The advantage of this pavement is, that it torments the condemned spectres; they are always wandering about; and when one of them finds his own good intentions, he remembers his opportunities of virtue, and is reproached with the folly of not having executed such resolutions.
RECAB.
It is ingeniously contrived: but how does a man discover his own intentions in this great space?
BELPHEGOR.
Do not you see inscriptions upon them? Each intention bears the name of the person by whom it was entertained. Look round, and you will observe here and there a man studying the ground with great attention. The miserable wretches will stand for hours and days poring over their own virtuous resolutions, and lamenting the weakness with which they broke them. For notwithstanding the misery of such reflections, there is an enchantment in this remorse, which fixes them to the spot.
RECAB.
I see some creatures intent upon the pavement; are they men?
BELPHEGOR.
They are the spectres of men.
RECAB.