The Game of Chess Moralized

maxims original: "sentensas"; refers to moral proverbs or authoritative sayings. that hearts are not meant only to be superior, and that the life given to us is not made simply for living, but so that one may do something good and beautiful during their life.

¶ And for this reason, he who invented original: "truva"; literally "found," but used here in the sense of "devised" or "composed." this game did not invent it only to occupy the king, but to take away from him idleness and the injustice that would be owed to him through idleness; for many who abound in other goods of fortune original: "biens de fortune"; a common medieval concept referring to external blessings like wealth, status, and health which are subject to the whims of Fate. are strongly accustomed to being idle.

¶ Regarding which, Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, a Roman educator and rhetorician highly regarded in the Middle Ages for his insights on character and education. says that when the goods of fortune come to idleness, she rejoices at last in everything she desires; and for this reason it sometimes happens that the heat of idleness is transformed into wickedness original: "felonie"; here implying a state of moral corruption or a tendency toward cruel and lawless behavior born of boredom., and through it, idleness is sometimes also folly and bitterness of heart. For in restless people, it remains stagnant: the mind is turned inward upon itself as if in a turbulence of despair.

¶ And for this reason Viteres This name is a French variation of Xerces, the name given to the philosopher Philometor in many versions of this text. invented the novelty of this game so that through the solace and amusement of the game, idleness and injustice would be banished and cast out from among men.

¶ The third reason was because every man naturally desires to know; for it is a noble thing, as we read of the ancient masters who were students and were always at their studies to the end that they might know and learn something new. And because physical sight sometimes distracts and hinders the consideration of profitable things, we read that the philosopher Democritus A Greek philosopher often cited in medieval moral literature. The story of him blinding himself to avoid the distractions of the physical world was used to illustrate the value of inner contemplation. had his eyes put out so that he might have sharper and more stirred thoughts toward philosophy.

¶ And there are many people who have weak sight or have lost it entirely who