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+*******The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barlaam and Ioasaph*******
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barlaam and Ioasaph
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+by St. John of Damascus
+
+December, 1996  [Etext #749]
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+
+
+Barlaam and Ioasaph
+by
+
+St. John Damascene (?)
+("St. John of Damascus")
+c. 676 - 749 A.D.
+
+It is not known where or when this story was written, but it is
+believed to have been translated into Greek (possibly from a
+Georgian original) sometime in the 11th Century A.D.  Although
+the ultimate author is usually referred to as "John the Monk", it
+has been traditionally ascribed to St. John of Damascus.
+
+The text of this edition is based on that published as ST. JOHN
+DAMASCENE: BARLAAM AND IOASAPH (Trans: G.R. Woodward and H.
+Mattingly; Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1914).  This
+text is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN in he United States.
+
+This electronic edition was edited, proofed, and prepared by
+Douglas B. Killings (DeTroyes@EnterAct.COM), November, 1996.
+
+PREPARER'S NOTE:
+Readers of this work will note some startling similarities
+between the story of Ioasaph and the traditional Tale of Buddha. 
+The work seems to be a retelling of the Buddha Legend from within
+a Christian context, with the singular difference that the
+"Buddha" in this tale reaches enlightenment through the love of
+Jesus Christ.
+
+The popularity of the Greek version of this story is attested to
+by the number of translations made of it throughout the Christian
+world, including versions in Latin, Old Slavonic, Armenian,
+Christian Arabic, English, Ethiopic, and French.  Such was its
+popularity that both Barlaam and Josaphat (Ioasaph) were
+eventually recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as Saints, and
+churches were dedicated in their honor from Portugal to
+Constantinople.  It was only after Europeans began to have
+increased contacts with India that scholars began to notice the
+similarities between the two sets of stories.  Modern scholars
+believe that the Buddha story came to Europe from Arabic,
+Caucasus, and/or Persian sources, all of which were active in
+trade between the European and Indian worlds.
+
+---DBK
+
+*****************************************************************
+
+SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
+
+ORIGINAL TEXT --
+
+Woodward, G.R. & H. Mattingly (Ed. & Trans.): "St. John
+Damascene: Barlaam and Ioasaph" (Harvard University Press,
+Cambridge MA, 1914).  English translation with side-by-side Greek
+text.
+
+RECOMMENDED READING --
+
+Lang, David Marshall (Trans.): "The Balavariani: A Tale from the
+Christian East" (California University Press, Los Angeles, 1966).
+Translation of the Georgian work that probably served as a basis
+for the Greek text.
+
+*****************************************************************
+
+BARLAAM AND IOASAPH
+
+AN EDIFYING STORY FROM THE INNER LAND OF THE ETHIOPIANS, CALLED
+THE LAND OF THE INDIANS, THENCE BROUGHT TO THE HOLY CITY, BY JOHN
+THE MONK (AN HONOURABLE MAN AND A VIRTUOUS, OF THE MONASTERY OF
+SAINT SABAS); WHEREIN ARE THE LIVES OF THE FAMOUS AND BLESSED
+BARLAAM AND IOASAPH.
+
+INTRODUCTION 
+
+"As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are sons of God"
+saith the inspired Apostle.  Now to have been accounted worthy of
+the Holy Spirit and to have become sons of God is of all things
+most to be coveted; and, as it is written, "They that have become
+his sons find rest from all enquiry."  This marvellous, and above
+all else desirable, blessedness have the Saints from the
+beginning won by the practice of the virtues, some having striven
+as Martyrs, and resisted sin unto blood, and others having
+struggled in self-discipline, and having trodden the narrow way,
+proving Martyrs in will.  Now, that one should hand down to
+memory the prowess and virtuous deeds of these, both of them that
+were made perfect by blood, and of them that by self-denial did
+emulate the conversation of Angels, and should deliver to the
+generations that follow a pattern of virtue, this hath the Church
+of Christ received as a tradition from the inspired Apostles, and
+the blessed Fathers, who did thus enact for the salvation of our
+race.  For the pathway to virtue is rough and steep, especially
+for such as have not yet wholly turned unto the Lord, but are
+still at warfare, through the tyranny of their passions.  For
+this reason also we need many encouragements thereto, whether it
+be exhortations, or the record of the lives of them that have
+travelled on the road before us; which latter draweth us towards
+it the less painfully, and doth accustom us not to despair on
+account of the difficulty of the journey.  For even as with a man
+that would tread a hard and difficult path; by exhortation and
+encouragement one may scarce win him to essay it, but rather by
+pointing to the many who have already completed the course, and
+at the last have arrived safely.  So I too, "walking by this
+rule," and heedful of the danger hanging over that servant who,
+having received of his lord the talent, buried it in the earth,
+and hid out of use that which was given him to trade withal, will
+in no wise pass over in silence the edifying story that hath come
+to me, the which devout men from the inner land Of the
+Ethiopians, whom our tale calleth Indians, delivered unto me,
+translated from trustworthy records.  It readeth thus.
+
+
+I.
+
+The country of the Indians, as it is called, is vast and
+populous, lying far beyond Egypt.  On the side of Egypt it is
+washed by seas and navigable gulphs, but on the mainland it
+marcheth with the borders of Persia, a land formerly darkened
+with the gloom of idolatry, barbarous to the last degree, and
+wholly given up to unlawful practices.  But when "the only-
+begotten Son of God, which is in the bosom of the Father," being
+grieved to see his own handiwork in bondage unto sin, was moved
+with compassion for the same, and shewed himself amongst us
+without sin, and, without leaving his Father's throne, dwelt for
+a season in the Virgin's womb for our sakes, that we might dwell
+in heaven, and be re-claimed from the ancient fall, and freed
+from sin by receiving again the adoption of sons; when he had
+fulfilled every stage of his life in the flesh for our sake, and
+endured the death of the Cross, and marvellously united earth and
+heaven; when he had risen again from the dead, and had been
+received up into heaven, and was seated at the right hand of the
+majesty of the Father, whence, according to his promise, he sent
+down the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, unto his eyewitnesses and
+disciples, in the shape of fiery tongues, and despatched them
+unto all nations, for to give light to them that sat in the
+darkness of ignorance, and to baptize them in the Name of the
+Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, whereby it fell to
+the lot of some of the Apostles to travel to the far-off East and
+to some to journey to the West-ward, while others traversed the
+regions North and South, fulfilling their appointed tasks then it
+was, I say, that one of the company of Christ's Twelve Apostles,
+most holy Thomas, was sent out to the land of the Indians,
+preaching the Gospel of Salvation.  "The Lord working with him
+and confirming the word with signs following," the darkness of
+superstition was banished; and men were delivered from idolatrous
+sacrifices and abominations, and added to the true Faith, and
+being thus transformed by the hands of the Apostle, were made
+members of Christ's household by Baptism, and, waxing ever with
+fresh increase, made advancement in the blameless Faith and built
+churches in all their lands. 
+
+Now when monasteries began to be formed in Egypt, and numbers of
+monks banded themselves together, and when the fame of their
+virtues and Angelic conversation "was gone out into all the ends
+of the world" and came to the Indians, it stirred them up also to
+the like zeal, insomuch that many of them forsook everything and
+withdrew to the deserts; and, though but men in mortal bodies,
+adopted the spiritual life of Angels.  While matters were thus
+prospering and many were soaring upward to heaven on wings of
+gold, as the saying is, there arose in that country a king named
+Abenner, mighty in riches and power, and in victory over his
+enemies, brave in warfare, vain of his splendid stature and
+comeliness of face, and boastful of all worldly honours, that
+pass so soon away.  But his soul was utterly crushed by poverty,
+and choked with many vices, for he was of the Greek way, and sore
+distraught by the superstitious error of his idol-worship.  But,
+although he lived in luxury, and in the enjoyment of the sweet
+and pleasant things of life, and was never baulked of any of his
+wishes and desires, yet one thing there was that marred his
+happiness, and pierced his soul with care, the curse of
+childlessness.  For being without issue, he took ceaseless
+thought how he might be rid of this hobble, and be called the
+father of children, a name greatly coveted by most people.  Such
+was the king, and such his mind.
+
+Meanwhile the glorious band of Christians and the companies of
+monks, paying no regard to the king's majesty, and in no wise
+terrified by his threats, advanced in the grace of Christ, and
+grew in number beyond measure, making short account of the king's
+words, but cleaving closely to everything that led to the service
+of God.  For this reason many, who had adopted the monastic rule,
+abhorred alike all the sweets of this world, and were enamoured
+of one thing only, namely godliness, thirsting to lay down their
+lives for Christ his sake, and yearning for the happiness beyond.
+Wherefore they preached, not with fear and trembling, but rather
+even with excess of boldness, the saving Name of God, and naught
+but Christ was on their lips, as they plainly proclaimed to all
+men the transitory and fading nature of this present time, and
+the fixedness and incorruptibility of the life to come, and sowed
+in men the first seeds, as it were, towards their becoming of the
+household of God, and winning that life which is hid in Christ.
+Wherefore many, profiting by this most pleasant teaching, turned
+away from the bitter darkness of error, and approached the sweet
+light of Truth; insomuch that certain of their noblemen and
+senators laid aside all the burthens of life, and thenceforth
+became monks.
+
+But when the king heard thereof, he was filled with wrath, and,
+boiling over with indignation, passed a decree forthwith,
+compelling all Christians to renounce their religion.  Thereupon
+he planned and practised new kinds of torture against them, and
+threatened new forms of death.  So throughout all his dominions
+he sent letters to his rulers and governors ordering penalties
+against the righteous, and unlawful massacres.  But chiefly was
+his displeasure turned against the ranks of the monastic orders,
+and against them he waged a truceless and unrelenting warfare.
+Hence, of a truth, many of the Faithful were shaken in spirit,
+and others, unable to endure torture, yielded to his ungodly
+decrees.  But of the chiefs and rulers of the monastic order some
+in rebuking his wickedness ended their lives by suffering
+martyrdom, and thus attained to everlasting felicity; while
+others hid themselves in deserts and mountains, not from dread of
+the threatened tortures, but by a more divine dispensation.
+
+
+II.
+
+Now while the land of the Indians lay under the shroud of this
+moonless night, and while the Faithful were harried on every
+side, and the champions of ungodliness prospered, the very air
+reeking with the smell of bloody sacrifices, a certain mall of
+the royal household, chief satrap in rank, in courage, stature,
+comeliness, and in all those qualities which mark beauty of body
+and nobility of soul, far above all his Fellows, hearing of this
+iniquitous decree, bade farewell to all the grovelling pomps and
+vanities of the world, joined the ranks of the monks, and retired
+across the border into the desert.  There, by fastings and
+vigils, and by diligent study of the divine oracles, he throughly
+purged his senses, and illumined a soul, set free from every
+passion, with the glorious light of a perfect calm.
+
+But when the king, who loved and esteemed him highly, heard
+thereof, he was grieved in spirit at the loss of his friend, but
+his anger was the more hotly kindled against the monks.  And so
+he sent everywhere in search of him, leaving "no stone unturned,"
+as the saying is, to find him.  After a long while, they that
+were sent in quest of him, having learnt that he abode in the
+desert, after diligent search, apprehended him and brought him
+before the king's judgement seat.  When the king saw him in such
+vile and coarse raiment who before had been clad in rich apparel,
+-- saw him, who had lived in the lap of luxury, shrunken and
+wasted by the severe practice of discipline, and bearing about in
+his body outward and visible signs of his hermit-life, he was
+filled with mingled grief and fury, and, in speech blended of
+these two passions, he spake unto him thus:
+
+"O thou dullard and mad man, wherefore hast thou exchanged thine
+honour for shame, and thy glorious estate for this unseemly show?
+To what end hath the president of my kingdom, and chief commander
+of my realm made himself the laughingstock of boys, and not only
+forgotten utterly our friendship and fellowship, but revolted
+against nature herself, and had no pity on his own children, and
+cared naught for riches and all the splendour of the world, and
+chosen ignominy such as this rather than the glory that men
+covet?  And what shall it profit thee to have chosen above all
+gods and men him whom they call Jesus, and to have preferred this
+rough life of sackcloth to the pleasures and delights of a life
+of bliss."
+
+When the man of God heard these words, he made reply, at once
+courteous and unruffled: "If it be thy pleasure, O king, to
+converse with me, remove thine enemies out of mid court; which
+done, I will answer thee concerning whatsoever thou mayest desire
+to learn; for while these are here, I cannot speak with thee.
+But, without speech, torment me, kill me, do as thou wilt, for
+"the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world,' as saith
+my divine teacher."  The king said, "And who are these enemies
+whom thou biddest me turn out of court?"  The saintly man
+answered and said, "Anger and Desire.  For at the beginning these
+twain were brought into being by the Creator to be fellow-workers
+with nature; and such they still are to those `who walk not after
+the flesh but after the Spirit.'  But in you who are altogether
+carnal, having nothing of the Spirit, they are adversaries, and
+play the part of enemies and foemen.  For Desire, working in you,
+stirreth up pleasure, but, when made of none effect, Anger. To-
+day therefore let these be banished from thee, and let Wisdom and
+Righteousness sit to hear and judge that which we say.  For if
+thou put Anger and Desire out of court, and in their room bring
+in Wisdom and Righteousness, I will truthfully tell thee all."
+Then spake the king, "Lo I yield to thy request, and will banish
+out of the assembly both Desire and Anger, and make Wisdom and
+Righteousness to sit between us.  So now, tell me without fear,
+how wast thou so greatly taken with this error, to prefer the
+bird in the bush to the bird already in the hand?"
+
+The hermit answered and said, "O king, if thou askest the cause
+how I came to despise things temporal, and to devote my whole
+self to the hope of things eternal, hearken unto me.  In former
+days, when I was still but a stripling, I heard a certain good
+and wholesome saying, which, by its three took my soul by storm;
+and the remembrance of it, like some divine seed, being planted
+in my heart, unmoved, was preserved ever until it took root,
+blossomed, and bare that fruit which thou seest in me.  Now the
+meaning of that sentence was this: `It seemed good to the foolish
+to despise the things that are, as though they were not, and to
+cleave and cling to the things that are not, as though they were.
+So he, that hath never tasted the sweetness of the things that
+are, will not be able to understand the nature of the things that
+are not.  And never having understood them, how shall he despise
+them?'  Now that saying meant by `things that are' the things
+eternal and fixed, but by `things that are not' earthly life,
+luxury, the prosperity that deceives, whereon, O king, thine
+heart alas!  is fixed amiss.  Time was when I also clung thereto
+myself.  But the force of that sentence continually goading my
+heart, stirred my governing power, my mind, to make the better
+choice.  But `the law of sin, warring against the law of my
+mind,' and binding me, as with iron chains, held me captive to
+the love of things present.
+
+"But `after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour' was
+pleased to deliver me from that harsh captivity, he enabled my
+mind to overcome the law of sin, and opened mine eyes to discern
+good from evil.  Thereupon I perceived and looked, and behold!
+all things present are vanity and vexation of spirit, as
+somewhere in his writings saith Solomon the wise.  Then was the
+veil of sin lifted from mine heart, and the dullness, proceeding
+from the grossness of my body, which pressed upon my soul, was
+scattered, and I perceived the end for which I was created, and
+how that it behoved me to move upward to my Creator by the
+keeping of his Commandments.  Wherefore I left all and followed
+him, and I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord that he
+delivered me out of the mire, and from the making of bricks, and
+from the harsh and deadly ruler of the darkness of this world,
+and that he showed me the short and easy road whereby I shall be
+able, in this earthen body, eagerly to embrace the Angelic life.
+Seeking to attain to it the sooner, I chose to walk the strait
+and narrow way, renouncing the vanity of things present and the
+unstable changes and chances thereof, and refusing to call
+anything good except the true good, from which thou, O king, art
+miserably sundered and alienated.  Wherefore also we ourselves
+were alienated and separated from thee, because thou wert falling
+into plain and manifest destruction, and wouldst constrain us
+also to descend into like peril.  But as long as we were tried in
+the warfare of this world, we failed in no point of duty.  Thou
+thyself will bear me witness that we were never charged with
+sloth or heedlessness.
+
+"But when thou hast endeavoured to rob us of the chiefest of all
+blessings, our religion, and to deprive us of God, the worst of
+deprivations, and, in this intent, dost remind us of past honours
+and preferments, how should I not rightly tax thee with ignorance
+of good, seeing that thou dost at all compare these two things,
+righteousness toward God, and human friendship, and glory, that
+runneth away like water?  And how, in such ease, may we have
+fellowship with thee, and not the rather deny ourselves
+friendship and honours and love of children, and if there be any
+other tie greater than these?  When we see thee, O king, the
+rather forgetting thy reverence toward that God, who giveth thee
+the power to live and breathe, Christ Jesus, the Lord of all;
+who, being alike without beginning, and coeternal with the
+Father, and having created the heavens and the earth by his word,
+made man with his own hands and endowed him with immortality, and
+set him king of all on earth and assigned him Paradise, the
+fairest place of all, as his royal dwelling.  But man, beguiled
+by envy, and (wo is me!) caught by the bait of pleasure,
+miserably fell from all these blessings.  So he that once was
+enviable became a piteous spectacle, and by his misfortune
+deserving of tears.  Wherefore he, that had made and fashioned
+us, looked again with eyes of compassion upon the work of his own
+hands.  He, not laying aside his God-head, which he had from the
+beginning, was made man for our sakes, like ourselves, but
+without sin, and was content to suffer death upon the Cross.  He
+overthrew the foeman that from the beginning had looked with
+malice on our race; he rescued us from that bitter captivity; he,
+of his goodness, restored to us our former freedom, and, of his
+tender love towards mankind, raised us up again to that place
+from whence by our disobedience we had fallen, granting us even
+greater honour than at the first.
+
+"Him therefore, who endured such sufferings for our sakes, and
+again bestowed such blessings upon us, him dost thou reject and
+scoff at his Cross?  And, thyself wholly riveted to carnal
+delights and deadly passions, dost thou proclaim the idols of
+shame and dishonour gods?  Not only hast thou alienated thyself
+from the commonwealth of heavenly felicity but thou hast also
+severed from the same all others who obey thy commands, to the
+peril of their souls.  Know therefore that I will not obey thee,
+nor join thee in such ingratitude to God-ward; neither will I
+deny my benefactor and Saviour, though thou slay me by wild
+beasts, or give me to the fire and sword, as thou hast the power.
+For I neither fear death, nor desire the present world, having
+passed judgement on the frailty and vanity thereof.  For what is
+there profitable, abiding or stable therein?  Nay, in very
+existence, great is the misery, great the pain, great and
+ceaseless the attendant care.  Of its gladness and enjoyment the
+yoke-fellows are dejection and pain.  Its riches is poverty; its
+loftiness die lowest humiliation; and who shall tell the full
+tale of its miseries, which Saint John the Divine hath shown me
+in few words?  For he saith, `The whole world lieth in
+wickedness'; and, `Love not the world, neither the things that
+are in the world.  For all that is in the world is the lust of
+the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  And
+the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth
+the will of God abideth for ever.'  Seeking, then, this good will
+of God, I have forsaken everything, and joined myself to those
+who possess the same desire, and seek after the same God. 
+Amongst these there is no strife or envy, sorrow or care, but all
+run the like race that they may obtain those everlasting
+habitations which the Father of lights hath prepared for them
+that love him.  Them have I gained for my fathers, my brothers,
+my friends and mine acquaintances.  But from my former friends
+and brethren `I have got me away far off, and lodged in the
+wilderness' waiting for the God, who saveth me from faintness of
+spirit, and from the stormy tempest."
+
+When the man of God had made answer thus gently and in good
+reason, the king was stirred by anger, and was minded cruelly to
+torment the saint; but again he hesitated and delayed, regarding
+his venerable and noble mien.  So he answered and said:
+
+"Unhappy man, that hast contrived thine own utter ruin, driven
+thereto, I ween, by fate, surely thou hast made thy tongue as
+sharp as thy wits.  Hence thou hast uttered these vain and
+ambiguous babblings.  Had I not promised, at the beginning of our
+converse, to banish Anger from mid court, I had now given thy
+body to be burned.  But since thou hast prevented and tied me
+down fast by my words, I bear with thine effrontery, by reason of
+my former friendship with thee.  Now, arise, and flee for ever
+from my sight, lest I see thee again and miserably destroy thee."
+
+So the man of God went out and withdrew to the desert, grieved to
+have lost the crown of martyrdom, but daily a martyr in his
+conscience, and `wrestling against principalities and powers,
+against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
+spiritual wickedness'; as saith Blessed Paul.  But after his
+departure, the king waxed yet more wroth, and devised a yet
+fiercer persecution of the monastic order, while treating with
+greater honour the ministers and temple-keepers of his idols.
+
+While the king was under this terrible delusion and error, there
+was born unto him a son, a right goodly child, whose beauty from
+his very birth was prophetic of his future fortunes.  Nowhere in
+that land, they said, had there ever been seen so charming and
+lovely a babe.  Full of the keenest joy at the birth of the
+child, the king called him Ioasaph, and in his folly went in
+person to the temples of his idols, for to do sacrifice and offer
+hymns of praise to his still more foolish gods, unaware of the
+real giver of all good things, to whom he should have offered the
+spiritual sacrifice.  He then, ascribing the cause Of his son's
+birth to things lifeless and dumb, sent out into all quarters to
+gather the people together to celebrate his son's birth-day: and
+thou mightest have seen all the folk running together for fear of
+the king, and bringing their offerings ready for the sacrifice,
+according to the store at each man's hand, and his favour toward
+his lord.  But chiefly the king stirred them up to emulation.  He
+brought full many oxen, of goodly size, for sacrifice, and thus,
+making a feast for all his people, he bestowed largesses on all
+his counsellors and officers, and on all his soldiers, and all
+the poor, and men of low degree.
+
+
+III.
+
+Now on his son's birth-day feast there came unto the king some
+five and fifty chosen men, schooled in the star-lore of the
+Chaldaeans.  These the king called into his presence, and asked
+them, severally, to tell him the future of the new-born babe.
+After long counsel held, they said that he should be mighty in
+riches and power, and should surpass all that had reigned before
+him.  But one of the astrologers, the most learned of all his
+fellows, spake thus: "From that which I learn from the courses of
+the stars, O king, the advancement of the child, now born unto
+thee, will not be in thy kingdom, but in another, a better and a
+greater one beyond compare.  Methinketh also that he will embrace
+the Christian religion, which thou persecutest, and I trow that
+he will not be disappointed of his aim and hope."  Thus spake the
+astrologer, like Balaam of old, not that his star-lore told him
+true, but because God signifieth the truth by the mouth of his
+enemies, that all excuse may be taken from the ungodly.
+
+But when the king heard thereof, he received the tidings with a
+heavy heart, and sorrow cut short his joy.  Howsoever he built,
+in a city set apart, an exceeding beautiful palace, with
+cunningly devised gorgeous chambers, and there set his son to
+dwell, after he had ended his first infancy; and he forbade any
+to approach him, appointing, for instructors and servants, youths
+right seemly to behold.  These he charged to reveal to him none
+of the annoys of life, neither death, nor old age, nor disease,
+nor poverty, nor anything else grievous that might break his
+happiness: but to place before him everything pleasant and
+enjoyable, that his heart, revelling in these delights, might not
+gain strength to consider the future, nor ever hear the bare
+mention of the tale of Christ and his doctrines.  For he was
+heedful of the astrologer's warning, and it was this most that he
+was minded to conceal from his son.  And if any of the attendants
+chanced to fall sick, he commanded to have him speedily removed,
+and put another plump and well-favoured servant in his place,
+that the boy's eyes might never once behold anything to disquiet
+them.  Such then was the intent and doing of the king, for,
+'seeing, he did not see, and hearing, he did not understand.'
+
+But, learning that some monks still remained, of whom he fondly
+imagined that not a trace was left, he became angry above
+measure, and his fury was hotly kindled against them.  And he
+commanded heralds to scour all the city and all the country,
+proclaiming that after three days no monk whatsoever should be
+found therein.  But and if any were discovered after the set
+time, they should be delivered to destruction by fire and sword.
+"For," said he, "these be they that persuade the people to
+worship the Crucified as God."  Meanwhile a thing befell, that
+made the king still more angry and bitter against the monks.
+
+
+IV.
+
+There was at court a man pre-eminent among the rulers, of
+virtuous life and devout in religion.  But while working out his
+own salvation, as best he might, he kept it secret for fear of
+the king.  Wherefore certain men, looking enviously on his free
+converse with the king, studied how they might slander him; and
+this was all their thought.  On a day, when the king went forth
+a-hunting with his bodyguard, as was his wont, this good man was
+of the hunting party.  While he was walking alone, by divine
+providence, as I believe, he found a man in a covert, cast to the
+ground, his foot grievously crushed by a wild-beast.  Seeing him
+passing by, the wounded man importuned him not to go his way, but
+to pity his misfortune, and take him to his own home, adding
+thereto: "I hope that I shall not be found unprofitable, nor
+altogether useless unto thee."  Our nobleman said unto him, "For
+very charity I will take thee up, and render thee such service as
+I may.  But what is this profit which thou saidest that I should
+receive of thee?"  The poor sick man answered,"I am a physician
+of words.  If ever in speech or converse any wound or damage be
+found, I will heal it with befitting medicines, that so the evil
+spread no further."  The devout man gave no heed to his word, but
+on account of the commandment, ordered him to be carried home,
+and grudged him not that tending which he required.  But the
+aforesaid envious and malignant persons, bringing forth to light
+that ungodliness with which they had long been in travail,
+slandered this good man to the king; that not only did he forget
+his friendship with the king, and neglect the worship of the
+gods, and incline to Christianity, but more, that he was
+grievously intriguing against the kingly power, and was turning
+aside the common people, and stealing all hearts for himself.
+"But," said they, "if thou wilt prove that our charge is not
+ungrounded, call him to thee privately; and, to try him, say that
+thou desirest to leave thy fathers' religion, and the glory of
+thy kingship, and to become a Christian, and to put on the
+monkish habit which formerly thou didst persecute, having, thou
+shalt tell him, found thine old course evil."  The authors of
+this villainous charge against the Christian knew the tenderness
+of his heart, how that, if he heard such speech from the king, he
+would advise him, who had made this better choice, not to put off
+his good determinations, and so they would be found just
+accusers.
+
+But the king, not forgetful of his friend's great kindness toward
+him, thought these accusations incredible and false; and because
+he might not accept them without proof, he resolved to try the
+fact and the charge. So he called the man apart and said, to
+prove him, "Friend, thou knowest of all my past dealings with
+them that are called monks and with all the Christians.  But now,
+I have repented in this matter, and, lightly esteeming the
+present world, would fain become partaker of those hopes whereof
+I have heard them speak, of some immortal kingdom in the life to
+come; for the present is of a surety cut short by death.  And in
+none other way, methinks, can I succeed herein and not miss the
+mark except I become a Christian, and, bidding farewell to the
+glory of my kingdom and all the pleasures and joys of life, go
+seek those hermits and monks, wheresoever they be, whom I have
+banished, and join myself to their number.  Now what sayest thou
+thereto, and what is thine advice?  Say on; I adjure thee in the
+name of truth; for I know thee to be true and wise above all
+men."
+
+The worthy man, hearing this, but never guessing the hidden
+pitfall, was pricked in spirit, and, melting into tears, answered
+in his simplicity, "O king, live for ever!  Good and sound is the
+determination that thou hast determined; for though the kingdom
+of heaven be difficult to find, yet must a man seek it with all
+his might, for it is written, `He that seeketh shall find it.'
+The enjoyment of the present life, though in seeming it give
+delight and sweetness, is well thrust from us.  At the very
+moment of its being it ceaseth to be, and for our joy repayeth us
+with sorrow sevenfold.  Its happiness and its sorrow are more
+frail than a shadow, and, like the traces of a ship passing over
+the sea, or of a bird flying through the air, quickly disappear.
+But the hope of the life to come which the Christians preach is
+certain, and as surety sure; howbeit in this world it hath
+tribulation, whereas our pleasures now are short-lived, and in
+the beyond they only win us correction and everlasting punishment
+without release.  For the pleasures of such life are temporary,
+but its pains eternal; while the Christians' labours are
+temporary, but their pleasure and gain immortal.  Therefore well
+befall this good determination of the king!  for right good it is
+to exchange the corruptible for the eternal."
+
+The king heard these words and waxed exceeding wroth:
+nevertheless he restrained his anger, and for the season let no
+word fall.  But the other, being shrewd and quick of wit,
+perceived that the king took his word ill, and was craftily
+sounding him.  So, on his coming home, he fell into much grief
+and distress in his perplexity how to conciliate the king and to
+escape the peril hanging over his own head.  But as he lay awake
+all the night long, there came to his remembrance the man with
+the crushed foot; so he had him brought before him, and said, "I
+remember thy saying that thou weft an healer of injured speech."
+"Yea," quoth he, "and if thou wilt I will give thee proof of my
+skill."  The senator answered and told him of his aforetime
+friendship with the king, and of the confidence which he had
+enjoyed, and of the snare laid for him in his late converse with
+the king; how he had given a good answer, but the king had taken
+his words amiss, and by his change of countenance betrayed the
+anger lurking within his heart.
+
+The sick beggar-man considered and said, "Be it known unto thee,
+most noble sir, that the king harboureth against thee the
+suspicion, that thou wouldest usurp his kingdom, and he spake, as
+he spake, to sound thee.  Arise therefore, and crop thy hair.
+Doff these thy fine garments, and don an hair-shirt, and at
+daybreak present thyself before the king.  And when he asketh
+thee, `What meaneth this apparel?' answer him, `It hath to do
+with thy communing with me yesterday, O king.  Behold, I am ready
+to follow thee along the road that thou art eager to travel; for
+though luxury be desirable and passing sweet, God forbid that I
+embrace it after thou art gone!  Though the path of virtue, which
+thou art about to tread, be difficult and rough, yet in thy
+company I shall find it easy and pleasant, for as I have shared
+with thee this thy prosperity so now will I share thy distresses,
+that in the future, as in the past, I may be thy fellow.'"  Our
+nobleman, approving of the sick man's saying, did as he said.
+When the king saw and heard him, he was delighted, and beyond
+measure gratified by his devotion towards him.  He saw that the
+accusations against his senator were false, and promoted him to
+more honour and to a greater enjoyment of his confidence.  But
+against the monks he again raged above measure, declaring that
+this was of their teaching, that men should abstain from the
+pleasures of life, and rock themselves in visionary hopes.
+
+Another day, when he was gone a-hunting, he espied two monks
+crossing the desert.  These he ordered to be apprehended and
+brought to his chariot.  Looking angrily upon them, and breathing
+fire, as they say, "Ye vagabonds and deceivers," he cried, "have
+ye not heard the plain proclamation of the heralds, that if any
+of your execrable religion were found, after three days, in any
+city or country within my realm, he should be burned with fire?"
+The monks answered, "Lo! obedient to thine order, we be coming
+out of thy cities and coasts.  But as the journey before us is
+long, to get us away to our brethren, being in want of victuals,
+we were making provision for the way, that we perish not with
+hunger."  Said the king, "He that dreadeth menace of death
+busieth not himself with the purveyante of victuals."  "Well
+spoken, O king," cried the monks.  "They that dread death have
+concern how to escape it.  And who are these but such as cling to
+things temporary and are enamoured of them, who, having no good
+hopes yonder, find it hard to be wrenched from this present
+world, and therefore dread death?  But we, who have long since
+hated the world and the things of the world, and are walking
+along the narrow and strait road, for Christ his sake, neither
+dread death, nor desire the present world, but only long for the
+world to come.  Therefore, forasmuch the death that thou art
+bringing upon us proveth but the passage to that everlasting and
+better life, it is rather to be desired of us than feared."
+
+Hereupon the king, wishing to entrap the monks, as I ween,
+shrewdly said, "How now?  Said ye not but this instant, that ye
+were withdrawing even as I commanded you?  And, if ye fear not
+death, how came ye to be fleeing?  Lo!  this is but another of
+your idle boasts and lies."  The monks answered, "Tis not because
+we dread the death wherewith thou dost threaten us that we flee,
+but because we pity thee. `Twas in order that we might not bring
+on thee greater condemnation, that we were eager to escape.  Else
+for ourselves we are never a whit terrified by thy threats."  At
+this the king waxed wroth and bade burn them with fire.  So by
+fire were these servants of God made perfect, and received the
+Martyr's crown.  And the king published a decree that, should any
+be found leading a monk's life, he should be put to death without
+trial.  Thus was there left in that country none of the monastic
+order, save those that had hid them in mountains and caverns and
+holes of the earth.  So much then concerning this matter.
+
+
+V.
+
+But meanwhile, the king's son, of whom our tale began to tell,
+never departing from the palace prepared for him, attained to the
+age of manhood.  He had pursued all the learning of the
+Ethiopians and Persians, and was as fair and well favoured in
+mind as in body, intelligent and prudent, and shining in all
+excellencies.  To his teachers he would propound such questions
+of natural history that even they marvelled at the boy's
+quickness and understanding, while the king was astounded at the
+charm of his countenance and the disposition of his soul.  He
+charged the attendants of the young prince on no account to make
+known unto him any of the annoys of life, least of all to tell
+him that death ensueth on the pleasures of this world.  But vain
+was the hope whereon he stayed, and he was like the archer in the
+tale that would shoot at the sky.  For how could death have
+remained unknown to any human creature?  Nor did it to this boy;
+for his mind was fertile of wit, and he would reason within
+himself, why his father had condemned him never to go abroad, and
+had forbidden access to all.  He knew, without hearing it, that
+this was his father's express command.  Nevertheless he feared to
+ask him; it was not to be believed that his father intended aught
+but his good; and again, if it were so by his father's will, his
+father would not reveal the true reason, for all his asking.
+Wherefore he determined to learn the secret from some other
+source.  There was one of his tutors nearer and dearer to him
+than the rest, whose devotion he won even further by handsome
+gifts.  To him he put the question what his father might mean by
+thus enclosing him within those walls, adding, "If thou wilt
+plainly tell me this, of all thou shalt stand first in my favour,
+and I will make with thee a covenant of everlasting friendship."
+The tutor, himself a prudent man, knowing how bright and mature
+was the boy's wit and that he would not betray him, to his peril,
+discovered to him the whole matter the persecution of the
+Christians and especially of the anchorets decreed by the king,
+and how they were driven forth and banished from the country
+round about; also the prophecies of the astrologers at his birth.
+"'Twas in order," said he, "that thou mightest never hear of
+their teaching, and choose it before our religion, that the king
+hath thus devised that none but a small company should dwell with
+thee, and hath commanded us to acquaint thee with none of the
+woes of life."  When the young prince heard this he said never a
+word more, but the word of salvation took hold of his heart, and
+the grace of the Comforter began to open wide the eyes of his
+understanding, leading him by the hand to the true God, as our
+tale in its course shall tell.
+
+Now the king his father came oftentimes to see his boy, for he
+loved him passing well.  On a day his son said unto him, "There
+is something that I long to learn from thee, my lord the king, by
+reason of which continual grief and unceasing care consumeth my
+soul."  His father was grieved at heart at the very word, and
+said, "Tell me, darling child, what is the sadness that
+constraineth thee, and straightway I will do my diligence to turn
+it into gladness."  The boy said, "What is the reason of mine
+imprisonment here?  Wily hast thou barred me within walls and
+doors, never going forth and seen of none?"  His father replied,
+"Because I will not, my son, that thou shouldest behold anything
+to embitter thy heart or mar thy happiness.  I intend that thou
+shalt spend all thy days in luxury unbroken, and in all manner
+joy and pleasaunce."  "But," said the son unto his father, "know
+well, Sir, that thus I live not in joy and pleasaunce, but rather
+in affliction and great straits, so that my very meat and drink
+seem distasteful unto me and bitter.  I yearn to see all that
+lieth without these gates.  If then thou wouldest not have me
+live in anguish of mind, bid me go abroad as I desire, and let me
+rejoice my soul with sights hitherto unseen by mine eyes."
+
+Grieved was the king to hear these words, but, perceiving that to
+deny this request would but increase his boy's pain and grief, he
+answered, "My son, I will grant thee thy heart's desire."  And
+immediately he ordered that choice steeds, and an escort fit  for
+a king, be made ready, and gave him license to go abroad
+whensoever he would, charging his companions to suffer nothing
+unpleasant to come in his way, but to show him all that was
+beautiful and gladsome.  He bade them muster in the way troops of
+folk intuning melodies in every mode, and presenting divers mimic
+shows, that these might occupy and delight his mind.
+
+So thus it came to pass that the king's son often went abroad.
+One day, through the negligence of his attendants, he descried
+two men, the one maimed, and the other blind.  In abhorrence of
+the sight, he cried to his esquires, "Who are these, and what is
+this distressing spectacle?"  They, unable to conceal what he had
+with his own eyes seen, answered, "These be human sufferings,
+which spring from corrupt matter, and from a body full of evil
+humours."  The young prince asked, "Are these the fortune of all
+men?"  They answered, "Not of all, but of those in whom the
+principle of health is turned away by the badness of the
+humours."  Again the youth asked, "If then this is wont to happen
+not to all, but only to some, can they be known on whom this
+terrible calamity shall fall?  or is it undefined and
+unforeseeable?"  "What man," said they, "can discern the future,
+and accurately ascertain it?  This is beyond human nature, and is
+reserved for the immortal gods alone."  The young prince ceased
+from his questioning, but his heart was grieved at the sight that
+he had witnessed, and the form of his visage was changed by the
+strangeness of the matter.
+
+Not many days after, as he was again taking his walks abroad, he
+happened with an old man, well stricken in years, shrivelled in
+countenance, feeble-kneed, bent double, grey-haired, toothless,
+and with broken utterance.  The prince was seized with
+astonishment, and, calling the old man near, desired to know the
+meaning of this strange sight.  His companions answered, "This
+man is now well advanced in years, and his gradual decrease of
+strength, with increase of weakness, hath brought him to the
+misery that thou seest."  "And," said he, "what will be his end?"
+They answered, "Naught but death will relieve him."  "But," said
+he, "is this the appointed doom of all mankind?  Or doth it
+happen only to some?"  They answered, "Unless death come before
+hand to remove him, no dweller on earth, but, as life advanceth,
+must make trial of this lot."  Then the young prince asked in how
+many years this overtook a man, and whether the doom of death was
+without reprieve, and whether there was no way to escape it, and
+avoid coming to such misery.  They answered him, "In eighty or an
+hundred years men arrive at this old age, and then they die,
+since there is none other way; for death is a debt due to nature,
+laid on man from the beginning, and its approach is inexorable."
+
+When our wise and sagacious young prince saw and heard all this,
+he sighed from the bottom of his heart.  "Bitter is this life,"
+cried he, "and fulfilled of all pain and anguish, if this be so.
+And how can a body be careless in the expectation of an unknown
+death, whose approach (ye say) is as uncertain as it is
+inexorable?"  So he went away, restlessly turning over all these
+things in his mind, pondering without end, and ever calling up
+remembrances of death.  Wherefore trouble and despondency were
+his companions, and his grief knew no ease; for he said to
+himself, "And is it true that death shall one day overtake me?
+And who is he that shall make mention of me after death, when
+time delivereth all things to forgetfulness?  When dead, shall I
+dissolve into nothingness?  Or is there life beyond, and another
+world?"  Ever fretting over these and the like considerations, he
+waxed pale and wasted away, but in the presence of his father,
+whenever he chanced to come to him, he made as though he were
+cheerful and without trouble, unwilling that his cares should
+come to his father's knowledge.  But he longed with an
+unrestrainable yearning, to meet with the man that might
+accomplish his heart's desire, and fill his ears with the sound
+of good tidings.
+
+Again he enquired of the tutor of whom we have spoken, whether he
+knew of anybody able to help him towards his desire, and to
+establish a mind, dazed and shuddering at its cogitations, and
+unable to throw off its burden.  He, recollecting their former
+communications, said, "I have told thee already how thy father
+hath dealt with the wise men and anchorets who spend their lives
+in such philosophies.  Some hath he slain, and others he hath
+wrathfully persecuted, and I wot not whether any of this sort be
+in this country side."  Thereat the prince was overwhelmed with
+woe, and grievously wounded in spirit.  He was like unto a man
+that hath lost a great treasure, whose whole heart is occupied in
+seeking after it.  Thenceforth he lived in perpetual conflict and
+distress of mind, and all the pleasures and delights of this
+world were in his eyes an abomination and a curse.  While the
+youth was in this way, and his soul was crying out to discover
+that which is good, the eye that beholdeth all things looked upon
+him, and he that willeth that `all men should be saved, and come
+to the knowledge of the truth,' passed him not by, but showed
+this man also the tender love that he hath toward mankind, and
+made known upon him the path whereon he needs must go.  Befel it
+thus.
+
+
+VI.
+
+There was at that time a certain monk, learned in heavenly
+things, graced in word and deed, a model follower of every
+monastic rule.  Whence he sprang, and what his race, I cannot
+say, but he dwelt in a waste howling wilderness in the land of
+Senaar, and had been perfected through the grace of the
+priesthood.  Barlaam was this elder's name.  He, learning by
+divine revelation the state of the king's son, left the desert
+and returned to the world.  Changing his habit, he put on lay
+attire, and, embarking on ship board, arrived at the seat of the
+empire of the Indians.  Disguised as a merchant man, he entered
+the city, where was the palace of the king's son.  There he
+tarried many days, and enquired diligently concerning the
+prince's affairs, and those that had access to him.  Learning
+that the tutor, of whom we have spoken, was the prince's most
+familiar friend, he privily approached him, saying,
+
+"I would have thee understand, my lord, that I am a merchant man,
+come from a far country; and I possess a precious gem, the like
+of which was never yet found, and hitherto I have shewed it to no
+man.  But now I reveal the secret to thee, seeing thee to be wise
+and prudent, that thou mayest bring me before the king's son, and
+I will present it to him.  Beyond compare, it surpasseth all
+beautiful things; for on the blind in heart it hath virtue to
+bestow the light of wisdom, to open the ears of the deaf, to give
+speech to the dumb and strength to the ailing.  It maketh the
+foolish wise and driveth away devils, and without stint
+furnisheth its possessor with everything that is lovely and
+desirable."  The tutor said, "Though, to all seeming, thou art a
+man of staid and steadfast judgment, yet thy words prove thee to
+be boastful beyond measure.  Time would fail me to tell thee the
+full tale of the costly and precious gems and pearls that I have
+seen.  But gems, with such power as thou tellest of, I never saw
+nor heard of yet.  Nevertheless shew me the stone; and if it be
+as thou affirmest, I immediately bear it to the king's son, from
+whom thou shalt receive most high honours and rewards.  But,
+before I be assured by the certain witness of mine own eyes, I
+may not carry to my lord and master so swollen a tale about so
+doubtful a thing."  Quoth Barlaam, "Well hast thou said that thou
+hast never seen or heard of such powers and virtues; for my
+speech to thee is on no ordinary matter, but on a wondrous and a
+great.  But, as thou desiredst to behold it, listen to my words.
+
+"This exceeding precious gem, amongst these its powers and
+virtues, possesseth this property besides.  It cannot be seen out
+of hand, save by one whose eyesight is strong and sound, and his
+body pure and thoroughly undefiled.  If any man, lacking in these
+two good qualities, do rashly gaze upon this precious stone, he
+shall, I suppose lose even the eyesight that he hath, and his
+wits as well.  Now I, that am initiated in the physician's art,
+observe that thine eyes are not healthy, and I fear lest I may
+cause thee to lose even the eyesight that thou hast.  But of the
+king's son, I have heard that he leadeth a sober life, and that
+his eyes are young and fair, and healthy.  Wherefore to him I
+make bold to display this treasure.  Be not thou then negligent
+herein, nor rob thy master of so wondrous a boon."  The other
+answered, "If this be so, in no wise show me the gem; for my life
+hath been polluted by many sins, and also, as thou sayest, I am
+not possest of good eyesight.  But I am won by thy words, and
+will not hesitate to make known these things unto my lord the
+prince."  So saying, he went in, and, word by word, reported
+everything to the king's son.  He, hearing his tutor's words,
+felt a strange joy and spiritual gladness breathing into his
+heart, and, like one inspired, bade bring in the man forthwith.
+
+So when Barlaam was come in, and had in due order wished him
+Peace!, the prince bade him be seated.  Then his tutor withdrew,
+and Ioasaph said unto the elder, "Shew me the precious gem,
+concerning which, as my tutor hath narrated, thou tellest such
+great and marvellous tales."  Then began Barlaam to discourse
+with him thus: "It is not fitting, O prince, that I should say
+anything falsely or unadvisedly to thine excellent majesty.  All
+that hath been signified to thee from me is true and may not be
+gainsaid.  But, except I first make trial of thy mind, it is not
+lawful to declare to thee this mystery; for my master saith,
+'There went out a sower to sow his seed: and, as he sowed, some
+seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and
+devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not
+much earth: and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no
+deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched:
+and because they had no root, they withered away.  And some fell
+among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them: but
+others fell upon good ground, and brought forth fruit an
+hundredfold.'  Now, if I find in thine heart fruit-bearing
+ground, and good, I shall not be slow to plant therein the
+heavenly seed, and manifest to thee the mighty mystery.  But and
+if the ground be stony and thorny, and the wayside trodden down
+by all who will, it were better never to let fall this seed of
+salvation, nor to cast it for a prey to fowls and beasts, before
+which I have been charged not to cast pearls.  But I am
+'persuaded better things of thee, and things that accompany
+salvation,' -- how that thou shalt see the priceless stone, and
+it shall be given thee in the light of that stone to become
+light, and bring forth fruit an hundredfold.  Aye, for thy sake I
+gave diligence and accomplished a long journey, to shew thee
+things which thou hast never seen, and teach thee things which
+thou hast never heard."
