The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart

Why I Set Out Through the World

When I reached the age at which the human mind begins to distinguish good from bad, I saw how much people differed in rank, circumstances, and occupation, and in the work and pursuits they labored over. It seemed essential to consider which group I should join and what I should devote my life to.

2. I thought about this often and at length, weighing it carefully in my mind. I decided that the way of life that pleased me most was the one with the least worry and violence, and the most comfort, peace, and cheerfulness.

3. But then it seemed difficult to know what my calling was. I did not know whom to ask for advice, nor did I particularly want to consult anyone. I thought each person would praise their own way of life. Nor did I dare to choose anything hastily, because I feared making the wrong choice.

4. Yet I confess that, in secret, I began reaching first for one thing, then another, then a third. I quickly abandoned each one, because I noticed, or thought I noticed, some hardship and vanity in each. Meanwhile, I feared that my fickleness would bring me shame. I did not know what to do.

5. As I longed for an answer and turned the matter over in solitude, I reached this decision: first I would examine all earthly things under the sun. Only then, after carefully comparing one thing with another, would I choose a way of life and somehow obtain what I needed to live quietly in the world. The more I thought it over, the more the idea pleased me.

The Pilgrim Takes Impudence as a Guide

Then I left my solitude and began looking around, wondering how and where to begin my journey. At that very moment someone approached from a direction I could not identify. His stride was brisk, his eyes keen, and his speech quick. His feet, eyes, and tongue all seemed remarkably agile. He came up to me and asked where I had come from and where I intended to go. I said I had left home and decided to wander through the world and gain some experience.

2. This pleased him greatly, and he said, “But where is your guide?”

“I have none,” I answered. “I trust in God and my eyes not to lead me astray.”

“You won’t succeed,” he said. “Have you heard of the labyrinth of Crete?”

“I’ve heard something about it,” I answered.

“It was a wonder of the world,” he replied, “a building with so many chambers, small rooms, and corridors that anyone who entered without a guide wandered and blundered through it in every direction and never found the way out. But it was nothing compared with the way the labyrinth of this world is built, especially in these times. Believe me, I would not advise a sensible person to enter it alone.”

3. “Where, then, should I look for such a guide?” I asked.

“I can guide those who wish to see and learn something,” he answered, “and show them where everything is. That is precisely why I came to meet you.”

Amazed, I said, “Who are you, my friend?”

“My name is Searchall,” he answered, “and my byname is Impudence. I wander through the whole world, peer into every corner, and inquire into everyone’s words and deeds. I see everything visible, spy out and discover everything secret. In general, nothing can happen without me. My duty is to examine everything. If you come with me, I will lead you to many secret places you would never have found yourself.”

4. Hearing this, I began to rejoice at having found such a guide. I begged him not to shrink from the labor of leading me through the world.

“As I have gladly served others in this matter,” he answered, “I will gladly help you too.”

He seized my hand. “Let’s go,” he said, and we went.

“Now I’ll gladly see the ways of the world,” I said, “and whether it contains anything a person can safely rely on.”

At this, my companion stopped and said, “Friend, if you are setting out on this journey to judge our things by your own understanding, rather than to take pleasure in seeing them, I don’t know whether Her Majesty our Queen will be pleased.”

5. “Who is your Queen?” I asked.

“She is the one who has directed the whole world and its ways from the beginning,” he answered. “She is called Wisdom, though some know-it-alls call her Vanity. So I’m warning you in advance: when we go there and look around, don’t find fault. If you do, you will bring trouble on yourself, even with me beside you.”

Falsehood Joins Them

While he was talking with me, someone crept up to us, a man or a woman. I could not tell, because he was strangely bundled up and surrounded by something like mist.

“Impudence,” he said, “where are you hurrying with this man?”

“I’m leading him into the world,” Impudence replied. “He wants to see it.”

2. “And why without me?” the other asked. “You know that your duty is to lead the pilgrims, and mine is to show them where things are. Her Majesty the Queen does not want anyone entering her kingdom to interpret what he hears and sees however he pleases, or to find too much fault. She wants him to be told what all existing things are and what purposes they serve, and to be content with that.”

“As if anyone could be so insolent as to refuse to stay with the others,” Impudence answered. “But this one, I think, will need a bit.”

“Very well. Let’s go on.”

Then he joined us, and we went forward.

3. But I thought to myself, “Would to God I hadn’t been led here! They’re discussing a bit for my mouth.”

I said to this new companion, “Friend, please don’t take offense. I’d like to know your name too.”

“I am the interpreter of Wisdom, the queen of the world,” he answered. “My duty is to teach everyone how to understand the things of the world. So I put everything that belongs to true worldly wisdom into everyone’s mind: old and young, noble and lowborn, ignorant and learned. I lead them to joy and merriment. Without me, even kings, princes, and the proudest people would suffer strange anxiety and spend their time on earth in sorrow.”

4. “If that is true, dear friend,” I said, “God has been good to give me you as a guide. I have set out into the world to seek what is safest and most satisfying in it, and then rely on that. Now that I have such a trustworthy adviser in you, I should find it easy to choose well.”

“Don’t doubt it,” he said. “Although you will find everything in our kingdom beautifully arranged and full of cheer, some professions and trades always offer more convenience and freedom than others. You will be able to choose whatever you want from among them all. I will explain everything to you as it is.”

“What name do people call you?” I asked.

