An empty pageant; a stage play; flocks of sheep, herds of cattle; a russle of spearmen; a bone hung among a pack of curs; a crumb tossed into a pond of fish; ants, loaded and labouring; mice, scared and scampering; puppets, jerking on their strings - that is life. In the midst of it all you must stand, good-temperedly and without disdain, yet always aware that a man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.