Ahanes animal est, ut dicit Aristotiles, ad magnitudinem cervi, in quo natura mutavit consuetudinem aliorum animalium quadrupedum. Omne enim animal quadrupes habet fel in interioribus ventris excepto isto. Istud autem animal fel habet in aures. Et ipsum fel animalis simile est felli hominis in colore; et est ipsum fel amarum valde et causativum vehementis ire et ferocitatis.
- Translation
- Vocabulary
- Notes
The Ahane is an animal, so says Aristotle, approximately the size of a deer, in which nature changed the habit of other animals with four legs. For, every animal with four feet has a gallbladder in the interiors of the belly, that one having been excluded. On the other hand, that animal has a gallbladder in the ears. And the gallbladder itself of the animal is similar to the gallbladder of a human in color; and the gallbladder itself is strongly bitter and causes violent anger and aggressiveness.
Amarus, -a, -um adj. Bitter, pungent, harsh, shrill
Causativus, -a, – um adj. Causative, pertaining to the matter at hand
Fel, -i n. Gallbladder
Ferocitas, ferocitatis f. Aggressiveness, fierceness, savageness
Quadrupes, quadrupedis adj. four-footed
Vehemens, -tis adj. Violent, severe, vehement, emphatic, vigorous
Ira, -ae f. anger
Ad magnitudinem cervi: Added “approximate” for comprehension purposes
Est causativum: literally “is causative of…” translated as “causes…”
Consuetudinem: Instead of saying the traditional meaning of “tradition”, used “habit”; could also use custom
Excepto isto: Ablative Absolute; “that one having been excluded”
Ire: translated as irae, “of anger”
Ut dicit Aristotiles: Likely a reference to Aristotle’s History of Animals
Strongly bitter and causes violent anger and aggressiveness: Likely referring to the common practice of associating animals with virtues and vices. It was also a common theory of the Middle Ages to believe that the body is made up of four humors, and an excess of black bile is likely to cause anger and aggressiveness. Not many documents have survived about the practices of animal medical treatment, but it is not unlikely that this could have been believed.