in what place so ere he haps to fall Heel'e nere returne to hurt himselfe withall We cannot deny but that the Asse serueth as a spectacle and most singuler example of patience because it is a vsuall thing for fathers mothers and such like simply to aduise their children or friendes that in affaires of this world they should séeme to haue the backe of an Asse meaning that it behoues them in all things to arme themselues with patience Should we spare to speake of his constancie wherwith how much he is endued the Asse which was so displeased with them of Padua doth very well declare For they hauing drawne into the Cittie the water of * Bacchiglione where first of all the Asse vsed ordinarily to drinke so outragiously did he shew himselfe offended at this water mingling as it is impossible euer after to make him drinke of that water And herehence grew the Prouerbe All Padua had not the power to make the Asse drinke by reason he perseuered most constantly in his honourable resolution In regard whereof if we would giue him that due which we owe as a debt A hood we should prouide the Asse by right As to a person that so well deserues it Shapte like the birds that singeth still by night But to kéep nothing from him that is reputed of worth yet hold him still in estéeme and render him such honour as is conuenient for him let it suffise vs before we offer in ought to despise him that first we call to memorie that through contemning and reprouing the Asse some notable daunger hath ensued yea matter of death Who knowes not what happened to great King Mydas because he offered wrong to the Asse Let them looke on his picture and they shall sée his eares shaped like to the Asses And therefore very wisely our Poet wrote of him saying King Mydas that the Asse so iniured To his owne shame by Bacchus was reproou'd And had such chastisement as he deserued But let vs speake of some who by the meanes of such wrongs offered haue brought themselues to the extréemest point of death There are now certaine yeares past since I being in Zara a citie of Sclauonia I sawe one led to the gallowes to be executed whose name was Iiacomo Schiffalasino who being first brought to prison among other malefactors and by the discréet Iudge appointed to the torture because he should confesse wherein they had offended he not hauing any detection wherewith to charge them or that was sufficient to touch them as they should be But first he beganne to consider on the sirname of Schiffalasino and approuing that sir-name for a sufficient detection terrified him thereby so strictly and in such sort as the poore man confessed the faults which both he and his companions had committed Whereupon he caused him with the rest to be hanged by the neckes and as the common prouerbe is sent them to shake their héeles against the winde If this example may not be thought sufficient let vs then call to mind the death of Philemon the Philosopher who tooke offence at one of his Asses that in token of a singular or magnificent minde put forth himselfe to eate of preserued figges which were serued in to the Table for his maister Hereat he fell into such extremitie of laughter or derision that there sodeinly he died as our Poet verie excellently singing affirmeth Philemon when his Asse he had espied To eate of Figges prepared for his table Such was his laughter that therein he died But if contrariwise we would consider what good and happie successe hath ensued such encounters wherein the Asse hath receiued no iniurie we might the more easily resolue to honor and hold them in such estéeme as fortunate diuining auguries haue deserued to be And whosoeuer hath made diligent obseruation of them shall finde they haue saued the liues of many yea in doubtfull battailes and most bloodie fights they shewed before hand assured victorie What saued the life of great Caius Marius who had bene Consull six times but only an Asse whose iestures be diligently obseruing when by the Minturnes he was committed prisoner to Fauuias house where he noted how swiftly he rusht out of doore and ranne to drinke at the néerest fountaine He then aduising on this progresse of the Asse sayd That the Goddes had sent this beast before hand to signifie that by his sodeine running to the â—ountaine he should receiue thereby most certaine augurie that there was no other meane left for him to escape with life then by water Whereupon hauing gotten forth of the aforesaid prison he went and imbarqued himselfe at the next port and fled into Affrica where he saued himselfe Vincentio Cartari in his booke of Images of the auncient Gods saith that the Ambraciotti and Sicioni people of Greece being in warre togither an ambush was laide in a wood to intrap them that were to issue forth of the Citie At the same time it happened that a man driuing his Asse toward the Citie with certaine lading on his backe his beast by chance sented a shée Asse going before which made him follow after braying so loud as possibly he could And pacing on faster then his maister would