The Game of Chess

[satisfied. You would be either] God, or a human, or nothing. If you wish to Be God, then act like a God and give the people noble gifts and take nothing from them that is theirs. But if you are a human, then remember that you are mortal and turn away from your greed original: "gitikait". This refers to the insatiable avarice previously discussed in relation to Alexander the Great.. But if you are nothing, then consider that nothing is so strong that it cannot be harmed by something weak and injurious. One often sees the lion, who is the lord of all beasts and a king; yet, small birds eat him. This serves as a memento mori, a reminder that even the mightiest king is eventually brought low by death and consumed by the smallest creatures. The second reason why this game was invented This refers to the game of Chess, which the philosopher Xerxes is using as a tool for the King's moral education. was to avoid idleness original: "müssikait". In the Middle Ages, idleness was considered a dangerous spiritual state, often called the "mother of all vices.". Concerning this, SenecaLucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BCE – 65 CE), a Roman Stoic philosopher whose ethical writings were staples of medieval education. says to LuciliusSeneca's friend and the recipient of his famous Moral Letters.: "To go about in idleness without letters meaning literature or study or without art is death, or rather, it is the burial of a living person." This is an English translation of Seneca's famous maxim: Otium sine litteris mors est et hominis vivi sepultura. Also says VarroMarcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE), a prolific Roman scholar often cited in medieval texts for his practical wisdom., a great master: travelers do not exist simply for the sake of walking, for otherwise they would never reach their journey's end. In the same way, our life is nothing in itself; rather, it exists so that something praiseworthy and noble might come from us. There are many people who, because of excessive good fortune, surrender themselves to idleness, and thereafter their excessive sorrow and bitterness [extinguish] the flames of their spiritual joy ex— The text cuts off mid-word (likely "extinguirn" or "extinguish") at the page break.