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Learn Python Programming
Second Edition

A beginner's guide to learning the fundamentals of Python language

to write efficient, high-quality code

Fabrizio Romano

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Learn Python Programming
Second Edition
Copyright © 2018 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without
warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author(s), nor Packt Publishing or its dealers
and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused
directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the
companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However,
Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Commissioning Editor: Richa Tripathi

Acquisition Editor: Karan Sadawana
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Technical Editor: Romy Dias
Copy Editor: Safis Editing
Project Coordinator: Vaidehi Sawant
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Indexer: Mariammal Chettiyar
Graphics: Jason Monteiro
Production Coordinator: Shantanu Zagade

First published: December 2015

Second edition: June 2018

Production reference: 1280618

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham
B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78899-666-2

www.packtpub.com
To my dear dear friend and mentor, Torsten Alexander Lange.
Thank you for all the love and support.
mapt.io

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PacktPub.com
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Foreword
I first got to know Fabrizio when he became our lead developer a few
years ago. It was quickly apparent that he was one of those rare
people who combine rigorous technical expertise with a genuine care
for the people around him and a true passion to mentor and teach.
Whether it was designing a system, pairing to write code, doing code
reviews, or even organizing team card games at lunch, Fab was
always thinking not only about the best way to do the job, but also
about how to make sure that the entire team had the skills and
motivation to do their best.

You'll meet the same wise and caring guide in this book. Every
chapter, every example, every explanation has been carefully thought
out, driven by a desire to impart the best and most accurate
understanding of the technology, and to do it with kindness. Fab
takes you under his wing to teach you both Python's syntax and its
best practices.

I'm also impressed with the scope of this book. Python has grown
and evolved over the years, and it now spans an enormous
ecosystem, being used for web development, routine data handling,
and ETL, and increasingly for data science. If you are new to the
Python ecosystem, it's often hard to know what to study to achieve
your goals. In this book, you will find useful examples exposing you
to many different uses of Python, which will help guide you as you
move through the breadth that Python offers.

I hope you will enjoy learning Python and become a member of our
global community. I'm proud to have been asked to write this, but
above all, I'm pleased that Fab will be your guide.

Naomi Ceder
Python Software Foundation Fellow
Contributors
About the author
Fabrizio Romano was born in Italy in 1975. He holds a master's
degree in computer science engineering from the University of
Padova. He is also a certified scrum master, Reiki master and teacher,
and a member of CNHC.

He moved to London in 2011 to work for companies such as Glasses

Direct, TBG/Sprinklr, and student.com. He now works at Sohonet as a
Principal Engineer/Team Lead.

He has given talks on Teaching Python and TDD at two editions of

EuroPython, and at Skillsmatter and ProgSCon, in London.

I'm grateful to all those who helped me create this book. Special thanks to Dr. Naomi Ceder
for writing the foreword to this edition, and to Heinrich Kruger and Julio Trigo for reviewing
this volume. To my friends and family, who love me and support me every day, thank you.
And to Petra Lange, for always being so lovely to me, thank you.
About the reviewers
Heinrich Kruger was born in South Africa in 1981. He obtained a
bachelor's degree with honors from the University of the
Witwatersrand in South Africa in 2005 and a master's degree in
computer science from Utrecht University in the Netherlands in 2008.

He worked as a research assistant at Utrecht University from 2009

until 2013 and has been working as a professional software developer
developer since 2014. He has been using Python for personal and
projects and in his studies since 2004, and professionally since 2014.

Julio Vicente Trigo Guijarro is a computer scientist and software

engineer with over a decade of experience in software development.
He completed his studies at the University of Alicante, Spain, in 2007.
He has worked with several technologies and languages, including
Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Java, JavaScript, and Python. He is a
certified Scrum Master. He has been using Python since 2012, and he
is passionate about software design, quality, and coding standards.
He currently works as senior software developer and team lead at
Sohonet, developing real-time collaboration applications.

I would like to thank my parents for their love, good advice, and continuous support. I would
also like to thank all the friends I have met along the way, who enriched my life, for keeping
up my motivation, and make me progress.
Packt is searching for authors
like you
If you're interested in becoming an author for Packt, please visit
authors.packtpub.com and apply today. We have worked with thousands of
developers and tech professionals, just like you, to help them share
their insight with the global tech community. You can make a general
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author for, or submit your own idea.
Table of Contents
1. Title Page

2. Copyright and Credits

1. Learn Python Programming Second Edition
3. Dedication
4. Packt Upsell
1. Why subscribe?
2. PacktPub.com
5. Foreword

6. Contributors
1. About the author
2. About the reviewers
3. Packt is searching for authors like you
7. Preface
1. Who this book is for

2. What this book covers

3. To get the most out of this book
1. Download the example code files
2. Conventions used
4. Get in touch
1. Reviews

1. A Gentle Introduction to Python

1. A proper introduction
2. Enter the Python
3. About Python
1. Portability
2. Coherence
3. Developer productivity

4. An extensive library
5. Software quality
6. Software integration
7. Satisfaction and enjoyment
4. What are the drawbacks?
 5. Who is using Python today?

6. Setting up the environment

1. Python 2 versus Python 3
7. Installing Python
1. Setting up the Python interpreter
2. About virtualenv
3. Your first virtual environment

4. Your friend, the console

8. How you can run a Python program
1. Running Python scripts
2. Running the Python interactive shell
3. Running Python as a service
4. Running Python as a GUI application

9. How is Python code organized?

1. How do we use modules and packages?
10. Python's execution model
1. Names and namespaces
2. Scopes
3. Objects and classes
11. Guidelines on how to write good code

12. The Python culture

13. A note on IDEs
14. Summary
2. Built-in Data Types
1. Everything is an object
2. Mutable or immutable? That is the question

3. Numbers
1. Integers
2. Booleans
3. Real numbers
4. Complex numbers
5. Fractions and decimals

4. Immutable sequences
1. Strings and bytes
1. Encoding and decoding strings
2. Indexing and slicing strings
 3. String formatting
2. Tuples

5. Mutable sequences
1. Lists
2. Byte arrays
6. Set types
7. Mapping types – dictionaries
8. The collections module
1. namedtuple

2. defaultdict
3. ChainMap
9. Enums
10. Final considerations
1. Small values caching
2. How to choose data structures

3. About indexing and slicing

4. About the names
11. Summary
3. Iterating and Making Decisions
1. Conditional programming
1. A specialized else – elif

2. The ternary operator

2. Looping
1. The for loop
1. Iterating over a range
2. Iterating over a sequence
2. Iterators and iterables
3. Iterating over multiple sequences