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "For myself, reverend elder, I have a
+longing, all irresistible passion to hear some new and goodly
+word, and in mine heart there is kindled fire, cruelly burning
+and urging me to learn the answer to some questions that will not
+rest.  But until now I never happened on one that could satisfy
+me as touching them.  But if I meet with some wise and
+understanding man, and hear the word of salvation, I shall not
+deliver it to the fowls of the air, I trow, nor yet to the beasts
+of the field; nor shall I be found either stony or thorny-
+hearted, as thou saidest, but I shall receive the word kindly,
+and guard it wisely.  So if thou knowest any such like thing,
+conceal it not from me, but declare it.  When I heard that thou
+were come from a far country, my spirit rejoiced, and I had good
+hope of obtaining through thee that which I desire.  Wherefore I
+called thee straightway into my presence, and received thee in
+friendly wise as one of my companions and peers, if so be that I
+may not be disappointed of my hope."  Barlaam answered, "Fair are
+thy deeds, and worthy of thy royal majesty; seeing that thou hast
+paid no heed to my mean show, but hast devoted thyself to the
+hope that lieth within.
+
+"There was once a great and famous king: and it came to pass,
+when he was riding on a day in his golden chariot, with his royal
+guard, that there met him two men, clad in filthy rags, with
+fallen-in faces, and pale as death.  Now the king knew that it
+was by buffetings of the body and by the sweats of the monastic
+life that they had thus wasted their miserable flesh.  So, seeing
+them, he leapt anon from his chariot, fell on the ground, and did
+obeisance.  Then rising, he embraced and greeted them tenderly.
+But his noblemen and counsellors took offence thereat, deeming
+that their sovran had disgraced his kingly honour.  But not
+daring to reprove him to the face, they bade the king's own
+brother tell the king not thus to insult the majesty of his
+crown.  When he had told the king thereof, and had upbraided him
+for his untimely humility, the king gave his brother an answer
+which he failed to understand.
+
+"It was the custom of that king, whenever he sentenced anyone to
+death, to send a herald to his door, with a trumpet reserved for
+that purpose, and at the sound of this trumpet all understood
+that that man was liable to the penalty of death.  So when
+evening was come, the king sent the death-trumpet to sound at his
+brother's door; who, when he heard its blast, despaired of his
+life, and all night long set his house in order.  At day-break,
+robed in black and garments of mourning, with wife and children,
+he went to the palace gate, weeping and lamenting.  The king
+fetched him in, and seeing him in tears, said, `O fool, and slow
+of understanding, how didst thou, who hast had such dread of the
+herald of thy peer and brother (against whom thy conscience doth
+not accuse thee of having committed any trespass) blame me for my
+humility in greeting the heralds of my God, when they warned me,
+in gentler tones than those of the trumpet, of my death and
+fearful meeting with that Master against whom I know that I have
+often grievously offended?  Lo!  then, it was in reproof of thy
+folly that I played thee this turn, even as I will shortly
+convict of vanity those that prompted thy reproof.'  Thus he
+comforted his brother and sent him home with a gift.
+
+"Then he ordered four wooden caskets to be made.  Two of these he
+covered over all with gold, and, placing dead men's mouldering
+bones therein, secured them with golden clasps.  The other two he
+smeared over with pitch and tar, but filled them with costly
+stones and precious pearls, and all manner of aromatic sweet
+perfume.  He bound them fast with cords of hair, and called for
+the noblemen who had blamed him for his manner of accosting the
+men by the wayside.  Before them he set the four caskets, that
+they might appraise the value of these and those.  They decided
+that the golden ones were of greatest value, for, peradventure,
+they contained kingly diadems and girdles.  But those, that were
+be-smeared with pitch and tar, were cheap and of paltry worth,
+said they.  Then said the king to them, `I know that such is your
+answer, for with the eyes of sense ye judge the objects of sense,
+but so ought ye not to do, but ye should rather see with the
+inner eye the hidden worthlessness or value.'  Whereupon he
+ordered the golden chests to be opened.  And when they were
+thrown open, they gave out a loathsome smell and presented a
+hideous sight.
+
+"Said the king, `Here is a figure of those who are clothed in
+glory and honour, and make great display of power and glory, but
+within is the stink of dead men's bones and works of iniquity.'
+Next, he commanded the pitched and tarred caskets also to be
+opened, and delighted the company with the beauty and sweet
+savour of their stores.  And he said unto them, `Know ye to whom
+these are like?  They are like those lowly men, clad in vile
+apparel, whose outward form alone ye beheld, and deemed it
+outrageous that I bowed down to do them obeisance.  But through
+the eyes of my mind I perceived the value and exceeding beauty of
+their souls, and was glorified by their touch, and I counted them
+more honourable than any chaplet or royal purple.'  Thus he
+shamed his courtiers, and taught them not to be deceived by
+outward appearances, but to give heed to the things of the soul.
+After the example of that devout and wise king hast thou also
+done, in that thou hast received me in good hope, wherein, as I
+ween, thou shalt not be disappointed."  Ioasaph said unto him,
+"Fair and fitting hath been all thy speech; but now I fain would
+learn who is thy Master, who, as thou saidest at the first, spake
+concerning the Sower."
+
+
+VII.
+
+Again therefore Barlaam took up his parable and said, "If thou
+wilt learn who is my Master, it is Jesus Christ the Lord, the
+only-begotten Son of God, `the blessed and only potentate, the
+King of kings, and Lords of lords; who only hath immortality,
+dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto'; who with
+the Father and the Holy Ghost is glorified.  I am not one of
+those who proclaim from the house-top their wild rout of gods,
+and worship lifeless and dumb idols, but one God do I acknowledge
+and confess, in three persons glorified, the Father, the Son, and
+the Holy Ghost, but in one nature and substance, in one glory and
+kingdom undivided.  He then is in three persons one God, without
+beginning, and without end, eternal and everlasting, increate,
+immutable and incorporeal, invisible, infinite, incomprehensible,
+alone good and righteous, who created all things out of nothing,
+whether visible or invisible.  First, he made the heavenly and
+invisible powers, countless multitudes, immaterial and bodiless,
+ministering spirits of the majesty of God.  Afterward he created
+this visible world, heaven and earth and sea, which also he made
+glorious with light and richly adorned it; the heavens with the
+sun, moon and stars, and the earth with all manner of herbs and
+divers living beasts, and the sea in turn with all kinds of
+fishes.  `He spake the word and these all were made; he commanded
+and they were created.'  Then with his own hands he created man,
+taking dust of the ground for the fashioning of his body, but by
+his own in-breathing giving him a reasonable and intelligent
+soul, which, as it is written, was made after the image and
+likeness of God: after his image, because of reason and free
+will; after his likeness, because of the likeness of virtue, in
+its degree, to God.  Him he endowed with free will and
+immortality and appointed sovran over everything upon earth; and
+from man he made woman, to be an helpmeet of like nature for him.
+
+"And he planted a garden eastward in Eden, full of delight and
+all heart's ease, and set thereto the man whom he had formed, and
+commanded him freely to eat of all the heavenly trees therein,
+but forbade him wholly the taste of a certain one which was
+called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus saying,
+'In the day that ye eat thereof ye shall surely die.'  But one of
+the aforesaid angel powers, the marshall of one host, though he
+bore in himself no trace of natural evil from his Maker's hand
+but had been created for good, yet by his own free and deliberate
+choice turned aside from good to evil, and was stirred up by
+madness to the desire to take up arms against his Lord God.
+Wherefore he was cast out of his rank and dignity, and in the
+stead of his former blissful glory and angelick name received the
+name of the `Devil' and `Satan' for his title.  God banished him
+as unworthy of the glory above.  And together with him there was
+drawn away and hurled forth a great multitude of the company of
+angels under him, who were evil of choice, and chose in place of
+good, to follow in the rebellion of their leader.  These were
+called Devils, as being deluders and deceivers.
+
+"Thus then did the devil utterly renounce the good, and assume an
+evil nature; and he conceived spite against man, seeing himself
+hurled from such glory, and man raised to such honour; and he
+schemed to oust him from that blissful state.  So he took the
+serpent for the workshop of his own guile.  Through him he
+conversed with the woman, and persuaded her to eat of that
+forbidden tree in the hope of being as God, and through her he
+deceived Adam also, for that was the first man's name.  So Adam
+ate of the tree of disobedience, and was banished by his maker
+from that paradise of delight, and, in lieu of those happy days
+and that immortal life, fell alas!  into this life of misery and
+woe, and at the last received sentence of death.  Thenceforth the
+devil waxed strong and boastful through his victory; and, as the
+race of man multiplied, he prompted them in all manner of
+wickedness.  So, wishing to cut short the growth of sin, God
+brought a deluge on the earth, and destroyed every living soul.
+But one single righteous man did God find in that generation; and
+him, with wife and children, he saved alive in an Ark, and set
+him utterly desolate on earth.  But, when the human race again
+began to multiply, they forgat God, and ran into worse excess of
+wickedness, being in subjection to divers sins and ruined in
+strange delusions, and wandering apart into many branches of
+error.
+
+"Some deemed that everything moved by mere chance, and taught
+that there was no Providence, since there was no master to
+govern.  Others brought in fate, and committed everything to the
+stars at birth.  Others worshipped many evil deities subject to
+many passions, to the end that they might have them to advocate
+their own passions and shameful deeds, whose forms they moulded,
+and whose dumb figures and senseless idols they set up, and
+enclosed them in temples, and did homage to them, `serving the
+creature more than the Creator.'  Some worshipped the sun, moon
+and stars which God fixed, for to give light to our earthly
+sphere; things without soul or sense, enlightened and sustained
+by the providence of God, but unable to accomplish anything of
+themselves.  Others again worshipped fire and water, and the
+other elements, things without soul or sense; and men, possest of
+soul and reason, were not ashamed to worship the like of these.
+Others assigned worship to beasts, creeping and four-footed
+things, proving themselves more beastly than the things that they
+worshipped.  Others made them images of vile and worthless men,
+and named them gods, some of whom they called males, and some
+females, and they themselves set them forth as adulterers,
+murderers, victims of anger, jealousy, wrath, slayers of fathers,
+slayers of brothers, thieves and robbers, lame and maim,
+sorcerers and madmen.  Others they showed dead, struck by
+thunderbolts, or beating their breasts, or being mourned over, or
+in enslavement to mankind, or exiled, or, for foul and shameful
+unions, taking the forms of animals.  Whence men, taking occasion
+by the gods themselves, took heart to pollute themselves in all
+manner of uncleanness.  So an horrible darkness overspread our
+race in those times, and `there was none that did understand and
+seek after God.'
+
+"Now in that generation one Abraham alone was found strong in his
+spiritual senses; and by contemplation of Creation he recognized
+the Creator.  When he considered heaven, earth and sea, the sun,
+moon and the like, he marvelled at their harmonious ordering.
+Seeing the world, and all that therein is, he could not believe
+that it had been created, and was upheld, by its own power, nor
+did he ascribe such a fair ordering to earthly elements or
+lifeless idols.  But therein he recognized the true God, and
+understood him to be the maker and sustainer of the whole.  And
+God, approving his fair wisdom and right judgement, manifested
+himself unto him, not as he essentially is (for it is impossible
+for a created being to see God), but by certain manifestations in
+material forms, as he alone can, and he planted in Abraham more
+perfect knowledge; he magnified him and made him his own servant.
+Which Abraham in turn handed down to his children his own
+righteousness, and taught them to know the true God.  Wherefore
+also the Lord was pleased to multiply his seed beyond measure,
+and called them `a peculiar people,' and brought them forth out
+of bondage to the Egyptian nation, and to one Pharaoh a tyrant,
+by strange and terrible signs and wonders wrought by the hand of
+Moses and Aaron, holy men, honoured with the gift of prophecy; by
+whom also he punished the Egyptians in fashion worthy of their
+wickedness, and led the Israelites (for thus the people descended
+from Abraham were called) through the Red Sea upon dry land, the
+waters dividing and making a wall on the right hand and a wall on
+the left.  But when Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursued and went in
+after them, the waters returned and utterly destroyed them.  Then
+with exceeding mighty miracles and divine manifestations by the
+space of forty years he led the people in the wilderness, and fed
+them with bread from heaven, and gave the Law divinely written on
+tables of stone, which he delivered unto Moses on the mount, `a
+type and shadow of things to come' leading men away from idols
+and all manner of wickedness, and teaching them to worship only
+the one true God, and to cleave to good works.  By such wondrous
+deeds, he brought them into a certain goodly land, the which he
+had promised aforetime to Abraham the patriarch, that he would
+give it unto his seed.  And the task were long, to tell of all
+the mighty and marvellous works full of glory and wonder, without
+number, which he shewed unto them, by which it was his purpose to
+pluck the human race from all unlawful worship and practice, and
+to bring men back to their first estate.  But even so our nature
+was in bondage by its freedom to err, and death had dominion over
+mankind, delivering all to the tyranny of the devil, and to the
+damnation of hell.
+
+"So when we had sunk to this depth of misfortune and misery, we
+were not forgotten by him that formed and brought us out of
+nothing into being, nor did he suffer his own handiwork utterly
+to perish.  By the good pleasure of our God and Father, and the
+co-operation of the Holy Ghost, the only-begotten Son, even the
+Word of God, which is in the bosom of the Father, being of one
+substance with the Father and with the Holy Ghost, he that was
+before all worlds, without beginning, who was in the beginning,
+and was with God even the Father, and was God, he, I say,
+condescended toward his servants with an unspeakable and
+incomprehensible condescension; and, being perfect God, was made
+perfect man, of the Holy Ghost, and of Mary the Holy Virgin and
+Mother of God, not of the seed of man, nor of the will of man,
+nor by carnal union, being conceived in the Virgin's undefiled
+womb, of the Holy Ghost; as also, before his conception, one of
+the Archangels was sent to announce to the Virgin that miraculous
+conception and ineffable birth.  For without seed was the Son of
+God conceived of the Holy Ghost, and in the Virgin's womb he
+formed for himself a fleshy body, animate with a reasonable and
+intelligent soul, and thence came forth in one substance, but in
+two natures, perfect God and perfect man, and preserved
+undefiled, even after birth, the virginity of her that bore him.
+He, being made of like passions with ourselves in all things, yet
+without sin, took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.  For,
+since by sin death entered into the world, need was that he, that
+should redeem the world, should be without sin, and not by sin
+subject unto death.
+
+"When he had lived thirty years among men, he was baptized in the
+river Jordan by John, an holy man, and great above all the
+prophets.  And when he was baptized there came a voice from
+heaven, from God, even the Father, saying, `This is my beloved
+Son, in whom I am well pleased,' and the Holy Ghost descended
+upon him in likeness of a dove.  From that time forth he began to
+do great signs and wonders, raising the dead, giving sight to the
+blind, casting out devils, healing the lame and maim, cleansing
+lepers, and everywhere renewing our out-worn nature, instructing
+men both by word and deed, and teaching the way of virtue,
+turning men from destruction and guiding their feet toward life
+eternal.  Wherefore also he chose twelve disciples, whom he
+called Apostles, and commanded them to preach the kingdom of
+heaven which he came upon earth to declare, and to make heavenly
+us who are low and earthly, by virtue of his Incarnation.
+
+"But, through envy of his marvellous and divine conversation and
+endless miracles, the chief priests and rulers of the Jews
+(amongst whom also he dwelt, on whom he had wrought his aforesaid
+signs and miracles), in their madness forgetting all, condemned
+him to death, having seized one of the Twelve to betray him. 
+And, when they had taken him, they delivered him to the Gentiles,
+him that was the life of the world, he of his free will
+consenting thereto; for he came for our sakes to suffer all
+things, that he might free us from sufferings.  But when they had
+done him much despite, at the last they condemned him to the
+Cross.  All this he endured in the nature of that flesh which he
+took from us, his divine nature remaining free of suffering: for,
+being of two natures, both the divine and that which he took from
+us, his human nature suffered, while his Godhead continued free
+from suffering and death.  So our Lord Jesus Christ, being
+without sin, was crucified in the flesh, for he did no sin,
+neither was guile found in his mouth; and he was not subject unto
+death, for by sin, as I have said before, came death into the
+world; but for our sakes he suffered death in the flesh, that he
+might redeem us from the tyranny of death.  He descended into
+hell, and having harrowed it, he delivered thence souls that had
+been imprisoned therein for ages long.  He was buried, and on the
+third day he rose again, vanquishing death and granting us the
+victory over death: and he, the giver of immortality, having made
+flesh immortal, was seen of his disciples, and bestowed upon them
+peace, and, through them, peace on the whole human race.
+
+"After forty days he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the
+right hand of the Father.  And he shall come again to judge the
+quick and the dead, and to reward every man according to his
+works.  After his glorious Ascension into heaven he sent forth
+upon his disciples the Holy Ghost in likeness of fire, and they
+began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
+utterance.  From thence by his grace they were scattered abroad
+among all nations, and preached the true Catholic Faith,
+baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
+the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to observe all the commandments
+of the Saviour.  So they gave light to the people that wandered
+in darkness, and abolished the superstitious error of idolatry.
+Though the enemy chafeth under his defeat, and even now stirreth
+up war against us, the faithful, persuading the fools and unwise
+to cling to the worship of idols, yet is his power grown feeble,
+and his swords have at last failed him by the power of Christ.
+Lo, in few words I have made known unto thee my Master, my God,
+and my Saviour; but thou shalt know him more perfectly, if thou
+wilt receive his grace into thy soul, and gain the blessing to
+become his servant."
+
+
+VIII.
+
+When the king's son had heard these words, there flashed a light
+upon his soul.  Rising from his seat in the fulness of his joy,
+he embraced Barlaam, saying: "Most honoured sir, methinks this
+might be that priceless stone which thou dost rightly keep
+secret, not displaying it to all that would see it, but only to
+these whose spiritual sense is strong.  For lo, as these words
+dropped upon mine ear, sweetest light entered into my heart, and
+the heavy veil of sorrow, that hath now this long time enveloped
+my heart, was in an instant removed.  Tell me if my guess be
+true: or if thou knowest aught better than that which thou hast
+spoken, delay not to declare it to me."
+
+Again, therefore, Barlaam answered, "Yea, my lord and prince,
+this is the mighty mystery which hath been hid from ages and
+generations, but in these last days hath been made known unto
+mankind; the manifestation whereof, by the grace of the Holy
+Ghost, was foretold by many prophets and righteous men,
+instructed at sundry times and in divers manners.  In trumpet
+tones they proclaimed it, and all looked forward to the salvation
+that should be: this they desired to see, but saw it not.  But
+this latest generation was counted worthy to receive salvation.
+Wherefore he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but
+he that believeth not shall be damned."
+
+Said Ioasaph, "All that thou hast told me I believe without
+question, and him whom thou declarest I glorify as God.  Only
+make all plain to me, and teach me clearly what I must do.  But
+especially go on to tell me what is that Baptism which thou
+sayest that the Faithful receive."
+
+The other answered him thus, "The root mid sure foundation of
+this holy and perfect Christian Faith is the grace of heavenly
+Baptism, fraught with the cleansing from all original sins, and
+complete purification of all defilements of evil that come after.
+For thus the Saviour commanded a man to be born again of water
+and of the spirit, and be restored to his first dignity, to wit,
+by supplication and by calling on the Saving Name, the Holy
+Spirit brooding on the water.  We are baptized, then, according
+to the word of the Lord, in the Name of the Father, and of the
+Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and thus the grace of the Holy Ghost
+dwelleth in the soul of the baptized, illuminating and making it
+God-like and renewing that which was made after his own image and
+likeness.  And for the time to come we cast away all the old
+works of wickedness, and we make covenant with God of a second
+life and begin a purer conversation, that we may also become
+fellow-heirs with them that are born again to incorruption and
+lay hold of everlasting salvation.  But without Baptism it is
+impossible to attain to that good hope, even though a man be more
+pious than piety itself.  For thus spake God, the Word, who was
+incarnate for the salvation of our race, `Verily I say unto you,
+except ye be born of water and of the Spirit, ye shall in no wise
+enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.'  Wherefore before all things I
+require thee to receive faith within thy soul, and to draw near
+to Baptism anon with hearty desire, and on no account to delay
+herein, for delay is parlous, because of the uncertainty of the
+appointed day of death."
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "And what is this good hope whereto thou
+sayest it is impossible without baptism to attain?  And what this
+kingdom which thou callest the kingdom of Heaven?  And how cometh
+it that thou hast heard the words of God incarnate?  And what is
+the uncertain day of death?  For on this account much anxiety
+hath fallen on my heart, and consumeth my flesh in pain and
+grief, and fasteneth on my very bones.  And shall we men,
+appointed to die, return to nothing, or is there some other life
+after our departure hence?  These and kindred questions I have
+been longing to resolve."
+
+Thus questioned he; and Barlaam answered thus: "The good hope,
+whereof I spake, is that of the kingdom of Heaven.  But that
+kingdom is far beyond the utterance of mortal tongue; for the
+Scripture saith, `Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
+entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared
+for them that love him.'  But when we have shuffled off this
+gross flesh, and attained to that blessedness, then will that
+Master, which hath granted to us not to fail of this hope, teach
+and make known unto us the glory of those good things, whose
+glory passeth all understanding: -- that light ineffable, that
+life that hath no ending, that converse with Angels.  For if it
+be granted us to hold communion with God, so far as is attainable
+to human nature, then shall we know all things from his lips
+which now we know not.  This doth my initiation into the teaching
+of the divine Scriptures teach me to be the real meaning of the
+kingdom of Heaven; to approach the vision of the blessed and
+life-giving Trinity, and to be illumined with his unapproachable
+light, and with clearer and purer sight, and with unveiled face,
+to behold as in a glass his unspeakable glory.  But, if it be
+impossible to express in language that glory, that light, and
+those mysterious blessings, what marvel?  For they had not been
+mighty and singular, if they had been comprehended by reason and
+expressed in words by us who are earthly, and corruptible, and
+clothed in this heavy garment of sinful flesh.  Holding then such
+knowledge in simple faith, believe thou undoubtingly, that these
+are no fictions; but by good works be urgent to lay hold on that
+immortal kingdom, to which when thou hast attained, thou shalt
+have perfect knowledge.
+
+"As touching thy question, How it is that we have heard the words
+of the Incarnate God, know thou that we have been taught all that
+appertaineth to the divine Incarnation by the Holy Gospels, for
+thus that holy book is called, because it telleth us, who are
+corruptible and earthly, the `good spell' of immortality and
+incorruption, of life eternal, of the remission of sins, and of
+the kingdom of heaven.  This book was written by the eyewitnesses
+and ministers of the Word, and of these I have already said that
+our Lord Jesus Christ chose them for disciples and apostles; and
+they delivered it unto us in writing, after the glorious
+Ascension of our Master into Heaven, a record of his life on
+earth, his teachings and miracles, so far as it was possible to
+commit them to writing.  For thus, toward the end of his volume,
+saith he that is the flower of the holy Evangelists, `And there
+are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they
+should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself
+could not contain the books that should be written.'
+
+"So in this heavenly Gospel, written by the Spirit of God, is
+recorded the history of his Incarnation, his manifestation, his
+miracles and acts.  Afterward, it telleth of the innocent
+suffering which the Lord endured for our sake, of his holy
+Resurrection on the third day, his Ascent into the heavens, and
+of his glorious and dreadful second coming; for the Son of God
+shall come again on earth, with unspeakable glory, and with a
+multitude of the heavenly host to judge our race, and to reward
+every man according to his works.  For, at the beginning, God
+created man out of earth, as I have already told thee, and
+breathed into him breath, which is called a reasonable and
+understanding soul.  But since we were sentenced to death, we die
+all: and it is not possible for this cup to pass any man by.  Now
+death is the separation of the soul from the body.  And that body
+which was formed out of earth, when severed from the soul,
+returneth to earth from whence also it was taken, and, decaying,
+perisheth; but the soul, being immortal, fareth whither her Maker
+calleth, or rather to the place where she, while still in the
+body, hath prepared for herself lodgement.  For as a man hath
+lived here, so shall he receive reward there.
+
+"Then, after long seasons, Christ our God shall come to judge the
+world in awful glory, beyond words to tell; and for fear of him
+the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and all the angel hosts
+stand beside him in dread.  Then, at the voice of the archangel,
+and at the trump of God, shall the dead arise and stand before
+his awful throne.  Now the Resurrection is the re-uniting of soul
+and body.  So that very body, which decayeth and perisheth, shall
+arise incorruptible.  And concerning this, beware lest the
+reasoning of unbelief overtake thee; for it is not impossible for
+him, who at the beginning formed the body out of earth, when
+according to its Maker's doom it hath returned to earth whence it
+was taken, to raise the same again.  If thou wilt but consider
+how many things God hath made out of nothing, this proof shall
+suffice thee.  He took earth and made man, though earth was not
+man before.  How then did earth become man?  And how was earth,
+that did not exist, produced?  And what foundation hath it?  And
+how were countless kind of things without reason, of seeds and
+plants, produced out of it!  Nay, now also consider the manner of
+our birth.  Is not a little seed thrown into the womb that
+receiveth it?  Whence then cometh such a marvellous fashioning of
+a living creature?
+
+"So for him, who hath made everything out of nothing, and still
+doth make, it is not impossible to raise deadened and corrupt
+bodies from the earth, that every man may be rewarded according
+to his works; for he saith, `The present is the time for work,
+the future for recompense.'  Else, where were the justice of God,
+if there were no Resurrection?  Many righteous men in this
+present life have suffered much ill-usage and torment, and have
+died violent deaths; and the impious and the law-breaker hath
+spent his days here in luxury and prosperity.  But God, who is
+good and just, hath appointed a day of resurrection and
+inquisition, that each soul may receive her own body, and that
+the wicked, who received his good things here, may there be
+punished for his misdeeds, and that the good, who was here
+chastised for his misdeeds, may there inherit his bliss.  For,
+saith the Lord, `They that are in the graves shall hear the voice
+of the Son of God, and shall come forth; they that have done good
+unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto
+the resurrection of doom.'  Then also shall thrones be set, and
+the Ancient of days and Maker of all things shall sit as Judge,
+and there shall be opened books with records of the deeds and
+words and thoughts of all of us, and a fiery stream shall issue,
+and all hidden things shall be revealed.  There can no advocate,
+no persuasive words, no false excuse, no mightiness of riches, no
+pomp of rank, no lavishment of bribes, avail to pervert righteous
+judgement.  For he, the uncorrupt and truthful Judge, shall weigh
+everything in the balance of justice, every act, word and
+thought.  And they that have done good shall go into life
+everlasting, into light unspeakable, rejoicing in the fellowship
+of the Angels, to enjoy bliss ineffable, standing in purity
+before the Holy Trinity.  But they that have done evil, and all
+the ungodly and sinners, shall go into everlasting punishment,
+which is called Gehenna, and outer darkness, and the worm that
+dieth not, and the gnashing of teeth, and a thousand other names
+of punishment; which meaneth rather -- bitterest of all, --
+alienation from God, the being cast away from the sweetness of
+his presence, the being deprived of that glory which baffleth
+description, the being made a spectacle unto the whole creation,
+and the being put to shame, and shame that hath no ending.  For,
+after the passing of that terrible sentence, all things shall
+abide immutable and unchangeable.  The blissful life of the
+righteous shall have no close, neither shall the misery and
+punishment of sinners find an end: because, after him, there is
+no higher Judge, and no defence by after-works, no time for
+amendment, no other way for them that are punished, their
+vengeance being co-eternal with them.
+
+"Seeing that this is so, what manner of persons ought we to be in
+all holy conversation and godliness, that we may be counted
+worthy to escape the wrath to come, and to be ranged on the right
+hand of the Son of God?  For this is the station of the
+righteous: but to sinners is allotted the station of misery on
+the left.  Then shall the Lord call the righteous `Blessed,' and
+shall lead them into his everlasting kingdom.  But, as for
+sinners, with anger and curse he will banish them from his serene
+and gentle countenance the bitterest and hardest lot of all and
+will send them away into everlasting punishment."
+
+
+IX.
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "Great and marvellous, sir, are the things
+whereof thou tellest me, fearful and terrible, if indeed these
+things be so, and, if there be after death and dissolution into
+dust and ashes, a resurrection and re-birth, and rewards and
+punishments for the deeds done during life.  But what is the
+proof thereof?  And how have ye come to learn that which ye have
+not seen, that ye have so steadfastly and undoubtingly believed
+it?  As for things that have already been done and made manifest
+in deed, though ye saw them not, yet have ye heard them from the
+writers of history.  But, when it is of the future that ye preach
+tidings of such vast import, how have ye made your conviction on
+these matters sure?"
+
+Quoth Barlaam, "From the past I gain certainty about the future;
+for they that preached the Gospel, without erring from the truth,
+but establishing their sayings by signs and wonders and divers
+miracles, themselves also spake of the future.  So, as in the one
+case they taught us nothing amiss or false, but made all that
+they said and did to shine clearer than the sun, so also in the
+other matter they gave us true doctrine, even that which our Lord
+and Master Jesus Christ himself confirmed both by word and deed.
+'Verily,' he spake, `I say unto you, the hour is coming in the
+which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son
+of God and they that hear shall live:' and again, `The hour
+cometh when the dead shall hear his voice, and shall come forth,
+they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they
+that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.'  And
+again he said concerning the resurrection of the dead, `Have ye
+not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the
+God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  God
+is not the God of the dead but of the living.'  `For as the tares
+are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of
+this age.  The Son of God shall send forth his Angels, and they
+shall gather all things that offend, and them which do iniquity,
+and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be
+wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Then shall the righteous shine
+forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father.'  Thus spake he
+and added this thereto, `Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.'
+
+"In such words and many more did the Lord make manifest the
+resurrection of our bodies, and confirm his words in deed, by
+raising many that were dead.  And, toward the end of his life
+upon earth, he called from the grave one Lazarus his friend, that
+had already been four days dead and stank, and thus he restored
+the lifeless to life.  Moreover, the Lord himself became the
+first-fruits of that resurrection which is final and no longer
+subject unto death, after he had in the flesh tasted of death;
+and on the third day he rose again, and became the first-born
+from the dead.  For other men also were raised from the dead, but
+died once more, and might not yet attain to the likeness of the
+future true resurrection.  But he alone was the leader of that
+resurrection, the first to be raised to the resurrection
+immortal.
+
+"This was the preaching also of them that from the beginning were
+eye-witnesses and ministers of the word; for thus saith blessed
+Paul, whose calling was not of men, but from heaven, `Brethren, I
+declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you.  For I
+delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
+that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.  Now
+if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
+among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?  For if the
+dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.  And if Christ be not
+raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.  If in this
+life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
+miserable.  But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the
+first-fruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by
+man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all
+die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.'  And after a
+little while, `For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
+this mortal must put on immortality.  So when this corruptible
+shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
+immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is
+written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death where is thy
+sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?'  For then the power of
+death is utterly annulled and destroyed, no longer working in us,
+but for the future there is given unto men immortality and
+incorruption for evermore.
+
+"Beyond all question, therefore, there shall be a resurrection of
+the dead, and this we believe undoubtingly.  Moreover we know
+that there shall be rewards and punishments for the deeds done in
+our life-time, on the dreadful day of Christ's coming, `wherein
+the heavens shall be dissolved in fire and the elements shall
+melt with fervent heat,' as saith one of the inspired clerks of
+God; `nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new
+heavens and a new earth.'  For that there shall be rewards and
+punishments for men's works, and that absolutely nothing, good or
+bad, shall be overlooked, but that there is reserved a requital
+for words, deeds and thoughts, is plain.  The Lord saith,
+'Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a
+cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, he shall in no
+wise lose his reward.'  And again he saith, `When the Son of man
+shall come in his glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then
+before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate
+them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
+goats.  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the
+goats on the left.  Then shall the King say unto them on his
+right hand, `Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
+prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was an
+hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me
+drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed
+me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came
+unto me.'  Wherefore saith he this, except he count the kind acts
+we do unto the needy as done unto himself?  And in another place
+he saith, `Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also
+confess before my Father which is in heaven.'
+
+"Lo, by all these examples and many more he proveth that the
+rewards of good works are certain and sure.  Further, that
+punishments are in store for the bad, he foretold by parables
+strange and wonderful, which he, the Well of Wisdom most wisely
+put forth.  At one time he brought into his tale a certain rich
+man which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared
+sumptuously every day, but who was so niggardly and pitiless
+toward the destitute as to overlook a certain beggar named
+Lazarus laid at his gate, and not even to give him of the crumbs
+from his table.  So when one and other were dead, the poor man,
+full of sores, was carried away, he saith, into Abraham's bosom,
+for thus he describeth the habitation of the righteous -- but the
+rich man was delivered to the fire of bitter torment in hell.  To
+him said Abraham, `Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good
+things, and likewise Lazarus his evil things, but now he is
+comforted, and thou art tormented."
+
+"And otherwhere he likeneth the kingdom of heaven to a certain
+king which made a marriage-feast for his son and thereby he
+declared future happiness and splendour.  For as he was wont to
+speak to humble and earthly minded men, he would draw his
+parables from homely and familiar things.  Not that he meant that
+marriages and feasts exist in that world; but in condescension to
+men's grossness, he employed these names when he would make known
+to them the future.  So, as he telleth, the king with high
+proclamation called all to come to the marriage to take their
+fill of his wondrous store of good things.  But many of them that
+were bidden made light of it and came not, and busied themselves:
+some went to their farms, some to their merchandize, and others
+to their newly wedded wives, and thus deprived themselves of the
+splendour of the bride chamber.  Now when these had, of their own
+choice, absented themselves from this joyous merriment, others
+were bidden thereto, and the wedding was furnished with guests.
+And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man
+which had not on a wedding garment, and he said unto him,
+"Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding
+garment?"  And he was speechless.  Then Said the king to the
+servants, "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast
+him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of
+teeth.'  Now they who made excuses and paid no heed to the call
+are they that hasten not to the faith of Christ, but continue in
+idolatry or heresy.  But he that had no wedding garment is he
+that believeth, but hath soiled his spiritual garment with
+unclean acts, and was rightly cast forth from the joy of the
+bride chamber.
+
+"And he put forth yet another parable, in harmony with this, in
+his picture of the Ten Virgins, `five of whom were wise, and five
+were foolish.  They that were foolish took their lamps and took
+no oil with them, but the wise took oil.'  By the oil he
+signifieth the acquiring of good works.  `And at midnight,' he
+saith, `there was a cry made, "Behold the bridegroom cometh, go
+ye out to meet him."'  By midnight he denoteth the uncertainty of
+that time.  Then all those virgins arose.  `They that were ready
+went forth to meet the bridegroom and went in with him to the
+marriage, and the door was shut.'  But they that were un-ready
+(whom rightly he calleth foolish), seeing that their lamps were
+going out, went forth to buy oil.  Afterward they drew nigh, the
+door being now shut, and cried, saying, `Lord, Lord, open to us.'
+But he answered and said, `Verily I say unto you, I know you
+not.'  Wherefore from all this it is manifest that there is a
+requital not only for overt acts, but also for words and even
+secret thoughts; for the Saviour said, `I say unto you, that for
+every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account
+thereof in the day of judgement.'  And again he saith, `But the
+very hairs of your head are numbered,' by the hairs meaning the
+smallest and slightest phantasy or thought.  And in harmony
+herewith is the teaching of blessed Paul, `For the word of God,'
+saith he, `is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
+sword, and piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
+spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
+thoughts and intents of the heart.  Neither is there any creature
+that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and
+laid bare unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
+
+"These things also were proclaimed with wondrous clearness by the
+prophets of old time, illumined by the grace of the Spirit.  For
+Esay saith, `I know their works and their thoughts,' and will
+repay them.  `Behold, I come to gather all nations and all
+tongues; and they shall come and see my glory.  And the heaven
+shall be new, and the earth, which I make before me.  And all
+flesh shall come to worship before me, saith the Lord.  And they
+shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have
+transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither
+shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle unto
+all flesh."  And again he saith concerning that day, "And the
+heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all the stars
+shall fall down as leaves from the vine.  For behold, the day of
+the Lord cometh, cruel with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the
+whole world desolate and to destroy the sinners out of it.  For
+the stars of heaven and Orion and all the constellations of
+heaven shall not give their light, and there shall be darkness at
+the sun's rising, and the moon shall not give her light.  And I
+will cause the arrogancy of the sinners to cease, and will lay
+low the haughtiness of the proud.'  And again he saith, `Wo unto
+them that draw their iniquities as with a long cord, and their
+sins as with an heifer's cart-rope!  Wo unto them that call evil
+good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for
+darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Wo
+unto those of you that are mighty, that are princes, that mingle
+strong drink, which justify the wicked for reward, and take
+justice from the just, and turn aside the judgement from the
+needy, and take away the right from the poor, that the widow may
+be their spoil and the fatherless their prey!  And what will they
+do in the day of visitation, and to whom will they flee for help?
+And where will they leave their glory, that they fall not into
+arrest?  Like as stubble shall be burnt by live coal of fire, and
+consumed by kindled flame, so their root shall be as foam, and
+their blossom shall go up as dust, for they would not the law of
+the Lord of hosts, and provoked the oracle of the Holy One of
+Israel."
+
+"In tune therewith saith also another prophet, `The great day of
+the Lord is near, and hasteth greatly.  The bitter and austere
+voice of the day of the Lord hath been appointed.  A mighty day
+of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of
+wasteness and desolation, a day of blackness and gloominess, a
+day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm.
+And I will bring distress upon the wicked, and they shall walk
+like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord.
+Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them
+in the day of the Lord's wrath; for the whole land shall be
+devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make a
+riddance of all them that dwell in the land.'  Moreover David,
+the king and prophet, crieth thus, `God shall come visibly, even
+our God, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall be kindled
+before him, and a mighty tempest round about him.  He shall call
+the heaven from above, and the earth, that he may judge his
+people.'  And again he saith, `Arise, O God, judge thou the
+earth, because "the fierceness of man shall turn to thy praise."
+And thou shalt "reward every man according to his works."'  And
+many other such things have been spoken by the Psalmist, and all
+the Prophets inspired by the Holy Ghost, concerning the judgement
+and the recompense to come.  Their words also have been most
+surely confirmed by the Saviour who hath taught us to believe the
+resurrection of the dead, and the recompense of the deeds done in
+the flesh, and the unending life of the world to come."
+
+X
+
+But Ioasaph was filled hereby with deep compunction, and was
+melted into tears; and he said to the elder, "Thou hast told me
+everything plainly, and hast completed unerringly thy terrible
+and marvellous tale.  With such truths set before us, what must
+we do to escape the punishments in store for sinners, and to gain
+the joy of the righteous?"
+
+Barlaam answered: "It is written of Peter, who was also called
+chief of the Apostles, that once when he was preaching the people
+were pricked in their heart, like thyself to-day: and when they
+asked, `What shall we do?', Peter said unto them, `Repent, and be
+baptized every one of you for the remission of sins, and ye shall
+receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  For to you is the promise,
+and to your children, and to all that are afar off even as many
+as the Lord our God shall call.'  Behold therefore upon thee also
+hath he poured forth the riches of his mercy, and hath called
+thee that wert afar off from him in heart, and didst serve
+others, not Gods, but pernicious devils and dumb and senseless
+wooden images.  Wherefore before all things approach thou him who
+hath called thee, and from him shalt thou receive the true
+knowledge of things visible and invisible.  But if, after thy
+calling, thou be loth or slack, thou shalt be disherited by the
+just judgement of God, and by thy rejection of him thou shalt be
+rejected.  For thus too spake the same Apostle Peter to a certain
+disciple.  But I believe that thou hast heard the call, and that,
+when thou hast heard it more plainly, thou wilt take up thy
+Cross, and follow that God and Master that calleth thee, calleth
+thee to himself from death unto life, and from darkness unto
+light.  For, soothly, ignorance of God is darkness and death of
+the soul; and to serve idols, to the destruction of all nature,
+is to my thinking the extreme of all senselessness.
+
+"But idolaters -- to whom shall I compare them, and to what
+likeness shall I liken their silliness?  Well, I will set before
+thee an example which I heard from the lips of one most wise.
+
+"'Idol worshippers,' said he, `are like a fowler who caught a
+tiny bird, called nightingale.  He took a knife, for to kill and
+eat her; but the nightingale, being given the power of articulate
+speech, said to the fowler, `Man, what advantageth it thee to
+slay me?  for thou shalt not be able by my means to fill thy
+belly.  Now free me of my fetters, and I will give thee three
+precepts, by the keeping of which thou shalt be greatly benefited
+all thy life long.'  He, astonied at her speech, promised that,
+if he heard anything new from her, he would quickly free her from
+her captivity.  The nightingale turned towards our friend and
+said, `Never try to attain to the unattainable: never regret the
+thing past and gone: and never believe the word that passeth
+belief.  Keep these three precepts, and may it be well with
+thee.'  The man, admiring the lucidity and sense of her words,
+freed the bird from her captivity, and sent her forth aloft. 
+She, therefore, desirous to know whether the man had understood
+the force of her words, and whether he had gleaned any profit
+therefrom, said, as she flew aloft, `Shame, sir, on thy
+fecklessness!  What a treasure that hast lost to-day!  For I have
+inside me a pearl larger than an ostrich-egg.'  When the fowler
+heard thereof, he was distraught with grief, regretting that the
+bird had escaped out of his hands.  And he would fain have taken
+her again.  `Come hither,' said he, `into my house: I will make
+thee right welcome, and send thee forth with honour.'  But the
+nightingale said unto him, `Now I know thee to be a mighty fool.
+Though thou didst receive my words readily and gladly, thou hast
+gained no profit thereby.  I bade thee never regret the thing
+past and gone; and behold thou art distraught with grief because
+I have escaped out of thy hands there thou regrettest a thing
+past and gone.  I charged thee not to try to attain to the
+unattainable, and thou triest to catch me, though thou canst not
+attain to my path.  Besides which, I bade thee never believe a
+word past belief, and behold thou hast believed that I had inside
+me a pearl exceeding the measure of my size, and hadst not the
+sense to see that my whole body doth not attain to the bulk of
+ostrich eggs.  How then could I contain such a pearl?"'
+
+"Thus senseless, then, are also they that trust in idols: for
+these be their handiwork, and they worship that which their
+fingers made, saying, `These be our creators.'  How then deem
+they their creators those which have been formed and fashioned by
+themselves?  Nay more, they safeguard their gods, lest they be
+stolen by thieves, and yet they call them guardians of their
+safety.  And yet what folly not to know that they, which be
+unable to guard and aid themselves, can in no wise guard and save
+others!  `For' saith he, `why, on behalf of the living, should
+they seek unto the dead?'  They expend wealth, for to raise
+statues and images to devils, and vainly boast that these give
+them good gifts, and crave to receive of their hands things which
+those idols never possessed, nor ever shall possess.  Wherefore
+it is written, `May they that make them be like unto them, and so
+be all such as put their trust in them, who,' he saith, `hire a
+goldsmith, and make them gods, and they fall down, yea, they
+worship them.  They bear them upon the shoulders, and go forward.
+And if they set them in their place, they stand therein: they
+shall not remove.  Yea, one shall cry unto them, yet call they
+not answer him, nor save him out of his trouble.'  `Wherefore be
+ye ashamed with everlasting shame, ye that trust in graven
+images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.'  `For
+they sacrificed,' he saith, `unto devils, and not to God; to gods
+whom their fathers knew not.  There came new and fresh gods;
+because it is a froward generation, and there is no faith in
+them.'
+
+"Wherefore out of this wicked and faithless generation the Lord
+calleth thee to him, saying, `Come out from among them, and be
+thou separate, and touch no unclean thing,' but `save thyself
+from this untoward generation.'  `Arise thou, and depart, for
+this is not thy rest;' for that divided lordship, which your gods
+hold, is a thing of confusion and strife and hath no real being
+whatsoever.  But with us it is not so, neither have we many gods
+and lords, but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and
+we unto him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things
+and we by him, `who is the image of the invisible God, the first
+born of every creature' and of all ages, `for in him were all
+things created that are in the heavens and that are upon the
+earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or
+dominions, or principalities, or powers.'  `All things were made
+by him, and without him was not anything made that was made:' and
+one Holy Ghost, in whom are all things, `the Lord and Giver of
+life,' God and making God, the good Spirit, the right Spirit,
+'the Spirit the Comforter,' `the Spirit of adoption.'  Of these
+each person, severally, is God.  As the Father is, so also is the
+Son, and as the Son, so also the Holy Ghost.  And there is one
+God in three, one nature, one kingdom, one power, one glory, one
+substance, distinct in persons, and so only distinct.  One is the
+Father, whose property it is not to have been begotten; one is
+the only-begotten Son, and his property it is to have been
+begotten; and one is the Holy Ghost, and his property it is that
+he proceedeth.  Thus illuminated by that light, which is the
+Father, with that light, which is the Son, in that light, which
+is the Holy Ghost, we glorify one Godhead in three persons.  And
+he is one very and only God, known in the Trinity: for of him and
+through him, and unto him are all things.
