Walters Ms. W.199, Gossouin of Metz, Image du Monde

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In the second part, it was explained to you where the earth is inhabited, and the division of the map of the world. And first it speaks of the terrestrial paradise, and then of the countries and regions of India and of the diversity that is there of people, beasts, and trees, as well as stones, birds and certain fish that are there, and of many other matters that we have spoken of. And where Hell, the Painful, is. And of the great suffering that those who are condemned endure there. After this you have heard about the second element, which is the water of the rivers and the hot and cold fountains, both healthy and tainted, that are in various countries. And how the sea becomes salty. How the earth cracks and breaks. And then of the air: how the wind blows and the rain comes. Of tempests and storms. Of fire and falling stars, and what they are, of the pure air and the seven planets. Of how leap year comes to be. And of the firmament and its turning. And of the stars that are all around. In the third part you have heard how both night and day come to be. And about the moon and the sun, how they emit clarity and how each of them loses its clarity

sometimes, both by night and by day. And of the eclipses, that when they happen in the daytime render everything dark. Of the great eclipse that occurred at the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, from which Saint Denis was afterwards converted. Of the nature of the firmament and the stars. And how the world and the sky and the earth were measured. Of King Ptolemy and of his prudence. Of Adam and various other people. And how the clergy and the seven arts were protected from the Flood. And how everything was found again after the Flood. And of the marvels that Virgil did by his wisdom and his scholarship. Any why money was first identified and established. And of the philosophers used to wander the world in order to learn. What philosophy is, and how Plato responded to that question. How large the earth is, and the moon and the sun, each having its own place. And the places of the stars, their number and likenesses. The height and size of the firmament and of the blue heaven that is below it. And of the crystalline and the empyrean heavens. At the end you heard about the celestial Paradise and its condition. And of God, who can be everywhere in all His glory and goodness.

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We have told you about all these things and have given several fine and brief reasons about them. For princes and other people are not interested in long glosses without great understanding, rather they prefer short things, having limited awareness and limited time. Their lives are brief and their bodies are short-lived. For in a small amount of time they come to an end, and [their lives] become even shorter when they are heading to nothing. For this world dies step by step, like the wind, and dies from day to day, and everyone has but a brief stay in it. For everything is pure vanity that does not have any truth in itself. It happens very often that the one who tries to stay the longest is the one who lasts the shortest time and comes to his end the soonest. And for that reason I counsel every man that each should make his own effort and struggle in order to live well and loyally for that small amount of time that he has in this world, full of tribulations and misery. For no one knows at what hour Death will come for him and overtake him. And it will happen that

one or another person will still try to struggle in this world for six or eight or ten years, but in less than five days he will find himself condemned and will fall into the burning furnace of Hell. A person is born in a good hour and well advised, if when he is at his end he is engaged the service of Our Lord and not in worldly and damnable laciviousness, as his Creator gives him the understanding to do, and he has enough time and space. For God will make him such a rich and beauteous gift that he will have all good things for his use together with the lasting joy of Paradise, given to us by the Creator and Redeemer of the world, Who abounds with all pity and compassion, and in Whom all good things and every virtue have been, are, and always will be. This ends the book called the Image of the World, which begins by speaking of God and His inestimable works, and ends by speaking of Him and His great power and position. For in all our beginnings and in all our actions the name of God should be evoked and called upon, as the One without whom all

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things are in vain. In such a way should we begin, continue, and end, so that we are led to His blessed glory of Paradise, and brought together into the holy company of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Who live and reign world without end,

AMEN

As was explained in the prologue mentioned above, this volume was compiled in the year of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ 1265 by the order of my Lord John, Duke of Berry. And then in the year 1444 it was edited and put in order at the request of John the Clerk, bookseller (or librarian?) and burgess of Bruges. I pray that all those who will read it or hear it read may truly benefit from it, for the benefit and health of their bodies and the health of their souls. Amen.

Written in the year of the Incarnation of Our Lord 1489, February 20.