The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete
skins of large beasts.
*( Of Sailing in Ships. )*
There will be great winds by reason of which things of the East will
become things of the West; and those of the South, being involved in
the course of the winds, will follow them to distant lands.
*( Of Worshipping the Pictures of Saints. )*
Men will speak to men who hear not; having their eyes open, they
will not see; they will speak to these, and they will not be
answered. They will implore favours of those who have ears and hear
not; they will make light for the blind.
*( Of Sawyers. )*
There will be many men who will move one against another, holding in
their hands a cutting tool. But these will not do each other any
injury beyond tiring each other; for, when one pushes forward the
other will draw back. But woe to him who comes between them! For he
will end by being cut in pieces.
*( Of Silk-spinning. )*
Dismal cries will be heard loud, shrieking with anguish, and the
hoarse and smothered tones of those who will be despoiled, and at
last left naked and motionless; and this by reason of the mover,
which makes every thing turn round.
*( Of putting Bread into the Mouth of the Oven and taking it out
again. )*
In every city, land, castle and house, men shall be seen, who for
want of food will take it out of the mouths of others, who will not
be able to resist in any way.
*( Of tilled Land. )*
The Earth will be seen turned up side down and facing the opposite
hemispheres, uncovering the lurking holes of the fiercest animals.
*( Of Sowing Seed. )*
Then many of the men who will remain alive, will throw the victuals
they have preserved out of their houses, a free prey to the birds
and beasts of the earth, without taking any care of them at all.
*( Of the Rains, which, by making the Rivers muddy, wash away the
Land. )*
[Footnote 81: Compare No. 945.] Something will fall from the sky
which will transport a large part of Africa which lies under that
sky towards Europe, and that of Europe towards Africa, and that of
the Scythian countries will meet with tremendous revolutions
[Footnote 84: Compare No. 945.].
*( Of Wood that burns. )*
The trees and shrubs in the great forests will be converted into
cinder.
*( Of Kilns for Bricks and Lime. )*
Finally the earth will turn red from a conflagration of many days
and the stones will be turned to cinders.
*( Of boiled Fish. )*
The natives of the waters will die in the boiling flood.
*( Of the Olives which fall from the Olive trees, shedding oil which
makes light. )*
And things will fall with great force from above, which will give us
nourishment and light.
*[Of Owls and screech owls and what will happen to certain birds.]*
Many will perish of dashing their heads in pieces, and the eyes of
many will jump out of their heads by reason of fearful creatures
come out of the darkness.
*[Of flax which works the cure of men.]*
That which was at first bound, cast out and rent by many and various
beaters will be respected and honoured, and its precepts will be
listened to with reverence and love.
*[Of Books which teach Precepts.]*
Bodies without souls will, by their contents give us precepts by
which to die well.
*[Of Flagellants.]*
Men will hide themselves under the bark of trees, and, screaming,
they will make themselves martyrs, by striking their own limbs.
*[Of the Handles of Knives made of the Horns of Sheep.]*
We shall see the horns of certain beasts fitted to iron tools, which
will take the lives of many of their kind.
*[Of Night when no Colour can be discerned.]*
There will come a time when no difference can be discerned between
colours, on the contrary, everything will be black alike.
*[Of Swords and Spears which by themselves never hurt any one.]*
One who by himself is mild enough and void of all offence will
become terrible and fierce by being in bad company, and will most
cruelly take the life of many men, and would kill many more if they
were not hindered by bodies having no soul, that have come out of
caverns--that is, breastplates of iron.
*[Of Snares and Traps.]*
Many dead things will move furiously, and will take and bind the
living, and will ensnare them for the enemies who seek their death
and destruction.
*( Of Metals. )*
That shall be brought forth out of dark and obscure caves, which
will put the whole human race in great anxiety, peril and death. To
many that seek them, after many sorrows they will give delight, and
to those who are not in their company, death with want and
misfortune. This will lead to the commission of endless crimes; this
will increase and persuade bad men to assassinations, robberies and
treachery, and by reason of it each will be suspicious of his
partner. This will deprive free cities of their happy condition;
this will take away the lives of many; this will make men torment
each other with many artifices deceptions and treasons. O monstrous
creature! How much better would it be for men that every thing
should return to Hell! For this the vast forests will be devastated
of their trees; for this endless animals will lose their lives.
*( Of Fire. )*
One shall be born from small beginnings which will rapidly become
vast. This will respect no created thing, rather will it, by its
power, transform almost every thing from its own nature into
another.
*( Of Ships which sink. )*
Huge bodies will be seen, devoid of life, carrying, in fierce haste,
a multitude of men to the destruction of their lives.
*( Of Oxen, which are eaten. )*
The masters of estates will eat their own labourers.
*( Of beating Beds to renew them. )*
Men will be seen so deeply ungrateful that they will turn upon that
which has harboured them, for nothing at all; they will so load it
with blows that a great part of its inside will come out of its
place, and will be turned over and over in its body.
