Page:The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.pdf/218

214 that incessantly turned round and round; he who clung to it was lifted upward to a higher floor, here only received by the Lady Fortuna, and then permitted to proceed farther. But of those below, not everyone who wished to seize the wheel was allowed to do so; indeed, they only whom a functionary of Fortuna, named Chance, led to the wheel or placed on it; all others slipped. Now this administrator, Chance, walked in the midst of the crowd, and whom fortuitously she encountered, him she seized and placed on the wheel: even although some thrust themselves before her eyes, stretched out their hands and entreated her, alleging the hardships they had undergone: their sweat, weals, slashes, and other proofs of their toil. But I affirm that she must have been entirely deaf and blind, for neither did she consider any person nor heed anyone's entreaties.

4. There were many there of divers estate who, I knew, had grudged nor labour, nor sweat, both in fulfilling their duties and in endeavouring to pass through the gate of Virtue, or, indeed, through the side entrance also; yet could they obtain felicity? Another who thought not of such matters was taken by the hand and lifted upward. But of