals that had gone out of the ark. Those who administer such actions for the use of necessity are indeed animals, but clean. But those who undertake the care of ecclesiastical governance — which is a spiritual action — and who go forth into public from the secret of inner rest, not from ambition but from the precept of obedience, are like Noah, who, going out of the ark, offered sacrifice: because such men often slay within themselves all the motions of the flesh by abstinence the more, the more grievous the losses of inner rest they recognize themselves to have suffered through their occupation.¹⁴

Illi autem qui propter gloriam propriam honores in Ecclesia suscipiunt, et cum se in sublimi positos vident ceteros despiciunt, et infirmioribus quibusque in Ecclesia positis ex compassione condescendere nolunt, similes sunt Cham, qui denudati patris verenda derisit, et ob hoc meruit maledictionis sententiam accipere.

But those who, for the sake of their own glory, take up honors in the Church, and, when they see themselves placed on high, despise the rest, and are unwilling out of compassion to condescend to the weaker ones placed in the Church, are like Ham, who mocked the nakedness of his father, and on this account deserved to receive the sentence of malediction (Gen. 9).¹⁵

QUATUOR autem modis eximus per contemplationem. Primus modus est, cum consideramus quid sit ex se omnis creatura. Invenimus autem omnia esse vanitatem: quia sicut omnis creatura ex nihilo venit ad esse, ita quotidiana mutatione sua indicat se, quantum in se est, ad nihilum tendere. Alter modus est, cum consideramus quid…

Now we go out by contemplation in four ways. The first way is when we consider what every creature is in itself. And we find that all things are vanity: because, as every creature came from nothing into being, so by its daily change it shows that, as far as in it lies, it tends toward nothing. The second way is when we consider what…¹⁶

…fit creatura ex dono Creatoris, et cernimus in ea divinae rationis similitudinem. Nam licet ipsa, pro conditione suae naturae, mutabilitati subiacet, dum tamen ex beneficio Creatoris sui accipit ut nunquam prorsus esse desinat, quodammodo opus temporale aeternam Opificis sui imitatur stabilitatem. Tertius modus est, cum contemplamur quemadmodum utatur Deus ministerio creaturarum ad implenda iudicia sua, sive pro sua misericordia largiendo beneficia, sive pro nostro merito supplicia inferendo. Et in hac consideratione invenimus omnia esse instrumentum divinae dispensationis, et nostrae pravitatis argumentum.

…the creature is by the gift of its Creator, and we discern in it the likeness of the divine reason. For although it is itself subject to mutability, by the condition of its nature, yet, since by the kindness of its Creator it receives that it should never wholly cease to be, in a certain way a temporal work imitates the eternal stability of its Maker. The third way is when we contemplate how God uses the ministry of creatures to fulfill his judgments, whether by bestowing benefits according to his mercy, or by inflicting punishments according to our desert. And in this consideration we find that all things are an instrument of divine dispensation, and a proof of our depravity.¹⁷

In hoc genere contemplationis audimus omnem creaturam his tribus vocibus loquentem nobis: Accipe, Redde, Fuge. Accipe beneficium, Redde debitum, Fuge supplicium. Prima vox est famulantis; secunda, admonentis; tertia, comminantis. Quartus modus contemplationis est, cum creaturas inspicimus prout homo eis uti potest ad explendas carnalis concupiscentiae suae voluptates, et in eis cogitamus non naturalis infirmitatis subsidium, sed pravae libidinis oblectamentum. Hoc oculo Eva lignum vidit, quod esset pulchrum visu et ad vescendum suave, et tulit de fructu eius et comedit.