*( Of Things which are eaten and which first are killed. )*
Those who nourish them will be killed by them and afflicted by
merciless deaths.
*(Of the Reflection of Walls of Cities in the Water of their
Ditches.)*
The high walls of great cities will be seen up side down in their
ditches.
*(Of Water, which flows turbid and mixed with Soil and Dust; and of
Mist, which is mixed with the Air; and of Fire which is mixed with
its own, and each with each.)*
All the elements will be seen mixed together in a great whirling
mass, now borne towards the centre of the world, now towards the
sky; and now furiously rushing from the South towards the frozen
North, and sometimes from the East towards the West, and then again
from this hemisphere to the other.
*(The World may be divided into two Hemispheres at any Point.)*
All men will suddenly be transferred into opposite hemispheres.
*(The division of the East from the West may be made at any point.)*
All living creatures will be moved from the East to the West; and in
the same way from North to South, and vice versa.
*(Of the Motion of Water which carries wood, which is dead.)*
Bodies devoid of life will move by themselves and carry with them
endless generations of the dead, taking the wealth from the
bystanders.
*(Of Eggs which being eaten cannot form Chickens.)*
Oh! how many will they be that never come to the birth!
*(Of Fishes which are eaten unborn.)*
Endless generations will be lost by the death of the pregnant.
*(Of the Lamentation on Good Friday.)*
Throughout Europe there will be a lamentation of great nations over
the death of one man who died in the East.
*(Of Dreaming.)*
Men will walk and not stir, they will talk to those who are not
present, and hear those who do not speak.
*(Of a Man's Shadow which moves with him.)*
Shapes and figures of men and animals will be seen following these
animals and men wherever they flee. And exactly as the one moves the
other moves; but what seems so wonderful is the variety of height
they assume.
*(Of our Shadow cast by the Sun, and our Reflection in the Water at
one and the same time.)*
Many a time will one man be seen as three and all three move
together, and often the most real one quits him.
*(Of wooden Chests which contain great Treasures.)*
Within walnuts and trees and other plants vast treasures will be
found, which lie hidden there and well guarded.
*(Of putting out the Light when going to Bed.)*
Many persons puffing out a breath with too much haste, will thereby
lose their sight, and soon after all consciousness.
*(Of the Bells of Mules, which are close to their Ears.)*
In many parts of Europe instruments of various sizes will be heard
making divers harmonies, with great labour to those who hear them
most closely.
*(Of Asses.)*
The severest labour will be repaid with hunger and thirst, and
discomfort, and blows, and goadings, and curses, and great abuse.
*(Of Soldiers on horseback.)*
Many men will be seen carried by large animals, swift of pace, to
the loss of their lives and immediate death.
In the air and on earth animals will be seen of divers colours
furiously carrying men to the destruction of their lives.
*(Of the Stars of Spurs.)*
By the aid of the stars men will be seen who will be as swift as any
swift animal.
*(Of a Stick, which is dead.)*
The motions of a dead thing will make many living ones flee with
pain and lamentation and cries.
*(Of Tinder.)*
With a stone and with iron things will be made visible which before
were not seen.
1296.
*(Of going in Ships.)*
We shall see the trees of the great forests of Taurus and of Sinai
and of the Appenines and others, rush by means of the air, from East
to West and from North to South; and carry, by means of the air,
great multitudes of men. Oh! how many vows! Oh! how many deaths! Oh!
how many partings of friends and relations! Oh! how many will those
be who will never again see their own country nor their native land,
and who will die unburied, with their bones strewn in various parts
of the world!
*(Of moving on All Saints' Day.)*
Many will forsake their own dwellings and carry with them all their
belongings and will go to live in other parts.
*(Of All Souls' Day.)*
How many will they be who will bewail their deceased forefathers,
carrying lights to them.
*(Of Friars, who spending nothing but words, receive great gifts and
bestow Paradise.)*
Invisible money will procure the triumph of many who will spend it.
*(Of Bows made of the Horns of Oxen.)*
Many will there be who will die a painful death by means of the
horns of cattle.
*(Of writing Letters from one Country to another.)*
Men will speak with each other from the most remote countries, and
reply.
*(Of Hemispheres, which are infinite; and which are divided by an
infinite number of Lines, so that every Man always has one of these
Lines between his Feet.)*
Men standing in opposite hemispheres will converse and deride each
other and embrace each other, and understand each other's language.
*(Of Priests who say Mass.)*
There will be many men who, when they go to their labour will put on
the richest clothes, and these will be made after the fashion of
aprons [petticoats].
*(Of Friars who are Confessors.)*
And unhappy women will, of their own free will, reveal to men all
their sins and shameful and most secret deeds.
*(Of Churches and the Habitations of Friars.)*
Many will there be who will give up work and labour and poverty of
life and goods, and will go to live among wealth in splendid
buildings, declaring that this is the way to make themselves
acceptable to God.
*(Of Selling Paradise.)*
An infinite number of men will sell publicly and unhindered things
of the very highest price, without leave from the Master of it;