ed by animals."

"Obviously, and with very little trouble. Pride is embodied in the bull,
the peacock, the lion, the eagle, the horse, the swan, and the wild
ass--according to Vincent de Beauvais. Avarice by the wolf, and, says
Saint Theobald, by the spider; for lust, we have the he-goat, the boar,
the toad, the ass, and the fly, which, Saint Gregory the Great tells,
typifies the turbulent cravings of the senses; for envy, the
sparrow-hawk, the owl, and screech-owl; for greediness, the hog and the
dog; for anger, the lion and wild boar, and, according to Adamantius,
the leopard; for sloth, the vulture, the snail, the she-ass, and, Raban
Maur says, the mule.

"As to the virtues antithetical to these vices, humility may be typified
by the ox and the ass; indifference to worldly possessions by the
pelican, the emblem of the contemplative life; chastity by the dove and
the elephant, though it is true that this interpretation of Peter of
Capua is contradicted by other mystics, who accuse the elephant of
pride, and speak of him as an 'enormous sinner'; charity by the lark and
the pelican; temperance by the camel, which, taken in another sense,
typifies under the name of _gamal_ extravagant fury; vigilance by the
lion, the peacock, the ant--quoted by the Abbess Herrade and the
Anonymous monk of Clairvaux--and especially by the cock, to which Saint
Eucher attributes this virtue in common with all other symbolists.

"I may add that the dove alone epitomizes all these qualities and is the
synthesis of all virtue."

"Yes, and she alone is never spoken of as having any evil significance."

"A distinction she shares with white and blue, the only colours which
are exempt from the law of antithesis and are never ascribed to any
vice," said Durtal.

"The dove!" cried Madame Bavoil, who was changing the plates; "she plays
a beautiful part in the story of Noah's Ark. Ah! our friend, you should
hear what Mother Jeanne de Matel says of her."

"What does she say, Madame Bavoil?"

"The admirable Jeanne begins by saying that original sin produced in
human nature the deluge of sin from which the Virgin alone was exempted
by the Father, who chose Her to be His one Dove.

"Then she relates how Lucifer, represented by the raven, escaped from
the ark through the window of free will; then God, to whom Mary had
belonged from all eternity, opened the window of the Will of His
Providence, and from His own bosom, from the heavenly Ark, He sen