willingly he should both the Asses at length began to bray togither each beast answering the other falling and rising with their voyces in such straunge and confused noyse that the Sicioni terrified with the murmure were glad to be gone from where they laie hid and so betooke themselues to flight The Ambraciotti being aduertised thereof pursued and ouerthrew them Afterward they made a goodly Asse of mettall which they sent to be offred at Delphos in the Temple of Apollo for a memorie of their good fortune by the Asse and which they perswaded themselues had not else happened to them but only by that singular beast Higinus the Historian recordeth that when the Goddes Bacchus and Vulcan fought with the Giants they entred the battaile mounted on Asses We read likewise in Hedorotus the father of the Grecian historie that Darius going to warre against the Scithians led with him a great nomber of Asses that only by their noyse and braying made all the enemies horses take them to their héeles Afterwards the Scithians comming to assault Persia their horses were againe so affrighted with the dreadfull voyce of Asses as they fled and could not be enforced to abide Our Poet by these and such like effects being earnestly sollicited very elegantly singeth in this maner Forced to flight by his commaunding crie A mightie Armie did the Asse dismay By Scithians brought to warre yet glad to flie Beholde then whether wee haue good cause or no to holde the Asse in all estimation yet in these vnthankfull dayes of ours we sée him folde for a most base or rather a vile price albeit in elder ages he was of dearer value then euer was any other beast in the world Marcus Varro rehearseth that in his time an Asse was solde for
vndertooke this Asse-propagating labour to make knowne the Asse in his kind as I haue said to be the most Noble not only of the before named fiue sorts of fiue footed beasts but of other beside that euer were produced by our mother nature Which I doubt not to accomplish albeit I haue gathered into this currant discourse the properties vertues graces excellencies and naturall gifts of those beasts whereof the former fiue seuerall kindes haue made mention To the end that they contending to be equall with the Asse it may generally appeare to them that by reason and truth wil be perswaded the sentence ought be pronounced on the Noble Asses behalfe In whose company I leaue ye most kind Asse-fauouring Readers offering my selfe readie prepared to all your seruices From Peru at the time appointed The Noblenesse of the Asse The first part Of the Dogge 1. WE will begin then with the Dogge whose excellence in sooth is such as he hath reason to contend for perfection and Noblenesse with which soeuer you will name of those other beasts If at large I would speake of the nature and powerfull quallities of this beast euen but so much as is found written in histories of him my labour would rise to a mightie volume But to impaire no part of his honor nor selecting any perticuler quallitie of his more then I do of the other beasts which follow I referre both you and my self therin to such as haue most copiously written of him And euen so might I likewise do of the Asse stood it not now on me to recount not all I say for that is impossible but many of his qualities which former writers haue let slip vnder silence First of all then the Dogge only among beasts knoweth his maister and by means meruellous inough distinguisheth him from any other He ioyeth and delighteth by his presence hée beares his maister company hée goeth before as a spie and finding any ambuish by barking hée discouers and manifesteth the same daring to fight with his maisters enemy Many haue bene so preserued by the aide of a Dogge Hée is the onely dilligent kéeper of things that by his maister are committed to his trust Théeues hauing slaine a man his Dogge was founde kéeping his dead bodie lest he should be deuoured by birds or wilde beasts Sabinus being imprisoned with all his seruants for Neros cause the sonne to Germanicus hauing his Dog with him he could not be expeld the prison nor from his bodie when he was throwne forth from the Genioniae scalae but laie by howling and crying wondrously when bread was giuen him he brought it to the mouth of his dead maister Lastly when the bodie was cast into the riuer of Tyber he leapt immediately after it and opposing his strength against the waight thereof laboured to kéepe it aboue the water a great number of people being then present to behold the wonderfull loue of this poore beast The Dogge knoweth his houshold soundes of voyces he remembreth his name call him and he turneth to the place and person He is not forgetfull of the way how short or long soeuer it be He is easily gouerned he knoweth home friendes from straungers Moste wise is hee in finding out his game to rowse him from his place or where he lies hidden he pursues him and hath a wonderfull sent The boldnesse of this he beast is such that feare cannot boudge against the furie of the wildest