fol. 2r

This little book belongs to the holy monastery

and he finally leads the imperfect man
having been guided through, and absolves him of the rightful charges freely.
In this work, indeed, every reader who, with an attentive mind,
endeavors to proceed, will undoubtedly find
how to avoid vices, how to weep abundantly
for committed sins, and how, through the laments
of repentance, being restored, may approach the fruit of holy action,
so that he may not perish with the desires
of the world but rewarded with eternal rewards,
may live with Christ the Lord, who, with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns equally unto the ages of ages.
Amen. The preface of the solitary
words of Saint Isidore the Bishop begins:
RECENTLY, HAS COME INTO MY HANDS,
a certain document of Cicero, which they call the Synonyma,
its form persuaded my soul
to compose a certain lamentation, even miserable,
having resembled surely not his eloquence but my own desire.