In this kind of contemplation we hear every creature speaking to us with these three voices: Receive, Repay, Flee. Receive the benefit, Repay the debt, Flee the punishment. The first voice is that of one serving; the second, of one admonishing; the third, of one threatening. The fourth mode of contemplation is when we look at creatures according as a man can use them to fulfill the pleasures of his carnal concupiscence, and consider in them not a relief for natural weakness, but a delight for depraved lust. With this eye Eve saw the tree, that it was fair to behold and sweet to eat, and she took of its fruit and ate (Gen. 3).¹⁸

Qui sic exeunt per cogitationem ad creaturas, similes sunt corvo arcam egresso nec ad eam reverso: quia cum foris quod male delectat inveniunt, ad arcam conscientiae amplius redire nolunt. Priora vero tria contemplationis genera per egressum columbae figurata sunt, quae cum ex arca emissa esset nec foris inveniret ubi pes eius requiesceret, reversa est ad vesperam portans ramum olivae virentis in ore suo. Vacua exiit, sed vacua non rediit, quia foris invenit quod intus non habuit: nec tamen foris amavit quod intro detulit.

Those who thus go out by thought to creatures are like the raven that went out of the ark and did not return to it: because, when they find outside what wrongly delights them, they are unwilling to return any more to the ark of conscience. But the former three kinds of contemplation are figured by the going-out of the dove, which, when it had been sent out of the ark and did not find outside where its foot might rest, returned at evening carrying a green olive branch in its mouth. It went out empty, but did not return empty, because it found outside what it did not have within: yet it did not love outside what it carried back within.¹⁹

TRES porro mansiones in intellectuali arca tria significant genera cogitationum: Rectum, Utile, Necessarium. Si diligere coepero meditationem scripturarum, et libenter cogitavero de virtutibus et factis Sanctorum, et de aliis quaecunque ad emendationem morum et exercitationem virtutum conferunt, iam in prima mansione arcae esse coepi. Sed si bonum quod novi imitari differo aut detrecto, tunc recta cogitatio mea est, sed inutilis: quia bonum quidem est quod de aliis cogito et in aliis cognosco, sed inutile mihi est si illud ad exemplum vivendi non traho. Siquidem aliena virtus mihi non prodest, si eam quantum possum imitari neglexero: Thesaurus absconditus et scientia abscondita, quae utilitas in utrisque? Scientiam abscondo, si bonum quod novi opere non ostendo.

Furthermore, the three dwellings in the intellectual ark signify three kinds of thoughts: the Right, the Useful, the Necessary. If I have begun to love the meditation of the Scriptures, and have gladly thought about the virtues and deeds of the Saints, and about all other things whatsoever that contribute to the amendment of morals and the exercise of virtues, I have now begun to be in the first dwelling of the ark. But if I defer or decline to imitate the good which I know, then my thought is right, but useless: because what I think about others, and recognize in others, is indeed good, yet it is useless to me if I do not draw it into a model for living. For another's virtue does not profit me if I neglect to imitate it as far as I can: “A hidden treasure and a hidden wisdom, what profit is there in them both?” (Sir. 20). I hide knowledge if I do not show by deed the good which I know.²⁰

Si autem operam dedero non tantum ut sciam, sed ut etiam agam quae bona et utilia mihi esse cognovero, et hoc sedulo curavero ut virtutes quas in aliis amare et admirari didici meas faciam per exercitium disciplinae et per formam recte vivendi, tunc utilis erit cogitatio cordis mei, et tunc ascendi in secundam arcae mansionem, et cor meum in unum iam magis collegi, ut non discurrat et vagetur per ea quae vana sunt et inutilia.

But if I give my effort not only to knowing, but also to doing the things which I have recognized to be good and useful to me, and diligently take care that the virtues which I have learned to love and admire in others I make my own through the exercise of discipline and through a pattern of right living, then the thought of my heart will be useful, and then I have ascended into the second dwelling of the ark, and have now gathered my heart more into one, so that it may not run about and wander through the things that are vain and useless.²¹

RESTAT tertium, ut cum habere coepero opera virtutum, laborem ipsas quoque virtutes habere, hoc est, ut quod foris demonstro in opere, intus possideam in virtute. Non enim multum mihi prodest habere opera, nisi etiam virtutes operum habeam. Si igitur ad hoc cordis mei cogitationem instituo, ut quicquid in me boni foris humanis apparet aspectibus, divinis intus satagam praesentare obtutibus, tunc ascendi in tertiam mansionem, ubi virtutes sunt quae nobis sunt necessariae. Sed inter omnes praecipue necessaria est charitas, quae nos Deo coniungit. Et ideo arca in supremo ad unum colligebatur, ut iam unum cogitemus, unum expectemus, unum desideremus, Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum. In prima igitur mansione est cognitio; in secunda, opus; in tertia, virtus; in supremo, praemium virtutis, Dominus Iesus Christus.