creature be he far greater or brauer then himselfe but especially if his maister be in place to cheare him on prouoke him and call him by his name Many other things might be said for proofe of his noblenesse but I referre the Reader to the writings of both our auncient and moderne historians Of the Horsse 2. NOw beholde the Horsse who will not be out gone in perfections and Noblenesse by the Dogge first the greatnesse of his bodie the beautie thereof besides his strength wherewith not only hée ouercommeth the Dogge but a great many other valiantly beastes besides In Horsses is great and proude boldnesse and hereof they séeme to participate in better sorte especially strength then is conuenient for their nature Bucephalus the Horsse to Alexander the great when he was royally furnished he would neuer suffer himselfe to be ridden by any This Horsse being brought to the winning of Thebes would not permit that Alexander should mount himselfe on any other horsse The like is read of Iulius Caesars most beautifull horse who would not suffer any to come on his backe but his owne maister Horsses are very easie to be maistred and soone enstructed At the sound of Drumme and Trumpet he stirres and leapes being forward of himselfe to runne into the battaile The kindnesse of a Horsse toward his maister hath béene founde excéeding great for we reade that some of them haue wept themselues to death as Virgill noteth of Aethon the Horsse to Pallas Euanders sonne he wept excéedingly while they did the funerall exsequies of his maister Nicomedes King of Bithinia being dead as Plinie reporteth his Horse neuer afterward would touch haye or corne but sterued himselfe to death The Horsse of Antiochus séeing his maister dead would not suffer Centauretus of Galatia to sit quietly on his back but threw himselfe downe from an high rocke and so destroyed both his ryder and himselfe Nor can it be denied but that Horses are bashfull and modest A horse hiding his eyes and perceiuing himselfe to be conioyned with his Dame cast himselfe afterward from an high place and there died so this was knowne to happen in the territories of Reate in Vmbria How many graue histories are founde to discourse of horses Some that in a conflict hath caught in his mouth an arme before it could fal to the ground and hath brought the same vnto his maister Many other effectuall things concerning Horses might be spoken of which I omit in regard of the cause before alledged here is inough in reason to giue him the first place of Noblenesse if the Lyon take it not from him Of the Lyon 3. THe Lion striues to aspire aboue the Horse for among other vertues Temperance is attributed to him He drinketh but sildome times he taketh not his sustenance euery day When he findes himselfe well fed thrée dayes togither he abstaineth from meate which likewise were conuenient for a man that were modest and temperately giuen The Lyon only amongst other wilde beasts sheweth most sign of clemencie toward humble submissiue actiōs A woman that through a Forrest escaped from prison and from seruitude in Affrica to returne home into her owne country met with a Lyon whom she perswaded her selfe would féede on her in steed of other meate But she shewing humble behauiour falling on her knées to the ground folding her armes crosse-wise and y e teares trickling from her eyes so asswaged pacified his stearnnesse that vntoucht he
seuentie Sestertiaes which according to Budeus and other Computists amounteth to the summe of a thousand and fiue hundred crownes Moreouer he addeth hereto that he sawe foure Asies rated at foure hundred Sestertiaes Plinie testifieth that an Asse was sold for a very great number of Crownes albeit the certaine summe I doo not now readily remember but any one may reade it truly set downe in the seuenth booke of his naturall historie Lampridius telleth vs that Heliogabalus the Emperour when he would bestow a magnificent gift on the people of Rome vsed to giue them certaine Asses meaning that a speciall and rare estimation consisted therein because indéed it was the gift of an Emperour Marcus Polus in the first booke of his voyage to the great Cane of Cathaia the eleuenth Chapter where he speaketh of the Persian kingdome saith In this kingdome are there likewise Asses the very fairest and greatest that are in the world which are wont to be sooner sold then horses And the reason is because they eate lesse and beare greater burthens beside they dispatch more myles in a day then the Horses or Mules are able to do nor can they endure so much labour as the Asses will Wherefore the Merchants of those parts going from one Prouince to another passe through great desarts and sandie places where growes 〈◊〉 hearbes or grasse at all and by reason of the great distance of wells and swéete water they make their dayes iourney the longer wherefore the more gladly they vse these Asses because they are swifter runne better and serues them with very small expences They vse Camells like wise who beare great lading and are not chargeable