The Bell of Atri and the Virtue of Obligation

I do not intend for anyone to read this blog, so the things discussed are merely, and selfishly, for me. However, if one or two wondering eyes just so happen to read this, I hope the things discussed are interesting for you.

What is the Bell of Atri?

It is an old story that takes place in the little Italian city of Atri and the bell placed in the middle of the market place. The bell was only to be rung in the case of a "wronging," or in todays language, a robbing, mugging, or any other illicit action. Once the bell was rung, many judges would meet at the bell and decide the case; whether or not the person was actually wronged and whether or not the perpetrator should be punished.

Over several years, the rope tied to the bell wore out, and eventually became too short in length. The rope was too short for little ones to reach. What would happened if they were wronged? The judges decided that they needed a new rope, but to get a brand new rope would take days and they could not afford the time. One man nearby ran to his garden and fetched a grapevine and tied it to the shortened bell rope. The judges accepted this new rope, and so everyone was safe once again.

Meanwhile, an old retired knight of the city of Atri pondered over the temporal things of life (i.e. riches). He became a miser: stingy, greedy, and obsessed with  gold. His old horse was neglected and became very thin and weak because his knight did not want to take care of him because it would cost too much. The horse would search for hours just to find a bit of grass. He was dying of starvation.

One day, he walked into the middle of the marketplace and saw the luscious grapevine hanging on the rope attached to the bell. All the people of the marketplace had been inside because of the extreme heat that day, which gave the horse even more reason to approach the vine. The horse, nearing death because of the unjustified neglect from his knight, took the vine in his mouth and began to chew. The vine, still fresh because it had not been tied to the rope for very long, was rather hard to chew, but the horse pull and yanked until he could taste its juices.

Suddenly, as the horse was yanking the vine, the bell rang. Everyone in the town thought, "Someone is being wronged! Someone is being wronged!" The whole town came out to see what was happening, and they all paused as they saw who was being wronged. "Ha!" cried one, "it is the knight's steed. He is coming to call for justice!" As everyone knew, the old miser had treated his horse wrongfully. The judges called for the knight and judged the case. They concluded that the knight had no reason to treat his steed wrongfully because his horse saved him from many dangers, helped him gain his wealth, and been with him for years and years. So they told him that half of all of his gold should be spent on giving the horse food, shelter, and nice, warm place to sleep. The miser hung his head, and grieved that he had to use his gold on the horse. But the people shouted with joy and the horse was led away to his new stall and a dinner such as he had not had in a very long time.


This virtue illustrates something very important. We, as humans, all have obligations toward one thing or another; be that other humans, relationships, duties, jobs, studies, or anything else. To live up to those obligations, we must sacrifice time, energy, money, and emotion. Unlike the old knight, the miser that was obsessed with temporal riches, we must understand the obligations that are most important to us. The knight did not understand it at the time, but his horse had been such valuable obligation. Because he did not understand the value of such a friend (or obligation), it cost him half of his riches.

This important virtue is almost entirely absent in the United States. Think of concepts like "one night stands," or sayings like "I don't need this from you, or, I don't want you anymore." Both are impurely selfish. The first is betraying all virtues that have to do with obligation to a man or women as a partner. The second is simply egocentric, with no concern for things outside of the self.

This egocentrism is wrong. Why? Lets go back to the virtue behind the Bell of Atri. How should we feel if the knight was let free because he was a knight (the world) with no obligations, and the horse was beaten for eating of the vine. It would be unfair. But why should a husband who leaves his wife because he doesn't feel in love anymore. If we compare this husband to the knight, we can see that the instances are similar.

The knight threw the horse out because the horse cost too much, and he felt that without his horse he could have more freedom to do the things he wanted with his gold (feeling). The husband left his wife because he didn't love her anymore, and felt that by leaving his wife he could have more freedom to do the things he wanted with his love (feeling). Both are selfish feelings and emotions. Why does one seem more unjust than the other, though? Relativism may have something to say about that. Relativism, however, should be considered as a topic for future writings.