+
+"By his grace also, I came to know thy ease, and was sent to
+teach thee the lessons that I have learned and observed from my
+youth even to these grey hairs.  If then thou shalt believe and
+be baptized, thou shalt be saved; but if thou believe not, thou
+shalt be damned.  All the things that thou seest to-day, wherein
+thou gloriest, -- pomp, luxury, riches, and all the deceitfulness
+of life, -- quickly pass away; and they shall cast thee hence
+whether thou wilt or no.  And thy body will be imprisoned in a
+tiny grave, left in utter loneliness, and bereft of all company
+of kith and kin.  And all the pleasant things of the world shall
+perish; and instead of the beauty and fragrance of to-day, thou
+shalt be encompassed with horror and the stink of corruption. 
+But thy soul shall they hurl into the nether-regions of the
+earth, into the condemnation of Hades, until the final
+resurrection, when re-united to her body, she shall be cast forth
+from the presence of the Lord and be delivered to hell fire,
+which burneth everlastingly.  These, and far worse haps than
+these, shall be thy destiny, if thou continue in unbelief.
+
+"But and if thou readily obey him that calleth thee to salvation,
+and if thou run unto him with desire and joy, and be signed with
+his light, and follow him without turn, renouncing every thing,
+and cleaving only unto him, hear what manner of security and
+happiness shall be thine.  `When thou sittest down, thou shall
+not be afraid of sudden fear.  When thou liest down, sweet shall
+be thy sleep.'  And thou shalt not be afraid of terror coming or
+the assaults of evil spirits, but shalt go thy way bold as any
+lion, and shalt live in bliss and everlasting joyaunce.  For joy
+and praise shall crown thy head, and gladness shall befall thee
+there, where pain and sorrow and wailing shall flee away.'  `Then
+shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health
+shall rise speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee,
+and the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.'  Then shalt thou
+call, and the Lord shall answer; while thou art yet speaking, he
+shall say, `Here am I.'  `I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy
+transgressions, and will not remember them.  Put me in
+remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou thy sins that
+thou mayst be justified.'  `Though thy sins be as scarlet, I will
+make them white as snow: though they be red as crimson I will
+make them white as wool, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
+it.'"
+
+
+XI.
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "All thy words are fair and wonderful,
+and, while thou spakest, I believed them and still believe them;
+and I hate all idolatry with all my heart.  And indeed, even
+before thy coming hither, my soul was, in uncertain fashion,
+doubtful of it.  But now I hate it with a perfect hatred, since I
+have learned from thy lips the vanity thereof, and the folly of
+those who worship idols; and I yearn to become the servant of the
+true God, if haply he will not refuse me, that am unworthy by
+reason of my sins, and I trust that he will forgive me
+everything, because he is a lover of men, and compassionate, as
+thou tellest me, and will count me worthy to become his servant.
+So I am ready anon to receive baptism, and to observe all thy
+sayings.  But what must I do after baptism?  And is this alone
+sufficient for salvation, to believe and be baptized, or must one
+add other services thereto?"
+
+Barlaam answered him, "Hear what thou must do after baptism. 
+Thou must abstain from all sin, and every evil affection, and
+build upon the foundation of the Catholick Faith the practice of
+the virtues; for faith without works is dead, as also are works
+without faith.  For, saith the Apostle, `Walk in the Spirit, and
+ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.'  Now the works of the
+flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication,
+uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
+variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
+envyings, murders, love of money, railing, love of pleasure,
+drunkenness, revelling, arrogance, and such like, of the which I
+tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they
+which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.  But
+the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
+gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, sanctification
+of soul and body, lowliness of heart and contrition, almsgiving,
+forgiveness of injuries, loving-kindness, watchings, perfect
+repentance of all past offences, tears of compunction, sorrow for
+our own sins and those of our neighbours, and the like.  These,
+even as steps and ladders that support one another and are
+clinched together, conduct the soul to heaven.  Lo, to these we
+are commanded to cleave after baptism, and to abstain from their
+contraries.
+
+"But if, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, we again lay
+hold on dead works, and, like a dog, return to our vomit, it
+shall happen unto us according to the word of the Lord; `for,'
+saith he, `when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man' (to wit,
+by the grace of baptism) `he walketh through dry places, seeking
+rest, and finding none.'  But enduring not for long to wander
+homeless and hearthless, he saith, `I will return to my house
+whence I came out.'  And, when he cometh, he findeth it swept and
+garnished, but empty and unoccupied, not having received the
+operation of grace, nor having filled itself with the riches of
+the virtues.  Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other
+spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell
+there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the
+first.'  For baptism burieth in the water and completely blotteth
+out the hand-writing of all former sins, and is to us for the
+future a sure fortress and tower of defence, and a strong weapon
+against the marshalled host of the enemy; but it taketh not away
+free will, nor alloweth the forgiving of sins after baptism, or
+immersion in the font a second time.  For it is one baptism that
+we confess, and need is that we keep ourselves with all
+watchfulness that so we fall not into defilement a second time,
+but hold fast to the commandments of the Lord.  For when he said
+to the Apostles, `Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing
+them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
+Ghost,' he did not stop there, but added, `teaching them to
+observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.'
+
+"Now he commanded men to be poor in spirit, and such he calleth
+blessed and worthy of the kingdom of heaven.  Again he chargeth
+us to mourn in the present life, that we may obtain comfort
+hereafter, and to be meek, and to be ever hungering and thirsting
+after righteousness: to be merciful, and ready to distribute,
+pitiful and compassionate, pure in heart, abstaining from all
+defilement of flesh and spirit, peacemakers with our neighbours
+and with our own souls, by bringing the worse into subjection to
+the better, and thus by a just decision making peace in that
+continual warfare betwixt the twain; also to endure all
+persecution and tribulation and reviling, inflicted upon us for
+righteousness' sake in defence of his name, that we may obtain
+everlasting felicity in the glorious distribution of his rewards.
+Ay, and in this world he exhorteth us to let our `light so shine
+before men, that they may see,' he saith, `your good works, and
+glorify your Father which is in heaven.'
+
+"For the law of Moses, formerly given to the Israelites, saith,
+'Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt
+not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness:' but Christ saith
+'Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
+danger of the judgement; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool,
+shall be in danger of hell fire:' and, `if thou bring thy gift to
+the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught
+against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy
+way and first be reconciled to thy brother.'  And he also saith,
+'Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed
+adultery with her in his heart.'  And hereby he calleth the
+defilement and consent of the affection adultery.  Furthermore,
+where the law forbade a man to forswear himself, Christ commanded
+him to swear not at all beyond Yea and Nay.  There we read, `Eye
+for eye and tooth for tooth': here, `Whosoever shall smite thee
+on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if any man
+will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have
+thy cloke also.  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go
+with him twain.  Give to him that asketh time, and from him that
+would borrow of thee turn not thou away.  Love your enemies,
+bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
+pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that
+ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
+maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
+rain on the just and on the unjust.  Judge not, that ye be not
+judged.  Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.  Lay not up for
+yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
+corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up
+for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
+doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
+for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  Take
+no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
+drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on: for your
+heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.'
+He therefore that gave life and body will assuredly give food and
+raiment: he that feedeth the fowls of the air and arrayeth with
+such beauty the lilies of the field.  `But, seek ye first,' saith
+Christ, `the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these
+things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for
+the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
+itself.  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should
+do to you, do ye even so to them.  Enter ye in at the strait
+gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to
+destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.  Strait and
+narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that
+find it.  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
+enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
+my Father which is in heaven.  He that 1oveth father or mother
+more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son and
+daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And he that taketh
+not up his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.' 
+Lo these and the like of these be the things which the Saviour
+commanded his Apostles to teach the Faithful: and all these
+things we are bound to observe, if we desire to attain to
+perfection and receive the incorruptible crowns of righteousness,
+which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give at that day unto
+all them that have loved his appearing."
+
+Ioasaph said unto the elder, "Well then, as the strictness of
+these doctrines demandeth such chaste conversation, if, after
+baptism, I chance to fail in one or two of these commandments,
+shall I therefore utterly miss the goal, and shall all my hope be
+vain?"
+
+Barlaam answered, "Deem not so.  God, the Word, made man for the
+salvation of our race, aware of the exceeding frailty and misery
+of our nature, hath not even here suffered our sickness to be
+without remedy.  But, like a skilful leech, he hath mixed for our
+unsteady and sin-loving heart the potion of repentance,
+prescribing this for the remission of sins.  For after that we
+have received the knowledge of the truth, and have been
+sanctified by water and the Spirit, and cleansed without effort
+from all sin and all defilement, if we should fortune to fall
+into any transgression, there is, it is true, no second
+regeneration made within us by the spirit through baptism in the
+water of the font, and wholly re-creating us (that gift is given
+once for all); but, by means of painful repentance, hot tears,
+toils and sweats, there is a purifying and pardoning of our
+offences through the tender mercy of our God.  For the fount of
+tears is also called baptism, according to the grace of the
+Master, but it needeth labour and time; and many hath it saved
+after many a fall; because there is no sin too great for the
+clemency of God, if we be quick to repent, and purge the shame of
+our offences, and death overtake us not, and depart us not from
+this life still defiled; for in the grave there is no confession
+nor repentance.  But as long as we are `among the living, while
+the foundation of our true faith continueth unshattered, even if
+somewhat of the outer roof-work or inner building be disabled, it
+is allowed to renew by repentance the part rotted by sins.  It is
+impossible to count the multitude of the mercies of God, or
+measure the greatness of his compassion: whereas sins and
+offences, of whatever kind, are subject to measure and may be
+numbered.  So our offences, being subject to measure and number,
+cannot overcome the immeasurable compassion, and innumerable
+mercies of God.
+
+"Wherefore we are commanded not to despair for our trespasses,
+but to acknowledge the goodness of God, and condemn the sins
+whereof forgiveness is offered us by reason of the loving-
+kindness of Christ, who for our sins shed his precious blood.  In
+many places of Scripture we are taught the power of repentance,
+and especially by the precepts and parables of our Lord Jesus
+Christ.  For it saith, `From that time began Jesus to preach and
+to say, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."'
+Moreover he setteth before us, in a parable, a certain son that
+had received his father's substance, and taken his journey into a
+far country, and there spent all in riotous living.  Then, when
+there arose a famine in that land, he went and joined himself to
+one of the citizens of that land of iniquity, who sent him into
+his fields to feed swine, -- thus doth he designate the most
+coarse and loathsome sin.  When, after much labour, he had come
+to the utmost misery, and might not even fill his belly with the
+husks that the swine did eat, at last he came to perceive his
+shameful plight, and, bemoaning himself, said, `How many hired
+servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I
+perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will
+say unto him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
+thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one
+of thy hired servants."'  And he arose, and came to his father.
+But, when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had
+compassion, and ran, and embraced him, and kissed him tenderly,
+and, restoring him to his former rank, made a feast of joyaunce
+because his son was found again, and killed the fatted calf.  Lo,
+this parable, that Jesus spake to us, concerneth such as turn
+again from sin, and fall at his feet in repentance.  Again, he
+representeth a certain good shepherd that had an hundred sheep,
+and, when one was lost, left the ninety and nine, and went forth
+to seek that which was gone astray, until he found it: and he
+laid it on his shoulders, and folded it with those that had not
+gone astray, and called together his friends and neighbours to a
+banquet, because that it was found.  `Likewise,' saith the
+Saviour, `joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,
+more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no
+repentance.'
+
+"And, in sooth, even the chief of the disciples, Peter, the Rock
+of the Faith, in the very season of the Saviour's Passion,
+failing for a little while in his stewardship, that he might
+understand the worthlessness and misery of human frailty, fell
+under the guilt of denial.  Then he straightway remembered the
+Lord's words, and went out and wept bitterly, and with those hot
+tears made good his defeat, and transferred the victory to his
+own side.  Like a skilful man of war, though fallen, he was not
+undone, nor did he despair, but, springing to his feet, he
+brought up, as a reserve, bitter tears from the agony of his
+soul; and straightway, when the enemy saw that sight, like a man
+whose eyes are scorched with a fierce flame, he leaped off and
+fled afar, howling horribly.  So the chief became chief again, as
+he had before been chosen teacher of the whole world, being now
+become its pattern of penitence.  And after his holy resurrection
+Christ made good this three-fold denial with the three-fold
+question, `Peter, lovest thou me?', the Apostle answering, `Yea,
+Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.'
+
+"So from all these and many other examples beyond count we learn
+the virtue of tears and repentance.  Only the manner thereof must
+be noted it must arise from a heart that abominateth sin and
+weepeth, as saith the prophet David, `I am weary of my groaning:
+every night will I wash my bed and water my couch with my tears.'
+Again the cleansing of sins will be wrought by the blood of
+Christ, in the greatness of his compassion and the multitude of
+the mercies of that God who saith, `Though your sins be as
+scarlet, I will make them white as snow,' and so forth.
+
+"Thus therefore it is, and thus we believe.  But after receiving
+the knowledge of the truth and winning regeneration and adoption
+as sons, and tasting of the divine mysteries, we must strive hard
+to keep our feet lest we fall.  For to fall becometh not the
+athlete, since many have fallen and been unable to rise.  Some,
+opening a door to sinful lusts, and clinging obstinately to them,
+have no more had strength to hasten back to repentance; and
+others, being untimely snatched by death, and having not made
+speed enough to wash them from the pollution of their sin, have
+been damned.  And for this cause it is parlous to fall into any
+kind of sinful affection whatsoever.  But if any man fall, he
+must at once leap up, and stand again to fight the good fight:
+and, as often as there cometh a fall, so often must there at once
+ensue this rising and standing, unto the end.  For, `Turn ye unto
+me, and I will turn unto you,' saith the Lord God."
+
+
+XII.
+
+To this said Ioasaph, "But how, after baptism, shall a man keep
+himself clear from all sin?  For even if there be, as thou
+sayest, repentance for them that stumble, yet it is attended with
+toil and trouble, with weeping and mourning; things which,
+methinks, are not easy for the many to accomplish.  But I desired
+rather to find a way to keep strictly the commandments of God,
+and not swerve from them, and, after his pardoning of my past
+misdeeds, never again to provoke that most sweet God and Master."
+
+Barlaam answered, "Well said, my lord and king.  That also is my
+desire; but it is hard, nay quite impossible, for a man living
+with fire not to be blackened with smoke: for it is an uphill
+task, and one not easy of accomplishment, for a man that is tied
+to the matters of this life and busied with its cares and
+troubles, and liveth in riches and luxury, to walk unswervingly
+in the way of the commandments of the Lord, and to preserve his
+life pure of these evils.   `For,' saith the Lord, `no man can
+serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
+other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.  Ye
+cannot serve God and Mammon.'  So also writeth the beloved
+Evangelist and Divine in his Epistle, thus saying, `Love not the
+world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love
+the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is
+in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
+and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
+And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that
+doeth the will of God abideth for ever.'
+
+"These things were well understood by our holy and inspired
+fathers; and mindful of the Apostle's word that we must through
+much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, they strove,
+after holy baptism, to keep their garment of immortality spotless
+and undefiled.  Whence some of them also thought fit to receive
+yet another baptism; I mean that which is by blood and martyrdom.
+For this too is called baptism, the most honourable, and reverend
+of all, inasmuch as its waters are not polluted by fresh sin;
+which also our Lord underwent for our sakes, and rightly called
+it baptism.  So as imitators and followers of him, first his
+eyewitness, disciples, and Apostles, and then the whole band of
+holy martyrs yielded themselves, for the name of Christ, to kings
+and tyrants that worshipped idols, and endured every form of
+torment, being exposed to wild beasts, fire and sword, confessing
+the good confession, running the course and keeping the faith.
+Thus they gained the prizes of righteousness, and became the
+companions of Angels, and fellow-heirs with Christ.  Their virtue
+shone so bright that their sound went out into all lands, and the
+splendour of their good deeds flashed like lightning into the
+ends of the earth.  Of these men, not only the words and works,
+but even the very blood and bones are full of all sanctity,
+mightily casting out devils, and giving to such as touch them in
+faith the healing of incurable diseases: yea, and even their
+garments, and anything else that hath been brought near their
+honoured bodies, are always worthy of the reverence of all
+creation.  And it were a long tale to tell one by one their deeds
+of prowess.
+
+"But when those cruel and brutal tyrants brought their miserable
+lives to a miserable end, and persecution ceased, and Christian
+kings ruled throughout the world, then others too in succession
+emulated the Martyrs' zeal and divine desire, and, wounded at
+heart with the same love, considered well how they might present
+soul and body without blemish unto God, by cutting off all the
+workings of sinful lusts and purifying themselves of every
+defilement of flesh and spirit.  But, as they perceived that this
+could only be accomplished by the keeping of the commandments of
+Christ, and that the keeping of his commandments and the practice
+of the virtues was difficult to attain in the midst of the
+turmoils of the world, they adopted for themselves a strange and
+changed manner of life, and, obedient to the voice divine,
+forsook all, parents, children, friends, kinsfolk, riches and
+luxury, and, hating everything in the world, withdrew, as exiles,
+into the deserts, being destitute, afflicted, evil entreated,
+wandering in wildernesses and mountains, and in dens and caves of
+the earth, self-banished from all the pleasures and delights upon
+earth, and standing in sore need even of bread and shelter.  This
+they did for two causes: firstly, that never seeing the objects
+of sinful lust, they might pluck such desires by the root out of
+their soul, and blot out the memory thereof, and plant within
+themselves the love and desire of divine and heavenly things: and
+secondly, that, by exhausting the flesh by austerities, and
+becoming Martyrs in will, they might not miss the glory of them
+that were made perfect by blood, but might be themselves, in
+their degree, imitators of the sufferings of Christ, and become
+partakers of the kingdom that hath no end.  Having then come to
+this wise resolve, they adopted the quiet of monastic life, some
+facing the rigours of the open air, and braving the blaze of the
+scorching heat and fierce frosts and rain-storms and tempestuous
+winds, others spending their lives in the hovels which they had
+builded them, or in the hiding of holes and caverns.  Thus, in
+pursuit of virtue, they utterly denied themselves all fleshly
+comfort and repose, submitting to a diet of uncooked herbs and
+worts, or acorns, or hard dry bread, not merely saying good-bye
+to delights in their quality, but, in very excess of temperance,
+extending their zeal to limit even the quantity of enjoyment. 
+For even of those common and necessary meats they took only so
+much as was sufficient to sustain life.  Some of them continued
+fasting the whole week, and partook of victuals only of a Sunday:
+others thought of food twice only in the week: others ate every
+other day, or daily at eventide, that is, took but a taste of
+food.  In prayers and watchings they almost rivalled the life of
+Angels, bidding a long farewell to the possession of gold and
+silver, and quite forgetting that buyings and sellings are
+concerns of men.
+
+"But envy and pride, the evils most prone to follow good works,
+had no place amongst them.  He that was weaker in ascetic
+exercises entertained no thought of malice against him of
+brighter example.  Nor again was he, that had accomplished great
+feats, deceived and puffed up by arrogance to despise his weaker
+brethren, or set at nought his neighbour, or boast of his
+rigours, or glory in his achievements.  He that excelled in
+virtue ascribed nothing to his own labours, but all to the power
+of God, in humility of mind persuading himself that his labours
+were nought and that he was debtor even for more, as saith the
+Lord, `When ye shall have done all those things which are
+commanded you, say, "We are unprofitable servants: we have done
+that which was our duty to do."'  Others again persuaded
+themselves that they had not done even the things which they were
+commanded to do, but that the things left undone outnumbered the
+things already well done.  Again, he that was far behind in
+austerity, perchance through bodily weakness, would disparage and
+blame himself, attributing his failure to slothfulness of mind
+rather than to natural frailty.  So each excelled each, and all
+excelled all in this sweet reasonableness.  But the spirit of
+vain glory and pleasing of men -- what place had it among them?
+For they had fled from the world, and were dwelling in the
+desert, to the end that they might show their virtues not to men,
+but to God, from whom also they hope to receive the rewards of
+their good deeds, well aware that religious exercises performed
+for vain glory go without recompense; for these are done for the
+praise of men and not for God.  Whence all that do thus are
+doubly defrauded: they waste their body, and receive no reward.
+But they who yearn for glory above, and strive thereafter,
+despise all earthly and human glory.
+
+"As to their dwellings, some monks finish the contest in utter
+retirement and solitude, having removed themselves far from the
+haunts of men throughout the whole of their earthly life-time,
+and having drawn nigh to God.  Others build their homes at a
+distance one from another, but meet on the Lord's Day at one
+Church, and communicate of the Holy Mysteries, I mean the
+unbloody Sacrifice of the undefiled Body and precious Blood of
+Christ, which the Lord gave to the Faithful for the remission of
+sins, for the enlightenment and sanctification of soul and body.
+They entertain one another with the exercises of the divine
+Oracles and moral exhortations, and make public the secret wiles
+of their adversaries, that none, through ignorance of the manner
+of wrestling, may be caught thus.  Then turn they again, each to
+his own home, eagerly storing the honey of virtue in the cells of
+their hearts, and husbanding sweet fruits worthy of the heavenly
+board.
+
+"Others again spend their life in monasteries.  These gather in
+multitudes in one spot, and range themselves under one superior
+and president, the best of their number, slaying all self-will
+with the sword of obedience.  Of their own free choice they
+consider themselves as slaves bought at a price, and no longer
+live for themselves, but for him, to whom, for Christ his sake,
+they have become obedient; or rather, to speak more properly,
+they live no more for themselves, but Christ liveth in them, whom
+to follow, they renounce all.  This is retirement, a voluntary
+hatred of the world, and denial of nature by desire of things
+above nature.  These men therefore live the lives of Angels on
+earth, chanting psalms and hymns with one consent unto the Lord,
+and purchasing for themselves the title of Confessors by labours
+of obedience.  And in them is fulfilled the word of the Lord,
+when he saith, `Where two or three are gathered together in my
+name, there am I in the midst of them.'  By this number he
+limiteth not the gathering together in his name, but by `two or
+three' signifieth that the number is indefinite.  For, whether
+there be many, or few, gathered together because of his holy
+name, serving him with fervent zeal, there we believe him to be
+present in the midst of his servants.
+
+"By these ensamples and such like assemblies men of earth and
+clay imitate the life of heavenly beings, in fastings and prayers
+and watchings, in hot tears and sober sorrow, as soldiers in the
+field with death before their eyes, in meekness and gentleness,
+in silence of the lips, in poverty and want, in chastity and
+temperance, in humbleness and quietude of mind, in perfect
+charity toward God and their neighbour, carrying their present
+life down to the grave, and becoming Angels in their ways.
+Wherefore God hath graced them with miracles, signs and various
+virtues and made the voice of their marvellous life to be sounded
+forth to the ends of the world.  If I open my mouth to declare in
+every point the life of one of them who is said to have been the
+founder of the monastic life, Antony by name, by this one tree
+thou shalt assuredly know the sweet fruits of other trees of the
+like kind and form, and shalt know what a foundation of religious
+life that great man laid, and what a roof he built, and what
+gifts he merited to receive from the Saviour.  After him many
+fought the like fight and won like crowns and guerdons.
+
+"Blessed, yea, thrice blessed, are they that have loved God, and,
+for his love's sake, have counted every thing as nothing worth.
+For they wept and mourned, day and night, that they might gain
+everlasting comfort: they humbled themselves willingly, that
+there they might be exalted: they afflicted the flesh with hunger
+and thirst and vigil, that there they might come to the pleasures
+and joys of Paradise.  By their purity of heart they became a
+tabernacle of the Holy Ghost, as it is written, `I will dwell in
+them and walk in them.'  They crucified themselves unto the
+world, that they might stand at the right hand of the Crucified:
+they girt their loins with truth, and alway had their lamps
+ready, looking for the coming of the immortal bridegroom.  The
+eye of their mind being enlightened, they continually looked
+forward to that awful hour, and kept the contemplation of future
+happiness and everlasting punishment immovable from their hearts,
+and pained themselves to labour, that they might not lose eternal
+glory.  They became passionless as the Angels, and now they weave
+the dance in their fellowship, whose lives also they imitated. 
+Blessed, yea, thrice blessed are they, because with sure
+spiritual vision they discerned the vanity of this present world
+and the uncertainty and inconstancy of mortal fortune, and cast
+it aside, and laid up for themselves everlasting blessings, and
+laid hold of that life which never faileth, nor is broken by
+death.
+
+"These then are the marvellous holy men whose examples we, that
+are poor and vile, strive to imitate, but cannot attain to the
+high level of the life of these heavenly citizens.  Nevertheless,
+so far as is possible for our weakness and feeble power, we take
+the stamp of their lives, and wear their habit: even though we
+fail to equal their works; for we are assured that this holy
+profession is a means to perfection and an aid to the
+incorruption given us by holy baptism.  So, following the
+teachings of these blessed Saints, we utterly renounce these
+corruptible and perishable things of life, wherein may be found
+nothing stable or constant, or that continueth in one stay; but
+all things are vanity and vexation of spirit, and many are the
+changes that they bring in a moment; for they are slighter than
+dreams and a shadow, or the breeze that bloweth the air.  Small
+and short-lived is their charm, that is after all no charm, but
+illusion and deception of the wickedness of the world; which
+world we have been taught to love not at all, but rather to hate
+with all our heart.  Yea, and verily it is worthy of hatred and
+abhorrence; for whatsoever gifts it giveth to its friends, these
+in turn in passion it taketh away, and shall hand over its
+victims, stripped of all good things, clad in the garment of
+shame, and bound under heavy burdens, to eternal tribulation. 
+And those again whom it exalteth, it quickly abaseth to the
+utmost wretchedness, making them a foot-stool and a laughing
+stock for their enemies.  Such are its charms, such its bounties.
+For it is an enemy of its friends, and traitor to such as carry
+out its wishes: dasheth to dire destruction all them that lean
+upon it, and enervateth those that put their trust therein.  It
+maketh covenants with fools and fair false promises, only that it
+may allure them to itself.  But, as they have dealt
+treacherously, it proveth itself treacherous and false in
+fulfilling none of its pledges.  To-day it tickleth their gullet
+with pleasant dainties; to-morrow it maketh them nought but a
+gobbet for their enemies.  To-day it maketh a man a king:
+to-morrow it delivereth him into bitter servitude.  To-day its
+thrall is fattening on a thousand good things; to-morrow he is a
+beggar, and drudge of drudges.  To-day it placeth on his head a
+crown of glory; to-morrow it dasheth his face upon the ground.
+To-day it adorneth his neck with brilliant badges of dignity;
+to-morrow it humbleth him with a collar of iron.  For a little
+while it causeth him to be the desire of all men; but after a
+time it maketh him their hate and abomination.  To-day it
+gladdeneth him: but to-morrow it weareth him to a shadow with
+lamentations and wailings.  What is the end thereof, thou shalt
+hear.  Ruthlessly it bringeth its former lovers to dwell in hell.
+Such is ever its mind, such its purposes.  It lamenteth not its
+departed, nor pitieth the survivor.  For after that it hath
+cruelly duped and entangled in its meshes the one party, it
+immediately transferreth the resources of its ingenuity against
+the other, not willing that any should escape its cruel snares,
+
+"These men that have foolishly alienated themselves from a good
+and kind master, to seek the service of so harsh and savage a
+lord, that are all agog for present joys and are glued thereto,
+that take never a thought for the future, that always grasp after
+bodily enjoyments, but suffer their souls to waste with hunger,
+and to be worn with myriad ills, these I consider to be like a
+man flying before the face of a rampant unicorn, who, unable to
+endure the sound of the beast's cry, and its terrible bellowing,
+to avoid being devoured, ran away at full speed.  But while he
+ran hastily, he fell into a great pit; and as he fell, he
+stretched forth his hands, and laid hold on a tree, to which he
+held tightly.  There he established some sort of foot-hold and
+thought himself from that moment in peace and safety.  But he
+looked and descried two mice, the one white, the other black,
+that never ceased to gnaw the root of the tree whereon he hung,
+and were all but on the point of severing it.  Then he looked
+down to the bottom of the pit and espied below a dragon,
+breathing fire, fearful for eye to see, exceeding fierce and
+grim, with terrible wide jaws, all agape to swallow him.  Again
+looking closely at the ledge whereon his feet rested, he
+discerned four heads of asps projecting from the wall whereon he
+was perched.  Then he lift up his eyes and saw that from the
+branches of the tree there dropped a little honey.  And thereat
+he ceased to think of the troubles whereby he was surrounded;
+how, outside, the unicorn was madly raging to devour him: how,
+below, the fierce dragon was yawning to swallow him: how the
+tree, which he had clutched, was all but severed; and how his
+feet rested on slippery, treacherous ground.  Yea, he forgat,
+without care, all those sights of awe and terror, and his whole
+mind hung on the sweetness of that tiny drop of honey.
+
+"This is the likeness of those who cleave to the deceitfulness of
+this present life, -- the interpretation whereof I will declare
+to thee anon.  The unicorn is the type of death, ever in eager
+pursuit to overtake the race of Adam.  The pit is the world, full
+of all manner of ills and deadly snares.  The tree, which was
+being continually fretted by the two mice, to which the man
+clung, is the course of every man's life, that spendeth and
+consuming itself hour by hour, day and night, and gradually
+draweth nigh its severance.  The fourfold asps signify the
+structure of man's body upon four treacherous and unstable
+elements which, being disordered and disturbed, bring that body
+to destruction.  Furthermore, the fiery cruel dragon betokeneth
+the maw of hell that is hungry to receive those who choose
+present pleasures rather than future blessings.  The dropping of
+honey denoteth the sweetness of the delights of the world,
+whereby it deceiveth its own friends, nor suffereth them to take
+timely thought for their salvation."
+
+
+XIII.
+
+Ioasaph received this parable with great joy and said, "How true
+this story is, and most apt!  Grudge not, then, to shew me other
+such like figures, that I may know for certain what the manner of
+our life is, and what it hath in store for its friends."
+
+The elder answered, "Again, those who are enamoured of the
+pleasures of life, and glamoured by the sweetness thereof, who
+prefer fleeting and paltry objects to those which are future and
+stable, are like a certain man who had three friends.  On the
+first two of these he was extravagantly lavish of his honours,
+and clave passionately to their love, fighting to the death and
+deliberately hazarding his life for their sakes.  But to the
+third he bore himself right arrogantly, never once granting him
+the honour nor the love that was his due, but only making show of
+some slight and inconsiderable regard for him.  Now one day he
+was apprehended by certain dread and strange soldiers, that made
+speed to hale him to the king, there to render account for a debt
+of ten thousand talents.  Being in a great strait, this debtor
+sought for a helper, able to take his part in this terrible
+reckoning with the king.  So he ran to his first and truest
+friend of all, and said, `Thou wottest, friend, that I ever
+jeopardied my life for thy sake.  Now to-day I require help in a
+necessity that presseth me sore.  In how many talents wilt thou
+undertake to assist me now?  What is the hope that I may count
+upon at thy hands, O my dearest friend?'  The other answered and
+said unto him, `Man, I am not thy friend: I know not who thou
+art.  Other friends I have, with whom I must needs make merry
+to-day, and so win their friendship for the time to come.  But,
+see, I present thee with two ragged garments, that thou mayest
+have them on the way whereon thou goest, though they will do thee
+no manner of good.  Further help from me thou mayest expect
+none.'  The other, hearing this, despaired of the succour whereon
+he had reckoned, and went to his second friend, saying, `Friend,
+thou rememberest how much honour and kindness thou hast enjoyed
+at my hands.  To-day I have fallen into tribulation and sorrow,
+and need a helping hand.  To what extent then canst thou share my
+labour?  Tell me at once.'  Said he, `I have on leisure today to
+share thy troubles.  I too have fallen among cares and perils,
+and am myself in tribulation.  Howbeit, I will go a little way
+with thee, even if I shall fail to be of service to thee.  Then
+will I turn quickly homeward, and busy myself with mine own
+anxieties.'  So the man returned from him too empty-handed and
+baulked at every turn; and he cried misery on himself for his
+vain hope in those ungrateful friends, and the unavailing
+hardships that he had endured through love of them.  At the last
+he went away to the third friend, whom he had never courted, nor
+invited to share his happiness.  With countenance ashamed and
+downcast, he said unto him, `I can scarce open my lips to speak
+with thee, knowing full well that I have never done thee service,
+or shown thee any kindness that thou mightest now remember.  But
+seeing that a heavy misfortune hath overtaken me, and that I have
+found nowhere among my friends any hope of deliverance, I address
+myself to thee, praying thee, if it lie in thy power, to afford
+me some little aid.  Bear no grudge for my past unkindness, and
+refuse me not.'  The other with a smiling and gracious
+countenance answered, `Assuredly I own thee my very true friend.
+I have not forgotten those slight services of thine: and I will
+repay them to-day with interest.  Fear not therefore, neither be
+afraid.  I will go before thee and entreat the king for thee, and
+will by no means deliver thee into the hands of thine enemies.
+Wherefore be of good courage, dear friend, and fret not thyself.'
+Then, pricked at heart, the other said with tears, `Wo is me!
+Which shall I first lament, or which first deplore?  Condemn my
+vain preference for my forgetful, thankless and false friends, or
+blame the mad ingratitude that I have shown to thee, the sincere
+and true?'"
+
+Ioasaph heard this tale also with amazement and asked the
+interpretation thereof.  Then said Barlaam, "The first friend is
+the abundance of riches, and love of money, by reason of which a
+man falleth into the midst of ten thousand perils, and endureth
+many miseries: but when at last the appointed day of death is
+come, of all these things he carrieth away nothing but the
+useless burial cloths.  By the second friend is signified our
+wife and children and the remnant of kinsfolk and acquaintance,
+to whom we are passionately attached, and from whom with
+difficulty we tear ourselves away, neglecting our very soul and
+body for the love of them.  But no help did man ever derive from
+these in the hour of death, save only that they will accompany
+and follow him to the sepulchre, and then straightway turning
+them homeward again they are occupied with their own cares and
+matters, and bury his memory in oblivion as they have buried his
+body in the grave.  But the third friend, that was altogether
+neglected and held cheap, whom the man never approached, but
+rather shunned and fled in horror, is the company of good deeds,
+-- faith, hope, charity, alms, kindliness, and the whole band of
+virtues, that can go before us, when we quit the body, and may
+plead with the Lord on our behalf, and deliver us from our
+enemies and dread creditors, who urge that strict rendering of
+account in the air, and try bitterly to get the mastery of us.
+This is the grateful and true friend, who beareth in mind those
+small kindnesses that we have shown him and repayeth the whole
+with interest."
+
+
+XIV.
+
+Again said Ioasaph, "The Lord God prosper thee, O thou Wisest of
+men!  For thou hast gladdened my soul with thine apt and
+excellent sayings.  Wherefore sketch me yet another picture of
+the vanity of the world, and how a man may pass through it in
+peace and safety."
+
+Barlaam took up his parable and said, "Hear then a similitude of
+this matter too.  I once heard tell of a great city whose
+citizens had, from old time, the custom of taking some foreigner
+and stranger, who knew nothing of their laws and traditions, and
+of making him their king, to enjoy absolute power, and follow his
+own will and pleasure without hindrance, until the completion of
+a year.  Then suddenly, while he was living with never a care in
+rioting and wantonness, without fear, and alway supposing that
+his reign would only terminate with his life, they would rise up
+against him, strip him bare of his royal robes, lead him in
+triumph up and down the city, and thence dispatch him beyond
+their borders into a distant great island; there, for lack of
+food and raiment, in hunger and nakedness he would waste
+miserably away, the luxury and pleasure so unexpectedly showered
+upon him changed as unexpectedly into woe.  In accordance
+therefore with the unbroken custom of these citizens, a certain
+man was ordained to the kingship.  But his mind was fertile of
+understanding, and he was not carried away by this sudden access
+of prosperity, nor did he emulate the heedlessness of the kings
+that had gone before him, and had been miserably expelled, but
+his soul was plunged in care and trouble how he might order his
+affairs well.  After long and careful search, he learned from a
+wise counsellor the custom of the citizens, and the place of
+perpetual banishment, and was taught of him without guile how to
+ensure himself against this fate.  So with this knowledge that
+within a very little while he must reach that island and leave to
+strangers this chance kingdom among strangers, he opened the
+treasures whereof he had awhile absolute and unforbidden use, and
+took a great store of money and huge masses of gold and silver
+and precious stones and delivered the same to trusty servants and
+sent them before him to the island whither he was bound.  When
+the appointed year came to an end, the citizens rose against him,
+and sent him naked into banishment like those that went before
+him.  But while the rest of these foolish kings, kings only for a
+season, were sore anhungred, he, that had timely deposited his
+wealth, passed his time in continual plenty mid dainties free of
+expense, and, rid of all fear of those mutinous and evil
+citizens, could count himself happy on his wise forethought.
+
+"Understand thou, therefore, that the city is this vain and
+deceitful world; that the citizens are the principalities and
+powers of the devils, the rulers of the darkness of this world,
+who entice us by the soft bait of pleasure, and counsel us to
+consider corruptible and perishable things as incorruptible, as
+though the enjoyment that cometh from them were co-existent with
+us, and immortal as we.  Thus then are we deceived; we have taken
+no thought concerning the things which are abiding and eternal,
+and have laid up in store for ourselves no treasure for that life
+beyond, when of a sudden there standeth over us the doom of
+death.  Then, then at last do those evil and cruel citizens of
+darkness, that received us, dispatch us stript of all worldly 
+goods, -- for all our time has been wasted on their service --
+and carry us off `to a dark land and a gloomy, to a land of
+eternal darkness, where there is no light, nor can one behold the
+life of men.'  As for that good counsellor, who made known all
+the truth and taught that sagacious and wise king the way of
+salvation, understand thou that I, thy poor and humble servant,
+am he, who am come hither for to shew thee the good and
+infallible way to lead thee to things eternal and unending, and
+to counsel thee to lay up all thy treasure there; and I am come
+to lead thee away from the error of this world, which, to my woe,
+I also loved, and clave to its pleasures and delights.  But, when
+I perceived, with the unerring eyes of my mind how all human life
+is wasted in these things that come and go; when I saw that no
+man hath aught that is stable and steadfast, neither the rich in
+his wealth, nor the mighty in his strength, nor the wise in his
+wisdom, nor the prosperous in his prosperity, nor the luxurious
+in his wantonness, nor he that dreameth of security of life in
+that vain and feeble security of his dreams, nor any man in any
+of those things that men on earth commend ('tis like the
+boundless rush of torrents that discharge themselves into the
+deep sea, thus fleeting and temporary are all present things);
+then, I say, I understood that all such things are vanity, and
+that their enjoyment is naught; and, that even as the past is all
+buried in oblivion, be it past glory, or past kingship, or the
+splendour of rank, or amplitude of power, or arrogance of
+tyranny, or aught else like them, so also present things will
+vanish in the darkness of the days to come.  And, as I am myself
+of the present, I also shall doubtless be subject to its
+accustomed change; and, even as my fathers before me were not
+allowed to take delight for ever in the present world, so also
+shall it be with me.  For I have observed how this tyrannical and
+troublesome world treateth mankind, shifting men hither and
+thither, from wealth to poverty, and from poverty to honour,
+carrying some out of life and bringing others in, rejecting some
+that are wise and understanding, making the honourable and
+illustrious dishonoured and despised, but seating others who are
+unwise and of no understanding upon a throne of honour, and
+making the dishonoured and obscure to be honoured of all.
+
+"One may see how the race of mankind may never abide before the
+face of the cruel tyranny of the world.  But, as when a dove
+fleeing from an eagle or a hawk flitteth from place to place, now
+beating against this tree, now against that bush, and then anon
+against the clefts of the rocks and all manner of bramble-thorns,
+and, nowhere finding any safe place of refuge, is wearied with
+continual tossing and crossing to and fro, so are they which are
+flustered by the present world.  They labour painfully under
+unreasoning impulse, on no sure or firm bases: they know not to
+what goal they are driving, nor whither this vain life leadeth
+them this vain life, whereto they have in miserable folly
+subjected themselves, choosing evil instead of good, and pursuing
+vice instead of goodness; and they know not who shall inherit the
+cold fruits of their many heavy labours, whether it be a kinsman
+or a stranger, and, as oft times it haps, not even a friend or
+acquaintance at all, but an enemy and foeman.
+
+"On all these things, and others akin to them, I held judgement
+in the tribunal of my soul, and I came to hate my whole life that
+had been wasted in these vanities, while I still lived engrossed
+in earthly things.  But when I had put off from my soul the lust
+thereof, and cast it from me, then was there revealed unto me the
+true good, to fear God and do his will; for this I saw to be the
+sum of all good.  This also is called the beginning of wisdom,
+and perfect wisdom.  For life is without pain and reproach to
+those that hold by her, and safe to those who lean upon her as
+upon the Lord.  So, when I had set my reason on the unerring way
+of the commandments of the Lord, and had surely learned that
+there is nothing froward or perverse therein, and that it is not
+full of chasms and rocks, nor of thorns and thistles, but lieth
+altogether smooth and even, rejoicing the eyes of the traveller
+with the brightest sights, making beautiful his feet, and shoeing
+them with `the preparation of the Gospel of peace,' that he may
+walk safely and without delay, this way, then, I rightly chose
+above all others, and began to rebuild my soul's habitation,
+which had fallen into ruin and decay.
+
+"In such wise was I devising mine estate, and establishing mine
+unstable mind, when I heard the words of a wise teacher calling
+loudly to me thus, `Come ye out,' said he, `all ye that will to
+be saved.  Be ye separate from the vanity of the world, for the
+fashion thereof quickly passeth away, and behold it shall not be.
+Come ye out, without turning back, not for nothing and without
+reward, but winning supplies for travelling to life eternal, for
+ye are like to journey a long road, needing much supplies from
+hence, and ye shall arrive at the place eternal that hath two
+regions, wherein are many mansions; one of which places God hath
+prepared for them that love him and keep his commandments, full
+of all manner of good things; and they that attain thereto shall
+live for ever in incorruption, enjoying immortality without
+death, where pain and sorrow and sighing are fled away.  But the
+other place is full of darkness and tribulation and pain,
+prepared for the devil and his angels, wherein also shall be cast
+they who by evil deeds have deserved it, who have bartered the
+incorruptible and eternal for the present world, and have made
+themselves fuel for eternal fire.'
+
+"When I heard this voice, and recognized the truth, I did my
+diligence to attain to that abode, that is free from all pain and
+sorrow, and full of security and all good things, whereof I have
+knowledge now only in part, being but a babe in my spiritual
+life, and seeing the sights yonder as through mirrors and
+riddles; but when that which is perfect is come, and I shall see
+face to face, then that which is in part shall be done away.
+Wherefore I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord; for the law
+of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
+law of sin and of death, and hath opened mine eyes to see clearly
+that the will of the flesh is death, but the will of the Spirit
+is life and peace.  And even as I did discern the vanity of
+present things and hate them with a perfect hatred, so likewise I
+counsel thee to decide thereon, that thou mayest treat them as
+something alien and quickly passing away, and mayest remove all
+thy store from earth and lay up for thyself in the incorruptible
+world a treasure that can not be stolen, wealth inexhaustible, in
+that place whither thou must shortly fare, that when thou comest
+thither thou mayest not be destitute, but be laden with riches,
+after the manner of that aptest of parables that I lately showed
+thee."
+
+
+XV.
+
+Said Ioasaph unto the elder, "How then shall I be able to send
+before me thither treasures of money and riches, that, when I
+depart hence, I may find these unharmed and unwasted for my
+enjoyment?  How must I show my hatred for things present and lay
+hold on things eternal?  This make thou right plain unto me."
+Quoth Barlaam, "The sending before thee of money to that eternal
+home is wrought by the hands of the poor.  For thus saith one of
+the prophets, Daniel the wise, unto the king of Babylon,
+'Wherefore, O Prince, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and
+redeem thy sins by almsgiving, and thine iniquities by showing
+mercy to the poor.'  The Saviour also saith, `Make to yourselves
+friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail,
+they may receive you into everlasting habitations.'  And, in
+divers places, the Master maketh much mention of almsgiving and
+liberality to the poor, as we learn in the Gospel.  Thus shalt
+thou most surely send all thy treasure before thee by the hands
+of the needy, for whatsoever thou shalt do unto these the Master
+counteth done unto himself, and will reward thee manifold; for,
+in the recompense of benefits, he ever surpasseth them that love
+him.  So in this manner by seizing for awhile the treasures of
+the darkness of this world, in whose slavery for a long time past
+thou hast been miserable, thou shalt by these means make good
+provision for thy journey, and by plundering another's goods thou
+shalt store all up for thyself, with things fleeting and
+transient purchasing for thyself things that are stable and
+enduring.  Afterwards, God working with thee, thou shalt perceive
+the uncertainty and inconstancy of the world, and saying farewell
+to all, shalt remove thy barque to anchor in the future, and,
+passing by the things that pass away, thou shalt hold to the
+things that we look for, the things that abide.  Thou shalt
+depart from darkness and the shadow of death, and hate the world
+and the ruler of the world; and, counting thy perishable flesh
+thine enemy, thou shalt run toward the light that is
+unapproachable, and taking the Cross on thy shoulders, shalt
+follow Christ without looking back, that thou mayest also be
+glorified with him, and be made inheritor of the life that never
+changeth nor deceiveth."
