BOOK ONE.

A...hidden in the Laurentian Academy The library of the Medici family in Florence, I believed it would not be unwelcome to you if I also brought into the public forum those things which Pythagoras and the noble Pythagoreans are said to have thought, so that they might be read under your auspicious favor, having been unknown to the Latin world until now. For the Italians, Marsilio Ficino published Plato; for the French, Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples restored Aristotle. I, Capnion Reuchlin’s humanist name, a Greek translation of his German name "Reuchlin," meaning "little smoke", will complete the number, and I shall present to the Germans Pythagoras, reborn through me and dedicated to your name. However, this could not be done without the Cabala of the Hebrews, because the philosophy of Pythagoras
Btook its beginnings from the precepts of the Cabalists; when it departed from the memory of the fathers in Great Greece Magna Graecia, the Greek-settled areas of Southern Italy, it rested again in the volumes of the Cabalists. Therefore, almost everything had to be unearthed from there. For this reason, I have written On the Cabalistic Art, which is a symbolic philosophy, so that the dogmas of the Pythagoreans might become better known to students. In all these things I affirm nothing, but merely recount the opinions of the non-believers original: "infideles." Reuchlin uses this term for the three non-Christian characters of his dialogue who, arriving from different journeys, meet in an inn in Frankfurt to hear Simon the Jew, an expert in Cabala: Philolaus the younger, a Pythagorean, and Marranus the Muslim. Now indeed, having dropped their small packs at the inn, the travelers, desiring to ward off hunger, are repelled by the tumultuous crowd of banqueters; but after those people leave the tavern after their feast, it began thus:

CMARRANUS. I restrained myself from many words amidst such a murmur of the local fellow-diners, who, having enjoyed too much lunch, are now leaving. I feared I would be ill-regarded if I, a foreigner, had interrupted the shouting of those whom I know to be weighed down by destructive drunkenness. But after they have departed, and we alone meet in this tavern as before—both of us, as can be seen, travelers and not a little tired from the journey—I pray you, if you agree with me, ask the innkeeper to bring the second course and sweets—not at all Sybaritic Luxurious or decadent, after the ancient city of Sybaris—since we may now live and talk more freely. But look, the servers are approaching, bringing I know not what treats with nuts and cheese—would that it were Bithynian A type of cheese from Turkey praised by ancient writers like Pliny—and a vessel, uncertain whether for beer or wine, though we have suggested nothing of all this. Then PHILOLAUS, with no small skill, says: This merchant plays the innkeeper like one who sets snares everywhere for coins; he even provides "long-eared" service meaning attentive or spying to the guests so that he might sell more wine to those eager to guzzle. For as soon as the talk turns to sweets, the dishes are ready. Now indeed, amidst respectable cups, I hope we shall have a more relaxed fellowship. For in my opinion, my fellow guest, each of us must take on a new countenance, and rest must be provided for our weary limbs—especially for me, after a road too long and rough, and the hard paths I have measured out until now. What remains for you, I know not, since I have not yet been informed about your pilgrimage...

A ii.