1G0xxeB

Ancients and Moderns under the Empire of Circe: Machiavelli’s The Ass, Translation2 7 1He was not showing his noble heart,50 his claws were chained as were his teeth;but he was ready to escape and disdainful.A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 I saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Then I saw a giraffe, who benthis neck over each one, and on one side60 was a tired bear that was snoring.I saw a peacock with his graceful mantleturning strutting about, and he was not afraidof the world turning completely upside down.There was one animal that was unrecognizable65 so variegated was his skin and his back,and he had a crow on his croup.I saw a vile beast with red fur,which was a bull without horns that from a distancedeceived me, because it appeared to me a big horse.70 And I saw one ass so ill-disposed,that he could not even carry the packsaddle;and really seemed a cucumber in August.I saw a bloodhound, whose sight was ruined:and Circe would have made an asset of him,75 if he had not moved, like a blind man, by touch.I saw a tiny mouse, who took it badlyto be so small, and went around nippingnow at this one, now at that other animal.Then I saw a bloodhound, that went around sniffing80 at this one’s muzzle and that one’s shoulder,as if he were looking for his master.The time is long, and the memory fallible;So much that I cannot narrate well for youwhat I saw in one day in this stable.85 A buffalo, that made my hair stand on endwith his gaze and his bellowing so strong,of having seen him I want to remember.