LECTOR. Why, if I were you I would put the matter shortly and simply,
for it is the business of one describing a pilgrimage or any other
matter not to puff himself up with vain conceit, nor to be always
picking about for picturesque situations, but to set down plainly and
shortly what he has seen and heard, describing the whole matter.
AUCTOR. But remember, Lector, that the artist is known not only by
what he puts in but by what he leaves out.
LECTOR. That is all very well for the artist, but you have no business
to meddle with such people.
AUCTOR. How then would you write such a book if you had the writing of
it?
LECTOR. I would not introduce myself at all; I would not tell stories
at random, nor go in for long descriptions of emotions, which I am
sure other men have felt as well as I. I would be careful to visit
those things my readers had already heard of (AUCTOR. The pictures!
the remarkable pictures! All that is meant by culture!
