[206] Aquila enim, et Passer, similesque salaciores alites aliae salacitatem suam toto anni tempore minime exercent, ut facit Gallus noster, qui singulis diebus quinquagesies, et amplius uxores suas, quas plurimas habet, init, cum contra unica illi contenti sint.

For the eagle and the sparrow, and other similar rather salacious birds, exercise very little their lust all through the year in comparison with what our rooster is doing, who every day treads his females fifty times and more, and he has a great number of them, while the former birds are contented with a single one.

Testantur vero eius libidinem, non solum Gallinarum maxima turba, sed acerrimae etiam pugnae, quas non ob liberos cibumque committit, sed ut faeminis potiatur solum, quales etiam canes conferere solent, at hi quod simul unam inire non detur, ille quod ullam ex suis ab aliquo contaminari nolit, qua in re sapientis patrisfamilias munere fungitur, ac non aliter ac hic honori suo consulere videtur: quinim<m>o tanto amore suas prosequitur, ut si mori contingat eas, ipse contabescat moerore animi. Insuper non hinc tantum Galli salacitas cognoscitur, quod tanta frequentia cum propriis uxoribus coeat, sed in eo magis, quod ut Aelianus[1] etiam refert, si illae desint, a masculino genere minime sibi temperet, sed in media etiam corte, qui recentior advenerit, cum ineat. Etsi apud Plutarchum[2] Grillus Sophista apud Circem deformatus in brutum neget ex brutis ullum masculam venerem affectare.

They bear witness to rooster's lustfulness not only the great flock of hens, but the very bitter fights he carries on not because of offspring or food, but only in order to grab his females, just as also the dogs are accustomed to fight, but the latter ones because it is impossible they mate all together a single female, the former one because he does not wish any of his females to be contaminated by somebody else, and with regard to that he performs the function of a wise family father, and not otherwise than the latter he seems to take care of his own honorableness: he even follows his females with so much love that if they happen to die he pines away with grief. Furthermore, the rooster lustfulness is recognized not only from this, that is, the great frequency with which he copulates with his own females, but even more from the fact that, as Aelian also records, if there is lack of them, he does not in the slightest refrain from the males, since even in the middle of the barnyard he mounts the one who entered it most recently. Even though in Plutarch the sophist Gryllus, transformed into an animal at Circe’s cavern, denies that any one among animals is aiming to have sex with a male.

Nam et Aristoteles apud Athenaeum[3] scribit, ex iis Gallis, quos Diis consecrant, qui prius dicatus est, subigi a {novitiis} <noviciis>, donec offeratur alius, quod si nullus donetur, inter se praeliari, et a victore semper iniri victum. Sed locus ille apud Aristotelem[4] sic legitur: Ubi sine faeminis munerarii, dicatique <in templis>[5] versantur Gallinacei, non temere eum qui nuper dicatus accesserit, omnes subigunt: ubi nihil de pugna meminit, quod Athenaeus ex se addidit. Ob tam foedum, et horrendum Galli facinus olim, teste Plutarcho[6] lex erat, ut Gallus si Gallum inisset, quamvis etiam Gallina abesset, vivus combureretur. Unde videre licet, qua mulcta eiusmodi nefarium scelus prisci punirent in hominibus, si id in brutis faciebant: nec sane immerito, cum eiusmodi flagitiosi, et nequam homines, qui talem peccatum committunt, humanae naturae vim inferant, et interitum humano generi procurent, in sterili solo semine effuso, quod in Ona filio Iudae[7] severe admodum vindicavit Deus. Quare lege pontificia tales a coetu hominum arcentur, turpiusque adulterio visum est stuprum virile.

For also Aristotle in Athenaeus writes that, among those roosters they dedicate to the gods, he who has just been dedicated is trodden on by those who arrived last until another one is offered, and if none is offered they fight among themselves and the conquered is always trodden on by the winner. But that passage sounds in Aristotle's text as follows: When offered and consecrated roosters find themselves in temples without females, not casually all of them mount on the one who arrives soon after he has been dedicated: where he makes no mention of fighting, a thing that Athenaeus added on his own initiative. For such a repugnant and horrible crime of the rooster, according to Plutarch, once there was a law that if a rooster copulated with another rooster, although the lack of the hen, he should be buried alive. Hence one may see by what a sentence the ancients were punishing such an impious misdeed in humans, since they were doing so in reasonless animals: and certainly not wrongly, since those who commit such a sin are so wicked and worthless men that they do violence to human Nature and cause the extermination to the humankind by shedding the semen upon a sterile floor, a thing that the Lord punished most severely upon Onan son of Juda. Therefore, by pontifical law such men are to be driven from human companionship, and the rape between males has been catalogued as more foul than adultery.

Sed ut unde digressa est oratio revertatur, Gallus noster in maiorem adhuc longeque detestabiliorem libidinis notam incurrit, dum cum aliis etiam volucribus, quae sui generis non sunt, ut cum Phasianis, et Perdicibus, ut postea dicemus, coeat, quod testatum etiam reliquit Aristoteles[8]. Sed forte Gallinis magis adhuc vitio vertendum est, quod et illae ab iisdem volucribus sese iniri permittant, adeo ut multi {diversas} <diversos> ex iis cum aliis coeuntibus foetus excludi promittant. Non parum etiam Gallorum salacitatem arguit, quod Mnaseas apud Aelianum[9] memorat, nimirum nunquam ad Gallinas, quae in aede Hebae, ipsi vero in Herculis pascerentur, interfluente utramque aedem rivo perenni, et limpidae aquae nunquam transvolent, nisi cum libidine stimulentur.