4. The while loop

5. The break and continue statements
6. A special else clause
3. Putting all this together
1. A prime generator
2. Applying discounts

4. A quick peek at the itertools module

1. Infinite iterators
 2. Iterators terminating on the shortest input sequence
3. Combinatoric generators
5. Summary
4. Functions, the Building Blocks of Code

1. Why use functions?

1. Reducing code duplication
2. Splitting a complex task
3. Hiding implementation details
4. Improving readability
5. Improving traceability

2. Scopes and name resolution

1. The global and nonlocal statements
3. Input parameters
1. Argument-passing
2. Assignment to argument names doesn't affect the caller
3. Changing a mutable affects the caller
4. How to specify input parameters

1. Positional arguments
2. Keyword arguments and default values
3. Variable positional arguments
4. Variable keyword arguments
5. Keyword-only arguments
6. Combining input parameters

7. Additional unpacking generalizations

8. Avoid the trap! Mutable defaults
4. Return values
1. Returning multiple values
5. A few useful tips
6. Recursive functions

7. Anonymous functions
8. Function attributes
9. Built-in functions
10. One final example
11. Documenting your code
12. Importing objects
1. Relative imports
 13. Summary
5. Saving Time and Memory
1. The map, zip, and filter functions
1. map
2. zip

3. filter
2. Comprehensions
1. Nested comprehensions
2. Filtering a comprehension
3. dict comprehensions
4. set comprehensions
3. Generators

1. Generator functions
2. Going beyond next
3. The yield from expression
4. Generator expressions
4. Some performance considerations
5. Don't overdo comprehensions and generators

6. Name localization
7. Generation behavior in built-ins
8. One last example
9. Summary
6. OOP, Decorators, and Iterators
1. Decorators

1. A decorator factory
2. Object-oriented programming (OOP)
1. The simplest Python class
2. Class and object namespaces
3. Attribute shadowing
4. Me, myself, and I – using the self variable
5. Initializing an instance

6. OOP is about code reuse

1. Inheritance and composition
7. Accessing a base class
8. Multiple inheritance
1. Method resolution order
 9. Class and static methods

1. Static methods
2. Class methods
10. Private methods and name mangling
11. The property decorator
12. Operator overloading
13. Polymorphism – a brief overview

14. Data classes

3. Writing a custom iterator
4. Summary
7. Files and Data Persistence
1. Working with files and directories
1. Opening files

1. Using a context manager to open a file

2. Reading and writing to a file
1. Reading and writing in binary mode
2. Protecting against overriding an existing file
3. Checking for file and directory existence
4. Manipulating files and directories
1. Manipulating pathnames

5. Temporary files and directories

6. Directory content
7. File and directory compression
2. Data interchange formats
1. Working with JSON
1. Custom encoding/decoding with JSON

3. IO, streams, and requests

1. Using an in-memory stream
2. Making HTTP requests
4. Persisting data on disk
1. Serializing data with pickle
2. Saving data with shelve

3. Saving data to a database

5. Summary
8. Testing, Profiling, and Dealing with Exceptions
1. Testing your application
 1. The anatomy of a test
2. Testing guidelines

3. Unit testing 
1. Writing a unit test
2. Mock objects and patching
3. Assertions
4. Testing a CSV generator
1. Boundaries and granularity
2. Testing the export function

3. Final considerations
2. Test-driven development
3. Exceptions
4. Profiling Python
1. When to profile?
5. Summary

9. Cryptography and Tokens

1. The need for cryptography
1. Useful guidelines
2. Hashlib
3. Secrets
1. Random numbers

2. Token generation
3. Digest comparison
4. HMAC
5. JSON Web Tokens
1. Registered claims
1. Time-related claims
2. Auth-related claims

2. Using asymmetric (public-key) algorithms

6. Useful references
7. Summary
10. Concurrent Execution
1. Concurrency versus parallelism
2. Threads and processes – an overview

1. Quick anatomy of a thread

1. Killing threads
 2. Context-switching
2. The Global Interpreter Lock
3. Race conditions and deadlocks
1. Race conditions

1. Scenario A – race condition not happening

2. Scenario B – race condition happening
2. Locks to the rescue
1. Scenario C – using a lock
3. Deadlocks
4. Quick anatomy of a process

1. Properties of a process
5. Multithreading or multiprocessing?
3. Concurrent execution in Python
1. Starting a thread
2. Starting a process
3. Stopping threads and processes

1. Stopping a process
4. Spawning multiple threads
5. Dealing with race conditions
6. A thread's local data
7. Thread and process communication
1. Thread communication
2. Sending events

3. Inter-process communication with queues

8. Thread and process pools
9. Using a process to add a timeout to a function
4. Case examples
1. Example one – concurrent mergesort
1. Single-thread mergesort

2. Single-thread multipart mergesort

3. Multithreaded mergesort
4. Multiprocess mergesort
2. Example two – batch sudoku-solver
1. What is Sudoku?
2. Implementing a sudoku-solver in Python

3. Solving sudoku with multiprocessing

 3. Example three – downloading random pictures
1. Downloading random pictures with asyncio
5. Summary
11. Debugging and Troubleshooting
1. Debugging techniques

1. Debugging with print

2. Debugging with a custom function
3. Inspecting the traceback
4. Using the Python debugger
5. Inspecting log files
6. Other techniques
1. Profiling

2. Assertions
7. Where to find information
2. Troubleshooting guidelines
1. Using console editors
2. Where to inspect
3. Using tests to debug

4. Monitoring
3. Summary
12. GUIs and Scripts
1. First approach – scripting
1. The imports
2. Parsing arguments

3. The business logic

2. Second approach – a GUI application
1. The imports
2. The layout logic
3. The business logic
1. Fetching the web page
2. Saving the images

3. Alerting the user

4. How can we improve the application?
3. Where do we go from here?
1. The turtle module
2. wxPython, PyQt, and PyGTK
 3. The principle of least astonishment

4. Threading considerations
4. Summary
13. Data Science
1. IPython and Jupyter Notebook
1. Installing the required libraries
2. Using Anaconda

3. Starting a Notebook
2. Dealing with data
1. Setting up the Notebook
2. Preparing the data
3. Cleaning the data
4. Creating the DataFrame

1. Unpacking the campaign name

2. Unpacking the user data
3. Cleaning everything up
5. Saving the DataFrame to a file
6. Visualizing the results
3. Where do we go from here?
4. Summary