+
+Ioasaph said, "When thou spakest a minute past of despising all
+things, and taking up such a life of toil, was that an old
+tradition handed down from the teaching of the Apostles, or is
+this a late invention of your wits, which ye have chosen for
+yourselves as a more excellent way?"
+
+The elder answered and said, "I teach thee no law introduced but
+yesterday, God forbid!  but one given unto us of old.  For when a
+certain rich young man asked the Lord, `What shall I do to
+inherit eternal life?' and boasted that he had observed all that
+was written in the Law, Jesus said unto him, `One thing thou
+lackest yet.  Go sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the
+poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up
+thy cross and follow me.  But when the young man heard this he
+was very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw
+that he was very sorrowful, he said, `How hardly shall they which
+have riches enter into the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for
+a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
+enter into the kingdom of God!'  So, when all the Saints heard
+this command, they thought fit by all means to withdraw from this
+hardness of riches.  They parted with all their goods, and by
+this distribution of their riches to the poor laid up for
+themselves eternal riches; and they took up their Cross and
+followed Christ, some being made perfect by martyrdom, even as I
+have already told thee; and some by the practice of self-denial
+falling not a whit short of those others in the life of the true
+philosophy.  Know thou, then, that this is a command of Christ
+our King and God, which leadeth us from things corruptible and
+maketh us partakers of things everlasting."
+
+Said Ioasaph, "If, then, this kind of philosophy be so ancient
+and so salutary, how cometh it that so few folk now-a-days follow
+it?"
+
+The elder answered, "Many have followed, and do follow it; but
+the greatest part hesitate and draw back.  For few, saith the
+Lord, are the travellers along the strait and narrow way, but
+along the wide and broad way many.  For they that have once been
+taken prisoners by the love of money, and the evils that come
+from the love of pleasure, and are given up to idle and vain
+glory, are hardly to be torn therefrom, seeing that they have of
+their own free will sold themselves as slaves to a strange
+master, and setting themselves on the opposite side to God, who
+gave these commands, are held in bondage to that other.  For the
+soul that hath once rejected her own salvation, and given the
+reins to unreasonable lusts, is carried about hither and thither.
+Therefore saith the prophet, mourning the folly that encompasseth
+such souls, and lamenting the thick darkness that lieth on them,
+'O ye sons of men, how long will ye be of heavy heart?  Why love
+ye vanity, and seek after leasing?'  And in the same tone as he,
+but adding thereto some thing of his own, one of our wise
+teachers, a most excellent divine, crieth aloud to all, as from
+some exceeding high place of vantage, `O ye sons of men, how long
+will ye be of heavy heart?  Why love ye vanity and seek after
+leasing?  Trow ye that this present life, and luxury, and these
+shreds of glory, and petty lordship and false prosperity are any
+great thing?' -- things which no more belong to those that
+possess them than to them that hope for them, nor to these latter
+any more than to those who never thought of them: things like the
+dust carried and whirled about to and fro by the tempest, or
+vanishing as the smoke, or delusive as a dream, or intangible as
+a shadow; which, when absent, need not be despaired of by them
+that have them not, and, when present, cannot be trusted by their
+owners.
+
+"This then was the commandment of the Saviour; this the preaching
+of the Prophets and Apostles; in such wise do all the Saints, by
+word and deed, constrain us to enter the unerring road of virtue.
+And though few walk therein and more choose the broad way that
+leadeth to destruction, yet not for this shall the life of this
+divine philosophy be minished in fame.  But as the sun, rising to
+shine on all, doth bounteously send forth his beams, inviting all
+to enjoy his light, even so doth our true philosophy, like the
+sun, lead with her light those that are her lovers, and warmeth
+and brighteneth them.  But if any shut their eyes, and will not
+behold the light thereof, not for that must the sun be blamed, or
+scorned by others: still less shall the glory of his brightness
+be dishonoured through their silliness.  But while they, self-
+deprived of light, grope like blind men along a wall, and fall
+into many a ditch, and scratch out their eyes on many a bramble
+bush, the sun, firmly established on his own glory, shall
+illuminate them that gaze upon his beams with unveiled face. 
+Even so shineth the light of Christ on all men abundantly,
+imparting to us of his lustre.  But every man shareth thereof in
+proportion to his desire and zeal.  For the Sun of righteousness
+disappointeth none of them that would fix their gaze on him, yet
+doth he not compel those who willingly choose darkness; but every
+man, so long as he is in this present life, is committed to his
+own free will and choice."
+
+Ioasaph asked, "What is free will and what is choice?"  The elder
+answered, "Free will is the willing of a reasonable soul, moving
+without hindrance toward whatever it wisheth, whether to virtue
+or to vice, the soul being thus constituted by the Creator.  Free
+will again is the sovran motion of an intelligent soul.  Choice
+is desire accompanied by deliberation, or deliberation
+accompanied by desire for things that lie in our power; for in
+choosing we desire that which we have deliberately preferred.
+Deliberation is a motion towards enquiry about actions possible
+to us; a man deliberateth whether he ought to pursue an object or
+no.  Then he judgeth which is the better, and so ariseth
+judgement.  Then he is inclined towards it, and loveth that which
+was so judged by the deliberative faculty, and this is called
+resolve; for, if he judge a thing, and yet be not inclined toward
+the thing that he hath judged, and love it not, it is not called
+resolve.  Then, after inclination toward it, there ariseth choice
+or rather selection.  For choice is to choose one or other of two
+things in view, and to select this rather than that.  And it is
+manifest that choice is deliberation plus discrimination, and
+this from the very etymology.  For that which is the `object of
+choice' is the thing chosen before the other thing.  And no man
+preferreth a thing without deliberation, nor makeeth a choice
+without having conceived a preference.  For, since we are not
+zealous to carry into action all that seemeth good to us, choice
+only ariseth and the deliberately preferred only becometh the
+chosen, when desire is added thereto.  Thus we conclude that
+choice is desire accompanied by deliberation for things that lie
+in our power; in choosing we desire that which we have
+deliberately preferred.  All deliberation aimeth at action and
+dependeth on action; and thus deliberation goeth before all
+choice, and choice before all action.  For this reason not only
+our actions, but also our thoughts, inasmuch as they give
+occasion for choice, bring in their train crowns or punishments.
+For the beginning of sin and righteous dealing is choice,
+exercised in action possible to us.  Where the power of activity
+is ours, there too are the actions that follow that activity in
+our power.  Virtuous activities are in our power, therefore in
+our power are virtues also; for we are absolute masters over all
+our souls' affairs and all our deliberations.  Since then it is
+of free will that men deliberate, and of free will that men
+choose, a man partaketh of the light divine, and advanceth in the
+practice of this philosophy in exact measure of his choice, for
+there are differences of choice.  And even as water-springs,
+issuing from the hollows of the earth, sometimes gush forth from
+the surface soil, and sometimes from a lower source, and at other
+times from a great depth, and even as some of these waters bubble
+forth continuously, and their taste is sweet, while others that
+come from deep wells are brackish or sulphurous, even as some
+pour forth in abundance while others flow drop by drop, thus,
+understand thou, is it also with our choices.  Some choices are
+swift and exceeding fervent, others languid and cold: some have a
+bias entirely toward virtue, while others incline with all their
+force to its opposite.  And like in nature to these choices are
+the ensuing impulses to action."
+
+
+XVI.
+
+Ioasaph said unto the elder, "Are there now others, too, who
+preach the same doctrines as thou?  Or art thou to-day the only
+one that teacheth this hatred of the present world?"
+
+The other answered and said, "In this your most unhappy country I
+know of none: the tyranny of thy father hath netted all such in a
+thousand forms of death; and he hath made it his aim that the
+preaching of the knowledge of God be not once heard in your
+midst.  But in all other tongues these doctrines are sung and
+glorified, by some in perfect truth, but by others perversely;
+for the enemy of our souls hath made them decline from the
+straight road, and divided them by strange teachings, and taught
+them to interpret certain sayings of the Scriptures falsely, and
+not after the sense contained therein.  But the truth is one,
+even that which was preached by the glorious Apostles and
+inspired Fathers, and shineth in the Catholick Church above the
+brightness of the sun from the one end of the world unto the
+other; and as an herald and teacher of that truth have I been
+sent to thee."
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "Hath my father then, learned naught of
+these things?"
+
+The elder answered, "Clearly and duly he hath learned naught; for
+he stoppeth up his senses, and will not admit that which is good,
+being of his own free choice inclined to evil."
+
+"Would God," said Ioasaph, "that he too were instructed in these
+mysteries?"  The elder answered, "The things that are impossible
+with men are possible with God.  For how knowest thou whether
+thou shalt save thy sire, and in wondrous fashion be styled the
+spiritual father of thy father?
+
+"I have heard that, once upon a time, there was a king who
+governed his kingdom right well, and dealt kindly and gently with
+his subjects, only failing in this point, that he was not rich in
+the light of the knowledge of God, but held fast to the errors of
+idolatry.  Now he had a counsellor, which was a good man and
+endued with righteousness toward God and with all other virtuous
+wisdom.  Grieved and vexed though he was at the error of the
+king, and willing to convince him thereof, he nevertheless drew
+back from the attempt, for fear that he might earn trouble for
+himself and his friends, and cut short those services which he
+rendered to others.  Yet sought he a convenient season to draw
+his sovereign toward that which was good.  One night the king
+said unto him, "Come now, let us go forth and walk about the
+city, if haply we may see something to edify us."  Now while they
+were walking about the city, they saw a ray of light shining
+through an aperture.  Fixing their eyes thereon, they descried an
+underground cavernous chamber, in the forefront of which there
+sat a man, plunged in poverty, and clad in rags and tatters.
+Beside him stood his wife, mixing wine.  When the man took the
+cup in his hands, she sung a clear sweet melody, and delighted
+him by dancing and cozening him with flatteries.  The king's
+companions observed this for a time, and marvelled that people,
+pinched by such poverty as not to afford house and raiment, yet
+passed their lives in such good cheer.  The king said to his
+chief counsellor, `Friend, how marvellous a thing it is, that our
+life, though bright with such honour and luxury, hath never
+pleased us so well as this poor and miserable life doth delight
+and rejoice these fools: and that this life, which appeareth to
+us so cruel and abominable, is to them sweet and alluring!'  The
+chief counsellor seized the happy moment and said, `But to thee,
+O king, how seemeth their life?'  `Of all that I have ever seen,'
+quoth the king, `the most hateful and wretched, the most
+loathsome and abhorrent.'  Then spake the chief counsellor unto
+him, "Such, know thou well, O king, and even more unendurable is
+our life reckoned by those who are initiated into the sight of
+the mysteries of yonder everlasting glory, and the blessings that
+pass all understanding.  Your palaces glittering with gold, and
+these splendid garments, and all the delights of this life are
+more loathsome than dung and filth in the eyes of those that know
+the unspeakable beauties of the tabernacles in heaven made
+without hands, and the apparel woven by God, and the
+incorruptible diadems which God, the Creator and Lord of all,
+hath prepared for them that love him.  For like as this couple
+were accounted fools by us, so much the more are we, who go
+astray in this world and please ourselves in this false glory and
+senseless pleasure, worthy of lamentation and tears in the eyes
+of those who have tasted of the sweets of the bliss beyond.'
+
+"When the king heard this, he became as one dumb.  He said, `Who
+then are these men that live a life better than ours?'  `All,'
+said the chief-counsellor `who prefer the eternal to the
+temporal.'  Again, when the king desired to know what the eternal
+might be the other replied, `A kingdom that knoweth no
+succession, a life that is not subject unto death, riches that
+dread no poverty: joy and gladness that have no share of grief
+and vexation; perpetual peace free from all hatred and love of
+strife.  Blessed, thrice blessed are they that are found worthy
+of these enjoyments!  Free from pain and free from toil is the
+life that they shall live for ever, enjoying without labour all
+the sweets and pleasaunee of the kingdom of God, and reigning
+with Christ world without end.'
+
+"'And who is worthy to obtain this?' asked the king.  The other
+answered, `All they that hold on the road that leadeth thither;
+for none forbiddeth entrance, if a man but will.'
+
+"Said the king, `And what is the way that beareth thither?'  That
+bright spirit answered, `To know the only true God, and Jesus
+Christ, his only-begotten Son, and the Holy and quickening
+Spirit.'
+
+"The king, endowed with understanding worthy of the purple, said
+unto him, `What hath hindered thee until now from doing me to wit
+of these things?  For they appear to me too good to be put off or
+passed over, if they indeed be true; and, if they be doubtful, I
+must search diligently, until I find the truth without shadow of
+doubt.'
+
+"The chief counsellor said, `It was not from negligence or
+indifference that I delayed to make this known unto thee, for it
+is true and beyond question, but `twas because I reverenced the
+excellency of thy majesty, lest thou mightest think me a meddler.
+If therefore thou bid thy servant put thee in mind of these
+things for the future, I shall obey thy behest.'  `Yea,' said the
+king, `not every day only, but every hour, renew in me the
+remembrance thereof: for it behoveth us not to turn our mind
+inattentively to these things, but with very fervent zeal.'
+
+"We have heard," said Barlaam, "that this king lived, for the
+time to come, a godly life, and, having brought his days without
+tempest to an end, failed not to gain the felicity of the world
+to come.  If then at a convenient season one shall call these
+things to thy father's mind also, peradventure he shall
+understand and know the dire evil in which he is held, and turn
+therefrom and choose the good; since, for the present at least,
+'he is blind and cannot see afar off,' having deprived himself of
+the true light and being a deserter of his own accord to the
+darkness of ungodliness."
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "The Lord undertake my father's matters,
+as he ordereth!  For, even as thou sayest, the things that are
+impossible with men, are possible with him.  But for myself,
+thanks to thine unsurpassable speech, I renounce the vanity of
+things present, and am resolved to withdraw from them altogether,
+and to spend the rest of my life with thee, lest, by means of
+these transitory and fleeting things, I lose the enjoyment of the
+eternal and incorruptible."
+
+The elder answered him, "This do, and thou shalt be like unto a
+youth of great understanding of whom I have heard tell, that was
+born of rich and distinguished parents.  For him his father
+sought in marriage the exceeding fair young daughter of a man of
+high rank and wealth.  But when he communed with his son
+concerning the espousals, and informed him of his plans, the son
+thought it strange and ill-sounding, and cast it off, and left
+his father and went into exile.  On his journey he found
+entertainment in the house of a poor old man, where he rested
+awhile during the heat of the day.
+
+"Now this poor man's daughter, his only child, a virgin, was
+sitting before the door, and, while she wrought with her hands,
+with her lips she loudly sang the praises of God with
+thanksgiving from the ground of her heart.  The young man heard
+her hymn of praise and said, `Damsel, what is thine employment?
+and wherefore, poor and needy as thou art, givest thou thanks as
+though for great blessings, singing praise to the Giver?'  She
+answered, `Knowest thou not that, as a little medicine often
+times delivereth a man from great ailments, even so the giving of
+thanks to God for small mercies winneth great ones?  Therefore I,
+the daughter of a poor old man, thank and bless God for these
+small mercies, knowing that the Giver thereof is able to give
+even greater gifts.  And this applieth but to those external
+things that are not our own from whence there accrueth no gain to
+those who possess much (not to mention the loss that often
+ariseth), nor cometh there harm to those who have less; for both
+sorts journey along the same road, and hasten to the same end.
+But, in things most necessary and vital, many and great the
+blessings I have enjoyed of my Lord, though indeed they are
+without number and beyond compare.  I have been made in the image
+of God, and have gained the knowledge of him, and have been
+endowed with reason beyond all the beasts, and have been called
+again from death unto life, through the tender mercy of our God,
+and have received power to share in his mysteries; and the gate
+of Paradise hath been opened to me, allowing me to enter without
+hindrance, if I will.  Wherefore for gifts so many and so fine,
+shared alike by rich and poor, I can indeed in no wise praise him
+as I ought, yet if I fail to render to the Giver this little hymn
+of praise, what excuse shall I have?'
+
+"The youth, astonished at her wit, called to her father, and said
+unto him, `Give me thy daughter: for I love her wisdom and
+piety.'  But the elder said, `It is not possible for thee, the
+son of wealthy parents, to take this a beggar's daughter.'  Again
+the young man said, `Yea, but I will take her, unless thou
+forbid: for a daughter of noble and wealthy family hath been
+betrothed unto me in marriage, and her I have cast off and taken
+to flight.  But I have fallen in love with thy daughter because
+of her righteousness to God-ward, and her discreet wisdom, and I
+heartily desire to wed-her.'  But the old man said unto him, `I
+cannot give her unto thee, to carry away to thy father's house,
+and depart her from mine arms, for she is mine only child.'
+'But,' said the youth, `I will abide here with your folk and
+adopt your manner of life.'  Thereupon he stripped him of his own
+goodly raiment, and asked for the old man's clothes and put them
+on.  When the father had much tried his purpose, and proved him
+in manifold ways, and knew that his intent was fixed, and that it
+was no light passion that led him to ask for his daughter, but
+love of godliness that constrained him to embrace a life of
+poverty, preferring it to his own glory and noble birth, he took
+him by the hand, and brought him into his treasure-house, where
+he showed him much riches laid up, and a vast heap of money, such
+as the young man had never beheld.  And he said unto him, `Son,
+all these things give I unto thee, forasmuch as thou hast chosen
+to become the husband to my daughter, and also thereby the heir
+of all my substance.'  So the young man acquired the inheritance,
+and surpassed all the famous and wealthy men of the land."
+
+
+XVII.
+
+Said Ioasaph unto Barlaam, "This story also fitly setteth forth
+mine own estate.  Whence also me thinketh that thou hadst me in
+mind when thou spakest it.  But what is the proof whereby thou
+seekest to know the steadfastness of my purpose?"
+
+Said the elder, "I have already proved thee, and know how wise
+and steadfast is thy purpose, and how truly upright is thine
+heart.  But the end of thy fortune shall confirm it.  For this
+cause I bow my knees unto our God glorified in Three Persons, the
+Maker of all things visible and invisible, who verily is, and is
+for ever, that never had beginning of his glorious being, nor
+hath end, the terrible and almighty, the good and pitiful, that
+he may enlighten the eyes of thine heart, and give thee the
+spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, that
+thou mayest know what is the hope of his calling, and what the
+riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, and what is
+the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe; that
+thou mayest be no more a stranger and sojourner, but a fellow-
+citizen with the Saints, and of the household of God, being built
+upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ
+our Lord himself being the chief corner-stone, in whom all the
+building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the
+Lord."
+
+Ioasaph, keenly pricked at the heart, said, "All this I too long
+to learn: and I beseech thee make known to me the riches of the
+glory of God, and the exceeding greatness of his power."
+
+Barlaam said unto him, "I pray God to teach thee this, and to
+plant in thy soul the knowledge of the same; since with men it is
+impossible that his glory and power be told, yea, even if the
+tongues of all men that now are and have ever been were combined
+in one.  For, as saith the Evangelist and Divine, `No man hath
+seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the
+bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.'  But the glory and
+majesty of the invisible and infinite God, what son of earth
+shall skill to comprehend it, save he to whom he himself shall
+reveal it, in so far as he will, as he hath revealed it, to his
+Prophets and Apostles?  But we learn it, so far as in us lieth,
+by their teaching, and from the very nature of the world.  For
+the Scripture saith, `The heavens declare the glory of God, and
+the firmament sheweth his handiwork;' and, `The invisible things
+of him from the creation Of the world are clearly understood by
+the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.'
+
+"Even as a man, beholding an house splendidly and skilfully
+builded, or a vessel fairly framed, taketh note of the builder or
+workman and marvelleth thereat, even so I that was fashioned out
+of nothing and brought into being, though I cannot see the maker
+and provider, yet from his harmonious and marvellous fashioning
+of me have come to the knowledge of his wisdom, not to the full
+measure of that wisdom, but to the full compass of my powers; yea
+I have seen that I was not brought forth by chance, nor made of
+myself, but that he fashioned me, as it pleased him, and set me
+to have dominion over his creatures, howbeit making me lower than
+some; that, when I was broken, he re-created me with a better
+renewal; and that he shall draw me by his divine will from this
+world and place me in that other life that is endless and
+eternal; and that in nothing I could withstand the might of his
+providence, nor add anything to myself nor take anything away,
+whether in stature or bodily form, and that I am not able to
+renew for myself that which is waxen old, nor raise that which
+hath been destroyed.  For never was man able to accomplish aught
+of these things, neither king, nor wise man, nor rich man, nor
+ruler, nor any other that pursueth the tasks of men.  For he
+saith, `There is no king, or mighty man, that had any other
+beginning of birth.  For all men have one entrance into life, and
+the like going out.'
+
+"So from mine own nature, I am led by the hand to the knowledge
+of the mighty working of the Creator; and at the same time I
+think upon the well-ordered structure and preservation of the
+whole creation, how that in itself it is subject everywhere to
+variableness and change, in the world of thought by choice,
+whether by advance in the good, or departure from it, in the
+world of sense by birth and decay, increase and decrease, and
+change in quality and motion in space.  And thus all things
+proclaim, by voices that cannot be heard, that they were created,
+and are held together, and preserved, and ever watched over by
+the providence of the uncreate, unturning and unchanging God.
+Else how could diverse elements have met, for the consummation of
+a single world, one with another, and remained inseparable,
+unless some almighty power had knit them together, and still were
+keeping them from dissolution?  `For how could anything have
+endured, if it had not been his will?  or been preserved, if not
+called by him?' as saith the Scripture.
+
+"A ship holdeth not together without a steersman, but easily
+foundereth; and a small house shall not stand without a
+protector.  How then could the world have subsisted for long
+ages, a work so great, and so fair and wondrous, -- without some
+glorious mighty and marvellous steersmanship and all-wise
+providence?  Behold the heavens, how long they have stood, and
+have not been darkened: and the earth hath not been exhausted,
+though she hath been bearing offspring so long.  The water-
+springs have not failed to gush out since they were made.  The
+sea, that receiveth so many rivers, hath not exceeded her
+measure.  The courses of Sun and Moon have not varied: the order
+of day and night hath not changed.  From all these objects is
+declared unto us the unspeakable power and magnificence of God,
+witnessed by Prophets and Apostles.  But no man can fitly
+conceive or sound forth his glory.  For the holy Apostle, that
+had Christ speaking within him, after perceiving all objects of
+thought and sense, still said, `We know in part, and we prophesy
+in part.  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which
+is in part shall be done away.'  Wherefore also, astonied at the
+infinite riches of his wisdom and knowledge, he cried for all to
+understand, `O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
+knowledge of God!  how unsearchable are his judgments, and his
+ways past finding out!'
+
+"Now, if he, that attained unto the third heaven and heard such
+unspeakable words, uttered such sentences, what man of my sort
+shall have strength to look eye to eye upon the abysses of such
+mysteries, or speak rightly thereof, or think meetly of the
+things whereof we speak, unless the very giver of wisdom, and the
+amender of the unwise, vouchsafe that power?  For in his hand are
+we and our words, and all prudence and knowledge of wisdom is
+with him.  And he himself hath given us the true understanding of
+the things that are; to know the structure of the world, the
+working of the elements, the beginning, end and middle of times,
+the changes of the solstices, the succession of seasons, and how
+he hath ordered all things by measure and weight.  For he can
+shew his great strength at all times, and who may withstand the
+power of his arm?  For the whole world before him is as a little
+grain of the balance, yea, as a drop of the morning dew that
+falleth down upon the earth.  But he hath mercy upon all; for he
+can do all things, and winketh at the sins of men, because they
+should amend.  For he abhorreth nothing, nor turneth away from
+them that run unto him, he, the only good Lord and lover of
+souls.  Blessed be the holy name of his glory, praised and
+exalted above all for ever!  Amen."
+
+
+XVIII.
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "If thou hadst for a long time considered,
+most wise Sir, how thou mightest best declare to me the
+explanation of the questions that I propounded, methinks thou
+couldest not have done it better than by uttering such words as
+thou hast now spoken unto me.  Thou hast taught me that God is
+the Maker and preserver of all things; and in unanswerable
+language thou hast shown me that the glory of his majesty is
+incomprehensible to human reasonings, and that no man is able to
+attain thereto, except those to whom, by his behest, he revealeth
+it.  Wherefore am I lost in amaze at thine eloquent wisdom.
+
+"But tell me, good Sir, of what age thou art, and in what manner
+of place is thy dwelling, and who are thy fellow philosophers;
+for my soul hangeth fast on thine, and fain would I never be
+parted from thee all the days of my life."
+
+The elder said, "Mine age is, as I reckon, forty and five years,
+and in the deserts of the land of Senaar do I dwell.  For my
+fellow combatants I have those who labour and contend together
+with me on the course of the heavenly journey."
+
+"What sayest thou?" quoth Ioasaph.  "Thou seemest to me upwards
+of seventy years old.  How speakest thou of forty and five?
+Herein methinks thou tellest not the truth."
+
+Barlaam said unto him, "If it be the number of years from my
+birth that thou askest, thou hast well reckoned them at upwards
+of seventy.  But, for myself, I count not amongst the number of
+my days the years that I wasted in the vanity of the world.  When
+I lived to the flesh in the bondage of sin, I was dead in the
+inner man; and those years of deadness I can never call years of
+life.  But now the world hath been crucified to me, and I to the
+world, and I have put off the old man, which is corrupt according
+to the deceitful lusts, and live no longer to the flesh, but
+Christ liveth in me; and the life that I live, I live by the
+faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
+And the years, that have passed since then, I may rightly call
+years of life, and days of salvation.  And in numbering these at
+about forty and five, I reckoned by the true tale, and not off
+the mark.  So do thou also alway hold by this reckoning; and be
+sure that there is no true life for them that are dead to all
+good works, and live in sin, and serve the world-ruler of them
+that are dragged downward, and waste their time in pleasures and
+lusts: but rather be well assured that these are dead and defunct
+in the activity of life.  For a wise man hath fitly called sin
+the death of the immortal soul.  And the Apostle also saith,
+'When ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from
+righteousness.  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye
+are now ashamed?  for the end of those things is death.  But now
+being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have
+your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.  For the
+wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.'"
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "Since thou reckonest not the life in the
+flesh in the measure of life, neither canst thou reckon that
+death, which all men undergo, as death."
+
+The elder answered, "Without doubt thus think I of these matters
+also, and fear this temporal death never a whit, nor do I call it
+death at all, if only it overtake me walking in the way of the
+commandments of God, but rather a passage from death to the
+better and more perfect life, which is hid in Christ, in desire
+to obtain which the Saints were impatient of the present.
+Wherefore saith the Apostle, `We know that if our earthly house
+of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a
+house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this
+we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house
+which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be
+found naked.  For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being
+burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon,
+that mortality might be swallowed up of life.'  And again, `O
+wretched man that I am!  who shall deliver me from the body of
+this death?'  And once more, `I desire to depart and be with
+Christ.'  And the prophet saith, `When shall I come and appear
+before the presence of God?'  Now that I the least of all men,
+choose not to fear bodily death, thou mayest learn by this, that
+I have set at nought thy father's threat, and come boldly unto
+thee, and have preached to thee the tidings of salvation, though
+I knew for sure that, if this came to his knowledge, he would,
+were that possible, put me to a thousand deaths.  But I,
+honouring the word of God afore all things, and longing to win
+it, dread not temporal death, nor reek on it at all worthy of
+such an appellation, in obedience to my Lord's command, which
+saith, `Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to
+kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both
+soul and body in hell.'"
+
+"These then," said Ioasaph, "are the good deeds of that true
+philosophy, that far surpass the nature of these earthly men who
+cleave fast to the present life.  Blessed are ye that hold to so
+noble a purpose!  But tell me truly what is thy manner of life
+and that of thy companions in the desert, and from whence cometh
+your raiment and of what sort may it be?  Tell me as thou lovest
+truth."
+
+Said Barlaam, "Our sustenance consisteth of acorns and herbs that
+we find in the desert, watered by the dew of heaven, and in
+obedience to the Creator's command; and for this there is none to
+fight and quarrel with us, seeking by the rule and law of
+covetousness to snatch more than his share, but in abundance for
+all is food provided from unploughed lands, and a ready table
+spread.  But, should any of the faithful brethren in the
+neighbourhood bring a blessed dole of bread, we receive it as
+sent by providence, and bless the faith that brought it.  Our
+raiment is of hair, sheepskins or shirts of palm fibre, all
+thread-bare and much patched, to mortify the frailty of the
+flesh.  We wear the same clothing winter and summer, which, once
+put on, we may on no account put off until it be old and quite
+outworn.  For by thus afflicting our bodies with the constraints
+of cold and heat we purvey for ourselves the vesture of our
+future robes of immortality."
+
+Ioasaph said, "But whence cometh this garment that thou wearest?"
+The elder answered,"I received it as a loan from one of our
+faithful brethren, when about to make my journey unto thee; for
+it behoved me not to arrive in mine ordinary dress.  If one had a
+beloved kinsman carried captive into a foreign land, and wished
+to recover him thence, one would lay aside one's own clothing,
+and put on the guise of the enemy, and pass into their country
+and by divers crafts deliver one's friend from that cruel
+tyranny.  Even so I also, having been made aware of thine estate,
+clad myself in this dress, and came to sow the seed of the divine
+message in thine heart, and ransom thee from the slavery of the
+dread ruler of this world.  And now behold by the power of God,
+as far as in me lay, I have accomplished my ministry, announcing
+to thee the knowledge of him, and making known unto thee the
+preaching of the Prophets and Apostles, and teaching thee
+unerringly and soothly the vanity of the present life, and the
+evils with which this world teems, which cruelly deceiveth them
+that trust therein, and taketh them in many a gin.  Now must I
+return thither whence I came, and thereupon doff this robe
+belonging to another, and don mine own again."
+
+Ioasaph therefore begged the elder to shew himself in his wonted
+apparel.  Then did Barlaam strip off the mantle that he wore, and
+lo, a terrible sight met Ioasaph's eyes: for all the fashion of
+his flesh was wasted away, and his skin blackened by the
+scorching sun, and drawn tight over his bones like an hide
+stretched over thin canes.  And he wore an hair shirt, stiff and
+rough, from his loins to his knees, and over his shoulders there
+hung a coat of like sort.
+
+But Ioasaph, being sore amazed at the hardship of his austere
+life, and astonished at his excess of endurance, burst into
+tears, and said to the elder, "Since thou art come to deliver me
+from the slavery of the devil, crown thy good service to me, and
+'bring my soul out of prison,' and take me with thee, and let us
+go hence, that I may be fully ransomed from this deceitful world
+and then receive the seal of saving Baptism, and share with thee
+this thy marvellous philosophy, and this more than human
+discipline"
+
+But Barlaam said unto him, "A certain rich man once reared the
+fawn of a gazelle; which, when grown up, was impelled by natural
+desire to long for the desert.  So on a day she went out and
+found an herd of gazelles browsing; and, joining them, she would
+roam through the glades of the forest, returning at evenfall, but
+issuing forth at dawn, through the heedlessness of her keepers,
+to herd with her wild companions.  When these removed, to graze
+further afield, she followed them.  But the rich man's servants,
+when they learned thereof, mounted on horseback, and gave chase,
+and caught the pet fawn, and brought her home again, and set her
+in captivity for the time to come.  But of the residue of the
+herd, some they killed, and roughly handled others.  Even so I
+fear that it may happen unto us also if thou follow me; that I
+may be deprived of thy fellowship, and bring many ills to my
+comrades, and everlasting damnation to thy father.  But this is
+the will of the Lord concerning time; thou now indeed must be
+signed with the seal of holy Baptism, and abide in this country,
+cleaving to all righteousness, and the fulfilling of the
+commandments of Christ; but when the Giver of all good things
+shall give thee opportunity, then shalt thou come to us, and for
+the remainder of this present life we shall dwell together; and I
+trust in the Lord also that in the world to come we shall not be
+parted asunder."
+
+Again Ioasaph, in tears, said unto him, "If this be the Lord's
+pleasure, his will be done!  For the rest, perfect me in holy
+Baptism.  Then receive at my hands money and garments for the
+support and clothing both of thyself and thy companions, and
+depart to the place of thy monastic life, and the peace of God be
+thy guard!  But cease not to make supplications on my behalf,
+that I may not fall away from my hope, but may soon be able to
+reach thee, and in peace profound may enjoy thy ministration."
+
+Barlaam answered, "Nought forbiddeth thee to receive the seal of
+Christ.  Make thee ready now; and, the Lord working with thee,
+thou shalt be perfected.  But as concerning the money that thou
+didst promise to bestow on my companions, how shall this be, that
+thou, a poor man, shouldest give alms to the rich?  The rich
+always help the poor, not the needy the wealthy.  And the least
+of all my comrades is incomparably richer than thou.  But I trust
+in the mercies of God that thou too shalt soon be passing rich as
+never afore: and then thou wilt not be ready to distribute."
+
+Ioasaph said unto him, "Make plain to me this saying; how the
+least of all thy companions surpasseth me in riches -- thou
+saidest but now that they lived in utter penury, and were pinched
+by extreme poverty and why thou callest me a poor man, but sayest
+that, when I shall be passing rich, I, who am ready to
+distribute, shall be ready to distribute no more."
+
+Barlaam answered, "I said not that these men were pinched by
+poverty, but that they plume themselves on their inexhaustible
+wealth.  For to be ever adding money to money, and never to curb
+the passion for it, but insatiably to covet more and more,
+betokeneth the extreme of poverty.  But those who despise the
+present for love of the eternal and count it but dung, if only
+they win Christ, who have laid aside all care for meat and
+raiment and cast that care on the Lord, and rejoice in penury as
+no lover of the world could rejoice, were he rolling in riches,
+who have laid up for themselves plenteously the riches of virtue,
+and are fed by the hope of good things without end, may more
+fitly be termed rich than thou, or any other earthly kingdom.
+But, God working with thee, thou shalt lay hold on such spiritual
+abundance that, if thou keep it in safety and ever rightfully
+desire more, thou shalt never wish to dispend any part of it.
+This is true abundance: but the mass of material riches will
+damage rather than benefit its friends.  Meetly therefore called
+I it the extreme of poverty, which the lovers of heavenly
+blessings utterly renounce and eschew, and flee from it, as a man
+fleeth from an adder.  But if I take from thee and so bring back
+to life that foe, whom my comrades in discipline and battle have
+slain and trampled under foot, and carry him back to them, and so
+be the occasion of wars and lusts, then shall I verily be unto
+them an evil angel, which heaven forfend!
+
+"Let the same, I pray thee, be thy thoughts about raiment.  As
+for them that have put off the corruption of the old man, and, as
+far as possible, cast away the robe of disobedience, and put on
+Christ as a coat of salvation and garment of gladness, how shall
+I again clothe these in their coats of hide, and gird them about
+with the covering of shame?  But be assured that my companions
+have no need of such things, but are content with their hard life
+in the desert, and reckon it the truest luxury; and bestow thou
+on the poor the money and garments which thou promisedst to give
+unto our monks, and lay up for thyself, for the time to come,
+treasure that cannot be stolen, and by the orisons of these poor
+folk make God thine ally; for thus shalt thou employ thy riches
+as an help toward noble things.  Then also put on the whole
+armour of the Spirit, having thy loins girt about with truth, and
+having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and wearing the
+helmet of salvation, and having thy feet shod with the
+preparation of the gospel of peace, and taking in thine hands the
+shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word
+of God.  And, being thus excellently armed and guarded on every
+side, in this confidence go forth to the warfare against
+ungodliness, until, this put to flight, and its prince, the
+devil, dashed headlong to the earth, thou be adorned with the
+crowns of victory from the right hand of thy master, the Lord of
+life."
+
+
+XIX.
+
+With such like doctrines and saving words did Barlaam instruct
+the king's son, and fit him for holy Baptism, charging him to
+fast and pray, according to custom, several days: and he ceased
+not to resort unto him, teaching him every article of the
+Catholick Faith and expounding him the holy Gospel.  Moreover he
+interpreted the Apostolick exhortations and the sayings of the
+Prophets: for, taught of God, Barlaam had alway ready on his lips
+the Old and New Scripture; and, being stirred by the Spirit, he
+enlightened his young disciple to see the true knowledge of God.
+But on the day, whereon the prince should be baptized, he taught
+him, saying, "Behold thou art moved to receive the seal of
+Christ, and be signed with the light of the countenance of the
+Lord: and thou becomest a son of God, and temple of the Holy
+Ghost, the giver of life.  Believe thou therefore in the Father,
+and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, the holy and life-giving
+Trinity, glorified in three persons and one Godhead, different
+indeed in persons and personal properties, but united in
+substance; acknowledging one God unbegotten, the Father; and one
+begotten Lord, the Son, light of light, very God of very God,
+begotten before all worlds; for of the good Father is begotten
+the good Son, and of the unbegotten light shone forth the
+everlasting light; and from very life came forth the life-giving
+spring, and from original might shone forth the might of the Son,
+who is the brightness of his glory and the Word in personality,
+who was in the beginning with God, and God without beginning and
+without end, by whom all things, visible and invisible, were
+made: knowing also one Holy Ghost, which proceedeth from the
+Father, perfect, life-giving and sanctifying God, with the same
+will, the same power, coeternal and impersonate.  Thus therefore
+worship thou the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in
+three persons or properties and one Godhead.  For the Godhead is
+common of the three, and one is their nature, one their
+substance, one their glory, one their kingdom, one their might,
+one their authority; but it is common of the Son and of the Holy
+Ghost that they are of the Father; and it is proper of the Father
+that he is unbegotten, and of the Son that he is begotten, and of
+the Holy Ghost that he proceedeth.
+
+"This therefore be thy belief; but seek not to understand the
+manner of the generation or procession, for it is
+incomprehensible.  In uprightness of heart and without question
+accept the truth that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
+Ghost, are in all points one except in the being unbegotten, and
+begotten, and proceeding; and that the only begotten Son, the
+Word of God, and God, for our salvation came down upon earth, by
+the good pleasure of the Father, and, by the operation of the
+Holy Ghost, was conceived without seed in the womb of Mary the
+holy Virgin and Mother of God, by the Holy Ghost, and was born of
+her without defilement and was made perfect man and that he is
+perfect God and perfect man, being of two natures, the Godhead
+and the manhood, and in two natures, endowed with reason, will,
+activity, and free will, and in all points perfect according to
+the proper rule and law in either case, that is in the Godhead
+and the manhood, and in one united person.  And do thou receive
+these things without question, never seeking to know the manner,
+how the Son of God emptied himself, and was made man of the blood
+of the Virgin, without seed and without defilement; or what is
+this meeting in one person of two natures.  For by faith we are
+taught to hold fast those things that have been divinely taught
+us out of Holy Scripture; but of the manner we are ignorant, and
+cannot declare it.
+
+"Believe thou that the Son of God, who, of his tender mercy was
+made man, took upon him all the affections that are natural to
+man, and are blameless (he hungered and thirsted and slept and
+was weary and endured agony in his human nature, and for our
+transgressions was led to death, was crucified and was buried,
+and tasted of death, his Godhead continuing without suffering and
+without change; for we attach no sufferings whatsoever to that
+nature which is free from suffering, but we recognize him as
+suffering and buried in that nature which he assumed, and in his
+heavenly glory rising again from the dead, and in immortality
+ascending into heaven); and believe that he shall come again,
+with glory, to judge quick and dead, and by the words which
+himself knoweth, of that diviner body, and to reward every man by
+his own just standards.  For the dead shall rise again, and they
+that are in their graves shall awake: and they that have kept the
+commandments of Christ, and have departed this life in the true
+faith shall inherit eternal life, and they, that have died in
+their sins, and have turned aside from the right faith, shall go
+away into eternal punishment.  Believe not that there is any true
+being or kingdom of evil, nor suppose that it is without
+beginning, or self-originate, or born of God: out on such an
+absurdity!  but believe rather that it is `the work of us and the
+devil, come upon us through our heedlessness, because we were
+endowed with free-will, and we make our choice, of deliberate
+purpose, whether it be good or evil.  Beside this, acknowledge
+one Baptism, by water and the Spirit, for the remission of sins.
+
+"Receive also the Communion of the spotless Mysteries of Christ,
+believing in truth that they are the Body and Blood of Christ our
+God, which he hath given unto the faithful for the remission of
+sins.  For in the same night in which he was betrayed he ordained
+a new testament with his holy disciples and Apostles, and through
+them for all that should believe on him, saying, `Take, eat: this
+is my Body, which is broken for you, for the remission of sins.'
+After the same manner also he took the cup, and gave unto them
+saying, `Drink ye all of this: this is my Blood, of the new
+testament, which is shed for you for the remission of sins: this
+do in remembrance of me.'  He then, the Word of God, being quick
+and powerful, and, working all things by his might, maketh and
+transformeth, through his divine operation, the bread and wine of
+the oblation into his own Body and Blood, by the visitation of
+the Holy Ghost, for the sanctification and enlightenment of them
+that with desire partake thereof.
+
+"Faithfully worship, with honour and reverence, the venerable
+likeness of the features of the Lord, the Word of God, who for
+our sake was made man, thinking to behold in the Image thy
+Creator himself.  `For the honour of the Image, saith one of the
+Saints, passeth over to the original.'  The original is the thing
+imaged, and from it cometh the derivation.  For when we see the
+drawing in the Image, in our mind's eye we pass over to the true
+form of which it is an Image, and devoutly worship the form of
+him who for our sake was made flesh, not making a god of it, but
+saluting it as an image of God made flesh, with desire and love
+of him who for us men emptied himself, and even took the form of
+a servant.  Likewise also for this reason we salute the pictures
+of his undefiled Mother, and of all the Saints.  In the same
+spirit also faithfully worship and salute the emblem of the life-
+giving and venerable Cross, for the sake of him that hung thereon
+in the flesh, for the salvation of our race, Christ the God and
+Saviour of the world, who gave it to us as the sign of victory
+over the devil; for the devil trembleth and quaketh at the virtue
+thereof, and endureth not to behold it.  In such doctrines and in
+such faith shalt thou be baptized, keeping thy faith unwavering
+and pure of all heresy until thy latest breath.  But all teaching
+and every speech of doctrine contrary to this blameless faith
+abhor, and consider it an alienation from God.  For, as saith the
+Apostle, `Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
+gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
+him be accursed.'  For there is none other Gospel or none other
+Faith than that which hath been preached by the Apostles, and
+established by the inspired Fathers at divers Councils, and
+delivered to the Catholick Church."
+
+When Barlaam had thus spoken, and taught the king's son the Creed
+which was set forth at the Council of Nicaea, he baptized him in
+the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, in
+the pool of water which was in his garden.  And there came upon
+him the grace of the Holy Spirit.  Then did Barlaam come back to
+his chamber, and offer the holy Mysteries of the unbloody 
+Sacrifice, and communicate him with the undefiled Mysteries of
+Christ: and Ioasaph rejoiced in spirit, giving thanks to Christ
+his God.
+
+Then said Barlaam unto him, "Blessed be the God and Father of our
+Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
+begotten thee again unto a lively hope, to an inheritance
+incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
+heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord by the Holy Ghost; for to-day
+thou hast been made free from sin, and hast become the servant of
+God, and hast received the earnest of everlasting life: thou hast
+left darkness and put on light, being enrolled in the glorious
+liberty of the children of God.  For he saith, `As many as
+received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
+even to them that believe on his name.'  Wherefore thou art no
+more a servant, but a son and an heir of God through Jesus Christ
+in the Holy Ghost. Wherefore, beloved, give diligence that thou
+mayest be found of him without spot and blameless, working that
+which is good upon the foundation of faith: for faith without
+works is dead, as also are works without faith; even as I
+remember to have told thee afore.  Put off therefore now all
+malice, and hate all the works of the old man, which are corrupt
+according to the deceitful lusts; and, as new-born babe, desire
+to drink the reasonable and sincere milk of the virtues, that
+thou mayest grow thereby, and attain unto the knowledge of the
+commandments of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
+measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that thou mayest
+henceforth be no more a child in mind, tossed to and fro, and
+carried about on the wild and raging waves of thy passions: or
+rather in malice be a child, but have thy mind settled and made
+steadfast toward that which is good, and walk worthy of the
+vocation wherewith thou wast called, in the keeping of the
+commandments of the Lord, casting off and putting far from thee
+the vanity of thy former conversation, henceforth walking not as
+the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having their
+understanding darkened, alienated from the glory of God, in
+subjection to their lusts and unreasonable affections.  But as
+for thee, even as thou hast approached the living and true God,
+so walk thou as a child of light; for the fruit of the Spirit is
+in all goodness and righteousness and truth; and no longer
+destroy by the works of the old man the new man, which thou hast
+to-day put on.  But day by day renew thyself in righteousness and
+holiness and truth: for this is possible with every man that
+willeth, as thou hearest that unto them that believe on his name
+he hath given power to become the sons of God; so that we can no
+longer say that the acquiring of virtues is impossible for us,
+for the road is plain and easy.  For, though with respect to the
+buffeting of the body, it hath been called a strait and narrow
+way, yet through the hope of future blessings is it desirable and
+divine for such as walk, not as fools but circumspectly,
+understanding what the will of God is, clad in the whole armour
+of God to stand in battle against the wiles of the adversary, and
+with all prayer and supplication watching thereunto, in all
+patience and hope.  Therefore, even as thou hast heard from me,
+and been instructed, and hast laid a sure foundation, do thou
+abound therein, increasing and advancing, and warring the good
+warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, witnessed by good
+works, following after righteousness, godliness, faith, charity,
+patience, meekness, laying hold on eternal life whereunto thou
+wast called.  But remove far from thee all pleasure and lust of
+the affections, not only in act and operation, but even in the
+thoughts of thine heart, that thou mayest present thy soul
+without blemish to God.  For not our actions only, but our
+thoughts also are recorded, and procure us crowns or punishments:
+and we know that Christ, with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
+dwelleth in pure hearts.  But, just as smoke driveth away bees,
+so, we learn, do evil imaginations drive out of us the Holy
+Spirit's grace.  Wherefore take good heed hereto, that thou blot
+out every imagination of sinful passion from thy soul, and plant
+good thoughts therein, making thyself a temple of the Holy Ghost.
