Inquisitor Manual
Excerpts from: The Dialogues on Beasts
Page 1 ( No.6213908 ): The Serpent
'I then went to my master and asked him: "what wisdom do you have about the serpents?" My master replied in turn. "The Savior says to 'be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.' "
"My pupil, know this: the serpent's first nature is to find a crack in a mountain. When he grows old, his eyes become dim. And when he wants to become new he abstains and fasts for forty days until he starts to shed. When his skin starts to become loose he finds a fissure on a mount; and on entering it he bruises, brushes himself against the walls of the crack, and contracts in order to remove his shed."
"We too, my pupil, throw off the old man through must abstinence and tribulation. Seek Him out: the spiritual mountain and the slender crack. 'The gate is narrow and there is tribulation on the way which leads toward life, and few are those who enter through it.' "
"The serpent's second nature is this. When he comes to water himself, he leaves his venom in his dwelling pit."
"So, when we gather together, we too draw for living and everlasting water. And when we hear the divine word, we ought not to bring venom alongside ourselves (that is, my pupil, wicked and earthly desires). Many are the foolhardy who do not come to the spiritual banquet. Some brought five yolk of oxen, some sought a field, others took a wife. As the Gospel says, 'Pay all of them, therefore, their dues, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due, taxes to whom taxes are due,' and so on."
"The serpent's third nature is this. When he finds a nude man, he fears him. But when it is instead a dressed man, he strikes."
"At our core, we too should understand that when the first man was nude in paradise, the serpent did not succeed in his attacks. But when he dressed himself in clothes (that is, my pupil, mortality of a sinful and fleshy body) then the serpent assaulted him. So, when you also have a mortal dress— that is, the old man— and you want to hear the words, 'You have grown old in wicked days," the serpent will strike you. If you deprive yourself, however, of the rulers and spirits of wickedness in heavenly places as the Apostle said, then the serpent will not be able to strike you.
"The serpent's fourth and final nature is this. When a man finds the serpent to kill him, the serpent surrenders himself entirely but protects his head."
"During temptation, we too should surrender ourselves in body but protect our head. That is, we should not deny Him. All martyrs acted in this fashion, 'For the head of every man is Christ.' "
'That was what I heard from my master. He spoke wisely.'