Another, called “The Soul’s Voyage,” is set forth as if represented in a public square of Barcelona.[289] It opens with a ballad, which is sung by three persons, and is followed, first, by a prologue full of cumbrous learning, and then by another ballad both sung and danced, as we are told, “with much skill and grace.” After all this note of preparation comes the “Moral Action” itself. The Soul enters dressed in white,--the way in which a disembodied spirit was indicated to the audience. A clown, who, as the droll of the piece, represents the Human Will, and a gallant youth, who represents Memory, enter at the same time; one of them urging the Soul to set out on the voyage of salvation, and the other endeavouring to jest her out of such a pious purpose. At this critical moment, Satan appears as a ship-captain, in a black suit, fringed with flames, and accompanied by Selfishness, Appetite, and other vices, as his sailors, and offers to speed the Soul on her voyage, all singing merrily together,-- [289] In the first book. It is entitled “A Moral Representation of the Soul’s Voyage”;--in other words, _A Morality_. Holloa! the good ship of Delight Spreads her sails for the sea to-day; Who embarks? who embarks, then, I say? To-day, the good ship of Content, With a wind at her choice for her course, To a land where no troubles are sent, Where none knows the stings of remorse, With a wind fair and free takes her flight;-- Who embarks? who embarks, then, I say?[290] [290] Oy la Nabe del deleyte Se quiere hazer á la Mar;-- Ay quien se quiera embarcar? Oy la Nabe del contento, Con viento en popa de gusto, Donde jamas ay disgusto, Penitencia, ni tormento, Viendo que ay prospero viento, Se quiere hazer á la Mar. Ay quien se quiera embarcar? El Peregrino en su Patria, Sevilla, 1604, 4to, f. 36. b. A new world is announced as their destination, and the Will asks whether it is the one lately discovered by Columbus; to which and to other similar questions Satan replies evasively, but declares that he is a greater pilot of the seas than Magellan or Drake, and will insure to all who sail with him a happy and prosperous voyage. Memory opposes the project, but, after some resistance, is put asleep; and Understanding, who follows as a greybeard full of wise counsel, comes too late. The adventurers are already gone. But still he shouts after them, and continues his warnings, till the ship of Penitence arrives, with the Saviour for its pilot, a cross for its mast, and sundry Saints for its sailors. They summon the Soul anew. The Soul is surprised and shocked at her situation; and the piece ends with her embarkation on board the sacred vessel, amidst a _feu de joie_, and the shouts of the delighted spectators, who, we may suppose, had been much edified by the show.