Le tableau des riches inventions qui sont representees dans le songe de Poliphile

my flight through the sepaye thicket, but I had never been able to perceive it because the place was dark, for the eye saw the sky there only through the points of the trees. This was a thing that made this place very horrible and terrifying to a single man who was lost and without means to pass further, for there was no bridge nor plank. Along with this, the other side showed itself more dark and gloomy than the one where I then was, and I found myself too terrified by hearing the crashing trees, with the thunder of branches struck down and shattered, mixed with a stunning and horrible noise, which, held in the air and enclosed across these trees, seemed to redouble and murmur half an hour after the blow. When I had escaped all these afflictions and desired to taste of this sweet water, I put both knees on the ground on the edge

A detailed woodcut illustration depicting the protagonist, Poliphile, in a dense and dark forest. He is seen in the foreground, kneeling by the edge of a stream or spring, cupping his hands to drink. The forest is thick with tall, gnarled trees and dense foliage, conveying a sense of isolation and wilderness.

of the fountain. From the hollow of my two hands, I made a vessel that I filled with this liquor. But as I intended to bring it to my mouth to quench my burning thirst, I heard a song so melodious that it exceeded the power and the knowledge to declare it. For the sweetness of this harmony gave me much more delight than the drink that was prepared for me, so much so that I lost my senses, thirst, and understanding. As if I had been troubled, the water I had already drawn spilled through the gaps of my fingers, so much did I find myself destitute of strength. Now, like the fish that, because of the sweetness of the bait, does not consider the fraud of the hook, I put aside natural necessity and went in great haste after this agreeable voice. When by reason I thought I should approach it, I heard it in another place. And when I

had come there, it seemed to have jumped elsewhere. As it changed place, it seemed to become more melodious. Now, after I had run a long time in this vain and frivolous labor, I felt so weak that I could hardly sustain this body, as much because of the past fear and the great thirst I had suffered, and was still suffering, as for the long and tedious path and the sharp heat of the day, which had debilitated my strength. This made me desire nothing other than rest to refresh my completely weary limbs. Thus being amazed at what had happened to me, and very astonished by this voice, but much more to find myself in an unknown and uncultivated region, nevertheless quite beautiful and pleasant, I complained greatly of having lost the beautiful fountain that I had sought and found with such great labor of my body. I remained doubtful between various thoughts, so weakened by the great labor that I threw myself upon the grass at the foot of a very ancient oak, which gave shade to a green meadow.

A woodcut illustration showing Poliphile resting. He is lying on his side on a grassy patch at the base of a large, ancient oak tree. The surrounding landscape is more open than the previous scene, featuring rolling hills and scattered trees in the distance, suggesting a transition into a more pleasant, though unknown, region.

There I let myself fall upon my left side, like the hunted and exhausted stag that rests its head upon its spine and falls upon both knees. Then lying in this manner, I considered within myself the variable mutations of fortune. I remembered the enchantments of Circe the enchantress from the Odyssey who turned men into beasts and others like her, thinking if I were not perhaps enchanted. "Alas," I said, "how will I be able here, among so many different herbs, to find Moly a magical herb mentioned by Homer, the mercurial plant with its black root, for my refuge and medicine?"