CHRISTINE DE PISAN 



the same time showing her on the way all that 

 is worth seeing in this world, from the Pillars 

 of Hercules, " the end of the world," to distant 

 Cathay. However exhausting this programme 

 may appear to us, Christine, knowing the real 

 passion of the late Middle Ages for travel for 

 even those who could not travel in reality did so 

 in imagination, makes use of it as a setting for 

 the introduction of a discussion on the qualities 

 most necessary to good government. This she 

 does, even at the risk of incurring displeasure in 

 high quarters, recalling how Dante's patriotism 

 led to banishment and death in exile, but she 

 adds, " Qui bien ayme, tout endure." She pours 

 forth her classical examples in a chaotic stream, 

 but when she leaves earth, and ascends to the 

 celestial regions, she not only shows herself 

 versed in the astronomy of the time, but also 

 expresses some beauty of thought. The order 

 of the firmament, where all obey law without 

 ceasing, so that harmony ensues " like sweet 

 melody," reminds her of Pythagoras and Plato, 

 and suggests to her what life on earth might be 

 if good laws were made and observed. In 

 furtherance of her idea, she appeals to Reason, 

 who presides over the Virtues or Divine Powers, 

 to interrogate the three earthly disputants, 

 Nobility, Riches, and Wisdom. In the end 

 Reason awards the prize to Wisdom, con- 

 demning Riches as the great enemy of mankind. 

 Thereupon Wisdom appeals to the verdicts of 

 Juvenal, Boethius, St. Jerome, and others to 



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