(Among the Moralists and Politicians.)
16. When they now begin to lead me elsewhere, I ask: "Will there not soon be an end of all these learned men; for already I feel weary and anxious from moving about among them." "The best yet remaineth," said Impudence. And we enter a certain hall that was full of pictures; those on one side were pretty and very delightful, but those on the other side of the hall were ugly and misshapen. Philosophers walked round the pictures, not only looking at them, but also, by means of colours, adding to the beauty of some and to the ugliness of others. And I asked, "What is this?" The interpreter answered: "Dost thou then not see the inscriptions on their foreheads?" And leading me nearer he showed me inscriptions, such as Fortitudo, Temperantia, Justitia, Concordia, Regnum, and so forth; and on the other side, Superbia, Gula, Libido, Discordia, Tyrannis, and so forth. The philosophers then begged and beseeched all who came near them to love the pretty pictures and to hate the ugly ones; and they praised the ones as much as they could, while they abused and blamed the others as much as they could. This pleased me well, and I said: "Now do I here, at least, find some who have wrought something that is worthy of the race of men." But meanwhile, I perceive that these dear admonishers took no greater interest in the beautiful pictures than in the others, and, indeed, feared them less than they did the beautiful
