thousand times for these
seats of quiet, and willingly quit hope to be free from fear.«
    »Do not seek to deter me from my purpose, said the prince: I am impatient to
see what thou hast seen; and, since thou art thyself weary of the valley, it is
evident, that thy former state was better than this. Whatever be the consequence
of my experiment, I am resolved to judge with my own eyes of the various
conditions of men, and then to make deliberately my choice of life.«
    »I am afraid, said Imlac, you are hindered by stronger restraints than my
persuasions; yet, if your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to
despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.«
 

                                  Chapter XIII

                     Rasselas discovers the means of escape

The prince now dismissed his favourite to rest, but the narrative of wonders and
novelties filled his mind with perturbation. He revolved all that he had heard,
and prepared innumerable questions for the morning.
    Much of his uneasiness was now removed. He had a friend to whom he could
impart his thoughts, and whose experience could assist him in his designs. His
heart was no longer condemned to swell with silent vexation. He thought that
even the happy valley might be endured with such a companion, and that, if they
could range the world together, he should have nothing further to desire.
    In a few days the water was discharged, and the ground dried. The prince and
Imlac then walked out together to converse without the notice of the rest. The
prince, whose thoughts were always on the wing, as he passed by the gate, said,
with a countenance of sorrow, »Why art thou so strong, and why is man so weak?«
    »Man is not weak, answered his companion; knowledge is more than equivalent
to force. The master of mechanicks laughs at strength. I can burst the gate, but
cannot do it secretly. Some other expedient must be tried.«
    As they were walking on the side of the mountain, they observed that the
conies, which the rain had driven from their burrows, had taken shelter among
the bushes, and formed holes behind them, tending upwards in an oblique line.
»It has been the opinion of antiquity, said Imlac, that human reason borrowed
many arts from the instinct of animals; let us, therefore, not think ourselves
degraded by learning from the coney. We may escape by piercing the mountain in
the same direction. We will begin where the summit hangs over the middle part,
and labour upward till