Page:The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.pdf/94

were. Sometimes several men pointed to one woman, and then none took her. One man drove another away, and they quarrelled, struggled, and fought; murders also did I here behold. Then one man pushed another away, and was himself again pushed away; some, after driving others away, then ran away themselves. Yet another man, not lingering to examine, seized her who was nearest, and the couple lead each other hand-in-hand through the gate. Seeing much fooling of this fashion, I asked: "What, then, are these people doing?" The interpreter answered: "They are those who would gladly enter the street of Matrimony; but as no one is allowed to pass through yonder gate alone, but only in pairs, each one must choose himself a companion. Therefore is this choosing done here, and everyone seeks what is convenient to him; he who finds it goes, as you see, to the gate with his companion." "And could not this choosing be done in a somewhat easier fashion?" I said. "How mightily toilsome this is!" He answered: "This is not labour, but pleasure. Dost thou not see how merrily they bear themselves; how they laugh, how they exult. No fashion of life, believe me, is merrier than this one." Then I look, and see that some indeed laughed and exulted; but I see others also who hang down their heads dolefully, turn round, drag each other backwards and forwards, then again retreat; they grieve, do not sleep or eat, and even become mad. And I say: "What of these?" He answered: "This also is