There was once a country where the craft of building was in a sorry state. In that country lived a man who had already perceived this in his youth, and thought it a great folly. He had therefore busied himself with travelling to many other countries and observing how they made buildings there. He thought long and hard, and made experimental trial, of why some methods made sound buildings of all sorts: houses, fortifications, bridges, dams, and other constructions also; but others could scarcely build a hut that would withstand the procession of a single year’s seasons.