PIERIUS ROSEUS TO THE

CANDID READER.

This work drives away from the human body the sad disease,
Which unwholesome bile produces:
And it teaches how to preserve youth with its fair flower;
And to see the peaceful days of old age even until the end.
If anyone brings the requirements with the gods inspiring; he will flee,
Exulting, all the poverty he once feigned:
Lying hidden here, he will be able to assist the miserable needy,
And as a supplicant render his vows to great Jupiter.

To the gain of those who have already undergone every
Kind of hard labor, the Calabrian bids these be well.
Do you see the gold-making study? You will marvel.
Consider that he who does not possess this book, possesses nothing.