But for the subject returns there whence it started, our rooster runs into a heavier behavior of lust and far more detestable when, as I will say afterwards, he is also mating with other birds who are not of his genus, such as pheasants and partridges, a thing that has been testified also by Aristotle. But perhaps we must lay the blame more on the hens since they also permit to be trodden by the same birds, so that many people are assuring that different offspring takes birth from those hens mating with other birds. No small argument for the salacity of roosters is what Mnaseas recalls in Aelian, undoubtedly never with regard to the hens, bred in the temple of Hebe, and the former ones in that of Hercules, - that is - they never would fly across the everlasting and of clear water channel running between the two temples unless when they are stimulated by lust.

Tantae in his volucribus libidinis salacitatisque causa est genitale semen, in iis maximopere redundans, cuius irritationem perferre nequeuntes, in libidine proruunt. Tanta vero seminis copia abundant, ut Clearchus apud Athenaeum[10] author sit, eos non solum cum vident faeminas id emittere, verumetiam cum vocem earum exaudiunt. Quare quid sibi velint illa Aristotelis[11] verba: Gallorum testes tempore coitus magis conspicui sunt, a multis non puto intelligi. Nam cum singulis fere, ut ita dicam, momentis coeat, singulis item momentis testes conspectiores evadere oportere, quis inde colligat, quod alioqui absurdum esset astruere. Ego vero hanc philosophi sententiam dupliciter exponi posse existimo, primo nempe ipsum comparare Gallorum aetatem perfectam aetati imperfectae, ac iuxta earum differentias magnitudinem, atque parvitatem testium aestimare. Certissimum enim est his avibus utcunque salacissimis vel a primo ortu non adesse facultatem generatricem. Exemplo sit aetas puerilis humana, caeterarumque specierum tenella, quae ad coitum est inepta: atque hac ratione Aristoteles dixit Gallorum testes tempore coitus esse magis conspicuos, ac si diceret, ubi aetatem validam obtinuerint, et usui veneris aptam obtinent, pariter testes grandiores, quam habebant in aetate adhuc imperfecta. Secundo liceret forsan eadem verba hoc modo interpretari sensu ipso duce, et assertore, Gallis etsi coeant singulis anni temporibus, singulisque horis, attamen peculiare coeundi tempus esse vernum: nam tunc calor innatus viget in pluribus speciebus vegetalium, et animalium. Itaque si Gallorum testes considerentur, et tempore verno, autumnali, hyemali, et aestivo, et invicem comparentur, sensus docebit ipsos testes inesse grandiores tempore verno, minores vero autumnali, hyemali, et aestivo.

In these birds the genital semen, especially abundant in them, is productive of such a great lechery and lustfulness that, since they cannot bear its irritant effect, they hurl themselves into lechery. They have a so great abundance of semen indeed that Clearchus affirms in Athenaeus that they emit it not only when they see the females, but even when hear their voice. Therefore, I do not think that many people understand the meaning of those words of Aristotle: The testicles of roosters are greater at the time of coitus. Since, so to speak, they copulate almost every moment, somebody could deduce that likewise in every moment the testicles are greater, a thing that on the other hand it would be absurd to be claimed. I think this statement of the Philosopher can be explained in two ways, and precisely, first, that he is comparing the perfect age of the roosters with their imperfect age, and that according to their difference - of age - he must judge the largeness and the smallness of testicles. For it is more than certain that, though very lustful, in these birds when newborn the generative faculty is not present. Let there be as example the human age of childhood and the tender age of the other species, which is inept for copulation: it was for this reason that Aristotle said the testes of roosters are greater at the time of copulation, just as if he had said that when they reached the right age, and when they will have it suitable for sexual intercourse, likewise they will have also the testicles greater than they had them at a still imperfect age. Secondly may be that those same words would be interpreted as follows, having as guide and support the common sense itself, that nevertheless it is typical of the roosters, although they mate at all seasons and all hours, that the mating period is the springtime: for at that time the innate warmth in many species of vegetables and animals gains strength. Thus if the testicles of roosters should be considered in spring, autumn, winter, and summer, and should be compared each other, common sense will teach that the testicles themselves appear greater in the springtime, while they are smaller in autumn, winter, and summertime.

Ut modo ad salacitatis causam regrediamur, Scaliger[12] in assignanda ea non satis sibi constare videtur. Cum enim prius a nimia seminis redundantia fieri dixisset, mox {cen} <ceu> sui oblitus pauco humore abundare dicit, omnem vero in coitu impendere. Quaerit autem in hunc modum: At Capi, qui castrati sunt, quare podagra miris modis afficiuntur: Galli non? Quia Capi pusillus calor, edacitas multa. In Gallo calor multus, cibi abstinentia non minor. Cur ergo [207] tot Gallinis unus sufficit si non multo humore praeditus est? Propterea quod quantum succi habet eo impendit. Haec ille.

Now, to return to the cause of lust, it seems that Julius Caesar Scaliger, in his assignment of it, is not enough consistent with him himself. For when earlier he had said that it takes place because of a too much great surplus of semen, soon after, as if he had forgotten himself, says that they are rich in not much moisture, because they spend it completely in coitus. He wonders as follows: But why the capons, who are castrated, are so amazingly afflicted with podagra and roosters are not? Because the capons have little heat and much voracity. There is much heat in the rooster, and the abstinence from food is not less. Why then only one suffices for so many hens if he is not endowed with much moisture? Because he uses the whole moisture he has in that activity. These are his words.