"
Upon that we turned our faces from the great City of Destruction and
ascended towards the other city, which was considerably less; and on our
way we met several at the upper end of the streets who had made a move as
of turning away from the temptations of the gates of Destruction, and
making for the gate of life. But they either failed to find it or grew
weary on the way; very few went through--one man of rueful countenance,
ran in earnest while crowds on all sides derided him, some mocking, {28b}
some threatening him, and his kindred clinging to him, begging him not to
condemn himself to lose the whole world at one stroke. "I lose but a
small portion of it, and were I to lose all, what loss, I pray you, would
it be? For what is there in the world to be desired, unless it be
deceit, oppression and squalor, wickedness, folly and madness?
Contentment and rest is man's supreme happiness--this is not to be found
in your city. For who of you is content? {29a} 'Higher, higher,' is the
aim of all in the Street of Pride, 'More, more' cry all that dwell in the
Street of Lucre, 'Sweet, sweet, yet more' is the voice of everybody in
the Street of Pleasure.
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