s, forsooth, well am I aware that you and a number of fond young
women, inflamed and instigated thereunto by vain thoughts, have
discovered Love to be a god, whereas a juster name for him would be that
of demon; and you and they call him the son of Venus, and say that his
strength has come to him from the third heaven, wishing, seemingly, to
offer necessity as an excuse for your foolishness. Oh, was ever woman so
misled as thou? Truly, thou must be bereft entirely of understanding!
What a thing thou sayest! Love a deity! Love is a madness, thrust forth
from hell by some fury. He speeds across the earth in hasty flight, and
they whom he visits soon discover that he brings no deity with him, but
frenzy rather; yet none will he visit except those abounding overmuch in
earthly felicity; for they, he knows, in their overweening conceit, are
ready to afford him lodgment and shelter. This has been proven to us by
many facts. Do we not see that Venus, the true, the heavenly Venus,
often dwells in the humblest cot, her sole concern being the
perpetuation of our race? But this god, whom some in their folly name
Love, always hankering after things unholy, ministers only to those
whose fortunes are prosperous. This one, recoiling from those whose food
and raiment suffice to meet the demands of nature, uses his best efforts
to win over the pampered and the splendidly attired, and with their food
and their habiliments he mixes his poisons, and so gains the lordship of
their wicked souls; and, for this reason, he gladly seeks a harborage in
lofty palaces, and seldom, or rather never, enters the houses of the
lowly, because this horrible plague always resorts by choice to scenes
of elegance and refinement, well knowing that such places are best
fitted for the achievement of his fell purposes. It is easy for us to
see that among the humble the affections are sane and well ordered; but
the rich, on the other hand, everywhere pluming themselves on their
riches, and being insatiable in their pursuit of other things as well as
of wealth, always show more eagerness therein than is becoming; and they
who can do much desire furthermore to have the power of doing that which
they must not do: among whom I feel that thou hast placed thyself, O
most hapless of women, seeing that thou hast already entered and
traveled far on a path that will surely lead to guilt and misery."

After hearing which, I said:

"Be silent, old woman, and provoke not the