INTRODUCTION: NAME AND PURPOSE OF THE WORK 



1 PASSED all the crafts before my mind's eye and 

 studied intently all the practices belonging to each 

 craft; and I saw a vast multitude walking wearily along 

 the paths that slope downward from the highways of 

 virtue into error and vice. Some of these were very steep, 

 and those who followed them perished in desolate ra- 

 vines; for the long, wearisome road had fatigued them, 

 and they had not enough strength left to climb up the 

 hillside, nor were they able to find the by-paths that led 

 back to the highways of virtue. 



[The destruction of this multitude was due, it seemed 

 to me, to various causes: some perished through igno- 

 rance, for the ways of error were trodden so generally 

 that they appeared to be the most convenient to follow, 

 and ignorant men mistook them for highways, since the 

 majority seemed to walk in them; some perished be- 

 cause of laziness and carelessness; others feared that 

 they would suffer derision and contumely, if they walked 

 the highroad alone; while still others were led astray by 

 perversity, wickedness, and the various passions.] 



But when I had observed how good morals were 

 scorned and how the scorners perished, I began to won- 

 der how to find a road where I should not be traveling 

 entirely alone and yet would not have to choose one of 

 those paths where the crowd were exhausting their 