14. Web Development

1. What is the web?
2. How does the web work?
3. The Django web framework
1. Django design philosophy
1. The model layer

2. The view layer

3. The template layer
2. The Django URL dispatcher
1. Regular expressions
4. A regex website
1. Setting up Django

1. Starting the project

2. Creating users
2. Adding the Entry model
3. Customizing the admin panel
 4. Creating the form
5. Writing the views

1. The home view

2. The entry list view
3. The form view
6. Tying up URLs and views
7. Writing the templates
5. The future of web development

1. Writing a Flask view

2. Building a JSON quote server in Falcon
6. Summary
7. A farewell
15. Other Books You May Enjoy
1. Leave a review - let other readers know what you think
Preface
When I started writing the first edition of this book, I knew very little
about what was expected. Gradually, I learned how to convert each
topic into a story. I wanted to talk about Python by offering useful,
simple, easy-to-grasp examples, but, at the same time, I wanted to
pour my own experience into the pages, anything I've learned over
the years that I thought would be valuable for the reader—something
to think about, reflect upon, and hopefully assimilate. Readers may
disagree and come up with a different way of doing things, but
hopefully a better way.

I wanted this book to not just be about the language but about
programming. The art of programming, in fact, comprises many
aspects, and language is just one of them.

Another crucial aspect of programming is independence. The ability

to unblock yourself when you hit a wall and don't know what to do to
solve the problem you're facing. There is no book that can teach it,
so I thought, instead of trying to teach that aspect, I will try and train
the reader in it. Therefore, I left comments, questions, and remarks
scattered throughout the whole book, hoping to inspire the reader. I
hoped that they would take the time to browse the Web or the official
documentation, to dig deeper, learn more, and discover the pleasure
of finding things out by themselves.

Finally, I wanted to write a book that, even in its presentation, would

be slightly different. So, I decided, with my editor, to write the first
part in a theoretical way, presenting topics that would describe the
characteristics of Python, and to have a second part made up of
various real-life projects, to show the reader how much can be
achieved with this language.

With all these goals in mind, I then had to face the hardest
challenge: take all the content I wanted to write and make it fit in the
amount of pages that were allowed. It has been tough, and sacrifices
were made.

My efforts have been rewarded though: to this day, after almost 3

years, I still receive lovely messages from readers, every now and
then, who thank me and tell me things like your book has
empowered me. To me, it is the most beautiful compliment. I know
that the language might change and pass, but I have managed to
share some of my knowledge with the reader, and that piece of
knowledge will stick with them.

And now, I have written the second edition of this book, and this
time, I had a little more space. So I decided to add a chapter about
IO, which was desperately needed, and I even had the opportunity to
add two more chapters, one about secrets and one about concurrent
execution. The latter is definitely the most challenging chapter in the
whole book, and its purpose is that of stimulating the reader to reach
a level where they will be able to easily digest the code in it and
understand its concepts.

I have kept all the original chapters, except for the last one that was
slightly redundant. They have all been refreshed and updated to the
latest version of Python, which is 3.7 at the time of writing.

When I look at this book, I see a much more mature product. There
are more chapters, and the content has been reorganized to better fit
the narrative, but the soul of the book is still there. The main and
most important point, empowering the reader, is still very much
intact.

I hope that this edition will be even more successful than the
previous one, and that it will help the readers become great
programmers. I hope to help them develop critical thinking, great
skills, and the ability to adapt over time, thanks to the solid
foundation they have acquired from the book.
Who this book is for
Python is the most popular introductory teaching language in the top
computer science universities in the US, so if you are new to software
development, or if you have little experience and would like to start
off on the right foot, then this language and this book are what you
need. Its amazing design and portability will help you to become
productive regardless of the environment you choose to work with.