+For from imaginations we come also to actual deeds, and every
+work, advancing from thought and reflection, catcheth at small
+beginnings, and then, by small increases, arriveth at great
+endings.
+
+"Wherefore on no account suffer any evil habit to master thee;
+but, while it is yet young, pluck the evil root out of thine
+heart, lest it fasten on and strike root so deep that time and
+labour be required to uproot it.  And the reason that greater
+sins assault us and get the mastery of our souls is that those
+which appear to be less, such as wicked thoughts, unseemly words
+and evil communications, fail to receive proper correction.  For
+as in the case of the body, they that neglect small wounds often
+bring mortification and death upon themselves, so too with the 
+soul: thus they that overlook little passions and sins bring on
+greater ones.  And the more those greater sins grow on them, the
+more cloth the soul become accustomed therto and think light of
+them.  For he saith, `When the wicked cometh to the depth of evil
+things, he thinketh light of them': and finally, like the hog,
+that delighteth to wallow in mire, the soul, that hath been
+buried in evil habits, doth not even perceive the stink of her
+sin, but rather delighteth and rejoiceth therein, cleaving to
+wickedness as it were good.  And even if at last she issue from
+the mire and come to herself again, she is delivered only by much
+labour and sweat from the bondage of those sins, to which she
+hath by evil custom enslaved herself.
+
+"Wherefore with all thy might remove thyself far from every evil
+thought and fancy, and every sinful custom; and school thyself
+the rather in virtuous deeds, and form the habit of practising
+them.  For if thou labour but a little therein, and have strength
+to form the habit, at the last, God helping thee, thou shalt
+advance without labour.  For the habit of virtue, taking its
+quality from the soul, seeing that it hath some natural kinship
+therewith and claimeth God for an help-mate, becometh hard to
+alter and exceeding strong; as thou seest, courage and prudence,
+temperance and righteousness are hard to alter, being deeply
+seated habits, qualities and activities of the soul.  For if the
+evil affections, not being natural to us, but attacking us from
+without, be hard to alter when they become habits, how much
+harder shall it be to shift virtue, which hath been by nature
+planted in us by our Maker, and hath him for an help-mate, if so
+be, through our brief endeavour, it shall have been rooted in
+habit in the soul?"
+
+
+XX.
+
+"Wherefore a practician of virtue once spake to me on this wise:
+'After I had made divine meditation my constant habit, and
+through the practice of it my soul had received her right
+quality, I once resolved to make trial of her, and put a check
+upon her, not allowing her to devote herself to her wonted
+exercises.  I felt that she was chafing and fretting, and
+yearning for meditation with an ungovernable desire, and was
+utterly unable to incline to any contrary thought.  No sooner had
+I given her the reins than immediately she ran in hot haste to
+her own task, as saith the Prophet, `Like as the hart desireth
+the water brooks, so longeth my soul after the strong, the living
+God.'  Wherefore from all these proofs it is evident that the
+acquirement of virtue is within our reach, and that we are lords
+over it, whether we will embrace or else the rather choose sin.
+They then, that are in the thraldom of wickedness, can hardly be
+torn away therefrom, as I have already said.
+
+"But thou, who hast been delivered therefrom, through the tender
+mercy of our God, and hast put on Christ by the grace of the Holy
+Ghost, now transfer thyself wholly to the Lord's side, and never
+open a door to thy passions, but adorn thy soul with the sweet
+savour and splendour of virtue, and make her a temple of the Holy
+Trinity, and to his contemplation see thou devote all the powers
+of thy mind.  He that liveth and converseth with an earthly king
+is pointed out by all as a right happy man: what happiness then
+must be his who is privileged to converse and be in spirit with
+God!  Behold thou then his likeness alway, and converse with him.
+How shalt thou converse with God?  By drawing near him in prayer
+and supplication.  He that prayeth with exceeding fervent desire
+and pure heart, his mind estranged from all that is earthly and
+grovelling, and standeth before God, eye to eye, and presenteth
+his prayers to him in fear and trembling, such an one hath
+converse and speaketh with him face to face.
+
+"Our good Master is present everywhere, hearkening to them that
+approach him in purity and truth, as saith the Prophet, `The eyes
+of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto
+their cry.'  For this reason the Fathers define Prayer as `the
+union of man with God,' and call it `Angels' work,' and `the
+prelude of gladness to come.'  For since they lay down before all
+things that `the kingdom of heaven' consisteth in nearness to and
+contemplation of the Holy Trinity, and since all the importunity
+of prayer leadeth the mind thither, prayer is rightly called `the
+prelude' and, as it were, the `fore-glimpse' of that blessedness.
+But not all prayer is of this nature, but only such prayer as is
+worthy of the name, which hath God for its teacher, who giveth
+prayer to him that prayeth; prayer which soareth above all things
+on earth and entreateth directly with God.
+
+"This acquire thou for thyself, and strive to advance thereto,
+for it is able to exalt thee from earth to heaven.  But without
+preparation and at hap-hazard thou shalt not advance therein. 
+But first purify thy soul from all passion, and cleanse it like a
+bright and newly cleansed mirrour from every evil thought, and
+banish far all remembrance of injury and anger, which most of all
+hindereth our prayers from ascending to God-ward: and from the
+heart forgive all those that have trespassed against thee, and
+with alms and charities to the poor lend wings to thy prayer, and
+so bring it before God with fervent tears.  Thus praying thou
+shalt be able to say with blessed David, who, for all that he was
+king, and distraught with ten thousand cares, yet cleansed his
+soul from all passions, and could say unto God, `As for iniquity,
+I hate and abhor it, but thy law do I love.  Seven times a day do
+I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgements.  My soul hath
+kept thy testimonies, and loved them exceedingly.  Let my
+complaint come before thee, O Lord: give me understanding
+according to thy word.'
+
+"While thou art calling thus, the Lord hear thee: while thou art
+yet speaking, he shall say, `Behold I am here.'  If then thou
+attain to such prayer, blessed shalt thou be; for it is
+impossible for a man praying and calling upon God with such
+purpose not to advance daily in that which is good, and soar over
+all the snares of the enemy.  For, as saith one of the Saints,
+'He that hath made fervent his understanding, and hath lift up
+his soul and migrated to heaven, and hath thus called upon his
+Master, and remembered his own sins, and spoken concerning the
+forgiveness of the same, and with hot tears hath besought the
+Lover of mankind to be merciful to him: such an one, I say, by
+his continuance in such words and considerations, layeth aside
+every care of this life, and waxeth superior to human passions,
+and meriteth to be called an associate of God.'  Than which state
+what can be more blessed and higher?  May the Lord vouchsafe thee
+to attain to this blessedness!
+
+"Lo I have shown thee the way of the commandments of the Lord,
+and have not shunned to declare unto thee all the counsel of God.
+And now I, have fulfilled my ministry unto thee.  It remaineth
+that thou gird up the loins of thy mind, obedient to the Holy One
+that hath called thee, and be thou thyself holy in all manner of
+conversation: for, `Be ye holy: for I am holy,' saith the Lord.
+And the chief prince of the Apostles also writeth, saying, `If ye
+call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth
+according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning
+here in fear; knowing that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
+things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
+by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
+Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.'
+
+"All these things therefore store thou up in thine heart, and
+remember them unceasingly, ever keeping before thine eyes the
+fear of God, and his terrible judgement seat, and the splendour
+of the righteous which they shall receive in the world to come,
+and the shame of sinners in the depths of darkness, and the
+frailty and vanity of things present, and the eternity of things
+hereafter; for, `All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as
+the flower of grass.  The grass withereth, and the flower thereof
+falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.' 
+Meditate upon these things alway and the peace of God be with
+thee, enlightening and informing thee, and leading thee into the
+way of salvation, chasing afar out of thy mind every evil wish,
+and sealing thy soul with the sign of the Cross, that no
+stumbling block of the evil one come nigh thee, but that thou
+mayest merit, in all fulness of virtue, to obtain the kingdom
+that is to come, without end or successor, and be illumined with
+the light of the blessed life-giving Trinity, which, in the
+Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, is glorified."
+
+
+XXI.
+
+With such moral words did the reverend elder exhort the king's
+son, and then withdrew to his own hospice.  But the young
+prince's servants and tutors marvelled to see the frequency of
+Barlaam's visits to the palace; and one of the chiefest among
+them, whom, for his fidelity and prudence, the king had set over
+his son's palace, named Zardan, said to the prince, "Thou knowest
+well, sir, how much I dread thy father, and how great is my faith
+toward him: wherefore he ordered me, for my faithfulness, to wait
+upon thee.  Now, when I see this stranger constantly conversing
+with thee, I fear he may be of the Christian religion, toward
+which thy father hath a deadly hate; and I shall be found subject
+to the penalty of death.  Either then make known to thy father
+this man's business, or in future cease to converse with him.
+Else cast me forth from thy presence, that I be not blameable,
+and ask thy father to appoint another in my room.
+
+The king's son said unto him, "This do, Zardan, first of all. 
+Sit thou down behind the curtain, and hear his communication with
+me: and then thus will I tell thee what thou oughtest to do."
+
+So when Barlaam was about to enter into his presence, Ioasaph hid
+Zardan within the curtain, and said to the elder, "Sum me up the
+matter of thy divine teaching, that it may the more firmly be
+implanted in my heart."  Barlaam took up his parable and uttered
+many sayings touching God, and righteousness toward him, and how
+we must love him alone with all our heart, and with all our soul,
+and with all our mind, and keep his commandments with fear and
+love-and how he is the Maker of all things visible and invisible.
+Thereon he called to remembrance the creation of the first man,
+the command given unto him, and his transgression thereof, and
+the sentence pronounced by the Creator for this transgression.
+Then he reckoned up in order the good things wherefrom we
+excluded ourselves by the disannulling of his commandment.  Again
+he made mention of the many grievous misfortunes that unhappily
+overtook man, after the loss of the blessings.  Besides this he
+brought forward God's love toward mankind; how our Maker, heedful
+of our salvation, sent forth teachers and prophets proclaiming
+the Incarnation of the Only-begotten.  Then he spake of the Son,
+his dwelling among men, his deeds of kindness, his miracles, his
+sufferings for us thankless creatures, his Cross, his spear, his
+voluntary death; finally, of our recovery and recall, our return
+to our first good estate; after this, of the kingdom of heaven
+awaiting such as are worthy thereof; of the torment in store for
+the wicked; the fire that is not quenched, the never ending
+darkness, the undying worm, and all the other tortures which the
+slaves of sin have laid up in store for themselves.  When he had
+fully related these matters, he ended his speech with moral
+instruction, and dwelt much upon purity of life, and utterly
+condemned the vanity of things present, and proved the utter
+misery of such as cleave thereto, and finally made an end with
+prayer.  And therewith he prayed for the prince, that he might
+hold fast the profession of the Catholick Faith without turning
+and without wavering, and keep his life blameless and his
+conversation pure, and so ending with prayer again withdrew to
+his hospice.
+
+But the king's son called Zardan forth, and, to try his
+disposition, said unto him, "Thou hast heard what sort of
+discourses this babbler maketh me, endeavouring to be-jape me
+with his specious follies, and rob me of this pleasing happiness
+and enjoyment, to worship a strange God." Zardan answered, "Why
+hath it pleased thee, O prince, to prove me that am thy servant?
+I wot that the words of that man have sunk deep into thine heart;
+for, otherwise, thou hadst not listened gladly and unceasingly to
+his words.  Yea, and we also are not ignorant of this preaching.
+But from the time when thy father stirred up truceless warfare
+against the Christians, the men have been banished hence, and
+their teaching is silenced.  But if now their doctrine commend
+itself unto thee, and if thou have the strength to accept its
+austerity, may thy wishes be guided straight toward the good! 
+But for myself, what shall I do, that am unable to bear the very
+sight of such austerity, and through fear of the King am divided
+in soul with pain and anguish?  What excuse shall I make, for
+neglecting his orders, and giving this fellow access unto thee?"
+
+The King's son said unto him, "I knew full well that in none
+other wise could I requite thee worthily for thy much kindness,
+and therefore have I tasked myself to make known unto thee this
+more than human good, which doth even exceed the worth of thy
+good service, that thou mightest know to what end thou wast born,
+and acknowledge thy Creator, and, leaving darkness, run to the
+light.  And I hoped that when thou heardest thereof thou wouldst
+follow it with irresistible desire.  But, as I perceive, I am
+disappointed of my hope, seeing that thou art listless to that
+which hath been spoken.  But if thou reveal these secrets to the
+king my father, thou shalt but distress his mind with sorrows and
+griefs.  If thou be well disposed to him, on no account reveal
+this matter to him until a convenient season."  Speaking thus, he
+seemed to be only casting seed upon the water; for wisdom shall
+not enter into a soul void of understanding.
+
+Upon the morrow came Barlaam and spake of his departure: but
+Ioasaph, unable to bear the separation, was distressed at heart,
+and his eyes filled with tears.  The elder made a long discourse,
+and adjured him to continue unshaken in good works, and with
+words of exhortation established his heart, and begged him to
+send him cheerfully on his way; and at the same time he foretold
+that they should shortly be at one, never to be parted more.  But
+Ioasaph, unable to impose fresh labours on the elder, and to
+restrain his desire to be on his way, and suspecting moreover
+that the man Zardan might make known his case to the King and
+subject him to punishment, said unto Barlaam, "Since it seemeth
+thee good, my spiritual father, best of teachers and minister of
+all good to me, to leave me to live in the vanity of the world,
+while thou journeyest to thy place of spiritual rest, I dare no
+longer let and hinder thee.  Depart therefore, with the peace of
+God for thy guardian, and ever in thy worthy prayers, for the
+Lord's sake, think upon my misery, that I may be enabled to
+overtake thee, and behold thine honoured face for ever.  But
+fulfil this my one request; since thou couldest not receive aught
+for thy fellow monks, yet for thyself accept a little money for
+sustenance, and a cloak to cover thee."  But Barlaam answered and
+said unto him, "Seeing that I would not receive aught for my
+brethren (for they need not grasp at the world's chattels which
+they have chosen to forsake), how shall I acquire for myself that
+which I have denied them?  If the possession of money were a good
+thing, I should have let them share it before me.  But, as I
+understand that the possession thereof is deadly, I will hazard
+neither them nor myself in such snares."
+
+But when Ioasaph had failed once again to persuade Barlaam, `twas
+but a sign for a second petition, and he made yet another
+request, that Barlaam should not altogether overlook his prayer,
+nor plunge him in utter despair, but should leave him that stiff
+shirt and rough mantle, both to remind him of his teacher's
+austerities and to safe-guard him from all the workings of Satan,
+and should take from him another cloak instead, in order that
+"When thou seest my gift," said he, "thou mayest bear my
+lowliness in remembrance."
+
+But the elder said, "It is not lawful for me to give thee my old
+and worn out vestment, and take one that is new, lest I be
+condemned to receive here the recompense of my slight labour.
+But, not to thwart thy willing mind, let the garments given me by
+thee be old ones, nothing different from mine own."  So the
+king's son sought for old shirts of hair, which he gave the aged
+man, rejoicing to receive his in exchange, deeming them beyond
+compare more precious than any regal purple.
+
+Now saintly Barlaam, all but ready for to start, spake concerning
+his journey, and delivered Ioasaph his last lesson, saying,
+"Brother beloved, and dearest son, whom I have begotten through
+the Gospel, thou knowest of what King thou art the soldier, and
+with whom thou hast made thy covenant.  This thou must keep
+steadfastly, and readily perform the duties of thy service, even
+as thou didst promise the Lord of all in the script of thy
+covenant, with the whole heavenly host present to attest it, and
+record the terms; which if thou keep, thou shalt be blessed.
+Esteem therefore nought in the present world above God and his
+blessings.  For what terror of this life can be so terrible as
+the Gehenna of eternal fire, that burneth and yet hath no light,
+that punisheth and never ceaseth?  And which of the goodly things
+of this world can give such gladness as that which the great God
+giveth to those that love him?  Whose beauty is unspeakable, and
+power invincible, and glory everlasting; whose good things,
+prepared for his friends, exceed beyond comparison all that is
+seen; which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
+entered into the heart of man: whereof mayest thou be shown an
+inheritor, preserved by the mighty hand of God!"
+
+Here the king's son burst into tears of pain and vexation, unable
+to bear the parting from a loving father and excellent teacher.
+"And who," quoth he, "shall fill thy place, O my father?  And
+whom like unto thee shall I find to be shepherd and guide of my
+soul's salvation?  What consolation may I find in my loss of
+thee?  Behold thou hast brought me, the wicked and rebellious
+servant, back to God, and set me in the place of son and heir!
+Thou hast sought me that was lost and astray on the mountain, a
+prey for every evil beast, and folded me amongst the sheep that
+had never wandered.  Thou hast shown me the direct road to truth,
+bringing me out of darkness and the shadow of death, and,
+changing the course of my feet from the slippery, deadly, crooked
+and winding pathway, hast ministered to me great and marvellous
+blessings, whereof speech would fail to recount the exceeding
+excellence.  Great be the gifts that thou receivest at God's
+hand, on account of me who am small!  And may the Lord, who in
+the rewards of his gifts alone overpasseth them that love him,
+supply that which is lacking to my gratitude!"
+
+Here Barlaam cut short his lamentation, and rose and stood up to
+pray, lifting up his either hand, and saying, "O God and Father
+of our Lord Jesu Christ, which didst illuminate the things that
+once were darkened, and bring this visible and invisible creation
+out of nothing, and didst turn again this thine handiwork, and
+sufferedst us not to walk after our foolishness, we give thanks
+to thee and to thy Wisdom and Might, our Lord Jesu Christ, by
+whom thou didst make the worlds, didst raise us from our fall,
+didst forgive us our trespasses, didst restore us from wandering,
+didst ransom us from captivity, didst quicken us from death by
+the precious blood of thy Son our Lord.  Upon thee I call, and
+upon thine only begotten Son, and upon the Holy Ghost.  Look upon
+this thy spiritual sheep that hath come to be a sacrifice unto
+thee through me thine unworthy servant, and do thou sanctify his
+soul with thy might and grace.  Visit this vine, which was
+planted by thy Holy Spirit, and grant it to bear fruit, the fruit
+of righteousness.  Strengthen him, and confirm in him thy
+covenant, and rescue him from the deceit of the devil.  With the
+wisdom of thy good Spirit teach him to do thy will, and take not
+thy succour from him, but grant unto him, with me thine
+unprofitable servant, to become an inheritor of thine everlasting
+bliss, because thou art blessed and glorified for ever, Amen."
+
+When that he had ended his prayer, he turned him round and
+embraced Ioasaph, now a son of his heavenly father, wishing him
+eternal peace and salvation, and he departed out of the palace,
+and went his way, rejoicing and giving thanks to God, who had
+well ordered his steps for good.
+
+
+XXII.
+
+After Barlaam was gone forth, Ioasaph gave himself unto prayer
+and bitter tears, and said, "O God, haste thee to help me: O
+Lord, make speed to help me, because the poor hath committed
+himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the orphan.  Look upon
+me, and have mercy upon me; thou who willest have all men to be
+saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth, save me, and
+strengthen me, unworthy though I be, to walk the way of thy holy
+commandments, for I am weak and miserable, and not able to do the
+thing that is good.  But thou art mighty to save me, who
+sustainest and holdest together all things visible and invisible.
+Suffer me not to walk after the evil will of the flesh, but teach
+me to do thy will, and preserve me unto thine eternal and
+blissful life.  O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the consubstantial
+and undivided Godhead, I call upon thee and glorify thee.  Thou
+art praised by all creation; thou art glorified by the
+intelligent powers of the Angels for ever and ever.  Amen."
+
+From that time forth he kept himself with all vigilance, seeking
+to attain purity of soul and body, and living in continency and
+prayers and intercessions all night long.  In the day-time he was
+often interrupted by the company of his fellows, and at times by
+a visit from the king, or a call to the king's presence, but the
+night would then make good the shortcomings of the day, whilst he
+stood, in prayer and weeping until daybreak, calling upon God.
+Whence in him was fulfilled the saying of the prophet, "In nights
+raise your hands unto holy things; and bless ye the Lord."
+
+But Zardan observed Ioasaph's way of life, and was full of
+sorrow, and his soul was pierced with grievous anxieties; and he
+knew not what to do.  At the last, worn down with pain, he
+withdrew to his own home, feigning sickness.  When this had come
+to the knowledge of the king he appointed in his place another of
+his trusty men to minister unto his son, while he himself, being
+concerned for Zardan's health, sent a physician of reputation,
+and took great pains that he should be healed.
+
+The physician, seeing that Zardan was in favour with the king,
+attended him diligently, and, having right well judged his ease,
+soon made this report to the king; "I have been unable to
+discover any root of disease in the man: wherefore I suppose that
+this weakness is to be ascribed to distress of spirit."  But, on
+hearing his words, the king suspected that his son had been wroth
+with Zardan, and that this slight had caused his retirement.  So,
+wishing to search the matter, he sent Zardan word, saying
+"To-morrow I shall come to see thee, and judge of the malady that
+hath befallen thee."
+
+But Zardan, on hearing this message, at daybreak wrapt his cloak
+around him and went to the king, and entered and fell in
+obeisance on the ground.  The king spake unto him, "Why hast thou
+forced thyself to appear?  I was minded to visit thee myself, and
+so make known to all my friendship for thee."  He answered, "My
+sickness, O king, is no malady common to man; but pain of heart,
+arising from an anxious and careful mind, hath caused my body to
+suffer in sympathy.  It had been folly in me, being as I am, not
+to attend as a slave before thy might, but to wait for thy
+Majesty to be troubled to come to me thy servant."  Then the king
+enquired after the cause of his despondency; Zardan answered and
+said, "Mighty is my peril, and mighty are the penalties that I
+deserve, and many deaths do I merit, for that I have been guilty
+of neglect of thy behests, and have brought on thee such sorrow
+as never before."
+
+Again said the king, "And of what neglect hast thou been guilty?
+And what is the dread that encompasseth thee?"  "I have been
+guilty," said he, "of negligence in my close care of my lord thy
+son.  There came an evil man and a sorcerer, and communicated to
+him the precepts of the Christian religion."  Then he related to
+the king, point by point, the words which the old man spake with
+his son, and how gladly Ioasaph received his word, and how he had
+altogether become Christ's.  Moreover he gave the old man's name,
+saying that it was Barlaam.  Even before then the king had heard
+tell of Barlaam's ways and his extreme severity of life; but,
+when this came to the ears of the king, he was straightway
+astonied by the dismay that fell on him, and was filled with
+anger, and his blood well-nigh curdled at the tidings.
+Immediately he bade call one Araches, who held the second rank
+after the king, and was the chief in all his private councils:
+besides which the man was learned in star-lore.  When he was
+come, with much despondency and dejection the king told him of
+that which had happened.  He, seeing the king's trouble and
+confusion of mind, said, "O king, trouble and distress thyself no
+more.  We are not without hope that the prince will yet change
+for the better: nay, I know for very certain that he will
+speedily renounce the teaching of this deceiver, and conform to
+thy will."
+
+By these words then did Araches set the king in happier frame of
+mind; and they turned their thoughts to the thorough sifting of
+the matter.  "This, O king," said Araches, "do we first of all.
+Make we haste to apprehend that infamous Barlaam.  If we take
+him, I am assured that we shall not miss the mark, nor be cheated
+of our hope. Barlaam himself shall be persuaded, either by
+persuasion or by divers engines of torture, against his will to
+confess that he hath been talking falsely and at random, and
+shall persuade my lord, thy son, to cleave to his father's creed.
+But if we fail to take Barlaam, I know of an eremite, Nachor by
+name, in every way like unto him: it is impossible to distinguish
+the one from the other.  He is of our opinion, and was my teacher
+in studies.  I will give him the hint, and go by night, and tell
+him the full tale.  Then will we blazon it abroad that Barlaam
+hath been caught; but we shall exhibit Nachor, who, calling
+himself Barlaam, shall feign that he is pleading the cause of the
+Christians and standing forth as their champion.  Then, after
+much disputation, he shall be worsted and utterly discomfited.
+The prince, seeing Barlaam worsted, and our side victorious, will
+doubtless join the victors; the more so that he counteth it a
+great duty to reverence thy majesty, and do thy pleasure.  Also
+the man who hath played the part of Barlaam shall be converted,
+and stoutly proclaim that he hath been in error."
+
+Tim king was delighted with his words, and rocked himself on idle
+hopes, and thought it excellent counsel.  Thereupon, learning
+that Barlaam was but lately departed, he was zealous to take him
+prisoner.  He therefore occupied most of the passes with troops
+and captains, and, himself, mounting his chariot, gave furious
+chase along the one road of which he was especially suspicious,
+being minded to surprise Barlaam at all costs.  But though he
+toiled by the space of six full days, his labour was but spent in
+vain.  Then he himself remained behind in one of his palaces
+situate in the country, but sent forward Araches, with horsemen
+not a few, as far as the wilderness of Senaar, in quest of
+Barlaam.  When Araches arrived in that place, he threw all the
+neighbour folk into commotion: and when they constantly affirmed
+that they had never seen the man, he went forth into the desert
+places, for to hunt out the Faithful.  When he had gone through a
+great tract of desert, and made the circuit of the fells around,
+and journeyed a-foot over untrodden and pathless ravines, he and
+his hosts arrived at a plateau.  Standing thereon, he descried at
+the foot of the mountain a company of hermits a-walking.
+Straightway at their governor's word of command all his men ran
+upon them in breathless haste, vying one with another, who should
+arrive first.  When they arrived, they came about the monks like
+so many dogs, or evil beasts that plague mankind.  And they
+seized these men of reverend mien and mind, that bore on their
+faces the hall-mark of their hermit life, and haled them before
+the governor; but the monks showed no sign of alarm, no sign of
+meanness or sullenness, and spake never a word.  Their leader and
+captain bore a wallet of hair, charged with the relics of some
+holy Fathers departed this life.
+
+When Araches beheld them, but saw no Barlaam -- for he knew him
+by sight -- he was overwhelmed with grief, and said unto them,
+"Where is that deceiver who hath led the king's son astray?"  The
+bearer of the wallet answered, "He is not amongst us, God forbid!
+For, driven forth by the grace of Christ, he avoideth us; but
+amongst you he hath his dwelling."  The governor said, "Thou
+knowest him then?"  "Yea," said the hermit, "I know him that is
+called the deceiver, which is the devil, who dwelleth in your
+midst and is worshipped and served by you."  The governor said,
+"It is for Barlaam that I make search, and I asked thee of him,
+to learn where he is."  The monk answered, "And wherefore then
+spakest thou in this ambiguous manner, asking about him that had
+deceived the king's son?  If thou wast seeking Barlaam, thou
+shouldest certainly have said, `Where is he that hath turned from
+error and saved the king's son?'  Barlaam is our brother and
+fellow-monk.  But now for many days past we have not seen his
+face."  Said Araches, "Show me his abode."  The monk answered,
+"Had he wished to see you, he would have come forth to meet you.
+As for us, it is not lawful to make known to you his hermitage."
+
+Thereupon the governor waxed full of indignation, and, casting a
+haughty and savage glance upon him, said, "Ye shall die no
+ordinary death, except ye immediately bring Barlaam before me."
+"What," said the monk, "seest thou in our case that should by its
+attractions cause us to cling to life, and be afraid of death at
+thy hands?  Whereas we should the rather feel grateful to thee
+for removing us from life in the close adherence to virtue.  For
+we dread, not a little, the uncertainty of the end, knowing not
+in what state death shall overtake us, lest perchance a slip of
+the inclination, or some despiteful dealing of the devil, may
+alter the constancy of our choice, and mis-persuade us to think
+or do contrary to our covenants with God.  Wherefore abandon all
+hope of gaining the knowledge that ye desire, and shrink not to
+work your will.  We shall neither reveal the dwelling-place of
+our brother, whom God loveth, although we know it, nor shall we
+betray any other monasteries unbeknown to ye.  We will not endure
+to escape death by such cowardice.  Nay, liefer would we die
+honourably, and offer unto God, after the sweats of virtue, the
+life-blood of courage."
+
+That man of sin could not brook this boldness of speech, and was
+moved to the keenest passion against this high and noble spirit,
+and afflicted the monks with many stripes and tortures.  Their
+courage and nobility won admiration even from that tyrant.  But,
+when after many punishments he failed to persuade them, and none
+of them consented to discover Barlaam, he took and ordered them
+to be led to the king, bearing with them the wallet with the
+relics, and to be beaten and shamefully entreated as they went.
+
+
+XXIII.
+
+After many days Araches brought them to the king, and declared
+their case.  Then he set them before the bitterly incensed king:
+and he, when he saw them, boiled over with fury and was like to
+one mad.  He ordered them to be beaten without mercy, and, when
+he saw them cruelly mangled with scourges, could scarcely
+restrain his madness, and order the tormentors to cease.  Then
+said he unto them, "Why bear ye about these dead men's bones? If
+ye carry these bones through affection for those men to whom they
+belong, this very hour I will set you in their company, that ye
+may meet your lost friends and be duly grateful to me."  The
+captain and leader of that godly band, setting at naught the
+king's threats, showing no sign of the torment that he had
+undergone, with free voice and radiant countenance that signified
+the grace that dwelt in his soul, cried out, "We carry about
+these clean and holy bones, O king, because we attest in due form
+our love of those marvellous men to whom they belong: and because
+we would bring ourselves to remember their wrestlings and lovely
+conversation, to rouse up ourselves to the like zeal; and because
+we would catch some vision of the rest and felicity wherein they
+now live, and thus, as we call them blessed, and provoke one
+another to emulate them, strive to follow in their footsteps:
+because moreover, we find thereby that the thought of death,
+which is right profitable, lendeth wings of zeal to our religious
+exercises; and lastly, because we derive sanctification from
+their touch."
+
+Again said the king, "If the thought of death be profitable, as
+ye say, why should ye not reach that thought of death by the
+bones of the bodies that are now your own, and are soon to
+perish, rather than by the bones of other men which have already
+perished?"
+
+The monk said, "Five reasons I gave thee, why we carry about
+these relics; and thou, making answer to one only, art like to be
+mocking us.  But know thou well that the bones of them, that have
+already departed this life, bring the thought of death more
+vividly before us than do the bones of the living.  But since
+thou judgest otherwise, and since the bones of thine own body are
+to thee a type of death, why dost thou not recollect thy latter 
+end so shortly to come, and set thine house in order, instead of
+giving up thy soul to all kinds of iniquities, and violently and
+unmercifully murdering the servants of God and lovers of
+righteousness, who have done thee no wrong, and seek not to share
+with thee in present goods, nor are ambitious to rob thee of
+them?"
+
+Said the king, "I do well to punish you, ye clever misleaders of
+the folk, because ye deceive all men, counselling them to abstain
+from the enjoyments of life; and because, instead of the sweets
+of life and the allures of appetite and pleasure, ye constrain
+them to choose the rough, filthy and squalid way, and preach that
+they should render to Jesus the honour due unto the gods.
+Accordingly, in order that the people may not follow your deceits
+and leave the land desolate, and, forsaking the gods of their
+fathers, serve another, I think it just to subject you to
+punishment and death."
+
+The monk answered, "If thou art eager that all should partake of
+the good things of life, why dost thou not distribute dainties
+and riches equally amongst all?  And why is it that the common
+herd are pinched with poverty, while thou addest ever to thy
+store by seizing for thyself the goods of others?  Nay, thou
+carest not for the weal of the many, but fattenest thine own
+flesh, to be meat for the worms to feed on.  Wherefore also thou
+hast denied the God of all, and called them gods that are not,
+the inventors of all wickedness, in order that, by wantonness and
+wickedness after their example, thou mayest gain the title of
+imitator of the gods.  For, as your gods have done, why should
+not also the men that follow them do?  Great then is the error
+that thou hast erred, O king.  Thou fearest that we should
+persuade certain of the people to join with us, and revolt from
+thy hand, and place themselves in that hand that holdeth all
+things, for thou willest the ministers of thy covetousness to be
+many, that they may be miserable while thou reapest profit from
+their toil; just as a man, who keepeth hounds or falcons tamed
+for hunting, before the hunt may be seen to pet them, but, when
+they have once seized the quarry, taketh the game with violence
+out of their mouths.  So also thou, willing that there should be
+many to pay thee tribute and toll from land and water, pretendest
+to care for their welfare, but in truth bringest on them and
+above all on thyself eternal ruin; and simply to pile up gold,
+more worthless than dung or rottenness, thou hast been deluded
+into taking darkness for light.  But recover thy wits from this
+earthly sleep: open thy sealed eyes, and behold the glory of God
+that shineth round about us all; and come at length to thyself.
+For saith the prophet, `Take heed, ye unwise among the people,
+and, O ye fools, understand at last.'  Understand thou that there
+is no God except our God, and no salvation except in him."
+
+But the king said, "Cease this foolish babbling, and anon
+discover to me Barlaam: else shalt thou taste instruments of
+torture such as thou hast never tasted before."  That noble-
+minded, great-hearted monk, that lover of the heavenly
+philosophy, was not moved by the king's threats, but stood
+unflinching, and said, "We are not commanded to fulfil thy hest,
+O king, but the orders of our Lord and God who teacheth us
+temperance, that we should be lords over all pleasures and
+passions, and practise fortitude, so as to endure all toil and
+all ill-treatment for righteousness' sake.  The more perils that
+thou subjectest us to for the sake of our religion, the more
+shalt thou be our benefactor.  Do therefore as thou wilt: for we
+shall not consent to do aught outside our duty, nor shall we
+surrender ourselves to sin.  Deem not that it is a slight sin to
+betray a fellow-combatant and fellow-soldier into thy hands. 
+Nay, but thou shalt not have that scoff to make at us; no, not if
+thou put us to ten thousand deaths.  We be not such cowards as to
+betray our religion through dread of thy torments, or to disgrace
+the law divine.  So then, if such be thy purpose, make ready
+every weapon to defend thy claim; for to us to live is Christ,
+and to die for him is the best gain."
+
+Incensed with anger thereat, the monarch ordered the tongues of
+these Confessors to be rooted out, and their eyes digged out, and
+likewise their hands and feet lopped off.  Sentence passed, the
+henchmen and guards surrounded and mutilated them, without pity
+and without ruth.  And they plucked out their tongues from their
+mouths with prongs, and severed them with brutal severity, and
+they digged out their eyes with iron claws, and stretched their
+arms and legs on the rack, and lopped them off.  But those
+blessed, shamefast, noble-hearted men went bravely to torture
+like guests to a banquet, exhorting one another to meet death for
+Christ his sake undaunted.
+
+In such divers tortures did these holy monks lay down their lives
+for the Lord.  They were in all seventeen.  By common consent,
+the pious mind is superior to sufferings, as hath been said by
+one, but not of us, when narrating the martydom of the aged
+priest, and of the seven sons with their equally brave mother
+when contending for the law of their fathers: whose bravery and
+lofty spirit, however, was equalled by these marvellous fathers
+and citizens and heirs of Hierusalem that is above.
+
+
+XXIV.
+
+After the monks had made this godly end, the king bade Araches,
+his chief councillor, now that they had failed of their first
+plan, to look to the second and summon the man Nachor.  At dead
+of night Araches repaired to his cave (he dwelt in the desert
+practising the arts of divination), and told him of their plans,
+and returned to the king at day-break.  Again he demanded
+horsemen, and made as though he went in quest of Barlaam.  When
+he was gone forth, and was walking the desert, a man was seen to
+issue from a ravine.  Araches gave command to his men to pursue
+him.  They took and brought him before their master.  When asked
+who he was, what his religion and what his name, the man declared
+himself a Christian and gave his name as Barlaam, even as he had
+been instructed.  Araches made great show of joy, apprehended him
+and returned quickly to the king, and told his tale and produced
+his man.  Then said the king in the hearing of all present, "Art
+thou the devil's workman, Barlaam?"  But he denied it, saying, "I
+am God's workman, not the devil's.  Revile me not; for I am thy
+debtor to render me much thanks, because I have taught thy son to
+serve God, and have turned him from error to the true God, and
+have schooled him in all manner of virtue."  Feigning anger,
+again spake the king, "Though I ought to allow thee never a word,
+and give thee no room for defence, but rather do thee to death
+without question, yet such is my humanity that I will bear with
+thine effrontery until on a set day I try thy cause.  If thou be
+persuaded by me, thou shalt receive pardon: if not, thou shalt
+die the death."  With these words he delivered him to Araches,
+commanding that he should be most strictly guarded.
+
+On the morrow the king removed thence, and came back to his own
+palace, and it was blazoned abroad that Barlaam was captured, so
+that the king's son heard thereof and was exceeding sad at heart,
+and could in no wise refrain from weeping.  With groans and
+lamentations he importuned God, and called upon him to succour
+the aged man.  Nor did the good God despise his complaint, for he
+is loving with them that abide him in the day of trouble, and
+knoweth them that fear him.  Wherefore in a night-vision he made
+known the whole plot to the young prince, and strengthened and
+cheered him for the trial of his righteousness.  So, when the
+prince awoke from sleep, he found that his heart, erstwhile so
+sore and heavy, was now full of joyaunce, courage and pleasant
+light.  But the king rejoiced at that which he had done and
+planned, imagining that he was well advised, and showering thanks
+on Araches.  But wickedness lied to itself, to use the words of
+holy David, and righteousness overcame iniquity, completely
+overthrowing it, and causing the memorial thereof to perish with
+sound, as our tale in its sequel shall show.
+
+After two days the king visited his son's palace.  When his son
+came forth for to meet him, instead of kissing him, as was his
+wont, the father put on a show of distress and anger, and entered
+the royal chamber, and there sat down frowning.  Then calling to
+his son, he said, "Child, what is this report that soundeth in
+mine ears, and weareth away my soul with despondency?  Never, I
+ween, was man more filled with gladness of heart at the birth of
+a son than was I at thine; and, I trow, never was man so
+distressed and cruelly treated by child as I have now been by
+thee.  Thou hast dishonoured my grey hairs, and taken away the
+light of mine eyes, and loosed the strength of my sinews; `for
+the thing which I greatly feared concerning thee is come upon me,
+and that which I was afraid of hath come unto me.'  Thou art
+become a joy to mine enemies, and a laughing~stock to mine
+adversaries.  With untutored mind and childish judgement thou
+hast followed the teaching of the deceivers and esteemed the
+counsel of the malicious above mine; thou hast forsaken the
+worship of our gods and become the servant of a strange God.
+Child, wherefore hast thou done this?  I hoped to bring thee up
+in all safety, and have thee for the staff and support of mine
+old age, and leave thee, as is most meet, to succeed me in my
+kingdom, but thou wast not ashamed to play against me the part of
+a relentless foe.  And shouldst thou not rather have listened to
+me, and followed my injunctions, than have obeyed the idle and
+foolish pratings of that crafty old knave, who taught thee to
+choose a sour life instead of a sweet, and abandon the charms of
+dalliance, to tread the hard and rough road, which the Son of
+Mary ordereth men to go?  Dost thou not fear the displeasure of
+the most puissant gods, lest they strike thee with lightning, or
+quell thee with thunderbolt, or overwhelm thee in the yawning
+earth, because thou hast rejected and scorned those deities that
+have so richly blessed us, and adorned our brow with the kingly
+diadem, and made populous nations to be our servants, that,
+beyond my hope, in answer to my prayer and supplication, allowed
+thee to be born, and see the sweet life of day, and hast joined
+thyself unto the Crucified, duped by the hopes of his servants
+who tell thee fables of worlds to come, and drivel about the
+resurrection of dead bodies, and bring in a thousand more
+absurdities to catch fools?  But now, dearest son, if thou hast
+any regard for me thy father, bid a long farewell to these
+longwinded follies, and come sacrifice to the gracious gods, and
+let us propitiate them with hecatombs and drink-offerings, that
+they may grant thee pardon for thy fall; for they be able and
+strong to bless and to punish.  And wouldst thou have an example
+of that which I say?  Behold us, who by them have been advanced
+to this honour, repaying them for their kindness by honouring
+their worshippers and chastising the runagates."
+
+Now when the king had ended all this idle parleying, gainsaying
+and slandering of our religion, and belauding and praising of his
+idolatry, the saintly young prince saw that the matter needed no
+further to be hid in a corner, but to be lighted and made plain
+to the eyes of all; and, full of boldness and courage, he said:
+
+"That which I have done, sir, I will not deny.  I have fled from
+darkness and run to the light: I have left error and joined the
+household of truth: I have deserted the service of devils, and
+joined the service of Christ, the Son and Word of God the Father,
+at whose decree the world was brought out of nothing; who, after
+forming man out of clay, breathed into him the breath of life,
+and set him to live in a paradise of delight, and, when he had
+broken his commandment and was become subject unto death, and had
+fallen into the power of the dread ruler of this world, did not
+fail him, but wrought diligently to bring him back to his former
+honour.  Wherefore he, the framer of all Creation and maker of
+our race, became man for our sake, and, coming from a holy
+Virgin's womb; on earth conversed with men: for us ungrateful
+servants did the master endure death, even the death of the
+Cross, that the tyranny of sin might be destroyed, that the
+former condemnation might be abolished, that the gates of heaven
+might be open to us again.  Thither he hath exalted our nature,
+and set it on the throne of glory, and granted to them that love
+him an everlasting kingdom and joys beyond all that tongue can
+tell, or ear can hear.  He is the mighty and only potentate, King
+of kings and Lord of lords, whose might is invincible, and whose
+lordship is beyond compare, who only is holy and dwelleth in
+holiness, who with the Father and with the Holy Ghost is
+glorified; into this faith I have been baptized.  And I
+acknowledge and glorify and worship One God in Three persons, of
+one substance, and not to be confounded, increate and immortal,
+eternal, infinite, boundless, without body, without passions,
+immutable, unchangeable, undefinable, the fountain of goodness,
+righteousness and everlasting light, maker of all things visible
+and invisible, containing and sustaining all things, provident
+for all, ruler and King of all.  Without him was there nothing
+made, nor without his providence can aught subsist.  He is the
+life of all, the support of all, the light of all, being wholly
+sweetness and insatiable desire, the summit of aspiration.  To
+leave God, then, who is so good, so wise, so mighty, and to serve
+impure devils, makers of all sinful lusts, and to assign worship
+to deaf and dumb images, that are not, and never shall be, were
+not that the extreme of folly and madness?  When was there ever
+heard utterance or language from their lips?  When have they
+given even the smallest answer to their bedesmen?  When have they
+walked, or received any impression of sense?  Those of them that
+stand have never thought of sitting down; and those that sit have
+never been seen to rise.  From an holy man have I learned the
+ugliness, ill savour and insensibility of these idols, and,
+moreover, the rottenness and weakness of the devils that operate
+in them and by them deceive you; and I loathe their wickednesses
+and, hating them with a perfect hatred, have joined myself to the
+living and true God, and him will I serve until my latest breath,
+that my spirit also may return into his hands.  When these
+unspeakable blessings came in my path I rejoiced to be freed from
+the bondage of evil devils, and to be reclaimed from dire
+captivity and to be illumined with the light of the countenance
+of the Lord.  But my soul was distressed and divided asunder,
+that thou, my lord and father, didst not share in my blessings.
+Yet I feared the stubbornness of thy mind, and kept my grief to
+myself, not wishing to anger thee; but, without ceasing, I prayed
+God to draw thee to himself, and call thee back from the long
+exile that thou hast imposed upon thyself, a runagate alas!  from
+righteousness, and a servant of all sin and wickedness.  But sith
+thou thyself, O my father, hast brought mine affairs to light,
+hear the sum of my resolve: I will not be false to my covenant
+with Christ; no, I swear it by him that bought me out of slavery
+with his own precious blood; even if I must needs die a thousand
+deaths for his sake, die I will.  Knowing then how matters now
+stand with me, prithee, no longer trouble thyself in endeavouring
+to persuade me to change my good confession.  For as it were a
+thankless and never ending task for thee to try to grasp the
+heavens with thy hand, or to dry up the waters of the sea, so
+hard were it for thee to change me.  Either then now listen to my
+counsel, and join the household of Christ, and so thou shalt gain
+blessings past man's understanding, and we shall be fellows with
+one another by faith, even as by nature; or else, be well
+assured, I shall depart thy sonship, and serve my God with a
+clear conscience."
