fiour and saide: "I wil that thow shewe me thi fader." And he
shewed [hym]. Therfor the kyng knew that his fader was vnlierned
and saide to his seruauntis: "Departe this from our thynges,
forwhy he hath goten ne deservid hem."[1]
The Arab said to his father: "It astonishes me to read that in past ages nobles, wits and wise men were honored, but only lechers were revered." To this the father; "Son, be not astonished that priests honor priests, nobles nobles, wits wits, and that lechers are venerated by lechers." The son: "And I read another thing: that priests were not honored for their wisdom; whence lechers were produced and came to great honor." Then the father said to him: "That indeed resulted from the indolence of the time." To this the son: "Explain to me, dearest father, the true meaning of nobility." And the father: "As Aristotle says in his letter to King Alexander,[2] in reply to the question as to what kind of a man he should select for his counsellor: 'Choose a man,' he said, 'who has been educated in the seven liberal arts, disciplined in the seven cardinal virtues, and polished by means of the seven accomplishments, and I believe he will represent perfect nobility'." And the son: "Such nobility does not exist today, for all the nobility that I know about proceeds from gold and silver. As the poet says: 'Riches exalt people who are without nobility and poverty degrades an ancient house that was once in high esteem because of its nobility.' A certain poet made these verses about the evils of the world which are destroying its nobles. 'Tell them,' he said, 'who despise us because of the misfortunes which befall us, that this world shows its opposition to no one but the noble. Dost thou not see how the ocean carries dung and chaff away, but how precious stones go to the bottom? And dost thou not see that the stars in the heavens are without number, and yet none of them but the sun and moon are subject to eclipses'?" And the father: "This happens on account of the indolence of the world, since men decide that riches are the sole reason for boasting." One of the disciples questioning the master said: "Since there are seven arts, seven accomplishments, and seven virtues, I wish you would tell me what they are." The master: "All right; these are the seven arts: Logic, arithmetic, geometry, physics, music, astronomy. Opinions vary greatly as to what the seventh is: philosophers who believe in prognostications assert that necromancy is the seventh. Others who do not believe in predictions think philosophy is the seventh, which excels the study of nature and the elements of the earth. Some who do not know philosophy insist that it is grammar.
Then, the accomplishments are: Riding, swimming, archery,
boxing, the chase, chess, writing verse. The virtues (industriae) are:
- ↑ After this sentence the M. E. version has omitted a long passage of the philosophical discussions of the original (I, 9, l. 26). The first half of the passage discusses "true nobility": the second half, "the seven arts, virtues, and crafts."
- ↑ A Middle English version of this letter is preserved in the same Ms. (ff. 138-148) with the Disciplina Clericalis.
