_ 153 _ about this Persia, because from afar things (301r) seem better than when near. In this, they earned their living and gained honour by beautifying things, by being comprehensible to the understanding. I am well aware that the City of Tabriz will appear completely different to Your Lordship than it did to Alexander, when he lost himself in it with the vices of youth, and ordered the city to be set alight just to see it burn, according to the writings of Quinto Curtio(A). Thus, everything that is reaching its end is changeable. A young girl is better when a virgin, than after she is seduced, a young man better than an old one. Derive from this, an example are not deceived: it has a good appearance, but all is nothing or false. Only God is permanent. An unworthy servant of Grace. Master Gaspar (A) Quintus Cuurtius, De rebus gestis Alexandri [Concerning the Achievements of Alexander] Bk. 5, chap. 22, where he narrates the story of the burning of the Persian palace. Other locations: Biblioteca de Ajuda: 49-IV-49 ff 300r-1r 49-IV-50 ff 45-6v.
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