+
+Now when the king heard all these words, he was furiously
+enraged: and, seized with ungovernable anger, he cried out
+wrathfully against him, and gnashed his teeth fiercely, like any
+madman.  "And who," said he, "is blameable for all my misfortunes
+but myself, who have dealt with thee so kindly, and cared for
+thee as no father before?  Hence the perversity and contrariness
+of thy mind, gathering strength by the licence that I gave thee,
+hath made thy madness to fall upon mine own pate.  Rightly
+prophesied the astrologers in thy nativity that thou shouldest
+prove a knave and villain, an impostor and rebellious son.  But
+now, if thou wilt make void my counsel, and cease to be my son, I
+will become thine enemy, and entreat thee worse than ever man yet
+entreated his foes."
+
+Again said Ioasaph, "Why, O king, hast thou been kindled to
+wrath?  Art thou grieved that I have gained such bliss?  Why,
+what father was ever seen to be sorrowful in the prosperity of
+his son?  Would not such an one be called an enemy rather than a
+father?  Therefore will I no more call thee my father, but will
+withdraw from thee, as a man fleeth from a snake, if I know that
+thou grudgest me my salvation, and with violent hand forcest me
+to destruction.  If thou wilt force me, and play the tyrant, as
+thou hast threatened, be assured that thou shalt gain nought
+thereby save to exchange the name of father for that of tyrant
+and murderer.  It were easier for thee to attain to the ways Of
+the eagle, and, like him, cleave the air, than to alter my
+loyalty to Christ, and that good confession that I have confessed
+in him.  But be wise, O my father, and shake off the rheum and
+mist from the eyes of thy mind, lift them aloft and look upward
+to view the light of my God that enlighteneth all around, and be
+thyself, at last, enlightened with this light most sweet.  Why
+art thou wholly given up to the passions and desires of the
+flesh, and why is there no looking upward?  Know thou that all
+flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.
+The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the
+word of my Lord, which by the gospel is preached unto all, shall
+endure for ever.  Why then dost thou thus madly cling to and
+embrace that glory, which, like spring flowers, fadeth and
+perisheth, and to beastly unsavoury wantonness, and to the
+abominable passions of the belly and the members thereunder,
+which for a season please the senses of fools, but afterwards
+make returns more bitter than gall, when the shadows and dreams
+of this vain life are passed away, and the lovers thereof, and
+workers of iniquity are imprisoned in the perpetual pain of dark
+and unquenchable fire, where the worm that sleepeth not gnaweth
+for ever, and where the fire burneth without ceasing and without
+quenching through endless ages?  And with these sinners alas!
+thou too shalt be imprisoned and grievously tormented, and shalt
+bitterly rue thy wicked counsels, and bitterly regret thy days
+that now are, and think upon my words, but there shall be no
+advantage in repentance; for in death there is no confession and
+repentance.  But the present is the set time for work: the future
+for reward.  Even if the pleasures of the present world were not
+evanescent and fleeting, but were to endure for ever with their
+owners, not even thus should any man choose them before the gifts
+of Christ, and the good things that pass man's understanding.
+Soothly, as the sun surpasseth in radiance and brightness the
+dead of night, even so, and much more so, doth the happiness
+promised to those that love God excel in glory and magnificence
+all earthly kinship and glory; and there is utter need for a man
+to choose the more excellent before the more worthless.  And
+forasmuch as everything here is fleeting and subject to decay,
+and passeth and vanisheth as a dream, and as a shadow and vision
+of sleep; and as one may sooner trust the unstable breezes, or
+the tracks of a ship passing over the waves, than the prosperity
+of men, what simplicity, nay, what folly and madness it is to
+choose the corruptible and perishable, the weak things of no
+worth, rather than the incorruptible and everlasting, the
+imperishable and endless, and, by the temporal enjoyment of these
+things, to forfeit the eternal fruition of the happiness to come!
+Wilt thou not understand this, my father?  Wilt thou not haste
+past the things which haste pass thee, and attach thyself to that
+which endureth?  Wilt thou not prefer a home land to a foreign
+land, light to darkness, the spirit to the flesh, eternal life to
+the shadow of death, the indestructible to the fleeting?  Wilt
+thou not escape from the grievous bondage of the cruel prince of
+this world, I mean the evil one, the devil, and become the
+servant of the good, tenderhearted, and all merciful Lord?  Wilt
+thou not break away from serving thy many gods, falsely so
+called, and serve the one, true and living God?  Though thou hast
+sinned against him often times by blaspheming him, and often
+times by slaying his servants with dread torments, yet, I know
+well, that if thou turn again, he shall in his kindness receive
+thee, and no more remember thine offences: because he willeth not
+the death of a sinner but rather that he may turn and live -- he,
+who came down from the unspeakable heights, to seek us that had 
+gone astray: who endured for us Cross, scourge and death: who
+bought with his precious blood us who had been sold in bondage
+under sin.  Unto him be glory and praise for ever and ever!
+Amen."
+
+The king was overwhelmed with astonishment and anger; with
+astonishment, at his son's wisdom and unanswerable words; with
+anger, at the persistence with which he denounced his father's
+gods, and mocked and ridiculed the whole tenour of his life.  He
+could not admit the glory of his discourse because of the
+grossness of the darkness within, but natural affection forbad
+him to punish his son, or evilly to entreat him, and he utterly
+despaired of moving him by threats.  Fearing then that, if he
+argued further with him, his son's boldness and bitter satire of
+the gods might kindle him to hotter anger, and lead him to do him
+a mischief, he arose in wrath and withdrew.  "Would that thou
+hadst never been born," he cried, "nor hadst come to the light of
+day, destined as thou weft to be such an one, a blasphemer of the
+gods, and a renegade from thy father's love and admonition"  But
+thou shalt not alway mock the invincible gods, nor shall their
+enemies rejoice for long, nor shall these knavish sorceries
+prevail.  For except thou become obedient unto me, and right-
+minded toward the gods, I will first deliver time to sundry
+tortures, and then put thee to the cruellest death, dealing with
+thee not as with a son, but as with an enemy and rebel."
+
+
+XXV.
+
+In such wise did the father threaten and wrathfully retire.  But
+the son entered his own bedchamber, and lifted up his eyes to the
+proper judge of his cause, and cried out of the depth of his
+heart, "O Lord my God, my sweet hope and unerring promise, the
+sure refuge of them that are wholly given up to thee, with
+gracious and kindly eye look upon the contrition of my heart, and
+leave me not, neither forsake me.  But, according to thine
+unerring pledge, be thou with me, thine unworthy and sorry
+servant.  Thee I acknowledge and confess, the maker and provider
+of all creation.  Therefore do thou thyself enable me to continue
+in this good confession, until my dying breath: look upon me, and
+pity me; and stand by and keep me unhurt by any working of Satan.
+Look upon me, O King: for my heart is enkindled with longing
+after thee, and is parched as with burning thirst in the desert,
+desiring thee, the well of immortality.  Deliver not to the wild
+beasts my soul that confesseth thee: forget not the soul of the
+poor for ever; but grant me that am a sinner throughout my length
+of days to suffer all things for thy name's sake and in the
+confession of thee, and to sacrifice my whole self unto thee. 
+For, with thy might working in them, even the feeble shall wax
+exceeding strong; for thou only art the unconquerable ally and
+merciful God, whom all creation blesseth, glorified for ever and
+ever.  Amen."
+
+When he had thus prayed, he felt divine comfort stealing over his
+heart, and, fulfilled with courage, he spent the whole night in
+prayer.  Meanwhile the king communed with Araches, his friend, as
+touching his son's matters, and signified to him his son's sheer
+audacity and unchangeable resolution.  Araches gave counsel that
+he should, in his dealings with him, show the utmost kindness and
+courtesy, in the hope, perchance, of alluring him by flattering
+attentions.  The day following, the king came to his son, and sat
+down, and called him to his side.  He embraced and kissed him
+affectionately, coaxing him gently and tenderly, and said, "O my
+darling and well-beloved son, honour thou thy father's grey
+hairs: listen to my entreaty, and come, do sacrifice to the gods;
+thus shalt thou win their favour, and receive at their hands
+length of days, and the enjoyment of all glory and of an
+undisputed kingdom, and happiness of every sort.  Thus shalt thou
+be well pleasing to me thy father throughout life and be honoured
+and lauded of all men.  It is a great count in the score of
+praise to be obedient to thy father, especially in a good cause,
+and to gain the goodwill of the gods.  What thinkest thou, my
+son?  Is it that I have willingly declined from the right, and
+chosen to travel on the wrong road: or that, from ignorance and
+inexperience of the good, I have given myself to destruction?
+Well, if thou thinkest that I willingly prefer the evil to the
+profitable, and choose death before life, thou seemest to me,
+son, completely to have missed the goal in judging.  Dost thou
+not see to what discomfort and trouble I often expose myself in
+mine expeditions against my foes, or when I am engaged in divers
+other business for the public good, not sparing myself even
+hunger and thirst, if need be, the march on foot, or the couch on
+the ground?  As for riches and money, such is my contempt and
+scorn thereof, that I have at times ungrudgingly lavished all the
+stores of my palace, to build mighty temples for the gods, and to
+adorn them with all manner of splendour, or else to distribute
+liberal largess to my soldiers.  Possessing then, as I also do,
+this contempt of pleasure and this courage in danger, what zeal
+would I not have devoted to contemning all else, and winning my
+salvation, had I only found that the religion of the Galileans
+were better than mine own?  But, if thou condemnest me for
+ignorance and inexperience of the good, consider how many
+sleepless nights I have spent, with some problem before me, oft-
+times no very important one, giving myself no rest until I had
+found the clear and most apt solution.
+
+Seeing then that I reckon that not even the least of these
+temporal concerns is unworthy of thought until all be fitly
+completed for the advantage of all and seeing that all (I ween)
+bear me witness that no man under the sun can search out secrets
+with more diligence than I, how then could I have considered
+divine things, that call for worship and serious consideration,
+unworthy of thought, and not rather have devoted all my zeal and
+might, all my mind and soul to the investigation thereof, to find
+out the right and the true?  Aye, and I have laboriously sought
+thereafter.  Many nights and days have I spent thus: many wise
+and learned men have I called to my council; and with many of
+them that are called Christians have I conversed.  By untiring
+enquiry and ardent search I have discovered the pathway of truth,
+witnessed by wise men honoured for their intelligence and wit, --
+that there is none other faith than ours.  This is the path that
+we tread to-day, worshipping the most puissant gods, and holding
+fast to that sweet and delightsome life, given by them to all
+men, fulfilled with all manner of pleasure and gladness of heart,
+which the leaders and priests of the Galileans have in their
+folly rejected; so that, in hope of some other uncertain life,
+they have readily cast away this sweet light, and all those
+pleasures which the gods have bestowed on us for enjoyment, and
+all the while know not what they say, nor whereof they
+confidently affirm.
+
+"But thou, dearest son, obey thy father, who, by diligent and
+honest search, hath found the real good.  Lo, I have shown thee
+that, neither willingly, I no, nor by way of ignorance, have I
+failed of the good, but rather that I have found and laid hold
+thereon.  And I earnestly desire that thou too shouldest not
+wander as a fool, but shouldest follow me.  Have respect then
+unto thy father.  Dost thou not know how lovely a thing it is to
+obey one's father, and please him in all ways?  Contrariwise, how
+deadly and cursed a thing it is to provoke a father and despise
+his commands?  As many as have done so, have come to a miserable
+end.  But be not thou, my son, one of their number.  Rather do
+that which is well pleasing to thy sire, and so mayest thou
+obtain all happiness and inherit my blessing and my kingdom!"
+
+The high-minded and noble youth listened to his father's windy
+discourse and foolish opposition, and recognized therein the
+devices of the crooked serpent, and how standing at his right
+hand he had prepared a snare for his feet, and was scheming how
+to overthrow his righteous soul, and hinder him of the prize laid
+up in store.  Therefore the prince set before his eyes the
+commandment of the Lord, which saith, "I came not to send peace,
+but strife and a sword.  For I am come to set a man at variance
+against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and so
+forth; and "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not
+worthy of me"; and "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
+I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."  When he had
+considered these things, and fettered his soul with divine fear,
+and strengthened it with longing desire and love, right
+opportunely he remembered the saying of Solomon, "There is a time
+to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."
+First of all he prayed in silence, and said, "Have mercy of me,
+Lord God, have mercy of me; for my soul trusteth in thee; and
+under the shadow of thy wings I shall hope till wickedness
+overpass.  I shall cry to the highest God; to God that did well
+to me," and the rest of the psalm.
+
+Then said Ioasaph to the king, "To honour one's father, and to
+obey his commands, and to serve him with good will and affection
+is taught us by the Lord of us all, who hath implanted in our
+hearts this natural affection.  But, when loving devotion to our
+parents bringeth our soul into peril, and separateth her from her
+Maker, then we are commanded, at all costs, to cut it out, and,
+on no account, to yield to them that would depart us from God,
+but to hate and avoid them, even if it be our father that issueth
+the abominable command, or our mother, or our king, or the master
+of our very life.  Wherefore it is impossible for me, out of
+devotion to my father, to forfeit God.  So, prithee, trouble not
+thyself, nor me: but be persuaded, and let us both serve the true
+and living God, for the objects of thy present worship are idols,
+the works of men's hands, devoid of breath, and deaf, and give
+nought but destruction and eternal punishment to their
+worshippers.
+
+"But if this be not thy pleasure, deal with me even as thou wilt:
+for I am a servant of Christ, and neither flatteries nor torments
+shall separate me from his love, as I told thee yesterday,
+swearing it by my Master's name, and confirming the word with
+surest oath.  But, whereas thou saidest that thou didst neither
+wilfully do wrong, nor didst fail of the mark through ignorance,
+but after much laborious enquiry hadst ascertained that it was
+truly a good thing to worship idols and to be riveted to the
+pleasures of the passions -- that thou art wilfully a wrong doer,
+I may not say.  But this I know full well, and would have thee
+know, O my father, that thou art surrounded with a dense mist of
+ignorance, and, walking in darkness that may be felt, seest not
+even one small glimmer of light.  Wherefore thou hast lost the
+right pathway, and wanderest over terrible cliffs and chasms.
+Holding darkness for light, and clinging to death as it were
+life, thou deemest that thou art well advised, and hast reflected
+to good effect: but it is not so, not so.  The objects of thy
+veneration are not gods but statues of devils, charged with all
+their filthy power; nor is the life, which thou pronouncest sweet
+and pleasant, and thinkest to be full of delight and gladness of
+heart, such in kind: but the same is abominable, according to the
+word of truth, and to be abhorred.  For for a time it sweeteneth
+and tickleth the gullet, but afterwards it maketh the risings
+more bitter than gall (as said my teacher), and is sharper than
+any two-edged sword.
+
+"How shall I describe to thee the evils of this life?  I will
+tell them, and they shall be more in number than the sand.  For
+such life is the fishhook of the devil, baited with beastly
+pleasure, whereby he deceiveth and draggeth his prey into the
+depth of hell.  Whereas the good things, promised by my Master, 
+which thou callest `the hope of some other uncertain life,' are
+true and unchangeable; they know no end, and are not subject to
+decay.  There is no language that can declare the greatness of
+yonder glory and delight, of the joy unspeakable, and the
+everlasting gladness.  As thou thyself seest, we all die; and
+there is no man that shall live and not see death.  But one day
+we shall all rise again, when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come,
+the Son of God, in unspeakable glory and dread power, the only
+King of kings, and Lord of lords; to whom every knee shall bow,
+of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
+earth.  Such terror shall he then inspire that the very powers of
+heaven shall be shaken: and before him there shall stand in fear
+thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand of Angels
+and Archangels, and the whole world shall be full of fear and
+terror.  For one of the Archangels shall sound with the trump of
+God, and immediately the heavens shall be rolled together as a
+scroll; and the earth shall be rent, and shall give up the dead
+bodies of all men that ever were since the first man Adam until
+that day.  And then shall all men that have died since the
+beginning of the world in the twinkling of an eye stand alive
+before the judgement seat of the immortal Lord, and every man
+shall give account of his deeds.  Then shall the righteous shine
+forth as the sun; they that believed in the Father, Son and Holy
+Ghost, and ended this present life in good works.  And how can I
+describe to thee the glory that shall receive them at that day?
+For though I compare their brightness and beauty to the light of
+the sun or to the brightest lightning flash, yet should I fail to
+do justice to their brightness.  Eye hath not seen, nor ear
+heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
+which God hath prepared for them that love him, in the kingdom of
+heaven, in the light which no man can approach unto, in his
+unspeakable and unending glory.
+
+"Such joys and such bliss shall the righteous obtain, but they
+that have denied the only true God and not known their Maker and
+Creator, but have worshipped foul devils, and rendered homage to
+dumb idols, and loved the pleasures of this vain world, and, like
+swine, wallowed in the mire of sinful lusts, and made their lives
+a headquarters for all wickedness, shall stand naked and laid
+bare, downright ashamed and downcast, pitiable in appearance and
+in fact, set forth for a reproach to all creation.  All their
+life in word, deed and thought shall come before their faces.
+Then, after this bitter disgrace and unbearable reproach, shall
+they be sentenced to the unquenchable and light-less fire of
+Gehenna, unto the outer darkness, the gnashing of teeth and the
+venomous worm.  This is their portion, this their lot, in the
+which they shall dwell together in punishment for endless ages,
+because they rejected the good things offered them in promise,
+and, for the sake of the pleasure of sin for a season, made
+choice of eternal punishment.  For these reasons -- to obtain
+that unspeakable bliss, to enjoy that ineffable glory, to equal
+the Angels in splendour, and to stand with boldness before the
+good and most sweetest Lord, to escape those bitter and unending
+punishments and that galling shame -- time after time, were it
+not worth men's while to sacrifice their riches and bodies, nay,
+even their very lives?  Who is so cowardly, who so foolish, as
+not to endure a thousand temporal deaths, to escape eternal and
+everlasting death, and to inherit life, blissful and
+imperishable, and to shine in the light of the blessed and life-
+giving Trinity?"
+
+
+XXVI.
+
+When the king heard these words, and saw the steadfastness, and
+unbuxomness of his son, who yielded neither to flattery, nor
+persuasion, nor threat, he marvelled indeed at the persuasiveness
+of his speech and his irrefutable answers, and was convicted by
+his own conscience secretly assuring him that Ioasaph spake truly
+and aright.  But he was dragged back by his evil habit and
+passions, which, from long use, had taken firm grip on him, and
+held him in as with bit and bridle, and suffered him not to
+behold the light of truth.  So he left no stone unturned, as the
+saying is, and adhered to his old purpose, determining to put
+into action the plot which he and Araches had between them
+devised.  Said he to his son, "Although, child, thou oughtest in
+all points simply to give in to my commands, yet, because thou
+art stubborn and disobedient, and hast thus stiffly opposed me,
+insisting that thine own opinion should prevail over all, bid we
+now farewell to vain insistance, and let persuasion be now our
+policy.  And, forasmuch as Barlaam, thy deceiver, is here, my
+prisoner in iron chains, I will make a great assembly, and summon
+all our people and your Galileans, to one place; and I will
+charge heralds to proclaim expressly that none of the Christians
+shall fear, but that all shall muster without dread; and we will
+hold debate together.  If your side win, then shall ye and your
+Barlaam gain your desires; but if ye lose, then shall ye with
+right good will yield yourselves to my commands."
+
+But this truly wise and prudent youth, forewarned, by the
+heavenly vision sent him, of his father's mischief, replied, "The
+Lord's will be done!  Be it according to thy command!  May our
+good God and Lord himself vouchsafe that we wander not from the
+right way, for my soul trusteth in him, and he shall be merciful
+unto me."  There and then did the king command all, whether
+idolaters or Christians, to assemble.  Letters were despatched in
+all quarters: heralds proclaimed it in every village town that no
+Christian need fear any secret surprise, but all might come
+together without fear, as friends and kindred, for the honest and
+unrestrained enquiry that should be held with their chief and
+captain, Barlaam.  In like manner also he summoned the initiate
+and the temple-keepers of his idols, and wise men of the
+Chaldeans and Indians that were in all his kingdom, beside
+certain augurs, sorcerers and seers, that they might get the
+better of the Christians.
+
+Then were there gathered together multitudes that held his
+loathly religion; but of the Christians was there found one only
+that came to the help of the supposed Barlaam.  His name was
+Barachias.  For of the Faithful, some were dead, having fallen
+victims to the fury of the governors of the cities; and some were
+hiding in mountains and dens, in dread of the terrors hanging
+over them; while others had feared the threats of the king, and
+durst not adventure themselves into the light of day, but were
+worshippers by night, serving Christ in secret, and in no wise
+boldly confessing him.  So noble-hearted Barachias came alone to
+the contest, to help and champion the truth.
+
+The king sat down before all on a doom-stool high and exalted,
+and bade his son sit beside him.  He, in reverence and awe of his
+father, consented not thereto, but sat near him on the ground.
+There stood the learned in the wisdom which God hath made
+foolish, whose unwise hearts had gone astray, as saith the
+Apostle; for, "professing themselves to be wise, they became
+fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an
+image made like to corruptible man, and four-footed beasts, and
+creeping things."  These were assembled for to join argument with
+the king's son and his fellows, and on them was fulfilled the
+proverb, "Gazelle against lion."  The one made the most High his
+house of defence, and his hope was under the shadow of his wings;
+while the others trusted in the princes of this world, who are
+made of none effect, and in the ruler of the darkness of this
+world, to whom they have subjected themselves miserably and
+wretchedly.
+
+Now came on Nachor, in the disguise of Barlaam; and the king's
+side were like to reach their goal; but, once again, very
+different was the ordering of the wise providence of God.  When
+all the company was come, thus spake the king to his orators and
+philosophers, or rather to the deceivers of his people, and fools
+at heart, "Behold now, there lieth before you a contest, even the
+mightiest of contests; for one of two things shall befall you. 
+If ye establish our cause, and prove Barlaam and his friends to
+be in error, ye shall have your fill of glory and honour from us
+and all the senate, and shall be crowned with crowns of victory.
+But if ye be worsted, in all ignominy ye shall pitiably perish,
+and all your goods shall be given to the people, that your
+memorial may be clean blotted out from off the earth.  Your
+bodies will I give to be devoured by wild beasts and your
+children will I deliver to perpetual slavery."
+
+When the king had thus spoken, his son said, "A righteous doom
+hast thou judged this day, O king.  The Lord establish this thy
+mind!  I too have the same bidding for my teacher."  And, turning
+round to Nachor, who was supposed to be Barlaam, he said, "Thou
+knowest, Barlaam, in what splendour and luxury thou foundest me.
+With many a speech thou persuadedst me to leave my father's laws
+and customs, and to serve an unknown God, drawn by the promise of
+some unspeakable and eternal blessings, to follow thy doctrines
+and to provoke to anger my father and lord.  Now therefore
+consider that thou art weighed in the balance.  If thou overcome
+in the wrestling, and prove that the doctrines, which thou hast
+taught me, be true, and show that they, that try a fall with us,
+be in error, thou shalt be magnified as no man heretofore, and
+shalt be entitled `herald of truth'; and I will abide in thy
+doctrine and serve Christ, even as thou didst preach, until my
+dying breath.  But if thou be worsted, by foul play or fair, and
+thus bring shame on me to-day, speedily will I avenge me of mine
+injury; with mine own hands will I quickly tear out thy heart and
+thy tongue, and throw them with the residue of thy carcase to be
+meat for the dogs, that others may be lessoned by thee not to
+cozen the sons of kings."
+
+When Nachor heard these words, he was exceeding sorrowful and
+downcast, seeing himself falling into the destruction that he had
+made for other, and being drawn into the net that he had laid
+privily, and feeling the sword entering into his own soul.  So he
+took counsel with himself, and determined rather to take the side
+of the king's son, and make it to prevail, that he might avoid
+the danger hanging over him, because the prince was doubtless
+able to requite him, should he be found to provoke him.  But this
+was all the work of divine providence that was wisely
+establishing our cause by the mouth of our adversaries.  For when
+these idol-priests and Nachor crossed words, like another
+Barlaam, who, of old in the time of Balak, when purposing to
+curse Israel, loaded him with manifold blessings, so did Nachor
+mightily resist these unwise and unlearned wise men.
+
+There sat the king upon his throne, his son beside him, as we
+have said.  There beside him stood these unwise orators who had
+whetted their tongues like a sharp sword, to destroy truth, and
+who (as saith Esay) conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
+There were gathered innumerable multitudes, come to view the
+contest and see which side should carry oft the victory.  Then
+one of the orators, the most eminent of all his fellows, said
+unto Nachor, "Art thou that Barlaam which hath so shamelessly
+and audaciously blasphemed our gods, and hath enmeshed our king's
+well beloved son in the net of error, and taught him to serve the
+Crucified?"  Nachor answered, "I am he, I am Barlaam, that, as
+thou sayest, doth set your gods at nought: but the king's son
+have I not enmeshed in error; but rather from error have I
+delivered him, and brought him to the true God."  The orator
+replied, "When the great and marvellous men, who have discovered
+all knowledge of wisdom, do call them high and immortal gods, and
+when all the kings and honourable men upon earth do worship and
+adore them, how waggest thou tongue against them, and, in brief,
+how durst thou be so mighty brazen-faced?  What is the manner of
+thy proof that the Crucified is God, and these be none?"  Then
+replied Nachor, disdaining even to answer the speaker.  He
+beckoned with his hand to the multitude to keep silence, and
+opening his mouth, like Balaam's ass, spake that which he had not
+purposed to say, and thus addressed the king.
+
+
+XXVII.
+
+"By the providence of God, O king, came I into the world; and
+when I contemplated heaven and earth and sea, the sun and moon,
+and the other heavenly bodies, I was led to marvel at their fair
+order.  And, when I beheld the world and all that therein is, how
+it is moved by law, I understood that he who moveth and
+sustaineth it is God.  That which moveth is ever stronger than
+that which is moved, and that which sustaineth is stronger than
+that which is sustained.  Him therefore I call God, who
+constructed all things and sustaineth them, without beginning,
+without end, immortal, without want, above all passions, and
+failings, such as anger, forgetfulness, ignorance, and the like.
+By him all things consist.  He hath no need of sacrifice, or
+drink-offering, or of any of the things that we see, but all men
+have need of him.
+
+"Now that I have said thus much concerning God, according as he
+hath granted me to speak concerning himself, come we now to the
+human race, that we may know which of them partake of truth, and
+which of error.  It is manifiest to us, O king, that there are
+three races of men in this world: those that are worshippers of
+them whom ye call gods, and Jews, and Christians.  And again
+those who serve many gods are divided into three races,
+Chaldeans, Greeks and Egyptians, for these are to the other
+nations the leaders and teachers of the service and worship of
+the gods whose name is legion.  Let us therefore see which of
+these hold the truth, and which error.
+
+"The Chaldeans, which knew not God, went astray after the
+elements and began to worship the creature rather than their
+Creator, and they made figures of these creatures and called them
+likenesses of heaven, and earth and sea, of sun and moon, and of
+the other elements or luminaries.  And they enclose them in
+temples, and worship them under the title of gods, and guard them
+in safety lest they be stolen by robbers.  They have not
+understood how that which guardeth is ever greater than that
+which is guarded, and that the maker is greater than the thing
+that is made; for, if the gods be unable to take care of
+themselves, how can they take care of others?  Great then is the
+error that the Chaldeans have erred in worshipping lifeless and
+useless images.  And I am moved to wonder, O king, how they, who
+are called philosophers among them, fail to understand that even
+the very elements are corruptible.  But if the elements are
+corruptible and subject to necessity, how are they gods?  And if
+the elements are not gods, how are the images, created to their
+honour, gods?
+
+"Come we then, O king, to the elements themselves, that we may
+prove concerning them, that they are not gods, but corruptible
+and changeable things, brought out of non-existence by the
+command of him who is God indeed, who is incorruptible, and
+unchangeable, and invisible, but yet himself seeth all things,
+and, as he willeth, changeth and altereth the same.  What then
+must I say about the elements?
+
+"They, who ween that the Heaven is a god, are in error.  For we
+see it turning and mowing by law, and consisting of many parts,
+whence also it is called Cosmos!  Now a `Cosmos' is the handiwork
+of some artificer; and that which is wrought by handiwork hath
+beginning and end.  And the firmament is moved by law together
+with its luminaries.  The stars are borne from Sign to Sign, each
+in his order and place: some rise, while others set: and they run
+their journey according to fixed seasons, to fulfil summer and
+winter, as it hath been ordained for them by God, nor do they
+transgress their proper bounds, according to the inexorable law
+of nature, in common with the heavenly firmament.  Whence it is
+evident that the heaven is not a god, but only a work of God.
+
+"They again that think that the Earth is a goddess have gone
+astray.  We behold it dishonoured, mastered, defiled and rendered
+useless by mankind.  If it be baked by the sun, it becometh dead,
+for nothing groweth from a potsherd.  And again, if it be soaked
+overmuch, it rotteth, fruit and all.  It is trodden under foot of
+men and the residue of the beasts: it is polluted with the blood
+of the murdered, it is digged and made a grave for dead bodies.
+This being so, Earth can in no wise be a goddess, but only the
+work of God for the use of men.
+
+"They that think that Water is a god have gone astray.  It also
+hath been made for the use of men.  It is under their lordship:
+it is polluted, and perisheth: it is altered by boiling, by
+dyeing, by congealment, or by being brought to the cleansing of
+all defilements.  Wherefore Water cannot be a god, but only the
+work of God.
+
+"They that think that Fire is a god are in error.  It too was
+made for the use of men.  It is subject to their lordship, being
+carried about from place to place, for the seething and roasting
+of all manner of meats, yea, and for the burning of dead corpses.
+Moreover, it perisheth in divers ways, when it is quenched by
+mankind.  Wherefore Fire cannot be a god, but only the work of
+God.
+
+"They that think that the breath of the Winds is a goddess are in
+error.  This, as is evident, is subject to another, and hath been
+prepared by God, for the sake of mankind, for the carriage of
+ships, and the conveyance of victuals, and for other uses of men,
+it riseth and falleth according to the ordinance of God.
+Wherefore it is not to be supposed that the breath of the Winds
+is a goddess, but only the work of God.
+
+"They that think that the Sun is a god are in error.  We see him
+moving and turning by law, and passing from Sign to Sign, setting
+and rising, to warm herbs and trees for the use of men, sharing
+power with the other stars, being much less than the heaven, and
+falling into eclipse and possessed of no sovranty of his own.
+Wherefore we may not consider that the Sun is a god, but only the
+work of God.
+
+"They that think that the Moon is a goddess are in error.  We
+behold her moving and turning by law, and passing from Sign to
+Sign, setting and rising for the use of men, lesser than the sun,
+waxing and waning, suffering eclipse.  Wherefore we do not
+consider that the Moon is a goddess, but only the work of God.
+
+"They that think that Man is a god are in error.  We see man
+moving by law, growing up, and waxing old, even against his will.
+Now he rejoiceth, now he grieveth, requiring meat and drink and
+raiment.  Besides he is passionate, envious, lustful, fickle, and
+full of failings: and he perisheth in many a way, by the
+elements, by wild beasts, and by the death that ever awaiteth
+him.  So Man cannot be a god, but only the work of God.  Great
+then is the error that the Chaldeans have erred in following
+their own lusts; for they worship corruptible elements and dead
+images, neither do they perceive that they are making gods of
+these.
+
+"Now come we to the Greeks that we may see whether they have any
+understanding concerning God.  The Greeks, then, professing
+themselves to be wise, fell into greater folly than the
+Chaldeans, alleging the existence of many gods, some male, others
+female, creators of all passions and sins of every kind.
+Wherefore the Greeks, O king, introduced an absurd, foolish and
+ungodly fashion of talk, calling them gods that were not,
+according to their own evil passions; that, having these gods for
+advocates of their wickedness, they might commit adultery, theft,
+murder and all manner of iniquity.  For if their gods did so, how
+should they not themselves do the like?  Therefore from these
+practices of error it came to pass that men suffered frequent
+wars and slaughters and cruel captivities.  But if now we choose
+to pass in review each one of these gods, what a strange sight
+shalt thou see!
+
+"First and foremost they introduce the god whom they call Kronos,
+and to him they sacrifice their own children, to him who had many
+sons by Rhea, and in a fit of madness ate his own children.  And
+they say that Zeus cut off his privy parts, and cast them into
+the sea, whence, as fable telleth, was born Aphrodite.  So Zeus
+bound his own father, and cast him into Tartarus.  Dost thou mark
+the delusion and lasciviousness that they allege against their
+gods?  Is it possible then that one who was prisoner and
+mutilated should be a god?  What folly?  What man in his senses
+could admit it?
+
+"Next they introduce Zeus, who, they say, became king of the
+gods, and would take the shape of animals, that he might defile
+mortal women.  They show him transformed into a bull, for Europa;
+into gold, for Danae; into a swan, for Leda; into a satyr, for
+Antiope; and into a thunder-bolt, for Semele.  Then of these were
+born many children, Dionysus, Zethus, Amphion, Herakles, Apollo,
+Artemis, Perseus, Castor, Helen, Polydeukes, Minos, Rhadamanthos,
+Sarpedon, and the nine daughters whom they call the Muses.
+
+"In like manner they introduce the story of Ganymede.  And so
+befel it, O king, that men imitated all these things, and became
+adulterers, and defilers of themselves with mankind, and doers of
+other monstrous deeds, in imitation of their god.  How then can
+an adulterer, one that defileth himself by unnatural lust, a
+slayer of his father be a god?
+
+"With Zeus also they represent one Hephaestus as a god, and him
+lame, holding hammer and fire-tongs, and working as a copper-
+smith for hire.  So it appeareth that he is needy.  But it is
+impossible for one who is lame and wanteth men's aid to be a God.
+
+"After him, they represent as a god Hermes, a lusty fellow, a
+thief, and a covetous, a sorcerer, bowlegged, and an interpreter
+of speech.  It is impossible for such an one to be a God.
+
+"They also exhibit Asklepius as god, a physician, a maker of
+medicines, a compounder of plasters for his livelihood (for he is
+a needy wight), and in the end, they say that he was struck by
+Zeus with a thunder-bolt, because of Tyndareus, son of
+Lakedaemon, and thus perished.  Now if Asklepius, though a god,
+when struck by a thunder-bolt, could not help himself, how can he
+help others?
+
+"Ares is represented as a warlike god, emulous, and covetous of
+sheep and other things.  But in the end they say he was taken in
+adultery with Aphrodite by the child Eros and Hephaestus and was
+bound by them.  How then can the covetous, the warrior, the
+bondman and adulterer be a god?
+
+"Dionysus they show as a god, who leadeth nightly orgies, and
+teacheth drunkenness, and carrieth off his neighbours' wives, a
+madman and an exile, finally slain by the Titans.  If then
+Dionysus was slain and unable to help himself, nay, further was a
+madman, a drunkard, and vagabond, how could he be a god?
+
+"Herakles, too, is represented as drunken and mad, as slaying his
+own children, then consuming with fire and thus dying.  How then
+could a drunkard and slayer of his own children, burnt to death
+by fire, be a god?  Or how can he help others who could not help
+himself?
+
+"Apollo they represent as an emulous god, holding bow and quiver,
+and, at times, harp and flute, and prophesying to men for pay.
+Soothly he is needy: but one that is needy and emulous and a
+minstrel cannot be a god.
+
+"Artemis, his sister, they represent as an huntress, with bow and
+quiver, ranging the mountains alone, with her hounds, in chase of
+stag or boar.  How can such an one, that is an huntress and a
+ranger with hounds, be a goddess?
+
+"Of Aphrodite, adulteress though she be, they say that she is
+herself a goddess.  Once she had for leman Ares, once Anchises,
+once Adonis, whose death she lamenteth, seeking her lost lover.
+They say that she even descended into Hades to ransom Adonis from
+Persephone.  Didst thou, O king, ever see madness greater than
+this?  They represent this weeping and wailing adulteress as a
+goddess.
+
+"Adonis they show as an hunter-god, violently killed by a boar-
+tusk, and unable to help his own distress.  How then shall he
+take thought for mankind, he the adulterer, the hunter who died a
+violent death?
+
+"All such tales, and many like them, and many wicked tales more
+shameful still, have the Greeks introduced, O king, concerning
+their gods; tales, whereof it is unlawful to speak, or even to
+have them in remembrance.  Hence men, taking occasion from their
+gods, wrought all lawlessness, lasciviousness and ungodliness,
+polluting earth and air with their horrible deeds.
+
+"But the Egyptians, more fatuous and foolish than they, have
+erred worse than any other nation.  They were not satisfied with
+the idols worshipped by the Chaldeans and Greeks, but further
+introduced as gods brute beasts of land and water, and herbs
+and trees, and were defiled in all madness and lasciviousness
+worse than all people upon earth.  From the beginning they
+worshipped Isis, which had for her brother and husband that
+Osiris which was slain by his brother Typhon.  And for this
+reason Isis fled with Horus her son to Byblos in Syria, seeking
+Osiris and bitterly wailing, until Horus was grown up and killed
+Typhon.  Isis then was not able to help her own brother and
+husband; nor had Osiris, who was slain by Typhon, power to
+succour himself; nor had Typhon, who killed his brother and was
+himself destroyed by Horus and Isis, any resource to save himself
+from death.  And yet, although famous for all these
+misadventures, these be they that were considered gods by the
+senseless Egyptians.
+
+"The same people, not content therewith, nor with the rest of
+the idols of the heathen, also introduced brute beasts as gods.
+Some of them worshipped the sheep, some the goat, and others the
+calf and the hog; while certain of them worshipped the raven, the
+kite, the vulture, and the eagle.  Others again worshipped the
+crocodile, and some the cat and dog, the wolf and ape, the dragon
+and serpent, and others the onion, garlic and thorns, and every
+other creature.  And the poor fools do not perceive, concerning
+these things, that they have no power at all.  Though they see
+their gods being devoured, burnt and killed by other men, and
+rotting away, they cannot grasp the fact that they are no gods.
+
+"Great, then, is the error that the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and
+the Greeks have erred in introducing such gods as these, and
+making images thereof, and deifying dumb and senseless idols.  I
+marvel how, when they behold their gods being sawn and chiselled
+by workmen's axes, growing old and dissolving through lapse of
+time, and molten in the pot, they never reflected concerning them
+that they are no gods.  For when these skill not to work their
+own salvation, how can they take care of mankind?  Nay, even the
+poets and philosophers among the Chaldeans, Greeks and Egyptians,
+although by their poems and histories they desired to glorify
+their people's gods, yet they rather revealed and exposed their
+shame before all men.  If the body of a man, consisting of many
+parts, loseth not any of its proper members, but, having an
+unbroken union with all its members, is in harmony with itself,
+how in the nature of God shall there be such warfare and discord?
+For if the nature of the gods were one, then ought not one god to
+persecute, slay or injure another.  But if the gods were
+persecuted by other gods, and slain and plundered and killed with
+thunder-stones, then is their nature no longer one, but their
+wills are divided, and are all mischievous, so that not one among
+them is God.  So it is manifest, O king, that all this history of
+the nature of the gods is error.
+
+"Furthermore, how do the wise and eloquent among the Greeks fail
+to perceive that law-givers themselves are judged by their own
+laws?  For if their laws are just, then are their gods assuredly
+unjust, in that they have offended against law by murders,
+sorceries, adulteries, thefts and unnatural crimes.  But, if they
+did well in so doing, then are their laws unjust, seeing that
+they have been framed in condemnation of the gods.  But now the
+laws are good and just, because they encourage good and forbid
+evil; whereas the deeds of their gods offend against law.  Their
+gods then are offenders against law; and all that introduce such
+gods as these are worthy of death and are ungodly.  If the
+stories of the gods be myths, then are the gods mere words: but
+if the stories be natural, then are they that wrought or endured
+such things no longer gods: if the stories be allegorical, then
+are the gods myths and nothing else.  Therefore it hath been
+proven, O king, that all these idols, belonging to many gods, are
+works of error and destruction.  So it is not meet to call those
+gods that are seen, but cannot see: but it is right to worship as
+God him who is unseen and is the Maker of all mankind.
+
+"Come we now, O king, to the Jews, that we may see what they also
+think concerning God.  The Jews are the descendants of Abraham,
+Isaac and Jacob, and went once to sojourn in Egypt.  From thence
+God brought them out with a mighty hand and stretched out arm by
+Moses their lawgiver; and with many miracles and signs made he
+known unto them his power.  But, like the rest, these proved
+ungrateful and unprofitable, and often worshipped images of the
+heathen, and killed the prophets and righteous men that were sent
+unto them.  Then, when it pleased the Son of God to come on
+earth, they did shamefully entreat him and deliver him to Pilate
+the Roman governor, and condemn him to the Cross, regardless of
+his benefits and the countless miracles that he had worked
+amongst them.  Wherefore by their own lawlessness they perished.
+For though to this day they worship the One Omnipotent God, yet
+it is not according unto knowledge; for they deny Christ the Son
+of God, and are like the heathen, although they seem to approach
+the truth from which they have estranged themselves.  So much for
+the Jews.
+
+"As for the Christians, they trace their line from the Lord Jesus
+Christ.  He is confessed to be the Son of the most high God, who
+came down from heaven, by the Holy Ghost, for the salvation of
+mankind, and was born of a pure Virgin, without seed of man, and
+without defilement, and took flesh, and appeared among men, that
+he might recall them from the error of worshipping many gods.
+When he had accomplished his marvellous dispensation, of his own
+free will by a mighty dispensation he tasted of death upon the
+Cross.  But after three days he came to life again, and ascended
+into the heavens, the glory of whose coming thou mayest learn, O
+king, by the reading of the holy Scripture, which the Christians
+call the Gospel, shouldst thou meet therewith.  This Jesus had
+twelve disciples, who, after his ascent into the heavens, went
+out into all the kingdoms of the world, telling of his greatness.
+Even so one of them visited our coasts, preaching the doctrine of
+truth; whence they who still serve the righteousness of his
+preaching are called Christians.  And these are they who, above
+all the nations of the earth, have found the truth: for they
+acknowledge God the Creator and Maker of all things in the only
+begotten Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and other God than him they
+worship none.  They have the commandments of the Lord Jesus
+Christ himself engraven on their hearts, and these they observe,
+looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the
+world to come.  They neither commit adultery nor fornication; nor
+do they bear false witness, nor covet other men's goods: they
+honour father and mother, and love their neighbours: they give
+right judgement.  They do not unto other that which they would
+not have done unto themselves.  They comfort such as wrong them,
+and make friends of them: they labour to do good to their
+enemies: they are meek and gentle.  They refrain themselves from
+all unlawful intercourse and all uncleanness.  They despise not
+the widow, and grieve not the orphan.  He that hath distributeth
+liberally to him that hath not.  If they see a stranger, they
+bring him under their roof, and rejoice over him, as it were
+their own brother: for they call themselves brethren, not after
+the flesh, but after the spirit.  For Christ his sake they are
+ready to lay down their lives: they keep his commandments
+faithfully, living righteous and holy lives, as the Lord their
+God commanded them, giving him thanks every hour, for meat and
+drink and every blessing.  Verily, then, this is the way of truth
+which leadeth its wayfarers unto the eternal kingdom promised by
+Christ in the life to come.
+
+"And that thou mayest know, O king, that I speak nought of
+myself, look thou into the writings of the Christians, and thou
+shalt find that I speak nothing but the truth.  Well, therefore,
+hath thy son understood it, and rightly hath he been taught to
+serve the living God, and to be saved for the world to come.
+Great and marvellous are the things spoken and wrought by the
+Christians, because they speak not the words of men but the words
+of God.  But all other nations are deceived, and deceive
+themselves.  Walking in darkness they stagger one against another
+like drunken men.  This is the end of my speech spoken unto thee,
+O king, prompted by the truth that is in my mind.  Wherefore let
+thy foolish wise-acres refrain from babbling idly against the
+Lord; for it is profitable to you to worship God the Creator, and
+hearken to his incorruptible sayings, in order that ye may escape
+judgement and punishment, and be found partakers of deathless
+life."
+
+
+XXVIII.
+
+When Nachor had fully delivered this oration, the king changed
+countenance for very anger, but his orators and temple-keepers
+stood speechless, having nothing but a few weak and rotten shreds
+of argument in reply.  But the king's son rejoiced in spirit and
+with glad countenance magnified the Lord, who had made a path,
+where no path was, for them tat trusted in him, who by the mouth
+of a foeman and enemy was establishing the truth; and the leader
+of error had proved a defender of the right cause.
+
+But the king, although furiously enraged with Nachor, was
+nevertheless unable to do him any mischief, because of the
+proclamation already read before all, wherein he urged him to
+plead without fear in behalf of the Christians.  So he himself
+made answer in many words, and by dark speeches hinted that
+Nachor should relax his resistance, and be worsted by the
+argument of the orators.  But Nachor the more mightily prevailed,
+tearing to pieces all their propositions and conclusions and
+exposing the fallacy of their error.  After the debate had been
+prolonged till well-nigh eventide, the king dismissed the
+assembly, making as though he would renew the discussion on the
+morrow.
