Vespertiliones

by Evan Smith

I go sometimes for a summer’s evening walk when the world is cooling a bit and the bats flutter out for a twilit breakfast. A poem about a bat came to me the other day, and I started wondering what Augustine might have said about them. Following my surprise at finding just one mention was a disappointment that he only introduces them by way of demonstrating something else. We will never know what wonder Augustine might have felt at bats, yet I find the passage worth sharing all the same, for it shows well some differences in the meanings of a few common nouns and verbs. 

Et fecit Deus cetos magnos, et omnem animam animalium repentium, quae eiecerunt aquae secundum genus eorum, et omne volatile pennatum secundum genus suum…Et omne volatile pennatum. Cur additum est pennatum? An potest esse volatile quod pennas non habeat? sed si potest, numquid hoc genus fecit Deus, quandoquidem non invenitur ubi sit factum? an omnino potest quidquam volare sine pennis? Nam et vespertiliones, et locustae, et muscae, et si quid huiusmodi est quod plumis careat, pennis non caret. Sed pennatum additum est, ne solas aves intelligeremus; quoniam pisces pennati sunt, et super terram volant infra aquas: ideo non dictum est, aves; sed, volantia generaliter et volatile pennatum. Et vidit Deus quia bonum est. (Liber Imperfectus de Genesi ad Litteram XV.49).

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FOR THE CURIOUS

I am intrigued at how Augustine works through distinctions in meaning, and here I am wondering whether we can safely infer, from how Augustine feels the need to introduce the broader meanings of penna and of volāre, that their applications beyond birds were secondary – in an Ersatz way – for him. By that, I mean, if you hear or see, without background context, the word bank, what is primary? Where you have your money? Or the place where dry land meets a river? Or did a verb come to mind? Context – background, the surrounding words – allows these homophones to stand out distinctly (She said we’d bank right not left versus Steer toward the right bank versus I’m looking for the right bank for me.). But when the sound shows up contextless, what is first for you? As for Augustine, who can be certain? But – as I said – I am wondering.