NOTE: 116

it splits [the grain] so that it may not sprout; and it carries [it] and keeps [it] within its dwelling, so that neither the birds may eat [it], nor the wind be able to scatter [it]. Wherefore the Wise [man] saith: *Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and be envious of his ways; and be yet wiser than he. For he hath no husbandry, nor any compeller, nor is he under a master; yet he prepareth his food in the summer, and storeth up much provision in the harvest.* || Prov. vi. 6. 16. But the envious [man], because he hath his will and desire wholly corrupted, perceiveth neither the virtuous civility of his fellows, nor the natural goodness of any other creature, from which he might derive good counsel. But whatever is harmful to others—yet [which] nature hath given to certain animals for their own preservation—those things he taketh as an example for himself, and becometh yet more diseased. 17. Wherefore the envious [man] learneth from the owl (*paykhoash*) to be a misanthrope; whereby, with an upright heart toward a good man...