Chapter VIII.
On the cunning of the octopus and the crab, by which deceitful people are symbolized; with an exhortation to avoid greed.
21. And because we have started to weave our discourse with cunning, by which each person strives to deceive and circumvent his brother, and to devise new frauds; so that he may cheat whom he cannot overcome by force, and cover him with a certain deceitful skill: I will not pass over that fraudulent ingenuity of the polypus, who, having found a rock on a shallow shore, attaches itself to it, and with its cloudy cunning assumes its color, and covered with a similar appearance, unsuspectedly catches many fish that have slipped in, while they do not suspect anything, and think it is a rock, he ensnares them with the tricks of his secret art, and intercepts them in the fold of his own flesh. Thus the prey comes willingly, and is captured by such arguments, which are characteristic of those who often change their disposition, and employ various methods of harming; so that they disturb the minds and senses of individuals, while proclaiming self-control to those who possess it, as if they were deviating from the pursuit of virtue and being immersed in pleasant self-indulgence; so that those who hear or see them believe in their reckless persuasiveness; and thus they slide more quickly, not knowing how to avoid or guard against what harms, since wickedness overshadowed by the mask of kindness is more serious and more harmful. And therefore, those who spread their hair of deceit and disperse their arms far and wide, or assume various forms, must be beware. For these are like many-tentacled octopuses, and they have snares of cunning devices, with which they can entrap whatever falls into the rocks of their deceit.
22. Cancer also has its own cunning tricks for the sake of food! For it delights in oysters itself, and seeks a feast of flesh for itself. But because, just as it is eager for food, it is also watchful for danger: since both hunting and being hunted are difficult: difficult, because the witness is enclosed inside stronger food; for nature has fortified the softness of its flesh with certain imperial precepts, just like certain mice are nourished and nurtured in the concave hollow of shells, and it spreads out as if in a certain valley; and therefore all attempts at capturing the crab are in vain, because no force can open the closed oyster: and it is dangerous if its claw is enclosed, it resorts to arguments and plots new traps with deceit. Therefore, because all species are soothed by pleasure, it examines whether sometimes the oyster, in remote places protected from every wind, opens that double shell of its against the rays of the sun, and unlocks the barriers of its shells, so that it may receive a certain pleasure from the free air of its internal organs; and then secretly inserting a pebble, it hinders the closure of the oyster; and thus, finding the opened barriers, it safely inserts its claws and devours the internal organs.
So there are people who, by the use of deceit, creep into the use of another's resources, and support the weakness of their own virtue with a certain cunning, weave deceit for their brother, and feed on another's suffering. But you should be content with your own possessions and not feed on the losses of others. The good food is the simplicity of innocence. Having their own good, they do not know how to lay traps for others, nor do they burn with the flames of greed, for whom every gain is a loss to virtue and an inflaming desire. And therefore she is blessed, if she knows her own goods, when poverty is true, and to be preferred to all treasures; for it is better to give a little with the fear of God, than to have great treasures without fear. For how much does man nourish? Or if you seek what also abounds to others for grace, that too is not much. For hospitality in vegetables with grace is better than the preparation of fat calves with discord. Therefore let us use our wit to seek grace, and to protect salvation, not to restrict another person's innocence. We are allowed to use maritime examples for the advancement of our own well-being, not for the danger of others.