look more closely into these various matters." And they led me turn by turn through these places, and I viewed everything, and for the sake of experience sometimes touched this thing or that; but I neither can nor will describe everything in this spot. Only what I saw openly that I will not conceal.
(All Trades are Perilous Strivings.)
Firstly, I saw that all these worldly traffics are but labour and vain striving, and that each has its discomfort and danger. I saw, indeed, that those who dealt with fire were sunburnt and sooty like Moors; the clattering of hammers ever hummed in their ears and half hindered their hearing; the gleam of the fires ever sparkled in their eyes, and their skins were blistered and cracked. Those who carried on their trade in the earth had darkness and horror for companions, and not rarely did it happen that they were buried in the earth. Those who worked on the waters became as moist as a thatched roof; like aspen leaves, they shivered from the cold, their bowels became raw,[1] and many of them became the prey of the deep. Those who busied themselves with wood, stones, and other materials were full of weals, groaning, and fatigue. I also saw how stupid were the labours of some, who yet toiled and strove till they sweated, became fatigued, fell down, injured themselves, overworked themselves; yet, with all their miserable exertion, they barely succeeded in obtaining their daily
- ↑ I.e., their digestion became impaired.
