I wandered, filled with terror, through this dismal region.  By the light of the moon, which shone in the midst of an unclouded sky, I attentively regarded these proud monuments, and curiosity impelled me to read the pompous epitaphs inscribed on them.  “How remarkable a difference!” I observed to myself; “when ordinary men, incapable of eclipsing their fellow mortals, lie forgotten in dust and corruption, those great men who have excited astonishment and admiration throughout the world, even after the lapse of many ages, still breathe in splendid marble!  Happy are they who have had the glory of performing brilliant achievements!  Even though inexorable fate refuse to spare them, their ashes afterwards revive, and under the very stroke of death, they rise triumphantly to a glorious immortality!”

I was indulging in these reflections, when, on a sudden, a hoarse and fearful blast of wind affrighted me.  The earth rocked under my feet, the mausoleum waved to and fro with violence, the cypresses were torn up with tremendous fury, and, from time to time, I heard a sound as of fleshless bones clashing together.  In a moment, the heavens were covered with black clouds, and the moon withdrew her splendour.  The horror inspired by the darkness of the night, and the dead silence which reigned amidst the tombs, caused my hair to stand on end, and stiffened my limbs until I had scarcely power to move them.

In this dreadful situation, I saw an old man approaching me.  His head was bald—­his beard white—­in his right hand he carried a crooked scythe, and in his left an hour-glass—­whilst two immense flapping wings nearly concealed his body.  “Thou,” said he to me in a terrible voice, “who art still dazzled by the dignities and honours which mankind pursue with such reckless eagerness, see whether you perceive any difference between the dust of the monarch and that of the most wretched slave!” He spoke, and striking the ground a tremendous blow with his scythe, all these proud monuments fell headlong to the earth, and in an instant were reduced to dust.  My terror was then redoubled, and my strength almost failed me.  I could only perceive that there was no distinction.  All was dust, corruption, and ashes.  “Go,” said he, “seek another road to the temple of immortality!  Behold the termination of those titles of grandeur which men so ardently desire!  They vainly imagine that, after death, they shall survive in history, or in marbles, which shall leap emulously from their quarries to form such monuments of pride as you have just beheld; but they are miserably deceived; their existence ends at the instant they expire, and their fame, however deeply engraven on brass and marble, cannot have a longer duration than that of a brief moment when compared with eternity!  I myself, TIME, consume and utterly annihilate all those structures which have vanity for their base; the works which are founded on virtue are not subject to my jurisdiction.  They pass to the boundless regions of another world, and receive the reward of immortality!” With these words he disappeared.