On the Usefulness of the Parts, Vol. II

the body is suited to the habits and powers of the soul. For the horse, it is adorned with strong hooves and a mane, for the animal is swift, proud, and not cowardly. For the lion, which is spirited and brave, it is strong with teeth 5 and claws. So too with the bull and the boar, for the former has horns and the latter has tusks as innate weapons. But for the deer and the hare, because they are cowardly animals, the body is swift, yet completely bare and unarmed. For it was fitting, 3 I believe, for speed to belong to the cowardly, and weapons to the brave. 10 Thus, nature did not arm anything cowardly, nor did it leave anything brave unarmed. But to man, for this animal is wise and the only one on earth that is divine, nature gave hands instead of all defensive weapons combined. These are an instrument necessary for all the arts, 15 and no less peaceful than they are warlike. Therefore, he had no need for an innate horn, as he was able to take a better weapon than a horn—namely one at the tips of his fingers—whenever he wished. For both a sword and a spear are greater and more ready for cutting than a horn. Nor did he need a hoof, for a stick and a stone 20 are more violent for crushing than any hoof. And a horn or a hoof cannot do anything before coming into close quarters; but the weapons of humans act from a distance no less than near, a javelin and an arrow acting in place of a horn, and a stone and a stick in place of a hoof. But, one might say, the lion is swifter than man. What of this? For man has tamed the horse through wisdom 25 and hands—an animal swifter than the lion—and using it, he both flees and pursues the lion, and sitting from on high, he strikes the lowly beast.