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Note: Prince Segismundo has been sequestered from birth in a tower because of fears by his father, the king, that his princely son will rise up against him ... He is then briefly released upon adulthood ... only to be imprisoned once more, a caged animal, but still capable of very real feelings, compassion, and mercy.

Here is an innocent person being kept in prison under the harshest of conditions, with the sole purpose of reducing him to the state of an animal ... Still in spite of this pain and suffering, and the darkness and nothingness around him ... his vision persists ... and he is still able to see further than his father, the king, who has the "benefits"? of material wealth ... but wealth, like the sunlight ... can be blinding.

There is this saying, "It is better to be preserved in vinegar than to rot in honey," meaning ... it is better to suffer affliction if thereby the heart is brought to G-d, than to lose body and soul by worldly indulgences ... and now for Segismundo:

"... Es verdad, pues reprimamos esta fiera condition esta furia esta ambition, por si alguna vez, soñamos. Y si haremos pues estamos en el mundo tan singular que el vivir, solo es soñar. Y la experiencia me enseña que el hombre que vive, sueña lo que es hasta despertar. Sueña el rey que es rey, y vive con este engaño mandando, disponiendo, y gobernando. Y este aplauso que recibe prestado, en el viento escribe, y en cenizas le convierte la muerte, (desdicha fuerte.) ¿Qué hay quien intente reinar viendo que ha de despertar en el sueño de la muerte? Sueña el rico en su riqueza que mas cuidados le ofrece. Sueña el pobre que padece su miseria y su pobreza. Sueña el que a medrar empieza. Sueña el que afana y pretende Sueña el que agravia y ofende. Y en el mundo, en conclusion todos sueñan lo que son, aunque ninguno lo entiende. Yo sueño que estoy aqui, de estas prisiones cargado, y soñé que in otro estado mas lisonjero me vi. ¿Qué es la vida? Un frenesi. ¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusion, una sombra, una ficcion. Y el mayor bien es pequeño, que toda la vida es sueño, y los sueños sueños son."

"... It is true, then let us restrain this fierce condition this fury (rage) this ambition should we ever dream again. And so we shall (and dream we will) because we are in a world so singular that to live, is only to dream. And experience teaches me that the man who lives, dreams who he is until he wakes (dies). Dreams the king that he is king, and he lives with this delusion commanding, disposing, and governing. And this renown which he receives, in the wind it is written, and to ashes it is converted by death, mournful fate! (dreaded misfortune.) Who is there who would want to reign seeing that he has to awaken in the dream of death? Dreams the rich man in his wealth which brings him greater troubles. Dreams the poor man who suffers his misery and poverty. Dreams he who is beginning to prosper. Dreams he who works hard and tries. Dreams he who injures and offends. And in the world, in conclusion, all dream who they are though no man knows it. I am dreaming that I am here, weighed down in these chains, and I dreamed that in a different, happier situation, I saw myself. What is life? A madness. What is life? An illusion, a shadow, a story. And the greatest good can be insignificant, in that all of life is a dream, and the dreams are dreams."