(The Vanity of Fame.)
3. Yet I followed them upward, and, behold, here an official of the Lady Fortuna, yclept Fama or Rumour, received them, and he consisted entirely of mouths. Indeed, as the one beneath[1] was full of eyes and ears, thus this one was all over full of mouths and tongues, from which no little sound and noise came forth; and this dear "Immortalitatis candidatus" derived at least that advantage therefrom, that through this noise his name became known far and wide. Now when I watched this somewhat carefully, I saw that the outcry that at first was raised over the name of each of these men first decreased and then ceased entirely, while cries referring to someone else were heard. "What immortality, then, is this?" quoth I; "each man abides here but for a span, then he again drifts away from theeyes, the mouths, the minds of men." The interpreter answered: "Thou dost belittle everything; but look, at least, at these men."
(What Honour is there in figuring in History?)
4. Then looking around, I behold painters who were sitting and gazing at these men and portraying them; then I asked: "Why do they this?" The interpreter answered: "That their names may not pass away and vanish as a voice; the memory of these men will endure." Then I gaze, and lo!
- ↑ I.e., Censura.