+
+Then said Ioasaph to the king his father, "As at the beginning,
+Sir, thou commandedst that the trial should be just, so too crown
+the end thereof with justice, by doing one or other of these two
+things.  Either allow my teacher to tarry with me to-night, that
+we may take counsel together as touching those things which we
+must say unto our adversaries tomorrow: and do thou in turn take
+thine advisers unto thee, and duly practise yourselves as ye
+will.  Or else deliver thy counsellors to me this night, and take
+mine to thyself.  But if both sides be with thee, mine advocate
+in tribulation and fear, but thine in joy and refreshment, me
+thinketh it is not a fair trial, but a tyrannical misuse of
+power, and a breaking of the covenants."  The king, compelled to
+yield by the gracefulness of this speech took his wise men and
+priests to himself, and delivered Nachor to his son, still having
+hopes of him and thinking fit to keep his agreement.
+
+The king's son, therefore, departed unto his own palace, like a
+conqueror in the Olympic games, and with him went Nachor.  When
+alone, the prince called him and said, "Think not that I am
+ignorant of thy tale, for I wot, of a surety, that thou art not
+saintly Barlaam, but Nachor the astrologer; and I marvel how it
+seemed thee good to act this play, and to think that thou couldst
+so dull my sight at mid-day, that I should mistake a wolf for a
+sheep.  But well sung is the proverb, `The heart of a fool will
+conceive folly.'  So this your device and counsel was stale and
+utterly senseless; but the work that thou hast accomplished is
+full of wisdom.  Wherefore, rejoice, Nachor, and be exceeding
+glad.  I render thee many thanks, that thou hast been to-day
+advocate of the truth, and hast not polluted thy lips with foul
+words and crafty simulation, but hast rather cleansed them from
+many defilements, and thoroughly proven the error of the gods, as
+they be wrongly called, and hast established the truth of the
+Christian faith.  I have been zealous to bring thee hither with
+me for two reasons; that the king might not privily seize and
+punish thee, because thou spakest not after his heart, and next
+that I might recompense thee for the favour that thou hast done
+me to-day.  And what is my recompense for thee?  To show thee how
+to turn from the evil and slippery road which thou hast trodden
+until now, and to journey along the straight and saving pathway
+which thou hast avoided, not in ignorance, but by wilful
+wrongdoing, throwing thyself into depths and precipices of
+iniquity.  Understand then, Nachor, man of understanding as thou
+art, and be thou zealous to gain Christ only, and the life that
+is hid with him, and despise this fleeting and corruptible world.
+Thou shalt not live for ever, but, being mortal, shalt depart
+hence ere long, even as all that have been before thee.  And wo
+betide thee, if, with the heavy load of sin on thy shoulders,
+thou depart thither where there is righteous judgement and
+recompense for thy works, and cast it not off, while it is easy
+to rid thyself thereof!"
+
+Pricked at heart by these words, spake Nachor, "Well said!  Sir
+prince, well said!  I do know the true and very God, by whom all
+things were made, and I wot of the judgement to come, having
+heard thereof from many texts of the Scriptures.  But evil habit
+and the insolence of the ancient supplanter hath blinded the eyes
+of my heart, and shed a thick darkness over my reason.  But now,
+at thy word, I will cast away the veil of gloom, and run unto the
+light of the countenance of the Lord.  May be, he will have mercy
+on me, and will open a door of repentance to his wicked and
+rebellious servant, even if it seem impossible to me that my
+sins, which are heavier than the sand, be forgiven; sins, which,
+wittingly or unwittingly, I have sinned from childhood upwards to
+this my hoary age."
+
+When the king's son heard these words, immediately he arose, and
+his heart waxed warm, and he began to try to raise Nachor's
+courage which was drooping to despair, and to confirm it in the
+faith of Christ, saying, "Let no doubt about this, Nachor, find
+place in thy mind.  For it is written, God is able of these very
+stones to raise up children unto Abraham.  What meaneth this (as
+father Barlaam said) except that men beyond hope, stained with
+all manner of wickedness, can be saved, and become servants of
+Christ, who, in the exceeding greatness of his love toward
+mankind, hath opened the gates of heaven to all that turn,
+barring the way of salvation to none, and receiving with
+compassion them that repent?  Wherefore to all that have entered
+the vineyard at the first, third, sixth, ninth or eleventh hour
+there is apportioned equal pay, as saith the holy Gospel: so that
+even if, until this present time, thou hast waxen old in thy
+sins, yet if thou draw nigh with a fervent heart, thou shalt gain
+the same rewards as they who have laboured from their youth
+upwards."
+
+With these and many other words did that saintly youth speak of
+repentance to that aged sinner Nachor, promising him that Christ
+was merciful, and pledging him forgiveness, and satisfying him
+that the good God is alway ready to receive the penitent, and
+with these words, as it were with ointments, did he mollify that
+ailing soul and give it perfect health.  Nachor at once said unto
+him, "O prince, more noble in soul even than in outward show,
+well instructed in these marvellous mysteries, mayst thou
+continue in thy good confession until the end, and may neither
+time nor tide ever pluck it out of thine heart!  For myself, I
+will depart straightway in search of my salvation, and will by
+penance pacify that God whom I have angered: for, except thou
+will it, I shall see the king's face no more."  Then was the
+prince exceeding glad, and joyfully heard his saying.  And he
+embraced and kissed him affectionately; and, when he had prayed
+earnestly to God, he sent him forth from the palace.
+
+So Nachor stepped forth with a contrite heart, and went bounding
+into the depths of the desert, like as doth an hart, and came to
+a den belonging to a monk that had attained to the dignity of the
+priesthood, and was hiding there for fear of the pressing danger.
+With a right warm heart knelt Nachor down before him, and washed
+his feet with his tears, like the harlot of old, and craved holy
+Baptism.  The priest, full of heavenly grace, was passing glad,
+and did at once begin to instruct him, as the custom is, and
+after many days, perfected him with baptism in the name of the
+Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  And Nachor abode
+with him, always repentant of his sins, and blessing that God who
+never willeth that ally should perish, but receiveth all that
+turn again unto him, and lovingly accepteth the penitent.
+
+Now on the morrow when the king heard what had befallen Nachor,
+he despaired of the hopes that he once had in him: and, seeing
+those wise and foolish orators of his mightily discomfited, he
+was at his wits' end.  Them he visited with terrible outrage and
+dishonour, scourging some severely with whips of oxhide,
+besmearing their eyes with soot, and casting them away from his
+presence.  He himself began to condemn the impotence of the gods
+falsely so called, although as yet he refused to look fully at
+the light of Christ, for the dense cloud of darkness, that
+enveloped him, still bound the eyes of his heart.  Howbeit he no
+longer honoured his temple-keepers, nor would he keep feasts, nor
+make drink offerings to his idols, but his mind was tossed
+between two opinions.  On the one hand, he poured scorn on the
+impotence of his gods; on the other, he dreaded the strictness of
+the profession of the Gospel, and was hardly to be torn from his
+evil ways, being completely in slavery to the pleasures of the
+body, and like a captive drawn towards sinful lusts, and being
+drunken, as saith Esay, but not with wine, and led as it were
+with the bridle of evil habit.
+
+While the king was thus wrestling with two opinions, his noble
+and truly royal-hearted son dwelt at peace in his palace, proving
+to all men by his deeds the nobility, order and steadfastness of
+his nature.  Theatres, horse-races, riding to hounds, and all the
+vain pleasures of youth, the baits that take foolish souls, were
+reckoned by him as nothing worth.  But he hung wholly on the
+commands of Christ for whom he yearned, his heart being wounded
+with love divine.  For him he longed, who alone is to be longed
+for, who is all sweetness and desire and aspiration insatiable.
+
+Now, when he came to think upon his teacher Barlaam, and as in a
+mirror saw his life, his soul was enchanted with love, and he
+much occupied himself a-thinking how he might see him; and ever
+carrying his sayings in his heart, he was like the tree in the
+Psalms planted by the river side, unceasingly watered, and
+bringing forth unto the Lords his fruits in due season.  Many
+were the souls that he delivered from the snares of the devil,
+and brought safely unto Christ; for many resorted unto him, and
+profited by his wholesome words.  And not a few left the way of
+error, and ran toward the word of salvation; while others bade a
+long farewell to the concerns of the world, and came to the
+wrestling-school of the monastic life.  He himself spent his time
+in prayers and fastings, and would often offer up this prayer, "O
+Lord, my Lord and King, in whom I have trusted, to whom I have
+fled and been delivered from my error, render thou due recompense
+to Barlaam thy servant, because when I was in error he pointed
+thee to me, who art the way of truth and life.  Forbid me not to
+behold once more that angel in bodily shape, of whom the world is
+not worthy, but grant me in his company to finish the residue of
+my life, that, treading in the footsteps of his conversation, I
+may be well-pleasing to thee my God and Lord."
+
+
+XXIX.
+
+Now about the same time there was in that city a public assembly
+in honour of the false gods, and the king must needs be present
+at the feast, and grace it with lavish sacrifices.  But the
+temple-keepers, seeing that he was careless and lukewarm with
+regard to their worship, feared that he might neglect to be
+present in their temple, and that they might lose the royal
+largess, and the rest of their revenues.  So they arose, and
+withdrew to a cavern situate in the depth of the desert, where
+dwelt a man who busied himself with magical arts, and was a
+fervent champion of the error of idolatry.  Theudas was his name.
+Him the king honoured exceedingly, and counted him his friend and
+teacher, because, he said, it was by the guidance of his
+prophecies that his kingdom ever prospered.  So these idol-
+priests, that were no priests, came to him, and appealed to him
+for help, and made known to him the evil opinion of their gods
+which was growing on their king, and all that the king's son had
+done, and all the eloquent discourse that Nachor had held against
+them.  And they said, "Except thou come thyself to our succour,
+gone is all hope!  and lost is all the reverence of the gods.
+Thou only art left to be our comfort in this misfortune, and upon
+thee we fix our hopes."
+
+So forth marched Theudas, in company with his Satanic host; and
+he armed himself against the truth, invoking many of his evil
+spirits, who knew how to lend ready aid for evil ends, and whom
+he alway used for his ministers; and with these allies he came to
+the king.  When his arrival had been announced to the king, and
+he had entered in, with a palm-staff in his hand and a sheep-skin
+girt about his loins, the king arose from his throne, and met and
+welcomed him; and, fetching a seat, he made him to sit down
+beside him.  Then spake Theudas unto the king, "O king, live for
+ever under the shelter of the favour of the most puissant gods! 
+I have heard that thou hast foughten a mighty fight with the
+Galileans, and hast been crowned with right glorious diadems of
+victory.  Wherefore I am come, that we may celebrate together a
+feast of thanksgiving, and sacrifice to the immortal gods young
+men in the bloom of youth and well-favoured damsels, and eke
+offer them an hecatomb of bullocks and herds of beasts, that we
+may have them from henceforth for our allies invincible, making
+plain our path of life before us."
+
+Hereto the king made answer, "We have not conquered, aged sir, we
+have not conquered: nay, rather have we been defeated in open
+fight.  They that were for us turned suddenly against us.  They
+found our host a wild, half-drunken, feeble folk, and utterly
+overthrew it.  But now, if there be with thee any power and
+strength to help our fallen religion and set it up again, declare
+it."
+
+Theudas replied in this wise, "Dread not, O king, the oppositions
+and vain babblings of the Galileans: for of what worth against
+reasonable and sensible men are the arguments that they use?
+These methinks shall be more easily overthrown than a leaf shaken
+with the wind.  They shall not endure to face me, far less join
+argument, or come to propositions and oppositions with me.  But,
+in order that the coming contest and all our wishes may prosper,
+and that our matters may run smoothly with the stream, adorn thou
+with thy presence this public festival, and gird on for thy
+strong sword the favour of the gods, and well befall thee!"
+
+When the mighty in wickedness had thus boasted himself and
+thought of mischief all the day long (let David bear his part in
+our chorus), and when, as saith Esay, he had given his neighbour
+a drink of turbid dregs, by the help of the evil spirits his
+comrades he made the king utterly to forget the thoughts that
+inclined him to salvation, and caused him again to cleave to his
+wonted ways.  Then the king despatched letters hither and
+thither, that all men should gather together to this loathsome
+assembly.  Then mightest thou have seen multitudes streaming in,
+and bringing with them sheep and oxen and divers kinds of beasts.
+
+So when all were assembled, the king arose, with that deceiver
+Theudas, and proceeded to the temple, bringing one hundred and
+twenty bullocks and many animals for sacrifice.  And they
+celebrated their accursed feast till the city resounded with the
+cry of the brute beasts and the very air was polluted with the
+reek of sacrifice.  This done, when the spirits of wickedness had
+greatly vaunted them over Theudas' victory, and when the temple-
+keepers had rendered him thanks, the king went up again unto his
+palace, and said milo Theudas, "Behold now, as thou badest us, we
+have spared no pains over the splendour of this gathering and the
+lavishness of the sacrifice.  Now, therefore, it is time for thee
+to fulfil thy promises, and to deliver from the error of the
+Christians my son that hath rebelled against our religion, and to
+reconcile him to our gracious gods.  For, though I have left no
+device and deed untried, yet have I found no remedy for the
+mischief, but I perceive that his will is stronger than all. 
+When I have dealt gently and kindly with him, I have found that
+he payeth me no regard whatsoever.  When I have treated him
+harshly and severely, I have seen him driven the quicker to
+desperation.  To thy wisdom for the future I leave the care of
+this calamity that hath befallen me.  If then I be delivered from
+this trouble by thy means, and once more behold my son
+worshipping my gods with me, and enjoying the gratification of
+this life of pleasure, and this royal estate, I will set up unto
+thee a golden statue, and make thee to receive divine honours
+from all men for all time to come."
+
+Hereupon Theudas, bowing an attentive ear to the evil one, and
+learning from him the secret of his evil and deadly counsel,
+became himself the devil's tongue and mouthpiece, and spake unto
+the king, "If thou wilt get the better of thy son, and make his
+opposition vain, I have discovered a plan, which he shall in no
+wise be able to resist, but his hard and obdurate mind shall melt
+quicker than wax before the hottest fire."  The king, seeing this
+foolish fellow swelling with empty pride, immediately grew merry
+and joyful, hoping that the unbridled and boastful tongue would
+get the mastery of that divinely instructed and philosophic soul.
+"And what is the plan?" he asked.  Then began Theudas to weave
+his web.  He made his villainy sharp as any razor and did
+cunningly prepare his drugs.  Now behold this malicious device
+and suggestion of the evil one. "Remove, O king," said he, "all
+thy son's waiting men and servants far from him, and order that
+comely damsels, of exceeding beauty, and bedizened to be the more
+winsome, be continually with him and minister to him, and be his
+companions day and night.  For myself, I will send him one of the
+spirits told off for such duties, and I will thus kindle all the
+more fiercely the coals of sensual desire.  After that he hath
+once only had intercourse with but one of these women, if all go
+not as thou wilt, then disdain me for ever, as unprofitable, and
+worthy not of honour but of dire punishment.  For there is
+nothing like the sight of women to allure and enchant the minds
+of men.  Listen to a story that beareth witness to my word."
+
+
+XXX.
+
+"A certain king was grieved and exceeding sad at heart, because
+that he had no male issue, deeming this no small misfortune.
+While he was in this condition, there was born to him a son, and
+the king's soul was filled with joy thereat.  Then they that were
+learned amongst his physicians told him that, if for the first
+twelve years the boy saw the sun or fire, he should entirely lose
+his sight, for this was proved by the condition of his eyes.
+Hearing this, the king, they say, caused a little house, full of
+dark chambers, to be hewn out of the rock, and therein enclosed
+his child together with the men that nursed him, and, until the
+twelve years were past, never suffered him to see the least ray
+of light.  After the fulfilment of the twelve years, the king
+brought forth from his little house his son that had never seen
+a single object, and ordered his waiting men to show the boy
+everything after his kind; men in one place, women in another;
+elsewhere gold and silver; in another place, pearls and precious
+stones, fine and ornamental vestments, splendid chariots with
+horses from the royal stables, with golden bridles and purple
+caparisons, mounted by armed soldiers; also droves of oxen and
+flocks of sheep.  In brief, row after row, they showed the boy
+everything.  Now, as he asked what each ox these was called, the
+king's esquires and guards made known unto him each by name: but,
+when he desired to learn what women were called, the king's
+spearman, they say, wittily replied that they were called,
+"Devils that deceive men."  But the boy's heart was smitten with
+the love of these above all the rest.  So, when they had gone
+round everywhere and brought him again unto the king, the king
+asked, which of all these sights had pleased him most.  "What,"
+answered the boy, "but the Devils that deceive men?  Nothing that
+I have seen to-day hath fired my heart with such love as these."
+The king was astonished at the saying of the boy, to think how
+masterful a thing the love of women is.  Therefore think not to
+subdue thy son in any other way than this."
+
+The king heard this tale gladly; and there were brought before
+him some chosen damsels, young and exceeding beautiful.  These he
+bedizened with dazzling ornaments and trained in all winsome
+ways: and then he turned out of the palace all his son's squires
+and serving men, and set these women in their stead.  These
+flocked around the prince, embraced him, and provoked him to
+filthy wantonness, by their walk and talk inviting him to
+dalliaunce.  Besides these, he had no man at whom to look, or
+with whom to converse or break his fast, for these damsels were
+his all.  Thus did the king.  But Theudas went home to his evil
+den, and, dipping into his books that had virtue to work such
+magic, he called up one of his wicked spirits and sent him forth,
+for to battle with the soldier of the army of Christ.  But the
+wretch little knew what laughter he should create against
+himself, and to what shame he should be put, with the whole
+devilish troop under him.  So the evil spirit, taking to him
+other spirits more wicked than himself, entered the bed-chamber
+of this noble youth, and attacked him by kindling right furiously
+the furnace of his flesh.  The evil one plied the bellows from
+within, while the damsels, fair of face, but uncomely of soul,
+supplied the evil fuel from without.
+
+But Ioasaph's pure soul was disturbed to feel the touch of evil,
+and to see the warlike host of strange thoughts that was charging
+down upon him.  And he sought to find deliverance from this great
+mischief, and to present himself pure unto Christ, and not defile
+in the mire of sinful lust that holy apparel, wherein the grace
+of holy Baptism had clothed him.  Immediately he set love against
+love, the divine against the lascivious; and he called to
+remembrance the beauty and unspeakable glory of Christ, the
+immortal bridegroom of virgin souls, and of that bride chamber
+and marriage, from whence they that have stained their wedding-
+garment are piteously cast out, bound hand and foot, into outer
+darkness.  When he had thought thereon, and shed bitter tears, he
+smote upon his breast, driving out evil thoughts, as good-for-
+nothing drones from the hive.  When he rose, and spread out his
+hands unto heaven, with fervent tears and groans calling upon God
+to help him, and he said, "Lord Almighty, who alone art powerful
+and merciful, the hope of the hopeless, and the help of the
+helpless, remember me thine unprofitable servant at this hour,
+and look upon me with a gracious countenance, and deliver my soul
+from the sword of the devil, and my darling from the paw of the
+dog: suffer me not to fall into the hands of mine enemies, and
+let not them that hate me triumph over me.  Leave me not to be
+destroyed in iniquities, and to dishonour my body which I swore
+to present unto thee chaste.  For for thee I yearn; thee I
+worship, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now and for
+evermore, and world without end."  When he had added the Amen, he
+felt heavenly comfort stealing over him from above, and the evil
+thoughts withdrew, and he continued in prayer until early morn.
+Being ware of the devices of the crafty foe, he began more and
+more to afflict his body by abstinence from meat and drink, and
+by other severities, standing in prayer all the night long, and
+reminding himself of his covenants made with God, and picturing
+in his mind the glory of the righteous yonder, and recounting to
+himself the full terrors of the Gehenna wherewith the wicked are
+threatened; all this, that the enemy might not find his soul
+lying fallow and untilled, and thus easily sow therein the seeds
+of evil thoughts, and befoul the cleanness of his mind.  So, when
+the enemy was in great straits on every side, and altogether in
+despair of taking this noble youth, like a cunning knave, he
+proceeded to another more subtil device, he that is for ever
+wicked, and never stinteth to contrive mischief and hurt.  For he
+made furious endeavour to carry out the orders that Theudas had
+given him, and once more prepared his drugs, and on this wise. 
+
+The devil entered into the heart of one of the young damsels.  Of
+all she was the most seemly, a king's daughter, carried away
+captive from her own country, given to king Abenner as a great
+prize, and sent by him, being of ripe beauty, to his own son, for
+to cause him to slip or to trip.  Of her the deceiver took
+possession, and whispered in her ear suggestions that plainly
+showed the wisdom and understanding of her mind; for the evil one
+easily pursueth all devices that make for wickedness.  Then the
+evil spirit attacked the king's son on the right hand, and gave
+him a potion to make him love the maiden, by reason -- so he
+pretended -- of her prudence and discretion and of her nobility
+and royal blood that yet had not saved her from banishment and
+loss of glory.  Moreover the devil secretly sowed in Ioasaph's
+heart thoughts that he might recover her from idolatry, and make
+her a Christian.
+
+But these were all stratagems of the wily serpent.  For the
+king's son, being in this frame of mind, could see in himself no
+unclean thought or passionate affection for the damsel, but only
+sympathy and pity for her misfortune, and the ruin of her soul,
+and knew not that this matter was a device of the devil; for
+verily he is darkness, and feigneth to be light.  So he began to
+commune with the damsel, and talk with her over the oracles of
+the knowledge of God, and said, "Lady, be thou acquainted with
+the ever-living God, and perish not in the error of these idols;
+but know thy Lord, and the Maker of all this world, and thou
+shalt be happy, the bride of the immortal bridegroom."  While he
+exhorted her with many such-like words, immediately the evil
+spirit whispered to the girl that she should spread under his
+feet the nets of deceit to drag his blessed soul into the pit of
+lust, as he once did to our first parent by means of Eve, thus
+miserably banishing him, alas! from Paradise and God, and making
+him to become subject to death in lieu of bliss and everlasting
+life.
+
+When the damsel heard Ioasaph's words fulfilled with all wisdom,
+being without understanding, she understood them not, but made
+answer thus, becoming the tongue and mouth-piece of the evil one:
+"If, sir, thou takest thought for my salvation, and desirest to
+bring me to thy God, and to save my poor soul, do thou also
+thyself grant me one request, and straightway I will bid good-bye
+to my fathers' gods, and join thy God, serving him until my last
+breath; and thou shalt receive recompense for my salvation, and
+for my turning to God-ward."
+
+"Lady, and what is thy request?" said he.  But she, setting her
+whole self, figure, look and voice in a fashion to charm him,
+answered, "Be thou joined with me in the bonds of wedlock, and I
+will joyfully follow out thy behests."
+
+"In vain, O Lady," said he, "hast thou made this hard request.
+For though I earnestly care for thy salvation, and long to heave
+thee from the depth of perdition, yet to pollute my body through
+unclean union is grievous for me, and utterly impossible."
+
+She, seeking to make the way straight and smooth for him, cried,
+"Why dost thou, who are so wise, talk thus?  Wherefore speakest
+thou of it as of defilement and shameful intercourse?  I am not
+unacquainted with the Christian books: nay, I have met with many
+volumes in mine own country, and have heard the discourses of
+many Christians.  What, is it not written in one of your books,
+`Marriage is honourable, and the bed undefiled'?  and, `It is
+better to marry than to burn'? and again, `What God hath joined
+together, let not man put asunder'?  Do not your Scriptures teach
+that all the righteous men of old, patriarchs and prophets, were
+wedded?  Is it not written that the mighty Peter, whom ye call
+Prince of the Apostles, was a married man?  Who, then, hath
+persuaded thee to call this defilement?  Methink, sir, thou
+strayest utterly away from the truth of your doctrines."
+
+"Yea, Lady," said he, "all this is even as thou sayest.  It is
+permitted to all who will to live in wedlock, but not to them
+that have once made promise to Christ to be virgins.  For myself,
+ever since I was cleansed in the laver of Holy Baptism from the
+sins of my youth and ignorance, I have resolved to present myself
+pure to Christ, and how shall I dare break my covenants with
+God?"
+
+Again quoth the damsel, "Let this also be thy pleasure, as thou
+wilt.  But fulfil me one other small and trivial desire of mine,
+if thou art in very truth minded for to save my soul.  Keep
+company with me this one night only, and grant me to revel in thy
+beauty, and do thou in turn take thy fill of my comeliness.  And
+I give thee my word, that, with daybreak, I will become a
+Christian, and forsake all the worship of my gods.  Not only
+shalt thou be pardoned for this dealing, but thou shalt receive
+recompense from thy God because of my salvation, for thy
+Scripture saith, `There is joy in heaven over one sinner that
+repenteth.'  If, therefore, there is joy in heaven over the
+conversion of a sinner, shall not great recompense be due to the
+causer of that conversion?  Yea, so it is: and dispute it not.
+Did not even the Apostles, the leaders of your religion, do many
+a thing by dispensation, at times transgressing a commandment on
+account of a greater one?  Is not Paul said to have circumcised
+Timothy on account of a greater dispensation?  And yet
+circumcision hath been reckoned by Christians as unlawful, but
+yet he did not decline so to do.  And many other such things
+shalt thou find in thy Scriptures.  If then in very sooth, as
+thou sayest, thou seekest to save my soul, fulfil me this my
+small desire.  And although I seek to be joined with thee in the
+full estate of matrimony, yet, sith this is contrary to thy mind,
+I will never constrain thee again, but will do everything that
+liketh thee.  For the rest, do not thou utterly abhor me; but
+hearken to me for the nonce, and thou shalt deliver me from
+superstitious error, and thou shalt do whatever seemeth thee good
+hereafter all the days of thy life."
+
+Thus spake she; for indeed she had, for her adviser, one to whom
+she lent a privy ear, and the pirate was well versed in
+Scripture, being verily the creator and teacher of iniquity. 
+Thus then she spake with fawning words entangling him, right and
+left, around with her toils and meshes, and she began to shake
+the citadel of his soul, and to slacken his tension of purpose,
+and to soften the temper of his mind.  Then the sower of these
+evil tares, and enemy of the righteous, when he saw the young
+man's heart wavering, was full of joy, and straightway called to
+the evil spirits that were with him, crying, "Look you how yond
+damsel hasteth to bring to pass all that we were unable to
+accomplish!  Hither!  fall we now furiously upon him: for we
+shall find none other season so favourable to perform the will of
+him that sent us."  Thus spake this crafty spirit to his hounds:
+and straightway they lept on that soldier of Christ, disquieting
+all the powers of his soul, inspiring him with vehement love for
+the damsel, and kindling within him the fiercest fire of lust.
+
+When Ioasaph saw that he was greatly inflamed, and was being led
+captive into sin, and perceived that his thoughts about the
+salvation of the damsel and her conversion to God had been set
+like bait on hook to hide the deed which she purposed, and were
+troubling him with the suggestion of the enemy, that, for the
+salvation of a soul, it was not sin for once to lie with a woman,
+then in the agony of his soul he drew a deep and lamentable
+groan, and nerved himself to pray, and, with streams of tears
+running down his cheeks, he cried aloud to him that is able to
+save them that trust in him, saying, "On thee, O Lord, have I set
+my trust: let me not be confounded for ever; neither let mine
+enemies triumph over me, that hold by thy right hand.  But stand
+thou by me at this hour, and according to thy will make straight
+my path, that thy glorious and dreadful name may be glorified in
+me thy servant, because thou art blessed for ever.  Amen."
+
+Now when he had prayed in tears for many hours, and often bent
+the knee, he sunk down upon the pavement.  After he had slumbered
+awhile, he saw himself carried off by certain dread men, and
+passing through places which he had never heretofore beheld.  He
+stood in a mighty plain, all a-bloom with fresh and fragrant
+flowers, where he descried all manner of plants of divers
+colours, charged with strange and marvellous fruits, pleasant to
+the eye and inviting to the touch.  The leaves of the trees
+rustled clearly in a gentle breeze, and, as they shook, sent
+forth a gracious perfume that cloyed not the sense.  Thrones were
+set there, fashioned of the purest gold and costly stones,
+throwing out never so bright a lustre, and radiant settles among
+wondrous couches too beautiful to be described.  And beside them
+there were running waters exceeding clear, and delightful to the
+eye.  When these dread men had led him through this great and
+wondrous plain, they brought him to a city that glistered with
+light unspeakable, whose walls were of dazzling gold, with high
+uprear'd parapets, built of gems such as man hath never seen. 
+Ah!  who could describe the beauty and brightness of that city?
+Light, ever shooting from above, filled all her streets with
+bright rays; and winged squadrons, each of them itself a light,
+dwelt in this city, making such melody as mortal ear ne'er heard.
+And Ioasaph heard a voice crying, "This is the rest of the
+righteous: this the gladness of them that have pleased the Lord."
+When these dread men had carried him out from thence, they spake
+of taking him back to earth.  But he, that had lost his heart to
+that scene of joyaunce and heartsease, exclaimed, "Reave me not,
+reave me not, I pray you, of this unspeakable joy, but grant me
+also to dwell in one corner of this mighty city."  But they said,
+"It is impossible for thee to be there now; but, with much toil
+and sweat, thou shalt come hither, if thou constrain thyself."
+
+Thus spake they; and again they crossed that mighty plain, and
+bare him to regions of darkness and utter woe, where sorrow
+matched the brightness which he had seen above.  There was
+darkness without a ray of light, and utter gloom, and the whole
+place was full of tribulation and trouble.  There blazed a
+glowing furnace of fire, and there crept the worm of torment.
+Revengeful powers were set over the furnace, and there were some
+that were burning piteously in the fire, and a voice was heard,
+saying, "This is the place of sinners; this the punishment for
+them that have defiled themselves by foul practices."  Hereupon
+Ioasaph was carried thence by his guides; and, when he came to
+himself, immediately he trembled from head to foot, and, like a
+river, his eyes dropped tears, and all the comeliness of that
+wanton damsel and her fellows was grown more loathsome to him
+than filth and rottenness.  And as he mused in his heart on the
+memory of the visions, in longing for the good and in terror of
+the evil, he lay on his bed utterly unable to arise.
+
+Then was the king informed of his son's sickness; and he came and
+asked what ailed him.  And Ioasaph told him his vision, and said,
+"Wherefore hast thou laid a net for my feet, and bowed down my
+soul?  If the Lord had not helped me, my soul had well nigh dwelt
+in hell.  But how loving is God unto Israel, even unto such as
+are of a true heart!  He hath delivered me that am lowly from the
+midst of the dogs.  For I was sore troubled and I fell on sleep:
+but God my Saviour from on high hath visited me, and showed me
+what joy they lose that provoke him and to what punishments they
+subject themselves.  And now, O my father, since thou hast
+stopped thine ears not to hear the voice that will charm thee to
+good, at least forbid me not to walk the straight road.  For this
+I desire, this I long for, to forsake all, and reach that place,
+where Barlaam the servant of Christ hath his dwelling, and with
+him to finish what remaineth of my life.  But if thou keep me
+back by force, thou shalt quickly see me die of grief and
+despair, and thou shalt be no more called father, nor have me to
+thy son."
+
+
+XXXI.
+
+Again therefore the king was seized with despondency, and again
+he was like to abjure his whole way of life; and with strange
+thoughts he went again unto his own palace.  But the evil
+spirits, that had been sent out by Theudas for to attack the
+young saint, returned to him, and, lovers of leasing though they
+were, confessed their shameful defeat, for they bare visible
+tokens of their defeat, upon their evil countenance.  Said
+Theudas, "And be ye so weak and puny that ye cannot get the
+better of one young stripling?"  Then did the evil spirits,
+constrained, to their sorrow, by the might of God, bring to light
+the truth, saying, "We cannot abide even the sight of the might
+of Christ, and the symbol of his Passion, which they call the
+Cross.  For, when that sign is made, immediately all we, the
+princes of the air, and the rulers of the darkness of the world,
+are utterly routed and discomfited, even before the sign is
+completed.  When we first fell upon this youth, we vexed him
+sore; but when he called on Christ for help, and armed him with
+the sign of the Cross, he routed us in angry wise, and stablished
+himself in safety.  So incontinent we found a weapon, wherewith
+our chief did once confront the first-made man and prevailed
+against him.  And verily we should have made this young man's
+hope vain; but again Christ was called on for help, and he
+consumed us in the fire of his wrath from above, and put us to
+flight.  We have determined to approach the prince no more."
+Thus, then, did the evil spirits plainly make known unto Theudas
+all that was come to pass.
+
+But the king, perplexed on every side, again summoned Theudas,
+and said, "Most wisest of men, all that seemed good to thee have
+we fulfilled, but have found no help therein.  But now, if thou
+hast any device left, we will make trial thereof.  Peradventure I
+shall find some escape from this evil."
+
+Then did Theudas ask for a meeting with his son; and on the
+morrow the king took him and went forth to visit the prince.  The
+king sat down and provoked debate, upbraiding and chiding him for
+his disobedience and stubbornness of mind.  When Ioasaph again
+maintained his ease, and loudly declared that he valued nothing
+so much as the love of Christ, Theudas came forward and said,
+"Wherefore, Ioasaph, dost thou despise our immortal gods, that
+thou hast departed from their worship, and, thus incensing thy
+father the king, art become hateful to all the people?  Dost thou
+not owe thy life to the gods?  And did they not present thee to
+the king in answer to his prayer, thus redeeming him from the
+bondage of childlessness?"  While this Theudas, waxen old in
+wickedness, was putting forth these many vain arguments and
+useless propositions, and weaving words about the preaching of
+the Gospel, desiring to turn it into mockery, and magnify
+idolatry, Ioasaph, the son of the heavenly king, and citizen of
+that city which the Lord hath builded and not man, waited a while
+and then said unto him,
+
+"Give ear, thou abyss of error, blacker than the darkness that
+may be felt, thou seed of Babylon, child of the building of the
+tower of Chalane, whereby the world was confounded, foolish and
+pitiable dotard, whose sins out-weigh the iniquity of the five
+cities that were destroyed by fire and brimstone.  Why wouldest
+thou mock at the preaching of salvation, whereby darkness hath
+been made light, the wanderers have found the way, they that were
+lost in dire captivity have been recalled.  Tell me whether is
+better?  To worship God Almighty, with the only-begotten Son and
+the Holy Ghost, God increate and immortal, the beginning and
+well-spring of good, whose power is beyond compare, and his glory
+incomprehensible, before whom stand thousand thousands, and ten
+thousand times ten thousand of Angels and heavenly hosts, and
+heaven and earth are full of his glow, by whom all things were
+brought into being out of nothing, by whom everything is upheld
+and sustained and ordered by his providence; or to serve deadly
+devils and lifeless idols, whose glory and boast is in adultery
+and the corrupting of boys, and other works of iniquity that have
+been recorded concerning your gods in the books of your
+superstition? Have ye no modesty, ye miserable men, fuel for
+unquenchable fire, true copy of the Chaldean race, have ye no
+shame to worship dead images, the works of men's hands?  Ye have
+carved stone and graven wood and called it God.  Next ye take the
+best bullock out of your folds, or (may be) some other of your
+fairest beasts, and in your folly make sacrifice to your dead
+divinity.  Your sacrifice is of more value than your idol; for
+the image was fashioned by man, but the beast was created by God.
+How much wiser is the unreasonable beast than thou the reasonable
+man?  For it knoweth the hand that feedeth it, but thou knowest
+not that God by whom thou wast created out of nothing, by whom
+thou livest, and art preserved; and thou callest God that which
+thou sawest, but now, smitten by steel, and burnt and moulded in
+the fire, and beaten with hammers, which thou hast covered around
+with silver and gold, and raised from the ground, and set on
+high.  Then, falling upon the earth, thou liest baser than the
+base stone, worshipping not God but thine own dead and lifeless
+handiwork.  Or rather, the idol hath no right to be called even
+dead, for how can that have died which never lived?  Thou
+shouldest invent some new name worthy of such madness.  Thy stone
+god is broken asunder; thy potsherd god shattered; thy brazen god
+rusteth; thy gold or silver god is melted down.  Aye, and thy
+gods are sold, some for a paltry, others for a great price.  Not
+their divinity but their material giveth them value.  But who
+buyeth God?  Who offereth God for sale?  And how is that god that
+cannot move called God?  Seest thou not that the god that
+standeth cannot sit, and the god that sitteth cannot stand?
+
+"Be ashamed, thou fool, and lay thine hand upon thy mouth, thou
+victim of folly, that commendest such things as these.  Estranged
+from the truth, thou hast been led astray by false images,
+fashioning statues and attaching to the works of thine own hands
+the name of God.  O wretched man, return to thy senses, and learn
+that thou art older than the god made by thee.  This is downright
+madness.  Being a man, thou hast persuaded thyself that thou
+canst make God.  How can this be?  Thou makest not God, but the
+likeness of a man, or of some beast, sans tongue, sans throat,
+sans brains, sans inwards, so that it is the similitude neither
+of a man, nor of a beast, but only a thing of no use and sheer
+vanity.  Why therefore flatterest thou things that cannot feel?
+Why sittest thou at the feet of things that cannot move and help
+thee?  But for the skill of the mason, or timber-wright, or
+hammer-smith, thou hadst not had a god.  Had there been no
+warders nigh at hand, thou hadst lost thy god.  He, to whom many
+a populous city of fools prayeth as God to guard it, the same
+hath suite of guards at hand to save him from being stolen.  And
+if he be of silver or gold, he is carefully guarded; but if of
+stone or clay or any other less costly ware, he guardeth himself,
+for with you, no doubt, a god of clay is stronger than one of
+gold.
+
+"Do we not, then, well to laugh you to scorn, or rather to weep
+over you, as men blind and without understanding?  Your deeds are
+deeds of madness and not of piety.  Your man of war maketh to
+himself an image after the similitude of a warrior, and calleth
+it Ares.  And the lecher, making a symbol of his own soul,
+deifieth his vice and calleth it Aphrodite.  Another, in honour
+of his own love of wine, fashioneth an idol which he calleth
+Dionysus.  Likewise lovers of all other evil things set up idols
+of their own lusts; for they name their lusts their gods.  And
+therefore, before their altars, there are lascivious dances, and
+strains of lewd songs and mad revelries.  Who could recount in
+order their abominable doings?  Who could endure to defile his
+lips by the repeating of their filthy communications?  But these
+are manifest to all, even if we hold our peace.  These be thine
+objects of worship, O Theudas, who art more senseless than thine
+idols.  Before these thou biddest me fall down and worship.  This
+verily is the counsel of thine iniquity and senseless mind.  But
+thou thyself shalt be like unto them, and all such as put their
+trust in them.
+
+"As for me, I will serve my God, and to him will I wholly
+sacrifice myself, to God, the Creator and protector of all things
+through our Lord Jesus Christ, my hope, by whom we have access
+unto the Father of lights, in the Holy Ghost: by whom we have
+been redeemed from bitter slavery by his blood.  For if he had
+not humbled himself so far as to take the form of a servant, we
+had not received the adoption of sons.  But he humbled himself
+for our sake, not considering the Godhead a thing to be grasped,
+but he remained that which he was, and took on himself that which
+he was not, and conversed with men, and mounted the Cross in his
+flesh, and was laid in the sepulchre by the space of three days;
+he descended into hell, and brought out from thence them whom the
+fierce prince of this world held prisoners, sold into bondage by
+sin.  What harm then befell him thereby that thou thinkest to
+make mock of him?  Seest thou not yonder sun, into how many a
+barren and filthy place he darteth his rays?  Upon how many a
+stinking corpse doth he cast his eye?  Hath he therefore any
+stain of reproach?  Doth he not dry and shrivel up filth and
+rottenness, and give light to dark places, himself the while
+unharmed and incapable of receiving any defilement?  And what of
+fire?  Doth it not take iron, which is black and cold in itself,
+and work it into white heat and harden it?  Doth it receive any
+of the properties of the iron?  When the iron is smitten and
+beaten with hammers is the fire any the worse, or doth it in any
+way suffer harm?
+
+"If, then, these created and corruptible things take no hurt from
+contact with things commoner than themselves, with what reason
+dost thou, O foolish and stony-hearted man, presume to mock at me
+for saying that the Son, the Word of God, never departing from
+the Father's glory, but remaining the same God, for the salvation
+of men hath taken upon him the flesh of man, to the end that he
+may make men partakers of his divine and intelligent nature and
+may lead our substance out of the nether parts of hell, and
+honour it with heavenly glory; to the end that by taking of our
+flesh he may ensnare and defeat the ruler of the darkness of this
+world, and free our race from his tyranny.  Wherefore, I tell
+thee, without suffering he met the suffering of the Cross,
+presenting therein his two natures.  For, as man, he was
+crucified; but, as God, he darkened the sun, shook the earth, and
+raised from their graves many bodies that had fallen asleep.
+Again, as man, he died; but, as God, after that he had harried
+hell, he rose again.  Wherefore also the prophet cried, Hell is
+in bitterness at having met thee below: for it was put to bitter
+derision, supposing that it had received a mere man, but finding
+God, and being made suddenly empty and led captive.  Therefore,
+as God, he rose again, and ascended into heaven, from whence he
+was never parted.  And our nature, so worthless and senseless
+beyond everything, so graceless and dishonoured, hath he made
+higher than all things, and established it upon a throne of
+honour, with immortal honour shining round.  What harm therefore
+came to God, the Word, that thou blasphemest without a blush?  Go
+to!  Better were it to make this confession, and to worship such
+a God, who is good and a lover of mankind, who commandeth
+righteousness, enjoineth continency, ordaineth chastity, teacheth
+mercy, giveth faith, preacheth peace; who is called and is
+himself the very truth, the very love, the very goodness.  Him
+were it not better to worship than thy gods of many evil
+passions, of shameful names and shameful lives?  Woe unto you
+that are more stony-hearted than the stones, and more senseless
+than the senseless, sons of perdition, inheritors of darkness!
+But blessed am I, and all Christian folk, having a good God and a
+lover of mankind!  They that serve him, though, for a season in
+this life they endure evil, yet shall they reap the immortal
+harvest of recompense in the kingdom of unending and divine
+felicity."
+
+
+XXXII.
+
+Theudas said unto him, "Behold, it is evident that our religion
+was instituted by many mighty wise men, and interpreters,
+marvellous in virtue and learning; and all the kings and rulers
+of the earth have received it as good and sure in every point.
+But that of the Galileans was preached by some country peasants,
+poor and common men, a mere handful, not exceeding twelve in
+number.  How then should one prefer the preaching of these few
+obscure countrymen to the ordinance of the many that are mighty
+and brilliantly wise?  What is the proof that your teachers be
+right and the others wrong?"
+
+Again the king's son made answer, "Belike, Theudas, thou art the
+ass of the proverb, that heard but heeded not the harp; or rather
+the adder that stoppeth her ears, that she may not hear the voice
+of the charmers.  Well, therefore, spake the prophet concerning
+thee, If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his
+spots, then mayest thou also do good, that hast been taught to do
+evil.  Thou fool and blind, why doth not the force of truth bring
+thee to thy senses?  The very fact that your foul idols are
+commended by many men of marvellous wisdom, and established by
+kings, while the Gospel is preached by a few men of no mark,
+sheweth the might of our religion and the weakness and deadliness
+of your wicked doctrines.  Because your side, despite its having
+wise advocates and mighty champions, is dying down, and waxing
+weak, whilst our religion, though possessed of no human help,
+shineth from afar brighter than the sun, and hath won the fulness
+of the world.  If it had been set up by orators and philosophers,
+and had had kings for its succour, thou that art evil wouldst
+have found occasion to declare that it was wholly of human power.
+But now, seeing, as thou dost, that the holy Gospel, though
+composed but by common fishermen, and persecuted by every tyrant,
+hath after this won the whole world for its sound hath gone out
+into all lands, and its words into the ends of the world -- what
+canst thou say but that it is a divine and unconquerable power
+establishing its own cause for the salvation of mankind?  But
+what proof seekest thou, O fool, that thy prophets are liars and
+ours true, better than the truths I have told thee?  Except thy
+cause had been vain talk and falsehood, it could not, possessing
+such human support as it did, have suffered loss and decline. 
+For he saith, `I have seen the ungodly in great power, and
+exalted like the cedars of Libanus: and I went by and lo, he was
+gone: and I sought him but his place could nowhere be found.'
+
+"Concerning you, the defenders of idolatry, were these words
+spoken by the prophet.  For a very, very little while and your
+place shall not be found: but, like as the smoke vanisheth, and
+like as wax melteth in face of the fire, so shall ye fail.  But,
+as touching the divine wisdom of the Gospel, thus saith the Lord,
+`Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
+away.'  And again the Psalmist saith, `Thou, Lord, in the
+beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens
+are the work of thy hands.  They shall perish, but thou endurest;
+and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture
+shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art
+the same, and thy years shall not fail!'  And those divine
+preachers of the coming of Christ, those wise fishers of the
+world, whose nets drew all men from the depths of deceit, whom
+thou, in thy vileness and bondage to sin, dost vilify, did by
+signs and wonders and manifold powers shine as the sun in the
+world, giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, motion to
+the lame, and life to the dead.  Their shadows alone healed all
+the ailments of men.  The devils, whom ye dread as gods, they not
+only cast forth from men's bodies, but even drave out of the
+world itself by the sign of the cross, whereby they destroyed all
+sorcery, and rendered witchcraft powerless.  And these men, by
+curing every disease of man by the power of Christ, and renewing
+all creation, are rightly admired as preachers of truth by all
+men of sound mind.  But what hast thou thyself to say of thy wise
+men and orators, whose wisdom God hath made foolish, the
+advocates of the devil?  What worthy memorial have they
+bequeathed to the world?  Tell me.  And what canst thou tell of
+them but unreason and shamefulness, and vain craft that with
+glosing words concealeth the mire of their unsavoury worship?