There remains the third: that, when I have begun to have the works of the virtues, I should labor to have the virtues themselves as well — that is, that what I show outwardly in work, I may possess inwardly in virtue. For it does not much profit me to have works, unless I also have the virtues of the works. If, therefore, I direct the thought of my heart to this — that whatever good appears in me outwardly to human eyes, I may strive to present inwardly to the divine gaze — then I have ascended into the third dwelling, where are the virtues that are necessary for us. But among all [the virtues] charity is especially necessary, which joins us to God. And therefore the ark was gathered at the top to one: that we may now think of one, await one, desire one — our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first dwelling, therefore, is knowledge; in the second, work; in the third, virtue; at the top, the reward of virtue, the Lord Jesus Christ.²²

Hos gradus habes in Psalmo, ubi dicitur: Bonitatem et disciplinam et scientiam doce me, si converso ordine ita dicas: Scientiam et disciplinam et bonitatem doce me, Domine Iesu Christe. Hactenus exposita est a nobis interpretatio arcae secundum Tropologicum sensum.

You have these grades in the Psalm, where it is said: “Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge” (Ps. 118), if, reversing the order, you say thus: Teach me knowledge and discipline and goodness, O Lord Jesus Christ. Thus far has the interpretation of the ark according to the Tropological sense been set forth by us.²³

Translator’s notes

§94. Origen, hom. 2 on Gen. 6 — the tropological ark built within the heart. Margins: Origen, hom. 2 on Gen. 6; 1 Cor. 9. Quotation continues on p. 235. ↩
Origen continued; the squared timbers = the prophetic and apostolic books. Margin: Jer. 2. ↩
Conclusion of the Origen quotation. ↩
§95. Hugh of St. Victor, Allegoriae in Genesim, ch. 18 — the soul as ark. Margins: Hugh of St. Victor; Isa. (46). ↩
Hugh continued: the figural decoding of Noah, animals, birds, flood, mountains, raven, and dove. Margins: Gen. 8 (twice). ↩
§96. Hugh of St. Victor, De arca Noe morali, bk. 2. Margin: Hugh of St. Victor. Continues on p. 236. ↩
Pererius summarizes Hugh: the soul's atemporal interior as the place of the ark. ↩
Hugh continued: the timbers and bitumen of the inner ark = chaste thoughts and charity. ↩
§97. Hugh reads the three dimensions as the span of sacred history, the example of the saints, and the knowledge of Scripture (reckoned in thirty books). ↩
Hugh: exceeding the dimensions = the corresponding errors of presumption and doubt. Continues on p. 237. ↩
Completes the series of transgressed dimensions. ↩
§97 (continued). Hugh: door = action, window = thought. Margin: Job 5. ↩
Margin: Gen. 8. ↩
§98. Hugh: four ways of going out by action. ↩
Margin: Gen. 9. ↩
§99. Hugh: four ways of going out by contemplation. Marginal gloss: “On the four ways of going out to contemplation.” Continues on p. 238. ↩
Hugh: the second and third ways of contemplating creatures. NOTE: this page's running head misprints ‘LIB. XI’; the text is still Liber X (the tropological Disputation). ↩
Marginal gloss: “The threefold voice of the creature to men.” Margin: Gen. 3. ↩
The raven and dove read as the two dispositions of contemplation. ↩
§100. Hugh: the three stories = the Right, the Useful, the Necessary thought. Margin: Sir. (Ecclus.) 20. Continues on p. 239. ↩
Hugh: the second story (the Useful) reached by putting knowledge into practice. ↩
Hugh: the third story (the Necessary = charity), and the apex = Christ. ↩
Conclusion of the Thirteenth Disputation and of Liber X. Margin: Ps. 118. ↩