Concerning Ornaments and Moral Consonances

To hold a wolf by the ears. A proverb among the Greeks. Jerome against John of Jerusalem, the Origenist; and Marcus Varro in book 3 of On the Latin Language. original: "Lupum auribus tenere." A classical idiom meaning to be in a dangerous situation where one can neither safely hold on nor let go.

Physicians promise what belongs to physicians, and craftsmen deal with their own crafts. In weaving and warping this fabric, I have found myself suspended, as it were, like one who (as they say) held the wolf by the ears; for he can neither let go without evident danger, nor hold on without great labor. I say that I have been almost on the verge of abandoning the enterprise for many and various reasons, but considering that several people knew I was occupied with this writing, it seemed right to me to proceed with what I had begun; for I could neither leave it without evident danger to my honor, nor have I been able to finish it without much personal labor. Almost everything I say in this work is corroborated by the authorities and opinions of men very learned and approved in Music Music: here referring to the mathematical and philosophical science of sound as well as its practice: particularly those with whom I have conversed many times. I have also inserted in it some small things of my own, which I have speculated upon with the lowliness of my understanding, having first communicated them with persons skilled and learned in this faculty; fearing that, through my own opinion and affection, I might deceive myself in some matters. Furthermore, I have read various arts and treatises by excellent authors, in whose reading I have consumed the greater part of my youth (because it is an intolerable error for a man to wish to treat a matter so extraordinary as Music solely with his own reasons and the inventions of his wit). From these authors, I say, I have chosen the flower; and from them I took the best morsels I found, to present in this treatise to the one who desires to become a perfect Musician. Because

Comparison.

just as he who wishes to plant a new garden seeks grafts from good trees: so I have sought and gathered authorities and opinions from famous

Comparison.

Musicians, both Theoretical and Practical, to plant in this new book. And just as the weaver joins the yarn, worked by various hands, and from many threads warps and weaves his cloth: so I have joined the doctrine of various Musicians, and have made a fabric of diverse opinions. And if it did not turn out well, the blame should not be placed on the yarn, which is thin and fine, but on me, who did not know how to warp or weave it: especially because I do not possess the Castilian language by

Art never equals nature.

nature, but by art The author likely means he is a non-native speaker who learned Spanish through study rather than birth.; and because art never equals nature, I have not been able to reach with my style the propriety and elegance of your Castilian speech. This has been partly why I have delayed so much in composing and bringing to light what I greatly desired; and I would have delayed much longer, were it not for the fact that some acquaintances of mine, with suitable reasons, importuned me to finish it. To tell the truth, their reasons were so vivid and had such force that they gave me the strength to convert my fear into daring, forging it in the forge of the desire to obey those who have the right to command me. And as another second consideration joined with what those gentlemen told me, which is that they say

In what true obedience consists.

true obedience consists in the fulfillment of things that exceed a man's strength, without questioning what our elders command; and therefore, forgetful of my rudeness and weakness, I came to boldly undertake what is beyond my strength: not because I think I will say anything that will benefit true Musicians, or that they do not know much better than I; for I am well persuaded, as are all men who know anything in this faculty, that there are Musicians in these Kingdoms who fully know everything that is worth knowing. But despite all this, fearing the infamy of disobedience, and compelled by this fear,

Francisco Xavier was born on September 8, 1708 At 11 o'clock on the day the Mother of God was born The Feast of the Nativity of Mary. Healthy and heir? The following Sunday he was baptized on the day of this? patron? Saint L.? Godparents were his godparents? Don Francisco de Cano? and Doña Maria?