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what could produce such felicity in a being surrounded by every object that could gratify every sense; but he prevented my request.
'The Book of Nature,' said he, 'is before thee, look up, consider it, and be wise.'
"I looked and beheld a valley between two mountains that were craggy and barren: On the path there was no verdure, and the mountains afforded no shade: the sun burned in the Zenith, and every spring was dried up: But the valley terminated in a country that was pleasant and fertile, shaded with woods and adorned with buildings. At a second view, I discovered a man in this valley, meagre, indeed, and naked, but his countenance was cheerful, and his deportment active: He kept his eye fixed on the country before him, and looked as if he would have run, but that he was restrained as the other had been impelled by some secret influence: Sometimes, indeed, I perceived a sudden expression of pain, and sometimes he stepped short, as if his foot was pierced by the asperities of the way, but the