but yet they are not so swift as their Asses But let vs admit that the Asse had not these vertues nor that there were founde in him any of the quallities whereon we haue discoursed yet can we not deny but he hath one only gift which in Nobilitie perfection makes him alone to surpasse any other kinde of beast whatsoeuer I meane those vnreasonable that euer nature brought foorth For the neuer meant to produce the kindes of he or shée Mules whereas the Asse is the only cause they are engendred and maintains them in the world to the great commoditie of man as daily experience sufficiently testifies Wherefore our Poet thus sings thereof The Asse was reckoned by his great deserts Most honorable and who him molested According to their faults were punished But because I would drawe to an ende I conclude that of his honorable qualities worthie all commendation I haue not as yet declared the least particuler by reason they are such and so great that whosoeuer would collect them all togither may as easily conuey all the water of the sea into a little glasse or contend with a thing that of it selfe is infinite Yet will I not so giue ouer but adioyne to the ende of this first part that which our Part firmely beléeued of the Asse when he said In learned Schooles for wisedome might he read But infinite I know therewith dispence And do that office in his excellence In conclusion for whatsoeuer either hath bene or may be said the nature of the Asse is good pleasing humble and curteous which foure rare quallities are farre contrary to the theft pride vnrulinesse and villany of other beasts The end of the first part The Noblenesse of the Asse The second part ALl the matters wherof we haue spoken in the former part to shewe the perfection and Noblenesse of the Asse I may safely affirme to be of little or no auaile at all or profitable in ought to humane kinde considering what benefit is to be receiued by his excrements as also from the members of his bodie after he is dead But to the end that all men of what condition soeuer may perceiue I speake nothing but the truth I am determined in this second part to make choyse of other matters then is before Beginning with his flesh which when the Asse is yoong is very sauourie and delicate and may compare with all other sorts of flesh whatsoeuer And though it be not in vse as the flesh of the Calfe Kidde or such like questionlesse the reason may be that nature the most wise preseruer of all kindes of beastes hath prouided that man shall not be drawen with any desire to eate thereof but first hath rather chosen to put into our mindes that such as heare the meaning of such flesh are wont to make a scornfull looke thereat And this may be to the end that if perhaps men should taste therof they would become so coueting thereafter as despising al other kindes of flesh they would giue themselues only to féede on the Asse whereby sodeinly might ensue the destruction of the Asses kinde and so they should become of such deare value as they were in the times wherof alreadie we haue spoken as Marcus Varro sawe them solde and Plinie reporteth Herehence doubtlesse would arise this hurt that poore men who maintaine themselues and family by the helpe of an Asse onely should not be able to buy any not hauing the meanes to laie out so great a summe of mony That this kinde of flesh in swéetnesse excell all other the noble men in the kingdome of Scotland are so perswaded for I haue heard of a Scottish Gentleman who in Sciences hath made so great profit as the principall students in all Italy haue not a little admired him when he heard that such a miserable slaughter of Asses was made in Mantua The aforesaid Gentleman affirmed to me that no banquet in Scotland was reputed of any value where the flesh of a young Asse was not to be had In the good and memorable time of Pius Quartus began they not to make a vsuall seruice therof both in feasts and banquets of greatest importance And if the rounde table of the mightie Lord of T. called Triclinium could speake hardly would be credited the quantitie of Asses flesh which in those times was eaten thereon And did not Mecenates vse Asses flesh as a foode most delicate We read at a certaine time in the Citie of Samaria an Asses head was sold for foure score pence And they that so bought them â—ed thereon with such sweetnesse and delight as if they had eaten the very daintiest meate that could be bought for a greater price Plutarche rehearseth that in a certaine warre King Artaxerxes made an Asses head was likewise sold in his Campe for seuentie Drachmaes But leaue we the Asses head in so great estéeme to be eaten as also the flesh wherein the bones thereof are closed and speake we of the last and chiefe benefite which we receiue by the head of the Asse when it is cut off and the flesh parted from it What merueilous properties and vertue is included in the said Asses head the poore husbandman wel knows and great proofe is made thereof in many places of Italy as also diuers other territories beyond the