If you have already worked with Python or any other language, this
book can still be useful to you, both as a reference to Python's
fundamentals, and for providing a wide range of considerations and
suggestions collected over two decades of experience.
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
peacock; he contended with the lark, the crane and the eagle in
flight.
This was a day on which horses were overcome by asses, and
lions by oxen, a day in which the dog was stronger than the bear and
the cat than the leopard, a day in which the weak confounded the
strong, a day in which slaves were raised on high and nobles
brought to the ground, a day in which the terror of God’s wrath came
upon all, such a day as no chronicle records in time past. May such
a day never come again in our age!
Cap. IX. When all this multitude was gathered together like the
sand of the sea, one, a Jay skilled in speech, took the first place
among them and addressed them thus: ‘O wretched slaves, now
comes the day in which the peasant shall drive out the lord; let
honour, law and virtue perish, and let our court rule.’ They listen and
approve, and though they know not what ‘our court’ means, what he
says has for them the force of law: if he says ‘strike,’ they strike, if he
says ‘kill,’ they kill. Their sound was as the sound of the sea, and
from terror I could scarcely move my feet. They strike a mutual
compact and declare that all those of gentle blood who remain in the
world shall be overthrown.
Then they advance all together; a dark cloud mingled with the
furies of hell rains down evil into their hearts; the earth is wetted with
the dew of the pit, so that no virtue can grow, but every vice
increases. Satan is loose and among them, the princes of Erebus
draw the world after them, and the more I gaze, the more I am
terrified, not knowing what the end will be.
Cap. X. Furious rage there was, they were greedy for slaughter
like hungry wolves. The seven races derived from Cain were added
to them. The prophets spoke of them, Gog and Magog is their name,
they neither fear man nor worship God. Moreover those companions
of Ulysses, whom Circe transformed, are associated with them:
some have the heads of men and others of brute beasts.
Cap. XI. There is Wat, Tom and Sim, Bet and Gib followed by
Hick; Coll, Geff and Will, Grigge, Dawe, Hobbe and Lorkin, Hudd,
Judd, Tebb and Jack, such are their names;68 and Ball teaches them
as a prophet, himself having been taught by the devil.
Some bray like asses, others bellow like bulls, they grunt, they
bark, they howl, the geese cackle, the wasps buzz; the earth is
terrified with their sound and trembles at the name of the Jay.
Cap. XII. They appoint heralds and leaders, and they order that
all who do not favour them shall suffer death. They are armed with
stakes and poles, old bows and arrows, rusty sickles, mattocks and
forks; some have only clods and stones and branches of trees. They
wet the earth with the blood of their betters.
Cap. XIII. These come in their fury to the city of new Troy, which
opens its gates to them, and they surge in and invade the streets
and houses. It was Thursday, the festival of Corpus Christi, when
this fury attacked the city on all sides; they burnt the houses and
slew the citizens. The Savoy burns, and the house of the Baptist falls
to ruin in the flames. They rob and carry away the spoil, and that day
is closed with drunkenness everywhere.
The next day, Friday, is yet worse; no wisdom or courage avails
against them, they rage like a lioness robbed of her young. O, how
degenerate is the city which allows this, how disgraceful that armed
knights should give place to an unarmed mob! There is no Capaneus
or Tydeus, no Ajax or Agamemnon, no Hector or Achilles, to make
defence or attack. Ilion with its towers cannot keep men safe from
the furies.
Cap. XIV. Helenus the chief priest, who kept the palladium of
Troy, was slain in spite of his exhortations. These were deeds worthy
rather of demons than of men. Piety and virtue perished and vice ran
riot. They said ‘Let his blood be upon our heads,’ and slew him
without pity: the curse of Christ shall fall upon them for this deed.
Simon had the same death as Thomas, but at the hands of
greater numbers and for a different cause. Vengeance came for the
death of Thomas; for Simon it daily threatens. It was midday when
this blood was shed, the shepherd was slain by his flock, the father
by his children. He died untimely; but though taken away from us, he
lives in heaven. This is the foulest of all the deeds done: these men
are worse than Cain, who only slew his brother. O cursed hand that
struck the severed head! Wail for this, all ye old and young, the evils
prophesied by Cassandra come down on this city. The king could not
rescue Helenus, but he mourned for him in his heart.
Cap. XV. The chief citizens also perished, there was death and
sorrow everywhere. If a son pleaded for his father, both were slain.
No place of safety can be found by those of gentle condition; they
flee to the forests in vain, and move vaguely hither and thither,
neither city nor field affords them protection. Death is everywhere,
and spares not even the women and the children. There is no
remedy, and neither lamentation nor prayers are of any avail.
Cap. XVI. When I saw all this, horror seized me and I fled. I left
my own house and wandered over the fields, I went from place to
place in search of safety; the enemy pressed after me; I hid in caves
of the woods, and was without hope at evening of what the morrow
might bring. My dreams terrified me and my heart melted like wax in
the fire. I lay hid during the day and trembled at every sound, the
tears that I shed were my sole subsistence. I was alone and in terror
of the wrath of God, my mind was sick and my body was wasted.
Hardly ever did I meet a companion, and those friends whom I had
trusted in prosperity failed me now. I dared scarcely speak a word,
lest I should betray myself to an enemy.
Then, when I saw nothing but death about me, I desired to die,
and yet I was unwilling to perish in so desolate a state. While I wept,
lo, Wisdom came to me and bade me stop my tears, for grief would
at some time cease. I stood amazed and in doubt; death was life to
me and life was death, and wondrous visions passed before me.
Cap. XVII. I saw not far off a Ship, and I ran towards it and
climbed up its side. In it were almost all those of gentle birth,
crowded together and terrified, seeking refuge from the furies. I
prayed that we might have a favourable voyage. The ship left the
shore, but my hopes were vain: the sky grew dark and the winds
lashed the waves into storm, the ship was driven before them amid
thunder and rain. There was confusion among the sailors, and the
captain in vain endeavoured to direct the ship’s course.
Cap. XVIII. At length the storm so increased that all were in
despair of safety. A huge monster of the sea, Scylla and Charybdis
both in one, appeared as if to destroy the ship and all who were in it.
We prayed to heaven for help.
(The Tower of London was like this ship, shaken by the storm, its
walls giving way to the fury of the mob. In vain it offered hopes of
safety; it was stained with foul parricide, and the den of the leopard
was captured by assault.)
When I saw these things I was terrified in my sleep, and I prayed
to God for help. ‘Thou Creator and Redeemer of the human race,
thou who didst save Paul from the sea, Peter from prison and Jonah
from the whale’s belly, hear my prayer, I entreat thee. Help me and
grant that I may be cast up on a favourable shore!’
As I prayed, the monster struck the ship, and it was almost
swallowed up by the fury of Scylla.
Cap. XIX. Yet our cries and tears were not unheard. When the
storm raged most furiously, there was one William, a Mayor, who
was moved to high deeds: he struck down that proud Jay, and with
his death the storm abated, Scylla restored its prey, and the ship
once more rode upright upon the water. The sailors regained their
courage and hoisted a little sail, peace returned and the sky became
clear. I then with all the rest gave thanks to Christ.
Cap. XX. Still my dream went on, and still I seemed to see that
ship, which now with broken oars was drifting in search of a landing-
place. It was driven to that port where all this evil raged; it had
escaped Scylla, but it came to an Island more dangerous than
Scylla. I landed, and asked one of those whom I met, ‘What island is
this, and why is there so great a concourse of people here?’ He
replied: ‘This is called the Island of Brute, and the men who dwell
here are of fair form but of savage condition. This people lays law
and justice low by violence; strife and bloodshed reign here ever. Yet
if they could love one another, no better people would there be from
the rising to the setting of the sun.’
I was saddened and terrified by his answer, I knew not whether
sea or land were more to be feared. The heavenly voice which I had
heard before said to me, ‘Lament not, but take heed to thyself. Thou
hast come to a place where wars abound, but do thou seek peace
within by God’s assistance. Be cautious and silent; but when thou
hast leisure, record these dreams of thine, for dreams often give a
presage of the future.’ The voice was heard no more, and at that
moment the cock crew and I awoke from my sleep, scarce knowing
whether what I had seen was within me or without.
Cap. XXI. Then I returned thanks to God for having preserved me
upon the sea and from the jaws of Scylla. The rustic goes back to his
labours, but in his heart there remains hatred of his lords; therefore
let us be forewarned and provide against future evils. As for me, God
has set me free from the danger, and for this I thank him; and I would
that my country, preserved from destruction, might render due
thanks to God. While the memory of these things is fresh in me, I will
write that which I experienced in my sleep, that waking slumber
which brought to me no mere vision but a dream of reality.

Prologus Libri Secundi.

Many things did I see and note, which my pen shall write, but first
I invoke, not the Muses, but the true Spirit of God, and I will let down
my nets in the name of Christ and for his glory. The style and the
verses are poor, but the meaning is good. I will give that which my
poor faculties can attain to; and may he be my helper who produced
speech from the mouth of an ass. I prefer to do a little good than
none.
The words which follow are not spoken from myself; they are
gathered from various sources, as honey from various flowers or
bright shells from various shores. The name of the book is Vox
Clamantis, because it is the utterance of a fresh sorrow.

