The Dialogue of Creatures

A rectangular woodcut at the top of the page. On the left side is a large six-pointed star. On the right side is a double-arched rainbow. Below this is a large ornamental historiated drop cap "A" decorated with elaborate foliate patterns, scrolls, and flowers.

The Rainbow of the Lord original: "Arcus domini" first appeared in the clouds after the Great Flood, having two colors: watery and fiery. It possesses a watery color as a reminder of the first flood, and a fiery color as a sign of the coming Judgment The "watery" color represents the past destruction of the world by the Deluge, while the "fiery" color foretells the eventual destruction by fire at the end of time.. It is said in the Scholastic Histories referring to the Historia Scholastica by Peter Comestor, a popular 12th-century biblical commentary that the rainbow did not appear for forty years before the building of the Ark had even begun. Now, Cancer the zodiac sign of the Crab is a certain sign of the heavens, concerning which this verse exists: "Cancer is a sign; Cancer is everywhere malignant."

Cancer approached the Rainbow and, proceeding with an angry spirit, said: "Your audacity is great, for you take up the whole sky and busily hinder my path and the course of the other stars. Remove yourself quickly, or you shall be beaten by us most violently." To which the Rainbow replied, Rightly "Brother, you are not well, for I do not seek to hinder your way. This is why I show myself during the day, while you always run through the night. If you desire to battle with me, you have considered this poorly; for a great company of stars stays with me, and the clouds and thunders are prepared to fight against you. But I advise that we go to a just judge, so that he may be able to end our complaint by a formal sentence."

When they had come together before the judge and reported all these things, the judge said: "Wicked Cancer, what you seek is against the law. If you only travel in the night and the Rainbow in the day, how can it be believed that he could hinder your way? Therefore, I deliver the sentence against you: that you may never appear in the day, and that you are condemned to pay the legal expenses." Cancer, stripped of his pride, blushed and said: "He who seeks a dispute brings confusion upon himself."

Thus it is that many people desire to argue against the law and litigate with others without cause; because of this, the wicked are stripped and subdued. In Ecclesiasticus The author likely means Proverbs 16:28: "A perverse man stirs up strife, and a wordy man separates princes." The wicked man always seeks out quarrels. Whence Isidore Isidore of Seville, a 7th-century scholar says: "Just as concord is accustomed to build up, so contention and discord destroy."

Bede Bede The Venerable Bede, an 8th-century English monk says: "By discord, even the greatest things fall apart."

A certain father of a family had three sons. When he was dying, he called them to him and said: "Bring me some small rods." When they had been brought, he said to them: "Bend them and break them." They were unable to do so because the rods were bound together. The father then said to them: "Pull out one, and then you may break the others." They were then able to bend them, but by no means could they break... The text ends mid-sentence; it is a version of Aesop’s fable "The Bundle of Sticks," illustrating that there is strength in unity.