“My name is Falsehood,” he answered.

The Pilgrim Receives a Bridle and Spectacles

Hearing this, I was terrified and thought to myself, “Alas, my sins have brought me such companions! The first one, as I thought it over, spoke of some sort of bridle. The other is called Falsehood. Their queen was called Vanity, though I think that name was carelessly blurted out. But what is all this?”

2. As I continued silently, with my eyes downcast and my feet moving somewhat reluctantly, Searchall said, “What now, you fickle fellow? I think you want to turn back!”

Before I could answer, he threw a bridle over my neck, and suddenly a bit slipped into my mouth.

“Now,” he said, “will you go obediently to the place you set out for?”

3. I looked at the bridle and saw that it was stitched together from straps of impertinence. The bit was made of the iron of obstinacy. I understood that I would no longer be free to examine the world as before. Instead, my mind’s fickleness and lack of comfort would drag me forcibly onward.

4. Then my companion on the other side said, “And I give you these spectacles, through which you will look at the world from now on.”

He thrust the spectacles onto my nose, and immediately I saw everything differently. They certainly had this power, as I often experienced afterward: to anyone looking through them, distant things appeared near, and near things distant; small things large, and large things small; ugly things beautiful, and beautiful things ugly; white things black, and black things white, and so forth. I understood very well why someone who knew how to make such spectacles and put them on people should be called Falsehood.

5. As I later understood, these spectacles were made from the glass of Illusion. The frames that held it were made from the horn called Custom.

6. Fortunately for me, he had put them on somewhat crookedly, so they did not fit closely over my eyes. By raising my head and looking upward, I could still clearly see things as they naturally were. I rejoiced at this and said to myself, “Though you have shut my mouth and covered my eyes, I trust in my God that you will not take away my mind and reason. I will go on. I wonder what this world is that Lady Vanity wants us to see, but to see without our own eyes.”

The Pilgrim Views the World from Above

While I am reflecting on this, we find ourselves, I do not know how, on a very high tower. It seems to me that I am just beneath the clouds. Looking down from here, I see a city on the earth that seems fine and beautiful, and very broad. Yet I can make out its boundaries and limits in every direction. It is built in a circle, with walls and ramparts. Instead of a moat, there is a dark, deep valley that seems to have neither banks nor bottom. There is light only above the city; everywhere around it is utter darkness.

2. Now I see that the city itself is divided into countless streets, squares, houses, and larger and smaller buildings. It is crowded with people as though with insects. To the east I see a kind of gateway. A narrow street leads from it to another gate facing west. Only through this second gate can people enter the city’s various streets. I count six main streets, all running side by side from east to west. In their center is a large, round square or marketplace. Behind it, to the west, a high and splendid castle stands on a steep, rocky hill. Almost all the city’s inhabitants are gazing at it.

3. My guide, Impudence, says to me, “Here, pilgrim, is this dear world you were so eager to see. That is why I first brought you up here, so you could look over the whole world and understand its order. That eastern gate is the gate of life. Everyone who comes to live in the world passes through it. The second gate is the gate of separation. From there, each person goes to one calling or another, according to the lot he draws.

4. “The streets you see are the various social ranks, orders, and occupations people choose. You see six main streets. In this one to the south live those who belong to domestic life: parents, children, and servants. In the next street live tradespeople and everyone engaged in commerce. In the third street, nearest the marketplace, live the learned, who work with the mind. On the other side is the order of the clergy, through whom others avoid practicing religion. Behind them is the order of magistrates and rulers of the world. Finally, to the north, we find the order of knights, who practice all the arts of war. And oh, how noble this is! These bring everyone into the world; these feed everyone; these teach everyone; these pray for everyone; these judge everyone and protect them from disorder; these fight for everyone. They all serve one another, and they all have equal rights.

5. “That castle to the west is the castle of Fortune. Chosen people live there, enjoying riches, pleasure, and glory. The central marketplace is for everyone. People of all classes meet here and discuss what is needed. In the middle of the marketplace is what might be called the center of everything: the residence of Wisdom, the queen of the world.”

6. This good order pleases me, and I begin to praise God for dividing people’s social ranks so nobly. But I am displeased to see that the streets have openings in many places, so that one sometimes runs into another. This seems to me a sign that confusion and error could easily arise. Also, when I look at the round globe, I clearly see it moving and turning in a circle, and I fear I will grow dizzy. Wherever I turn my eyes, everything swarms with people. When I listen, everything is full of knocking, stamping, scrubbing, whispering, and screaming.

7. My interpreter, Falsehood, says, “You see, dear friend, how delightful this world is, and how noble everything in it is, even when you look at it from far away. What will you say later, when you see it clearly, with all its delights? Who would not find it pleasant to be in the world?”

I say, “Seen from a distance, it pleases me. I do not know how it will seem later.”

“It will please you in every way,” he says. “Just trust me, and we will leave here.”

Impudence says, “Wait. I will also show him the place we will not visit afterward. Look back toward the sunrise. Don’t you see something crawling through that dark gate and creeping toward us?”

“I see it,” I say.

He continues, “These are people who have just arrived in the world from somewhere they themselves do not know. They do not yet even know that they are human beings. So there is darkness around them, and nothing but moaning and crying. But as they go along this street, gray light and dawn slowly come to them, until they reach that gate beneath us. Let us go on and see what is happening there.”