Liber Secundus.
 Cap. I. Tears shall be the ink with which I write. All is vanity
except the love of God, and man has cause for lamentation from his
birth.
Yet if any people in the world could be happy, God granted this
boon to us; we were blessed above all other nations. Now our former
glory is extinguished and our prosperity is destroyed.
Why is our condition thus changed? Nothing on earth happens
without a cause, yet all deny that they are the cause of this and find
fault with Fortune, who turns all things upside down.
Cap. II. O thou who art called Fortune, why dost thou thus
depress those whom thou didst once exalt? Once our country was
everywhere honoured, all desired to be at peace with it: now our
glory has departed and enemies attack us from all quarters. Reply,
Fortune, and say if thou art the cause of this change. I think not, for I
believe in God and not in Fortune; yet I will describe thee, as men
think that thou art.
Cap. III. Fortune, hear what men say of thee, that thou hast a
double face, and goest by double paths, that nothing in thee is stable
or secure. No gifts may keep thee faithful, thou art lighter than the
dead leaves which fly before the wind: now thou art bright and fair,
now dark and lowering; thy love is more treacherous than that of a
harlot, the prosperity which thou givest is very near to disaster.
Cap. IV. Fortune gives no honey without gall, she changes like
the sphere of the moon. Her wheel is ever turning, and no tears or
prayers will move her. Citizen and husbandman, king and rustic, rich
and poor, all are alike to her. Ah! why was so much power given to
such a one as she is?
Thus men say, believing that Fortune can overthrow the decrees
of God, but in fact she is nothing, fate is nothing, chance has nothing
to do with the affairs of men. Each one makes for himself his own lot:
if the will is good, good fortune follows, if evil, it makes the fortune
bad. Virtue will lead you to the summit of the wheel, and vice will
bring you and your fortune down to the bottom.
 Cap. V. God has said that the man who obeys his commands
shall prosper in wealth and peace: the very elements are subject to
the righteous man. Joshua caused the sun to stand still, Gregory
stayed the plague, Moses divided the sea, Elisha caused iron to
swim, the three children were unhurt by the fire, the earth rose to
give a seat to Hilarius. Wild animals, too, serve the just man, witness
Daniel, Silvester, Moses and Jonah.
Cap. VI. Again, the elements war against sinners: so it was in the
case of the plague caused by David’s sin, in the case of the
Sodomites, Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Lysias and others. The
wicked man cannot enjoy good fortune, nor can the good man be
deprived of it. It was guilt that caused the fall of Pharaoh and of Saul,
the death of Ahab and of Eli with his sons. The Jews always
conquered while they were obedient to God’s law, and were
overcome when they transgressed it.
Cap. VII. It is God Omnipotent, the Three in One, who governs all
things here. As fire, heat and motion are three things combined in
one, so the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three persons but one
Godhead.
Cap. VIII. Christ, the Son of the Father, became incarnate in man,
and yet remained what he was before, being less than the Father
and yet equal to him, perfect Man and perfect God. As the frailty of
the first Adam brought evil upon us all, so the strength of the second
Adam healed our wound and restored our fallen state.
Cap. IX. We must submit our mind to the faith, for man cannot
understand the things of God, and we must not examine too closely
the mystery which we cannot penetrate. This we know, that life is
given to all through the name of Jesus Christ.
Cap. X. The heathen bows down to figures of wood and stone,
asking help from that which his hands have made. Was not the world
made for man and all things placed in subjection to him? How then
can these idols be of any avail?
As for us, we use images differently, not giving to them the
worship that belongs to God, but by them assisting devotion;
especially the sign of the Cross is to be adored, by means of which
we conquer the powers of evil. Great is the virtue of the Cross, by
which Christ despoiled hell of its prey and ascended into heaven.
Cap. XI. God created the heaven and the earth, and all created
things ought to serve him. As he creates all things, so also he rules
them continually, and he gives his gifts according to men’s merit.
Whatever comes to pass in the world, whether it be good or evil, we
are the cause of it.

Prologus Libri Tercii.

Since good and bad fortune are due to the merits and demerits of
men, I shall examine the various conditions of men and find out
where the fault lies. I shall utter not so much my own words as the
common report of others, and it must be remembered that he who
finds fault with the bad is in effect praising the good. May God assist
me to carry out my task! My abilities are small, and I do not affect
high themes, but I speak of the evils which the common voice of
humanity bewails. Let no envy or calumny attack my work; and do
thou, O Christ, grant that I may avoid falsehood and flattery. With this
prayer I enter on my voyage.

