University of Massachusetts, Amherst Leaf 10
This mid-thirteenth century German psalter has acquired the nickname "The Laughing Carp Psalter" due to its penwork illustrations. The decorative style involves using fish (one of the leading medieval symbols for Christ) to complete lines of text that do not reach to the right margin of the page; this maintains the aesthetic of a full page within the borders of the leaf. The leaf itself measures 19.5 x 14cm, with slightly yellowed and stained vellum, and is lined in ink. The ink used for the bulk of the text is very dark, but fades into brown in places. Blue, red, coral, orange, and white are used in the decoration, and scribal corrections are included above each line where necessary. See Denison University Leaf 10 for more information about this manuscript.
Text: Psalms 138:18-139:4 (recto). A scan of the verso is not currently available.
Amherst Leaf 10 Recto
University of Massachusetts, Amherst Leaf 10 Recto
Amherst Leaf 10 Recto Transcription
Dinumerábo eos, et super arénam multiplicabúntur. Exsurréxi, et adhuc sum tecum.
Si occíderis, Deus, peccatóres, viri sánguinum, declináte a me:
Quia dícitis in cogitatióne: Accípient in vanitáte civitátes tuas.
Nonne qui odérunt te, Dómine, óderam, et super inimícos tuos tabescébam?
Perfécto ódio óderam illos, et inimíci facti sunt mihi.
Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum; intérroga me, et cognósce sémitas meas.
Et vide si via iniquitátis in me est, et deduc me in via ætérna.
Éripe me, Dómine, ab hómine malo; a viro iníquo éripe me.
Qui cogitavérunt iniquitátes in corde, tota die constituébant praelia.
Acuérunt linguas suas sicut serpéntis; venénum áspidum sub lábiis eórum.
Amherst Leaf 10 Recto Translation
[Psalms 138:18-139:4]
18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand: I rose up and am still with thee. 19 If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me: 20 Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain. 21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies? 22 I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me. 23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths. 24 And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.
Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: rescue me from the unjust man. 3 Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all the day long they designed battles. 4 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: the venom of asps is under their lips.