On Providence 33

¹The endless and continual fear shown by Dionysius is attested by the historians of Sicily, who tell us that he suspected even his dearly beloved wife. This is proved by his ordering that the entrance to the chamber through which she had to pass to join him should be covered with boards so that she should never creep in unawares but should give notice of her arrival by the creaking and rattling made by her stepping on them. Also she had to come not merely undressed but with the parts naked which it is indecent for men to see. Further he had the continuous line of the floor along the passage broken by a gap as deep and broad as a ditch in the farmland, so that if, as he dreaded, some secret attempt to do him a mischief were made in the darkness it would be detected by the visitors jumping or striding across the gap.