Liber Tercius.
Cap. I. The order of the world is in three degrees,—Clergy,
Knighthood and Peasantry. I shall deal first with the prelates of the
Church, whose practice is very far removed from the example of
Christ. Riches alone are valued by them, and the poor man is
despised, whatever may be his merits.
Cap. II. Prelates of the Church are now hirelings, whose desire is
to live in luxury and to indulge their appetites. Gluttony and lust
everywhere prevail.
Cap. III. The prelates of the Church aim at earthly honours
instead of heavenly: they desire rather to have the pre-eminence
than to do good. Powerful men escape without rebuke for their sins,
and penance is avoided by payment.
 Cap. IV. As regards the ‘positive law,’ for breach of which
dispensations are granted, I ask first whether Christ gives indulgence
beforehand for sin, or prohibits that which is not sin. If these things
are sins, how can I be free to commit them on consideration of a
money payment; if not, why does the Church forbid them? This is
merely a device for bringing in money to the clergy.
Cap. V. The poison of temporal possessions is still working in the
Church. They no longer war on the pagan, but turn their swords
against their own brother Christians.
Cap. VI. Christ left peace with his disciples, but in our time
avarice and ambition cause prelates to take part in intestine strife,
with swords in their hands and the cross as their ensign. It is not the
part of a soldier to offer incense at the altar or of a priest to bear
arms in war.
Cap. VII. The priest should fight with other than material arms.
David was not permitted to build a house for the Lord, because he
had been a shedder of blood; and those who are stained with the
slaughter of their brethren cannot be the true servants of the altar.
Brotherly love should prevail, and this is opposed to strife and self-
seeking ambition.
Cap. VIII. Worldly men may make wars, but the clergy should not
take part in them; their strength is in their words and prayers, and
they have no need of material arms. Too great prosperity and wealth
is the cause of these evils: they do not see what the end will be.
Cap. IX. The ring and the pastoral staff belong to the Pope, the
sceptre to the Emperor; the one must not usurp the rights of the
other. The Emperor should not claim spiritual power, nor the Pope
temporal. Christ is a lover of peace and his ministers must not
appeal to the sword, but must keep the command, ‘Thou shalt not
kill.’ Let Christ himself lay claim to what is his. Pride is the root of all
evil.
The apostles conquered by prayers and by patience; Peter had
neither silver nor gold, but he healed the lame man; our clergy
abound in wealth, but do no works of healing, either spiritual or
bodily. O thou who art head of the Church, remember that
forgiveness should be until seventy times seven, and that Peter was
commanded by Christ to put up his sword.
Cap. X. The teaching and the writings of the clergy are in favour
of peace and love, and when I wondered why they waged wars, one
answered me in the person of the supreme pontiff and said: ‘Rule on
earth is given to us by divine decree and it pleases us to enjoy all the
good things of this world. Our way is different from that of Christ and
his apostles; we set up the cross as a sign of hatred and vengeance,
we put to death those who will not acknowledge our rule; the
pastoral staff is turned into a spear and the mitre into a helmet, we
can slay with sword as well as with word, and whereas Peter cut off
the ears, we cut off the head.’
Cap. XI. These claim the worship and honour which belong to
God alone, and the goods which they unjustly seize are never
restored. The shepherd preys like a wolf upon his own sheep.
Cap. XII. He who is promoted to dignity in the Church by simony
is like the thief who enters not by the door into the sheepfold. The
Church is a congregation of faithful men, and the clergy are no better
than the laity, except so far as they lead better lives. Yet they lay
burdens upon us which they will not bear themselves, and do not
follow their own precepts. They bear the keys of heaven, but they
neither enter themselves nor allow us to enter: they set no good
example to their flocks.
Cap. XIII. A prelate should be a light to guide his people by
example, and he should encourage them by his voice, and also
reprove and restrain. The oil with which he is anointed is a type of
the qualities that he ought to display.
Cap. XIV. At the Court of Rome nothing can be done without gifts:
the poor man is everywhere rejected. The spirit of Antichrist is
opposite to that of Christ, and there are many signs that he has
already come.
Cap. XV. Our prelates aim at the mere outward show of sanctity
and refuse to bear the burden of Christ. O God, in thy mercy restore
them to the state which they have lost!
Cap. XVI. Rectors of parishes, too, err after the example of the
prelates. They are luxurious in their lives, and many desert their
spiritual cures, in order to frequent courts and great households, with
a view to promotion.
Cap. XVII. Another gets leave from the bishop to leave his parish
on the plea of study at the universities; but there he learns and
teaches only lessons of unchastity. The Church, which is his true
bride, is neglected, and harlots receive the tithe which belongs to
God.
Cap. XVIII. A third rector resides in his parish, but spends his time
in sports, keeps well-fed horses and dogs, while the poor are not
relieved or the sick visited, makes his voice heard more in the fields
and woods than in the church. He lays snares too for the women of
his parish, and if their bodies be fair, he cares not how their souls are
defiled.
Cap. XIX. Another neglects his cure of souls and makes money
by buying and selling. He is liberal of his wealth to none but women;
and if benefices were inherited by the children of those who hold
them, the succession would seldom fail.
Cap. XX. The priests without benefices, who get their living by
‘annuals,’ are equally bad: the harlot and the tavern consume their
gains. Let none admit these to his house, who desires to keep his
wife chaste, anymore than he would admit pigeons to his bed-
chamber, if he wished to keep it clean.
Cap. XXI. These infect the laity by their bad example. The bishop
ought not to ordain such men; and he who might prevent an evil and
does not, is equally guilty with him who causes it.
Cap. XXII. The clergy deny the right of laymen to judge and
punish them; yet the sins of the clergy deeply affect the laity. We are
all brethren in Christ and we are bidden to rebuke our brethren, if
they do wrong, and to cast them out of the Church, if they will not
amend.
 Cap. XXIII. Priests say that in committing fornication they do not
sin more than other men who are guilty of this vice. But their sacred
condition and their vow of chastity makes the evil worse in them than
in a cobbler or a shepherd.
Cap. XXIV. If we consider the office of the priesthood, we shall
find that the vestments and ornaments of priests are all symbolical of
the virtues which they ought to possess.
Cap. XXV. The ceremonies of sacrifices under the old law were
symbols of the virtues required in priests under the new, and as
under the old dispensation the ministers of the altar ought to be
without defect and deformity of body, so the priests of the new law
should be spiritually free from blemish. Uzzah touched the ark with
unclean hands and was punished with death: so he who comes
polluted to the service of the altar is worthy of punishment.
Cap. XXVI. A man must be of mature age before he assumes the
priesthood; for youth is apt to yield to the temptations of the flesh.
The evil impulses cannot be wholly expelled, but they may be kept in
check, as is symbolized by the tonsure of the priest. Let the priest
avoid idleness, whence so many vices spring.
Cap. XXVII. The honour of priests is great, if they live worthily.
They administer to us the sacraments during our lives, they give us
burial when we are dead, they are the salt of the earth and the light
of the world. So much the worse is it when they are ignorant and
bad; the distinction between the good and the bad priest is like that
between the dove and the raven sent out of the ark.
Cap. XXVIII. The young scholars who are being trained for the
priesthood are in these days too often indolent and vicious. If they
are so in youth, they will hardly be good in their later age.
Cap. XXIX. They are induced to undertake the priesthood by
desire to escape from the control of the ordinary law, by dislike of
labour, and by love of good living, seldom by the higher motive,
which once prevailed, of contempt for worldly things and longing
after the highest good. Thus, since the clergy is without the light of
virtue, we laymen wander in the dark.
 Liber Quartus.
Cap. I. Men of Religious Orders are also of various conditions,
some good and others bad. Let each bear his own burden of blame:
I write only what common report tells me.
There are first those who hold temporal possessions, and some
of these live in gluttony and luxury.
Cap. II. Those who leave the world should give up worldly things;
but in these days the monk is known only by his garb. He indulges
himself with the richest food and the choicest drink, he makes haste
when the bell rings for a meal, but he rises very slowly and
reluctantly for midnight prayer. The monks of old were different; they
dwelt in caves and had no luxurious halls or kitchens, they were
clothed in skins, fed on herbs and drank water, and abstained from
fleshly lusts. These men truly renounced the world, but that blessed
state has now perished.
Cap. III. The old monastic rule has given place to gluttony and
drunkenness, and those who live so can hardly be chaste. Pride,
anger and envy prevail among these men, in spite of the restrictions
of their rule.
Cap. IV. There is no brotherly love among them, and the vow of
individual poverty is also broken. They make money in various ways
and spend it on their pleasures and in enriching their children, whom
they call their nephews.
Cap. V. A monk wandering abroad from his cloister is like a fish
out of water; nor are those much better who stay within the walls and
allow their minds to dwell on worldly things.
Cap. VI. Some seek honour and dignity under the cover of the
monastic profession, even though they be of poor and low birth.
Cap. VII. Patience, Chastity and the rest who were once brothers
of religious orders, are now dead or departed, and their contrary
vices have taken their places.
Cap. VIII. So also the regular Canons for the most part neglect
their monastic rule and have only a show of sanctity.
 Cap. IX. Monks who are untrue to their profession are of all men
the most unhappy. They have no real enjoyment of this world and
they lose also the joys of heaven.
Cap. X. Let all members of religious orders perform their vows
and repent of their past sins, of their pride, luxury, avarice, ambition,
gluttony, wrath, envy and strife.
Cap. XI. Above all let them avoid intercourse with women, who
bring death to their souls. Let them labour and study; for idleness is
the great incentive to evil.
Cap. XII. The monk who sets himself to observe his rule will live
hardly and fast often, praying continually and doing penance for sin.
He will submit himself humbly to his prior, and he will not grudge to
perform duties that are irksome. The prior should be gentle with his
younger brethren and not make the yoke too heavy for them.
Cap. XIII. As regards nuns, they too are under the rule of chastity;
but as women are more frail by nature than men, they must not be
so severely punished if they break it. They require meat often on
Fridays for their stomachs’ sake, and this is prepared for them by
Genius the priest of Venus.
Cap. XIV. Where Genius is the confessor of a convent, the laws
of the flesh prevail. The priest who visits nuns too often corrupts
them, and the woman very easily yields to temptation. A wife may
deceive her husband, but the bride of Christ cannot conceal her
unfaithfulness from him: therefore she above all others should be
chaste.
Cap. XV. True virginity is above all praise, and this surpasses
every other condition, as a rose surpasses the thorns from which it
springs. The best kind of virginity is that which is vowed to God.
Cap. XVI. Not all whom Christ chose were faithful, and
everywhere bad and good are mingled together; but the fault of the
bad is not a reason for condemning the good. So when I speak of
the evil deeds of Friars, I condemn the bad only and absolve the
good.
 The number of mendicant friars is too great and their primitive
rule has been forgotten. They pretend to be poor, but in fact they
possess all things, and have power over the pope himself. Both life
and death bring in gains to them.
Cap. XVII. They preach hypocritically against sin in public, but in
private they encourage it by flattery and indulgence. They know that
their gains depend upon the sins which their penitents commit. Friars
do not often visit places where gain is not to be got. They have an
outward appearance of poverty and sanctity, without the reality. I do
not desire that they should be altogether suppressed, but that they
should be kept under due discipline.
Cap. XVIII. Some friars aim at dignity as masters in the schools,
and then they are exempted from their rule and obtain entry into
great houses. The influence of the friar is everywhere felt, and often
he supplies the place of the absent husband and is the father of his
children. Bees, when they wound, lose their stings and are
afterwards helpless: would it were so with the adulterous friar!
Cap. XIX. The order of friars is not necessary to the Church.
Friars appropriate spiritual rights which belong to others; and though
this may be by dispensation of the pope, yet we know that the pope
does not grant such dispensations of his own motion, and he may be
deceived. They ask for the cure of souls, but in fact they are
demanding worldly wealth: not so did Francis make petition, but he
left all and endured poverty.
Cap. XX. This multitude of friars is not necessary for the good of
society. David says of them that they neither take part in the labours
of men nor endure the rule of the law: they toil not, neither do they
spin, and yet the world feeds them. It is vain for them to plead the
merits of Francis, when they do not follow his example. All honour to
those who do as he did.
Cap. XXI. They draw into their order not grown men but mere
boys. Francis was not a boy when he assumed his work; but in these
days mere children are enrolled, caught like birds in a snare: and as
they are deceived themselves, so afterwards they deceive others.
 Cap. XXII. The friar who transgresses the rule of his order is an
apostate and a follower of the apostate fiend. He finds entrance
everywhere, and everywhere he lays snares, encourages hatred,
and fosters impurity. Under a veil of virtuous simplicity he conceals a
treacherous heart. These are ministers of the Synagogue rather than
of the Church, children of Hagar, not of Sara.
Cap. XXIII. They are dispersed over the world like the Jews, and
everywhere they find ease and abundance. Their churches and their
houses are built in the most costly style and adorned with the richest
ornaments. No king has chambers more magnificent than theirs, and
their buildings are a mark of their worldly pride. Unless their souls
are fair within, this outward pomp of religion is of no avail.
Cap. XXIV. Friars differ from one another in the garb of their
order, but all equally neglect their rule. Only the order founded by
brother Burnel still maintains its former state. Two rules of this order I
will set forth, which are almost everywhere received. The first is that
what the flesh desires, that you may have; and the second that
whatever the flesh shrinks from, that you should avoid. So the new
order of Burnel is thought better than those of Benedict or Bernard.
Thus, if bad times come, I shall hold that the error of the Clergy is
the cause. The body is nothing without the spirit: we have darkness
instead of light, death instead of life, and the flock is scattered
abroad without a shepherd.

