The text discusses the characteristics and functions of human lips and mouths. It describes how certain physical traits, like a concave mouth, have been historically viewed as indicative of moral traits, such as fickleness or cowardice. Additionally, it explores the practical functions of lips in speaking and eating, also touching on their symbolic roles in communication.
Human Limbs.
They protrude forward like this, having curled lips that are very intact in their morals. We have known a rich and influential lord, who, due to his carelessness, was nicknamed the 'Zeeland Pig' throughout the entire land. When someone has a slack hanging mouth, such people are often considered fickle in mind and cowardly. A concave mouth (specifically when the area between the nose and the mouth is hollow) has long been considered a mark of immorality: It is said that Socrates had such a mouth, and he confessed that his nature extended towards lust, but he lived chastely through the governance of reason.
The Lips,
which might also be called 'Flaps' due to their shape and function, serve to decorate the opening of the mouth, and to close it like two doors, protecting the teeth and strongholds planted there from outside intrusion; also to retain the ingested food inside until it is completely chewed and mixed with saliva from the salivary glands, ready to go to the stomach. Besides the diverse use and misuse that lips have in kissing (This is similar with the lower lip, which has a common muscle that leads around the mouth-lips, called the Kuffer) their primary use is in speech, to modulate the tones of the tongue further and more precisely; Similarly, it is common in speaking to emphasize words with gestures of the hands, to aid in communication; thus, one communicates thoughts and opinions as one does with the entire body, and actions that
Translation Notes
- "Geylheyd" is translated as "lust" in a moral and social context.
- "Kuffer" is retained as it refers to a specific muscle action during speaking.
- "Zeeland Pig" is kept as a nickname reflecting cultural context.