CHAPTER XXIV
(The Pilgrim beholds the Ways of the Wealthy.)
Then I said to my guide: "Now would I gladly see what there is on high, and how the Lady Fortuna honours her guests." "It is well," said he, and before I knew it we soared upward to where the Lady Fortuna, standing on a globe, distributed crowns, sceptres, commands, chains, buckles, purses, titles and names, honey and sweetmeats; and she then only allowed them to proceed upward. Now looking at the construction of the castle, which consisted of three floors, I see that they conduct some to the lower, others to the middle, others again to the upper dwellings. Then the interpreter said to me: "Here, in the lowest chambers, dwell those whom the Lady Fortuna hath endowed with gold and with goods; in the middle chambers dwell those whom she feeds with pleasure; in the highest palaces those reside whom she invests with glory, that they may be observed, praised, honoured by the others. Thou seest what a happy thing it is for a man to succeed in coming here."
(The Fetters and Burdens of Wealth.)
2. "Let us then, by all means, go first among these men," quoth I. Then we enter the lower chambers,
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