Liber Quintus.
Cap. I. I will speak in the second place of the order of Knighthood.
This was established first to defend the Church, then for the good of
the community, and thirdly to support the cause of the widow and
orphan. If a knight performs these duties, he should have praise, but
not if he makes war merely for the sake of glory.
If a knight overcomes his enemies, but is overcome by the love of
a woman, he has no true glory, for he makes himself a slave instead
of free.
Cap. II. If the knight would reflect on the variety and uncertainty of
love, he would not allow himself so easily to be made captive.
 Cap. III. But when he sees beauty in woman decked out with all
its charms, he thinks it divine and marvellous, and he can offer no
effectual resistance. Lovers are blind and are driven by every kind of
unreasonable impulse. Women deceive men, and men also deceive
and betray women.
Cap. IV. The knight has little need to fear bodily wounds, which
may easily be healed; but love is not to be cured by physicians, and
this deprives him both of reason and of honour.
Cap. V. Those who seek fame and worldly honours only, are
hardly better than those who are conquered by women.
Cap. VI. The good woman is one whose praise is above all
things. The bad is a subtle snare for the destruction of men. She
paints her face and uses every art to deceive. The world is
treacherous, but woman is more treacherous still.
Cap. VII. The good knight, who labours neither for gain nor for
glory, and is not conquered by love, obtains the victory over the
enemies of the Church and of his country, and gives us the blessing
of peace.
Cap. VIII. The bad knight is the causer of many evils in the other
orders of society. He deserves to have Leah, not Rachel, as his
bride. Those who follow wars for the sake of the spoils are like
vultures that prey upon the corpses of the dead. Alas, in these days
gold is preferred to honour and the world to God.
Cap. IX. Another estate remains, that of the cultivators of the soil,
who provide sustenance for the human race in accordance with the
divine ordinance laid down for Adam. These at the present time are
lazy and grasping, as well as few in number; one peasant now asks
more wages than two did in past time, and one formerly did as much
work as three do now. We know from recent experience what evil the
peasant is capable of doing. God has ordained, however, that
nothing is to be had without toil; therefore the peasant must labour,
and if he will not, he must be compelled.
Cap. X. There are also the casual labourers, who go from one
employment to another and always find fault with the food that they
get from their masters. These are irrational like beasts, and they
should be disciplined by fear of punishment.
Cap XI. In cities there are chiefly two classes, the merchants and
the craftsmen. The former sin by not regarding festivals and holy
days.
Cap. XII. Usury and Fraud are two sisters, daughters of Avarice,
to whom the dwellers in cities pay honour. Usury is forbidden of old,
but by a gloss on the text it is now approved.
Cap. XIII. Fraud is worse, because it is common to all places.
From the young apprentice to the master all practise it in selling.
Cap. XIV. Craftsmen, who make things, follow the laws of Fraud,
and so do those who sell articles of food, as meat, fish, bread, beer
and so on.
Cap. XV. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest, and it is shameful
for a citizen to benefit strangers at the expense of his fellow-citizens.
It is an evil thing when one of low condition is exalted to the highest
place in the city. The evil man is a common scourge; but though he
be mounted on high, he shall fall and perish.
Cap. XVI. The man whose tongue is unrestrained is as a
pestilence among the people. The tongue causes strife and many
evils; it breaks through every guard and devours like a flame. None
can say how many evils the tongue of the talkative man brings about
in the city: it causes discord and hatred instead of peace and love;
and where peace and love are not, there God is not. The citizen who
thus plagues his fellows should be put to death or banished: it is
expedient that one should die, lest the whole people should perish.
Thou ruler of the city, labour to bring about harmony and peace,
and above all deal prudently. Great consequences often follow from
small things, and the fire which seems to be extinguished may blaze
up again. Justice and peace, which formerly reigned, must be
restored, so that the ruin which overtook Rome and Athens may be
averted from our city.

