OF GOLD 4

to follow, and to find others. And this is it: there was once a peasant woman who, by her habit, used to go wash her laundry Italian: bugata. This refers to the traditional process of washing clothes with lye or wood ash. in a ditch where a bit of water ran. Upon a stone that was there, which seemed to her most suitable for her purpose, she went about rubbing the clothes. There, by her good fortune, across that stone was discovered a small vein of gold like a thick piece of twine, which—because of the much rubbing upon it—had become shiny and beautiful, and very apparent to the sight. Seeing this, and not knowing nor recognizing what it might be, she went about greatly wondering at such a thing. Having shared it one day with the men of her house, and it having been seen by them, they decided to bring there someone who understood such things better than they did. Thus, to conclude, they found that it was a vein of the purest gold exposed to the light of day, and that the layer of that stone crossed the watercourse of that ditch. Because of this, the water was immediately removed and sent by another path, and they began vigorously to dig that mine. Thus it still continues even today, and perhaps hundreds of years have already passed that gold has always been excavated from that place. This is what not only enriches that country, but also "seasons" all the rest of Christendom Original: Christianità. In this context, Biringuccio means that the wealth from this mine provides value and economic "flavor" to the entire Christian world.. Therefore, I wanted to tell you this to warn you never to fail in your desire to understand well everything that can benefit you; for even if it were but a shadow, one should always lend an eye and an ear to it and despise nothing, just as one should also fear all those things that can cause harm. Because (as you see) if the old woman's words had not been believed, and afterward very well scrutinized Original: guastate. While this literally means "spoiled" or "wasted," in Renaissance mining it often refers to the process of breaking down or assaying a sample to reveal its true content., such a useful thing would certainly not have been found then, nor perhaps ever since. Nor did the spirit fail those who began to dig it (even though the thing first appeared small) nor in making another bed for the river that covered it. They were drawn by reasonable hope to do so in order to follow the vein, considering that gold and silver—even if there is little—almost always, because of their great value, yield so much profit that it exceeds the expense. And always, the further one goes into the stone—as also happens with every mine—a greater quantity is always found. This is true even though the practical investigators of gold say that one never finds too great a thickness Italian: faldezza. This refers to the depth or density of a geological layer or stratum. of it, nor that quantity that is found of other metals. Perhaps they speak correctly, but nevertheless, it is not to be believed that where a little is generated, a great deal cannot also be generated; for if that were true, the scarcity of it would be no wonder. But it seems to me that the kindness of nature grants a lot of it to the world, and that a great quantity has always been and is still found among men, considering in how many places every day—continually, both in the mountains and in the sands of rivers, or in the company of other metals—it is excavated. And of this, that which is [consumed] bears witness, considering...