Q. How doth love show its greater force by making the fool to become wise, or the wise to become a fool? A. In attributing wisdom to him that has it not; for it is harder to build than to pull down; and ordinarily love and folly are but an alteration of the mind.
Q. How comes much labour and fatigue to
be bad for the sight? A. Because it dries the blood too much.
Q. Why is goat's milk reckoned best for the stomach? A. Because it is thick, not slimy, and they feed on wood and boughs rather than on grass.
Q. Why do grief and vexation bring grey hairs? A. Because they dry, which bringeth on greyness.
Q. How come those to have most mercy who have the thickest blood? A. Because the blood which is fat and thick makes the spirits firm and constant, wherein consists the force of all creatures.
Q. Whether it is hardest, to obtain a person's love, or to keep it when obtained? A. It is hardest to keep it, by reason of the inconstancy of man, who is quickly angry, and soon weary of a thing; hard to be gained and slippery to keep.
Q. Why do serpents shun the herb rue? A. Because they are cold, dry and full of sinews, and that herb is of a contrary nature.
Q. Why is a capon better to eat than a cock? A. Because a capon loses not his moisture by treading of the hens.
Q. Why is our smell less in winter than in summer? A. Because the air is thick, and less moveable.