Liber Sextus.
 Cap. I. Besides the three degrees of society above described,
there are those who are called ministers of the Law. Of these some
labour for true law and justice, and these I praise; but most practise
an art under the name of law which perverts justice. The advocate
will plead the cause of any man who pays him, and compels his rich
neighbours to give him gifts, for fear that evil should befall them. He
has a thousand ways of making his gains; the great and powerful
break through his snares, but the weak and defenceless are caught
in them. Like the bat or the owl he loves darkness rather than light:
yet sometimes the biter is bitten.
Cap. II. The advocate oppresses and plunders the poor, and
rejoices in discord as a physician in disease. He contrives every
device to enrich himself and his offspring; he joins house to house
and field to field. But his heir dissipates that which he has gathered
together, and a curse comes upon him at the last.
Cap. III. The land is ruined by the excessive number of lawyers.
As a straight stick appears crooked when plunged in water, so does
straightforward and simple law become distorted in the mind of the
lawyer. As clouds conceal the sun, so do advocates obscure the
clear light of the law. Conspiracy, they say, is unlawful, but they
themselves conspire to protect one another, and the law has no
power over these.
Cap. IV. They ascend by degrees from the rank of apprentice to
that of serjeant and so to the office of judge. The administration of
justice is disturbed chiefly by three things, gifts, favour, and fear.
Those who make friends with the judge will hardly lose their case.
Cap. V. O ye who sell justice for gain, learn what end awaits you.
The higher you rise, the greater will be your fall: the more wealth you
gather, the greater will be your misery. O thou judge who seekest
after wealth, why dost thou attend to all things else and neglect
thyself? Thou wilt gain the world, but lose heaven. All worldly power
comes to an end, and so, be sure, will thine.
Cap. VI. As regards the sheriffs, the bailiffs, and the jurymen at
assizes, they are ready to accept bribes and pervert justice. As the
toad cursed the harrow, so I curse these many masters, who are all
unjust.
Cap. VII. Laws, nevertheless, there must be, to punish the
transgressor; and if there are laws there must also be judges. The
worst of evils is when justice is not to be had, and this causes a land
to be divided against itself. Much depends upon the ruler: for the sins
of a bad king the people are punished as well as the king himself.
The higher a man’s place is, the worse is the effect of his evil-doing.
A law is nothing without people, or people without a king, or a king
without good counsel. 69 Complaints are everywhere heard now of
the injustice of the high court, and the limbs suffer because the head
is diseased. The king is an undisciplined youth, who neglects all
good habits, and chooses unworthy companions, by whose influence
he is made worse. At the same time older men give way to him for
gain and pervert the justice of the king’s court. None can tell what
the end will be: I can only mourn over these evils and offer my
counsel to the youthful king.
Cap. VIII. Every subject is bound to serve his king, and the king to
govern his people justly. Hence I shall endeavour to set forth a rule
of conduct for the honour of my king.
First then, I say, govern thyself according to the law, and enforce
on thyself the precepts that are fitting for others. A king is above all
others; he should endeavour to overcome and rise above himself. If
thou art above the laws, live the more justly. Be gentle in thy acts, for
thy wrath is death. Endeavour to practise virtue in thy youth and to
avoid evil communications.
Cap. IX. Avoid false friends and those who stir up war for the
sake of their own profit. Resist those who will tempt thee to evil, O
king. Take vengeance on wrong, and let justice be done without fear
or favour.
Cap. X. Show mercy also, where mercy is fitting, and listen to the
prayer of the poor and helpless. Let fit men of proper age and
sufficient wisdom be appointed to administer justice.
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