Latin — 1533, repaired
[S]cire debes, tantam esse rerum naturalium potentiam, quod non modo cunctas res sibi propinquantes sua virtute afficiant, verum etiam praeter hoc, infundunt ipsis consimilem potentiam, per quam haec eadem virtute ipsae etiam cetera afficiant, quemadmodum in magnete videmus: qui quidem lapis non solum annulos ferreos trahit, sed vim etiam annulis ipsis infundit, qua hoc idem efficere possunt, quale se vidisse referunt Augustinus et Albertus. Hoc modo ferunt, quod meretrix publica, in qua est audacia et impudicitia exterminata, hac ipsa proprietate cuncta sibi propinqua afficit, quae deinde reddunt ea aliis. Ideo dicunt, quod si quis induat vestem vel camisiam meretricis, vel secum habuerit speculum in quo ipsa se quotidie speculaverit, redditur audax, intrepidus, impudens, et luxuriosus. Simili modo dicunt panum, qui fuerit in funere, concipere ex hoc proprietate aliqua tristitiae et saturnalem: et laqueum suspendiosi similiter aliquas mirabiles habere proprietates.
Simile est quod narrat Plinius, si quis terram substernat lacertae viridi excaecatae, et una in vitreo vase annulos includat ferro solido vel auro, cum recepisse visum lacertam apparuerit, per vitrum emissa, annulos contra lippitudinem valere. Idem quoque in mustela et annulis valere, cuius oculis punctim erutis, constat etiam visum reverti: simili modo ponuntur annuli per certum tempus in nido passerum sive hirundinum, quibus postea ad amorem vel benevolentiam utimur.
Qualiter per litem et amicitiam, virtutes rerum investigandae, et experiundae sunt.
Close translation
You should know that the power of natural things is so great that they not only affect, by their own power, all things drawing near to them, but beyond this they also pour into those things a like power, by which those things too, with this same power, may affect still others — as we see in the lodestone: for this stone not only draws iron rings, but also pours its force into those very rings, by which they can do the same thing — of which sort Augustine and Albert report they have seen an instance.
In this same way they say that a public prostitute, in whom boldness and shamelessness have been driven to an extreme, affects with this very property all things that come near her, which then pass it on to others. Therefore they say that if anyone puts on the dress or shift of a prostitute, or keeps with him a mirror in which she has looked at herself daily, he is rendered bold, undaunted, shameless, and lustful. In the same way they say that cloth that has been at a funeral takes on from this some property of sadness and of Saturn; and likewise that the rope of a hanged man has certain marvelous properties.
Like to this is what Pliny relates: that if one lays down earth beneath a green lizard that has been blinded, and in a glass vessel encloses rings of solid iron or gold together with it, then, once the lizard appears to have recovered its sight, the rings — released through the glass — are efficacious against inflamed eyes. The same holds too for the weasel and rings: when its eyes have been pierced out, it is agreed that its sight also returns; in the same way rings are placed for a certain time in the nest of sparrows or swallows, which we afterward use to promote love or goodwill.
How, through enmity and friendship, the powers of things are to be investigated and tested.
Modern rendering
Here's something worth knowing: natural things have so much power that they don't just affect, through their own power, everything that comes near them — they also pour a matching power into those very things, so that those things can go on to affect others the same way. We see this with the lodestone: it doesn't just pull iron rings to itself, it charges the rings themselves with the same force, so that the rings can then do what the lodestone does. Augustine and Albert both say they've witnessed exactly this.
The same logic is applied to a prostitute whose boldness and shamelessness have become extreme: she's said to pass that same quality into everything near her, which then passes it on again to others. That's why people say that wearing a prostitute's dress or shift, or carrying a mirror she's looked into every day, makes a person bold, fearless, shameless, and lustful. Along the same lines, cloth that's been present at a funeral is said to pick up something of sadness and Saturn's gloom from it, and a hanged man's rope is likewise credited with strange properties.
Pliny tells a similar story: if you lay down earth under a green lizard that's been blinded, and put iron or gold rings in a glass container with it, then once the lizard seems to have gotten its sight back, the rings — taken out through the glass — work against inflamed eyes. The same is said of the weasel and rings: when its eyes are pierced out, its sight is said to return too. On the same principle, rings are left for a while in a sparrow's or swallow's nest, and afterward used to encourage love or goodwill.
How the powers of things can be investigated and tested through enmity and friendship.
Editorial flags — draft status
- uncertain: 'panum, qui fuerit in funere' — reading 'panum' (cloth/rag) as 'pannum' is a common OCR-vs-print variance; kept as pannum-sense in translation. Flagged for re-key against page image.
- list: the closing rubric line ('Qualiter per litem et amicitiam...') is the running header/title for chapter 17 embedded at the end of ch.16's text block, consistent with how these chapter breaks are marked throughout the source; retained as-is per the continuous OCR flow.