+
+"Moreover such of your poets as have been able to soar a little
+above this great madness have said, with more truth, that they,
+which are called gods, were men; and because certain of them had
+been rulers of regions and cities, and others had done something
+of no great account in their lifetime, men were so deceived as to
+call them gods.  It standeth on record that the man Seruch was
+the first to bring in the use of images.  For it is said that in
+the old times he honoured those who had achieved some memorable
+deed of courage, friendship, or any other such virtue with
+statues and pillars.  But after generations forgat the intention
+of their ancestors: and, whereas it was only for remembrance sake
+that they had set up statues and pillars to the doers of noble
+deeds, now they were, little by little, led astray through the
+working of the prince of evil, the devil, and treated as immortal
+gods men of like passions and corruptible as themselves and
+further devised sacrifices and drink-offerings for them, -- the
+devils, thou mayest know, taking up their abode in these images
+and diverting to themselves these honours and sacrifices.
+Accordingly these devils persuade men, who refuse to have God in
+their knowledge, to consider them as gods for two reasons: first,
+that they may be glorified by this title (for they are puffed up
+with arrogance, and delight to be honoured as gods) next, that
+they may drag their poor dupes into the unquenchable fire
+prepared for themselves.  Hence they teach men all iniquity and
+filthiness, seeing that they have once subjected themselves to
+their deceit.  So when men had arrived at this pinnacle of evil,
+they, being darkened, set up every man an idol of his own vice
+and his own lust, and call it a god.  They were abominable in
+their error, more abominable in the absurdity of the objects that
+they chose to worship, until the Lord came, and of his tender
+mercy redeemed us that trust in him from this wicked and deadly
+error, and taught men the true knowledge of God.  For there is no
+salvation except in him, and there is none other God, neither in
+heaven, nor in earth, except him only, the Maker of all, who
+moveth all things by the word of his power: for he saith, `By the
+word of the Lord were the heavens made stedfast, and all the
+power of them by the breath of his mouth,' and, `All things were
+made by him, and without him was not anything made that was
+made.'"
+
+When Theudas had heard these sayings, and seen that the word was
+full of divine wisdom, like one thunder-struck, he was smitten
+dumb.  Now late in time, and with difficulty, came he to
+understand his own misery, for the word of salvation had touched
+the darkened vision of his heart, and there fell upon him deep
+remorse for his past sins.  He renounced the error of his idols,
+and ran towards the light of godliness, and from henceforth
+departed from his miserable life, and made himself as bitter an
+enemy of vile affections and sorceries as he before had pledged
+himself their devoted friend, For at this season he stood up in
+the midst of the assembly, and cried with a loud voice, saying,
+"Verily, O king, the Spirit of God dwelleth in thy son.  Verily,
+we are defeated, and have no further apology, and have no
+strength to face the words that he hath uttered.  Mighty
+therefore, in sooth, is the God of the Christians: mighty is
+their faith: mighty are their mysteries."
+
+Then he turned him round toward the king's son and said, "Tell me
+now, thou man, whose soul is enlightened, will Christ accept me,
+if I forsake my evil deeds and turn to him?"  "Yea," said that
+preacher of truth; "Yea, he receiveth thee and all that turn to
+him.  And he not only receiveth thee, but he goeth out to meet
+thee returning out of the way of iniquity, as though it were a
+son returning from a far country.  And he falleth on his neck and
+kisseth him, and he strippeth him of the shameful robe of sin,
+and putteth on him a cloak of brightest glory, making mystic
+gladness for the powers on high, keeping feast for the return of
+the lost sheep.  The Lord himself saith, `There is exceeding
+great joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth': and again,
+`I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.'
+And he saith also by the Prophet, `As I live, saith the Lord, I
+have no pleasure in the death of the sinner, and the ungodly, but
+that he should turn from his way and live.  Turn ye, turn ye from
+your evil way.  And why will ye die, O house of Israel?'  For the
+wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him in the day that he
+turneth from his wickedness, if he do righteousness and walk in
+the statutes of life, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
+None of his sins which he hath committed shall be remembered
+against him.  Because he hath done the decree of righteousness,
+he shall live thereby.  And again he crieth by the mouth of
+another prophet, `Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of
+your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil: learn to do
+well.  Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be
+as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; though they be red
+like crimson, I will make them white as wool.'  Such therefore
+being the promises made by God to them that turn to him, tarry
+not, O thou man, nor make delay: but draw nigh to Christ, our
+loving God, and be enlightened, and thy face shall not be
+ashamed.  For as soon as thou goest down into the laver of Holy
+Baptism, all the defilement of the old man, and all the burden of
+thy many sins, is buried in the water, and passeth into
+nothingness, and thou comest up from thence a new man, pure from
+all pollution, with no spot or wrinkle of sin upon thee; and
+thenceforward it is in thy power ever to keep for thyself the
+purity that thou gainest hereby through the tender mercy of our
+God."
+
+When Theudas had been thus instructed, he went out immediately
+and gat him to his evil den, and took his magical books, and,
+because they were the beginnings of all evil, and the store-
+houses of devilish mysteries, burnt them with fire.  And he
+betook himself to the cave of that same holy man, to whom Nachor
+also had resorted, and told him that which had befallen him,
+casting dust upon his head, and groaning deeply, and watering
+himself with his tears, and telling the aged man the full tale of
+his loathly deeds.  He, well skilled in the saving of a soul and
+the snatching it from the jaw of the wily serpent, charmed away
+his sorrow with words of salvation, and pledged him forgiveness
+and promised him a merciful Judge.  Then, after he had instructed
+and charged him to fast many days, he cleansed him in Holy
+Baptism.  And all the days of his life Theudas heartily repented
+him of his misdeeds, with tears and sighs seeking the favour of
+God.
+
+
+XXXIII.
+
+As for the king, when things fortuned thus, he was completely
+bewildered, and plainly showed his sore vexation and tumult of
+soul.  So again he called all his senators together, and
+considered what means were still his to deal with his son.  Many
+men put forward many counsels, but that Araches, of whom we have
+spoken, the most famous in his office, and first of his
+councillors, spake unto the king, saying, "What was there to be
+done with thy son, O king, that we have not done, to induce him
+to follow our doctrines and serve our gods?  But, as I perceive,
+we aim at the impossible.  By nature, or, it may be, by chance,
+he is contentious and implacable.  Now, if it be thy purpose to
+deliver him to torture and punishment, thou shalt do contrary to
+nature, and be no more called a father; and thou shalt lose thy
+son, willing, as he is, to lay down his life for Christ his sake.
+This, then, alone remaineth: to divide thy kingdom with him, and
+entrust him with the dominion of that part which falleth to his
+lot; and if the course of events, and the care of the business of
+life, draw him to embrace our aim and way, then the thing shall
+be according to our purpose; for habits, firmly established in
+the soul, are difficult to obliterate, and yield quicker to
+persuasion than to violence.  But if he shall continue in the
+Christian religion, yet shall it be some solace to time in thy
+distress, that thou hast not lost thy son."  Thus spake Araches,
+and all bare witness that they welcomed his proposal.  Therefore
+also the king agreed that this matter should thus be settled.  So
+at day-break he called his son, and said unto him, "This is now
+my latest word with thee, my son.  Unless thou be obedient
+thereto, and in this way heal my heart, know thou well, that I
+shall no longer spare thee."  When his son enquired the meaning
+of his word, he said, "Since, after all my labours, I find thee
+in all points unyielding to the persuasion of my words, come now;
+I will divide with thee my kingdom, and make thee king over the
+half-part thereof; and thou shalt be free, from now, to go
+whatsoever way thou wilt without fear."  He, though his saintly
+soul perceived that the king was casting yet another snare to
+trip his purpose, resolved to obey, in order that he might escape
+his hands, and take the journey that he desired.  So he answered
+and said, "I have indeed been longing to go in quest of that man
+of God that pointed out to me the way of salvation, and, bidding
+farewell to everything, to pass the rest of my life in his
+company.  But, father, since thou sufferest me not to fulfil my
+heart's desire, I will obey thee herein: for where there is no
+clear danger of perdition and estrangement from God, it is right
+to obey one's father."
+
+The king was filled with exceeding great joy, and divided all the
+country under his sovranty into two parts, and appointed his son
+king, and adorned him with the diadem, and arrayed him in all the
+splendour of kingship, and sent him forth with a magnificent
+body-guard into the kingdom set apart for him.  And he bade his
+rulers and governors and satraps, every one that would, to depart
+together with his son the king.  And he set apart a mighty and
+populous city for his kingdom, and gave him everything that
+befitted a king.  Thus then did Ioasaph receive the power of
+kingship; and when he had reached that city, where royal state
+had been prepared for him, on every tower of his city he set up
+the sign of his Lord's passion, the venerable Cross of Christ.
+And in person he besieged the idolatrous temples and altars, and
+razed them to the ground, and uncovered their foundations,
+leaving no trace of their ungodliness.
+
+And in the middle of the city he upreared for Christ, his Lord, a
+temple mighty and passing fair, and he bade the people there
+often to resort thither, and offer their worship to God by the
+veneration of the Cross, himself standing in the midst in the
+presence of all, and earnestly giving himself unto prayer.  And
+as many as were under his hand he admonished and exhorted, and
+did everything to tear them away from superstitious error, and to
+unite them to Christ; and he pointed out the deceits of idolatry,
+and proclaimed the preaching of the Gospel, and recounted the
+things concerning the condescension of God, the Word, and
+preached the marvels of his coming, and made known his sufferings
+on the Cross whereby we were saved, and the power of his
+Resurrection, and his Ascension into heaven.  Moreover he
+declared the terrible day of his dreadful second coming, and the
+bliss laid up for the righteous, and the punishments awaiting
+sinners.  All these truths he expounded with kindly mien and
+gentle words.  For he was not minded to be reverenced and feared
+for the grandeur of his power and kingly magnificence, but rather
+for his humility and meekness.  Hereby also he more easily drew
+all men unto himself, being verily marvellous in his acts, and
+equitable and modest in spirit.  Wherefore his power, being
+strongly reinforced by his gentleness and equity, caused all men
+to yield themselves to his words.
+
+What wonder, then, if, in a little while, all his subjects, in
+city or country, were so well initiated into his inspired
+teachings, that they renounced the errors of their many gods, and
+broke away from idolatrous drink-offerings and abominations, and
+were joined to the true faith and were created anew by his
+doctrine, and added to the household of Christ?  And all, who for
+fear of Ioasaph's father had been shut up in mountains and dens,
+priests and monks, and some few bishops, came forth from their
+hiding places and resorted to him gladly.  He himself would meet
+and receive with honour those who had fallen upon such
+tribulation and distress, for Christ his sake, and bring them to
+his own palace, washing their feet, and cleansing their matted
+hair, and ministering to them in every way.  Then he dedicated
+his newly built church, and therein appointed for chief-priest
+one of the bishops that had suffered much, and had lost his own
+see, on account of his faith in Christ, an holy man, and learned
+in the canons of the Church, whose heart was fulfilled with
+heavenly zeal.  And forthwith, when he had made ready a rude
+font, he bade baptize them that were turning to Christ.  And so
+they were baptized, first the rulers and the men in authority;
+next, the soldiers on service and the rest of the multitude.  And
+they that were baptized not only received health in their souls,
+but indeed as many as were afflicted with bodily ailments and
+imperfections cast off all their trouble, and came up from the
+holy font pure in soul, and sound in body, reaping an harvest of
+health for soul and body alike.
+
+Wherefore also from all quarters multitudes flocked to King
+Ioasaph, desirous to be instructed by him in godliness.  And all
+idolatrous images were utterly demolished, and all their wealth
+and temple treasure was taken from them, and in their stead holy
+courts were built for God.  For these King Ioasaph dedicated the
+riches and costly vestments and treasures of the idolatrous
+temples, thereby making this worthless and superfluous material
+fit for service, and profitable.  And the foul fiends that dwelt
+in their altars and temples were rigorously chased away and put
+to flight; and these, in the hearing of many, loudly lamented the
+misfortune that had overtaken them.  And all the region round
+about was freed from their dark deceit, and illuminated with the
+light of the blameless Christian faith.
+
+And, soothly, the king was a good example to all; and he inflamed
+and kindled the hearts of many to be of the same mind with
+himself.  For such is the nature of authority.  Its subjects
+alway conform to its likeness, and are wont to love the same
+objects, and to practise the pursuits which they perceive to be
+pleasing to their governor.  Hence, God helping, religion grew
+and increased amongst them.  The king was wholly dependent on the
+commandments of Christ and on his love, being a steward of the
+word of grace, and pilot to the souls of many, bringing them to
+safe anchorage in the haven of God.  For he knew that this, afore
+all things, is the work of a king, to teach men to fear God and
+keep righteousness.  Thus did he, training himself to be king
+over his own passions, and, like a good pilot, keeping a firm
+hold of the helm of good government for his subjects.  For this
+is the end of good kingship, to be king and lord over pleasure --
+which end also he achieved.  Of the nobility of his ancestors, or
+the royal splendour around him, he was in no wise proud, knowing
+that we all have one common forefather, made of clay, and that,
+whether rich or poor, we are all of the same moulding.  He ever
+abased his soul in deepest humility, and thought on the
+blessedness of the world to come, and considered himself a
+stranger and pilgrim in this world, but realised that that was
+his real treasure which he should win after his departure hence.
+Now, since all went well with him, and since he had delivered all
+the people from their ancient and ancestral error, and made them
+servants of him who redeemed us from evil servitude by his own
+precious blood, he turned his thoughts to his next task, the
+virtue of almsgiving.  Temperance and righteousness he had
+already attained; he wore on his brow the crown of temperance,
+and wrapped about him the purple of righteousness.  He called to
+mind the uncertainty of earthly riches, how they resemble the
+running of river waters.  Therefore made he haste to lay up his
+treasure where neither `moth nor rust doth corrupt and where
+thieves do not break through nor steal.'  So he began to
+distribute all his money to the poor, sparing naught thereof.  He
+knew that the possessor of great authority is bound to imitate
+the giver of that authority, according to his ability; and herein
+he shall best imitate God, if he hold nothing in higher honour
+than mercy.  Before all gold and precious stone he stored up for
+himself the treasure of almsgiving; treasure, which here
+gladdeneth the heart by the hope of enjoyment to come, and there
+delighteth it with the taste of the hoped-for bliss.  After this
+he searched the prisons, and sought out the captives in mines, or
+debtors in the grip of their creditors; and by generous largesses
+to all he proved a father to all, orphans, and widows, and
+beggars, a loving and good father, for he deemed that by
+bestowing blessings on these he won a blessing for himself. 
+Being endowed with spiritual riches, and, in sooth, a perfect
+king, he gave liberally to all that were in need, for he hoped to
+receive infinitely more, when the time should come for the
+recompense of his works.
+
+Now, in little while, the fame of Ioasaph was blazoned abroad;
+and led, as it were by the scent of sweet ointment, all men
+flocked to him daily, casting off their poverty of soul and body:
+and his name was on every man's lips.  It was not fear and
+oppression that drew the people to him, but desire and heart-felt
+love, which by God's blessing and the king's fair life had been
+planted in their hearts.
+
+Then, too, did his father's subjects begin to come to him, and,
+laying aside all error, received the Gospel of truth.  And the
+house of Ioasaph grew and waxed strong, but the house of Abenner
+waned and grew weak, even as the Book of the Kings declareth
+concerning David and Saul.
+
+
+XXXIV.
+
+When king Abenner saw this, though late and loth, he came to his
+senses, and renounced his false gods with all their impotence and
+vain deceit.  Again he called an assembly of his chief
+counsellors, and brought to light the thoughts of his heart.  As
+they confirmed his words (for the day-spring from on high had
+visited them, the Saviour who had heard the prayer of his servant
+Ioasaph), it pleased the king to signify the same to his son.
+Therefore on the morrow he wrote a letter to Ioasaph, running
+thus:
+
+"King Abenner to his well-beloved son Ioasaph, greeting.  Dearest
+son, many thoughts have been stealing into my soul, and rule it
+with a rod of iron.  I see our state vanishing, like as smoke
+vanisheth, but thy religion shining brighter than the sun; and I
+have come to my senses, and know that the words which thou hast
+ever spoken unto me are true, and that a thick cloud of sin and
+wickedness did then cover us, so that we were unable to discern
+the truth, and recognize the Creator of all.  Nay, but we shut
+our eyes, and would not behold the light which thou didst
+enkindle more brightly for us.  Much evil did we do unto thee,
+and many of the Christians, alas! did we destroy; who,
+strengthened by the power that aided them, finally triumphed over
+our cruelty.  But now we have removed that dense mist from our
+eyes, and see some small ray of truth, and there cometh on us
+repentance of our misdeeds.  But a new cloud of despair would
+overshadow it; despair at the multitude of mine offences, because
+I am now abominable and unacceptable to Christ, being a rebel and
+a foeman unto him.  What, then, sayest thou, dearest son, hereto?
+Make known to me thine answer, and teach me that am thy father
+what I should do, and lead me to the knowledge of my true weal."
+
+When Ioasaph had received this letter, and read the words
+therein, his soul was filled with mingled joy and amazement.
+Forthwith he entered his closet, and falling on his face before
+the image of his Master, watered the ground with his tears,
+giving thanks to his Lord and confessing him, and tuning lips of
+exultation to sing an hymn of praise, saying:
+
+"I will magnify thee, O God, my King, and I will praise thy name
+for ever and ever.  Great art thou O Lord, and marvellous-worthy
+to be praised, and of thy greatness there is no end.  Who can
+express thy noble acts, or show forth all thy praise, who hast
+turned the hard rock into a standing water and the flint-stone
+into a springing well?  For behold this my father's flinty and
+more than granite heart is at thy will melted as wax; because
+thou art able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
+I thank thee, Lord, thou lover of men, and God of pity, that thou
+hast been, and art, long-suffering towards our offences, and hast
+suffered us until now to go unpunished.  Long have we deserved to
+be cast away from thy face, and made a by-word on earth, as were
+the sinful inhabiters of the five cities, consumed with fire and
+brimstone; but thy marvellous long-suffering hath dealt
+graciously with us.  I give thanks unto thee, vile and unworthy
+though I be, and insufficient of myself to glorify thy greatness.
+And, by thine infinite compassions, I pray thee, Lord Jesu
+Christ, Son and Word of the invisible Father, who madest all
+things by thy word, and sustainest them by thy will; who hast
+delivered us thine unworthy servants from the bondage of the
+arch-fiend our foe: thou that wast stretched upon the Rood, and
+didst bind the strong man, and award everlasting freedom to them
+that lay bound in his fetters: do thou now also stretch forth
+thine invisible and almighty hand, and, at the last, free thy
+servant my father from that cruel bondage of the devil.  Show him
+full clearly that thou art the ever living true God, and only
+King, eternal and immortal.  Behold, O Lord, with favourable and
+kindly eye, the contrition of my heart; and, according to thine
+unerring promise, be with me that acknowledge and confess thee
+the Maker and protector of all creation.  Let there be a well of
+water within me springing up, and let utterance be given unto me
+that I may open my mouth, and a mind well fixed in thee, the
+chief corner-stone, that I, thine unprofitable servant, may be
+enabled to preach to my father, as is right, the mystery of thine
+Incarnation, and by thy power deliver him from the vain deceit of
+wicked devils, and bring him unto thee his God and Lord, who
+willest not the death of us sinners, but waitest for us to return
+and repent, because thou art glorified for ever and ever.  Amen."
+
+When he had thus prayed, and received fulness of assurance that
+he should not miscarry in his desire, he took courage by the
+tender mercy of Christ, and arose thence, with his royal body-
+guard, and arrived at his father's palace.  When it was told unto
+his father, "Thy son is come," he went forth straightway for to
+meet him, and embraced and kissed him lovingly, and made
+exceeding great joy, and held a general feast in honour of the
+coming of his son.  And afterward, they two were closeted
+together.
+
+But how tell of all that the son spake with his father, and of
+all the wisdom of his speech?  And what was that speech but the
+words put into his mouth by the Holy Ghost, by whom the fishermen
+enclosed the whole world in their nets for Christ and the
+unlearned are found wiser than the wise.  This Holy Spirit's
+grace and wisdom taught Ioasaph to speak with the king his
+father, enlightening him with the light of knowledge.  Before now
+he had bestowed much labour to drag his father from superstitious
+error, leaving nothing unsaid and nothing undone to win him over,
+but he seemed to be twanging on a broken string, and speaking to
+deaf ears.  But when the Lord looked upon the lowliness of his
+servant Ioasaph, and, in answer to his prayer, opened the closed
+gates of his father's heart (for it is said, he will fulfil the
+desire of them that fear him, and will hear their cry), then the
+king easily understood the things that were spoken; so that, when
+a convenient season came, through the grace of Christ, this son
+triumphed over those evil spirits that had lorded it over the
+soul of his father, and clean freed him from their error, and
+made the word of salvation clearly known unto him, and joined him
+to the living God on high.
+
+Ioasaph took up his tale from the beginning, and expounded to his
+father great and marvellous things which he knew not, which he
+had never heard with the ears of his heart; and he told him many
+weighty sayings concerning God, and showed him righteousness: to
+wit that there is no other God in heaven above, nor in the earth
+beneath, except the one God, revealed in the Father, the Son, and
+the Holy Ghost.  And he made known unto him many mysteries of
+divine knowledge; and amongst them he told him the history of
+creation, visible and invisible, how the Creator brought every
+thing out of nothing, and how he formed man after his own image
+and likeness and endowed him with power of free-will, and gave
+him Paradise to his enjoyment, charging him only to abstain from
+one thing, the tree of knowledge; and how, when man had broken
+his commandment, he banished him out of Paradise; and how man,
+fallen from union with God, stumbled into these manifold errors,
+becoming the slave of sins, and subject unto death through the
+tyranny of the devil, who, having once taken men captive, hath
+made them utterly forget their Lord and God, and hath persuaded
+them to serve him instead, by the abominable worshipping of
+idols.  So our Maker, moved with compassion, through the good-
+will of the Father, and the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, was
+pleased, for our sakes, to be born of an holy Virgin, Mary, the
+mother of God, and he, that cannot suffer, was acquainted with
+sufferings.  On the third day he rose again from the dead, and
+redeemed us from our first penalty, and restored to us our first
+glory.  When he ascended into the heavens, from whence he had
+descended, he raised us up together with him; and thence, we
+believe that he shall come again, to raise up his own handiwork;
+and he will recompense every man according to his works. 
+Moreover Ioasaph instructed his father concerning the kingdom of
+heaven that awaiteth them that are worthy thereof, and the joy
+unspeakable.  Thereto he added the torment in store for the
+wicked, the unquenchable fire, the outer darkness, the undying
+worm and whatsoever other punishment the servants of sin have
+laid up in store for themselves.
+
+All these things set he forth in many words, which bore witness
+that the grace of the Spirit was dwelling richly within him. 
+Then he described the uncharted sea of the love of God towards
+mankind, and how he is ready to accept the repentance of them
+that turn to him; and how there is no sin too great for his
+tender mercy, if we will but repent.  And when he had confirmed
+these truths by many an example, and testimony of Scripture, he
+made an end of speaking.
+
+
+XXXV.
+
+King Abenner was pricked to the heart by this inspired wisdom and
+with loud voice and fervent heart confessed Christ his Saviour,
+and forthwith forsook all superstitious error.  He venerated the
+sign of the life-giving Cross in the sight of all and, in the
+hearing of all, proclaimed our Lord Jesus Christ to be God.  By
+telling in full the tale of his former ungodliness, and of his
+own cruelty and blood-thirstiness toward the Christians, he
+proved himself a great power for religion.  So here was proved in
+fact, the saying of Paul; that where sin abounded, there did
+grace much more abound.
+
+While then the learned Ioasaph was speaking of God, and of piety
+towards him, to the dukes and satraps and all the people there
+assembled, and was as it were with a tongue of fire piping unto
+them a goodly ode, the grace of the Holy Spirit descended upon
+them, and moved them to give glory to God, so that all the
+multitude cried aloud with one voice, "Great is the God of the
+Christians, and there is none other God but our Lord Jesus
+Christ, who, together with the Father and Holy Ghost, is
+glorified."
+
+Waxen full of heavenly zeal, King Abenner made a sturdy assault
+on the idols, wrought of silver and gold, that were within his
+palace, and tore them down to the ground.  Then he brake them
+into small pieces, and distributed them to the poor, thus making
+that which had been useless useful.  Furthermore he and his son
+besieged the idols' temples and altars and levelled them even to
+the ground, and in their stead, and to the honour of God, built
+holy courts.  And not only in the city but throughout all the
+country also, thus did they in their zeal.  And the evil spirits
+that dwelt in those altars were driven forth with shrieks, and
+cried out in terror at the invincible power of our God.  And all
+the region round about, and the greater part of the neighbour
+nations, were led, as by the hand, to the true Faith.  Then came
+the holy Bishop, of whom we have spoken, and King Abenner was
+instructed, and made perfect with Holy Baptism, in the name of
+the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  And Ioasaph
+received him as he came up from the Holy Font, in this strange
+way appearing as the begetter of his own father, and proving the
+spiritual father to him that begat him in the flesh: for he was
+the son of his heavenly Father, and verily divine fruit of that
+divine Branch, which saith, "I am the vine, ye are the branches."
+
+Thus King Abenner, being born again of water and of the spirit,
+rejoiced with joy unspeakable, and with him all the city and the
+region round about received Holy Baptism, and they that were
+before darkness now became children of light.  And every disease,
+and every assault of evil spirits was driven far from the
+believers, and all were sane and sound in body and in soul.  And
+many other miracles were wrought for the confirmation of the
+Faith.  Churches too were built, and the bishops, that had been
+hiding for fear, discovered themselves, and received again their
+own churches, whilst others were chosen from the priests and
+monks, to shepherd the flock of Christ.  But King Abenner, having
+thus forsaken his former disgraceful life, and repented of his
+evil deeds, handed over to his son the rule of all his kingdom.
+He himself dwelt in solitude, continually casting dust on his
+head, and groaning for very heaviness, and watering his face with
+his tears, being alone, communing with him who is everywhere
+present and imploring him to forgive his sins.  And he abased
+himself to such a depth of contrition and humility, that he
+refused to name the name of God with his own lips, and was scarce
+brought by his son's admonitions to make so bold.  Thus the king
+passed through the good change and entered the road that leadeth
+to virtue, so that his righteousness now surpassed his former
+sins of ignorance.  For four years did he live thus in repentance
+and tears and virtuous acts, and then fell into the sickness
+whereof he died.  But when the end drew nigh, he began to fear
+and to be dismayed, calling to remembrance the evil that he had
+wrought.  But with comfortable words Ioasaph sought to ease the
+distress that had fallen on him, saying, "Why art thou so full of
+heaviness, O my father, and wily art thou so disquieted within
+time?  Set thy hope on God, and give him thanks, who is the hope
+of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the sea
+afar, who crieth by the mouth of his prophet, `Wash you, make you
+clean: put away from before mine eyes the wickedness of your
+souls; learn to do well'; and `Though your sins be as scarlet, I
+will make them white as snow; though they be red like crimson, I
+will make them as wool.'  Fear not, therefore, O my father,
+neither be of doubtful mind: for the sins of them that turn to
+God prevail not against his infinite goodness.  For these,
+however many, are subject to measure and number: but measure and
+number cannot limit his goodness.  It is impossible then for that
+which is subject to measure to exceed the unmeasurable."
+
+With such comfortable words did Ioasaph cheer his soul, and bring
+him to a good courage.  Then his father stretched out his hands,
+and gave him thanks and prayed for him, blessing the day whereon
+Ioasaph was born, and said "Dearest child, yet not child of me,
+but of mine heavenly Father, with what gratitude can I repay
+thee?  With what words of blessings may I bless thee?  What
+thanks shall I offer God for thee?  I was lost, and was found
+through thee: I was dead in sin and am alive again: an enemy, and
+rebel against God, and am reconciled with him.  What reward
+therefore shall I give thee for all these benefits?  God is he
+that shall make the due recompense."  Thus saying, he pressed
+many kisses on his beloved son; then, when he had prayed, and
+said, "Into thy hands, O God, thou lover of men, do I commit my
+spirit," he committed his soul unto the Lord in penitence and
+peace.
+
+Now, when Ioasaph had honoured with his tears his father that was
+dead, and had reverently cared for his body, he buried him in a
+sepulchre wherein devout men lay; not indeed clad in royal
+raiment, but robed in the garment of penitence.  Standing on the
+sepulchre, and lifting up his hands to heaven, the tears
+streaming in floods from his eyes, he cried aloud unto God
+saying,
+
+"O God, I thank thee, King of glory, alone mighty and immortal,
+that thou hast not despised my petition, and hast not held thy
+peace at my tears, but hast been pleased to turn this thy
+servant, my father, from the way of wickedness, and to draw him
+to thyself, the Saviour of all, departing him from the
+deceitfulness of idolatry, and granting him to acknowledge thee,
+who art the very God and lover of souls.  And now, O my Lord and
+God, whose ocean of goodness is uncharted, set him in that place
+where much grass is, in a place of refreshment, where shineth the
+light of thy countenance.  Remember not his old offences; but,
+according to the multitude of thy mercies, blot out the hand-
+writing of his sins, and destroy the tablets of his debts, and
+set him at peace with thy Saints whom he slew with fire and
+sword.  Charge them not to be bitter against him.  For all things
+are possible with thee, the Lord of all, save only to withhold
+pity from them that turn not unto thee; this is impossible.  For
+thy pity is poured out upon all men, and thou savest them that
+call upon thee, Lord Jesu Christ, because glory becometh thee for
+ever and ever.  Amen."
+
+Such were the prayers and intercessions that he made unto God, by
+the space of seven full days, never leaving the grave, and never
+thinking of meat or drink, and taking no refreshment of sleep:
+but he watered the ground with his tears, and continued praying
+and moaning unceasingly.  But, on the eighth day, he went back to
+his palace and distributed amongst the poor all his wealth and
+riches, so that not one person was left in want.
+
+
+XXXVI.
+
+In a few days, after he had ended this ministry, and emptied all
+his coffers, in order that the burden of his money might not
+hinder him from entering in at the narrow gate, on the fortieth
+day after his father's decease, and in remembrance of him, he
+called together all his officers, and those who wore soldiers'
+attire, and of the citizens not a few.  Sitting in the front,
+according to custom, in the audience of all he said, "Lo, as ye
+see, Abenner, my father the king, hath died like any beggar.
+Neither wealth nor kingly glory, nor I his loving son, nor any of
+his kith and kindred, has availed to help him, or to save him
+from the sentence without reprieve.  But he is gone to yonder
+judgement seat, to give account of his life in this world,
+carrying with him no advocate whatsoever, except his deeds, good
+or bad.  And the same law is ordained by nature for every man
+born of woman, and there is no escape.  Now, therefore, hearken
+unto me, friends and brethren, people and holy heritage of the
+Lord, whom Christ our God hath purchased with his own precious
+blood, and delivered from the ancient error, and bondage of the
+adversary.  Ye yourselves know my manner of life among you; that
+ever since I knew Christ, and was counted worthy to become his
+servant, I have hated all things, and loved him only, and how
+this was my desire, to escape from the tempest and vain tumult of
+the world, and commune alone with him, and in undisturbed peace
+of soul serve my God and Master.  But my father's opposition held
+me back, and the command that biddeth us to honour our fathers.
+So, by the grace and help of God, I have not laboured in vain,
+nor spent these days for naught, I have brought my father nigh to
+Christ, and have taught you all to know the one true God, the
+Lord of all; and yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
+me, which rescued me also from superstitious error, and from the
+worship of idols, and freed you, O my people, from cruel
+captivity.  So now it is high time to fulfil the service that I
+promised to God; high time to depart thitherward, where he
+himself shall lead me, where I may perform my vows which I made
+unto him.  Now, therefore, look you out a man whom ye will, to be
+your leader and king; for by this time ye have been conformed to
+the will of the Lord, and of his commandments nothing hath been
+hidden from you.  Walk ye therein; turn not aside, neither to the
+right hand, nor to the left, and the God of peace be with you
+all!"
+
+When all that company and the common people heard thereof, anon
+there arose a clamour, an uproar, and a mighty cry and confusion,
+all weeping like orphans and bewailing their loss.  Lamenting
+bitterly, they protested with oaths and with tears, that they
+would never let him go, but would restrain him and not suffer in
+any wise his departure.  While the common people, and they in
+authority, were thus crying aloud, the king broke in, and
+beckoned with his hand to the multitude and charged them to keep
+silence.  He declared that he gave in to their instancy, and
+dismissed them still grieving, and bearing on their cheeks the
+signs of sorrow.  And Ioasaph did thus.  There was one of the
+senators first in favour with Ioasaph, a man honoured for his
+godliness and dignity, Barachias by name, who, as hath been
+already told, when Nachor, feigning to be Barlaam, was disputing
+with the philosophers, alone was ready to stand by Nachor and
+fight for him, for his heart was fired with heavenly love.  Him
+the king took apart, and spake gently with him, and earnestly
+besought him to receive the kingdom, and, in the fear of God, to
+shepherd his people; in order that he himself might take the
+journey that he desired.
+
+But Barachias would put aside and reject his offer, saying, "O
+king, how wrongful is thy judgement, and thy word contrary to
+divine command!  If thou hast learned to love thy neighbour as
+thyself, with what right art thou eager to shift the burden off
+thy back and lay it upon mine?  If it be good to be king, keep
+the good to thy self: but, if it be a stone of stumbling and rock
+of offence to thy soul, why put it in my pathway and seek to trip
+me up?"  When Ioasaph perceived that he spake thus, and that his
+purpose was fixed, he ceased from communing with him.  And now,
+at about the dead of night, he wrote his people a letter, full of
+much wisdom, expounding to them all godliness; telling them what
+they should think concerning God, what life, what hymns and what
+thanksgiving they should offer unto him.  Next, he charged them
+to receive none other than Barachias to be ruler of the kingdom.
+Then left he in his bed-chamber the roll containing his letter,
+and, unobserved of all, went forth from his palace.  But he might
+not win through undetected, for, early on the morrow, the
+tidings, that he was departed, anon made commotion and mourning
+among the people, and, in much haste, forth went every man for to
+seek him; they being minded by all means to cut off his flight.
+And their zeal was not spent in vain; for, when they had occupied
+all the high-ways, and encompassed all the mountains, and
+surrounded the pathless ravines, they discovered him in a water-
+course, his hands uplifted to heaven, saying the prayer proper of
+the Sixth Hour.
+
+When they beheld him, they surrounded him, and besought him with
+team, upbraiding him for departing from them. "But," said he,
+"why labour ye in vain? No longer hope to have me to your king."
+Yet gave he way to their much opposition, and turned again to
+his palace. And, when he had assembled all the folk, he signified
+his will. Then with oath he confirmed his word, that he would
+dwell with them not one day more. "For," said he, "I have
+fulfilled my ministry toward you, and have omitted naught,
+neither have I kept back anything that was profitable unto you,
+in failing to show or teach you, testifying to all the faith in
+our Lord Jesus Christ, and pointing out the paths of repentance.
+And now behold I go the road that I have long time desired, and
+all ye shall see m"y face no more. Wherefore I take you to record
+this day, as saith the holy Apostle, that I am pure from the
+blood of you all, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all
+the counsel of God."
+
+When they heard this, and perceived the steadfastness of his
+purpose, that nothing could hinder him from his resolve, they
+wept like orphans over their bereavement, but could in no wise
+over-persuade him.  Then did the king take that Barachias, of
+whom we have already spoken, saying, "This is he, brethren, whom
+I appoint to be your king."  And though Barachias stoutly
+resisted, yet he established him, unwilling and reluctant, upon
+the royal throne, and placed the diadem on his head, and gave the
+kingly ring into his hand.  Then he stood facing the cast and
+made prayer for King Barachias, that his faith toward God might
+be preserved unwavering, and that he might keep without faltering
+the path of Christ's commandments.  Therewith he prayed for the
+clergy and all the flock, asking of God succour for them and
+salvation, and all that might fitly be asked for their welfare.
+
+Thus he prayed, and then turning said unto Barachias, "Behold,
+brother, I charge thee, as the Apostle once adjured his people,
+`Take heed unto thyself, and to all the flock, over the which the
+Holy Ghost hath made thee king, to feed the Lord's people, whom
+he hath purchased with his own blood.'  And even as thou wast
+before me in the knowledge of God, and didst serve him with a
+pure conscience, so now also show the more zeal in pleasing him.
+For, as thou hast received of God a mighty sovereignty, thou
+owest him the greater repayment.  Render therefore to thy
+Benefactor the debt of thanksgiving, by the keeping of his holy
+commandments and by turning aside from every path whose end is
+destruction.  For it is with kingdoms as with ships.  If one of
+the sailors blunder it bringeth but small damage to the crew. 
+But if the steersman err, he causeth the whole ship to perish.
+Even so it is with sovranty: if a subject err, he harmeth himself
+more than the state.  But if the king err, he causeth injury to
+the whole realm.  Therefore, as one that shall render strict
+account, if thou neglect aught of thy duty, guard thyself with
+all diligence in that which is good.  Hate all pleasure that
+draweth into sin: for, saith the Apostle, `Follow peace with all
+men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'
+Consider the wheel of men's affairs, how it runneth round and
+round, turning and whirling them now up, now down: and amid all
+its sudden changes, keep thou unchanged a pious mind.  To change
+with every change of affairs betokeneth an unstable heart.  But
+be thou steadfast, wholly established upon that which is good. 
+Be not lifted and vainly puffed up because of temporal honour;
+but, with purified reason, understand the nothingness of thine
+own nature, and the span-length and swift flight of life here,
+and death the yoke-fellow of the flesh.  If thou consider these
+things, thou shalt not be cast into the pit of arrogance, but
+shalt fear God, the true and heavenly King, and verily thou shalt
+be blessed.  For he saith, `Blessed are all they that fear the
+Lord, and walk in his ways,' and `Blessed is the man that feareth
+the Lord: he shall have great delight in his commandments.'  And
+which commandments above all shouldest thou observe?  `Blessed
+are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,' and `Be ye
+merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.'  For the
+fulfilment of this commandment, above all, is required of them
+that are in high authority.  And, soothly, the holder of great
+authority ought to imitate the giver of that authority to the
+best of his ability.  And herein shall he best imitate God, by
+considering that nothing is to be preferred before showing mercy.
+Nay, further, nothing so surely draweth the subject to loyalty
+toward his Sovereign as the grace of charity bestowed on such as
+need it.  For the service that cometh from fear is flattery in
+disguise, with the pretence of respect cozening them that pay
+heed to it; and the unwilling subject rebelleth when he findeth
+occasion.  Whereas he that is held by the ties of loyalty is
+steadfast in his obedience to the ruling power.  Wherefore be
+thou easy of access to all and open thine ears unto the poor,
+that thou mayest find the ear of God open unto thee.  For as we
+are to our fellow-servants, such shall we find our Master to
+us-ward.  And, like as we do hear others, so shall we be heard
+ourselves: and, as we see, so shall we be seen by the divine all-
+seeing eye.  Therefore pay we first mercy for mercy, that we may
+obtain like for like.
+
+"But hear yet another commandment, the fellow of the former;
+`Forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you;' and `If ye forgive
+not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father
+forgive you your trespasses.'  Wherefore bear no malice against
+them that offend against thee; but, when thou askest forgiveness
+of thy sins, forgive thyself also them that injure thee, because
+forgiveness is repaid by forgiveness, and by making peace with
+our fellow-servants we are ourselves delivered from the wrath of
+our Master.  Again, a lack of compassion towards them that
+trespass against us maketh our own trespasses unpardonable, even
+as thou hast heard what befell the man that owed ten thousand
+talents, how, through his want of pity on his fellow-servant, he
+was again required to pay all that mighty debt.  So we must take
+good heed lest a like fate betide us.  But let us forgive every
+debt, and cast all anger out of our hearts, in order that our
+many debts, too, may be forgiven.  Beside this, and before all
+things, keep thou that good thing which is committed to thy
+trust, the holy Word of faith wherein thou hast been taught and
+instructed.  And let no tare of heresy grow up amongst you, but
+preserve the heavenly seed pure and sincere, that it may yield a
+manifold harvest to the master, when he cometh to demand account
+of our lives, and to reward us according to our deeds, when the
+righteous shall shine forth as the sun, but darkness and
+everlasting shame shall cover the sinners.  And now, brethren, I
+commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able
+to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them
+which are sanctified."
+
+And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, as it is written,
+and prayed again in tears.  And he turned him round, and kissed
+Barachias, whom he had chosen to their king, and all the
+officers.  Then came a scene fit, belike, to make one weep.  They
+all crowded around him, as though his presence meant life to
+them, and his departure would reave them of their very souls; and
+what piteous pleading, what extravagance of grief did they omit?
+They kissed him; they hung about him; they were beside themselves
+for anguish of heart. "Wo is us," cried they, "for this grievous
+calamity!"  They called him, Master, Father, Saviour, Benefactor.
+"Through thine," said they, "we learned to know God, and were
+redeemed from error, and found rest from every ill.  What
+remaineth us after thou art gone?  What evils shall not befall
+us?"  Thus saying, they smote upon their breasts, and bewailed
+the misfortune that had overtaken them.  But he with words of
+comfort hushed their sobs, and promised to be with them still in
+the spirit though he might no longer abide with them in the body.
+And when he had thus spoken, in the sight of all he went forth
+from the palace.  And immediately all the people followed him.
+They despaired of his return; they ran from the city, as from a
+sight that they could no longer endure.  But when they were
+outside the city, Ioasaph addressed them with sharp words, and
+chode with them harshly; and so they were parted from him, and
+unwillingly went home, often turning round to look on him, and
+stumbling on their road.  And some of the hotter spirits also
+followed afar off weeping, until the shades of night parted them
+one from another.
+
+
+XXXVII.
+
+Thus this noble man went forth from his palace rejoicing, as when
+after long exile a man returneth with joy to his own country.
+Outwardly he wore the robes that he was wont to wear, but beneath
+was the hair-shirt which Barlaam had given him.  That night he
+halted at a poor man's cabin, and stripped himself of his outer
+raiment, which, as his last alms, he bestowed upon his poor host,
+and thus by the prayers of that poor man, as well as of so many
+others, he made God his ally, and put on his grace and help as a
+garment of salvation; and, clad in a coat of gladness, thus went
+he off to his hermit-life, carrying with him neither bread, nor
+water, nor any necessary food, with no garment upon him save the
+aforesaid rough shirt.  For his heart was wounded with a
+marvellous longing and divine love for Christ the immortal King;
+he was beside himself with longing, mad for God, possessed by
+love of him; "For love," he saith, "is strong as fire."  So
+drunken was he with this heavenly love, so parched with thirst,
+according to him that saith, "Like as the hart desireth the
+water-brooks, so longeth my soul after time, O God.  My soul is
+athirst for the mighty and living God"; or, as the soul that is
+sick of love crieth in the Song of Songs, "Thou hast ravished us,
+ravished us with the desire of thee"; and, "Let me see thy
+countenance, and let me hear thy voice, for thy voice is a sweet
+voice, and thy countenance is comely."
+
+It was the desire for this unspeakable comeliness of Christ that
+fired the hearts of the Apostolic Quire and of the Martyr folk to
+despise the things that are seen, and all this temporal life, and
+the rather to choose ten thousand forms of death and torture,
+being enamoured of his heavenly beauty, and bearing in mind the
+charm that the divine Word used for to win our love.  Such was
+the fire that was kindled in the soul of this fair youth also,
+noble in body, but most noble and kingly in soul, that led him to
+despise all earthly things alike, to trample on all bodily
+pleasures, and to contemn riches and glory and the praise of men,
+to lay aside diadem and purple, as of less worth than cobwebs,
+and to surrender himself to all the hard and irksome toils of the
+ascetic life, crying, "O my Christ, my soul is fixed upon thee,
+and thy right hand hath upholden me."
+
+Thus, without looking back, he passed into the depth of the
+desert; and, laying aside, like a heavy burden and clog, the
+stress of transitory things, he rejoiced in the Spirit, and
+looked steadfastly on Christ, whom he longed for, and cried aloud
+to him, as though he were there present to hear his voice,
+saying, "Lord, let mine eyes never again see the good things of
+this present world.  Never, from this moment, let my soul be
+excited by these present vanities, but fill mine eyes with
+spiritual tears; direct my goings in thy way, and show me thy
+servant Barlaam.  Show me him that was the means of my salvation,
+that I may learn of him the exact rule of this lonely and austere
+life, and may not be tripped up through ignorance of the wiles of
+the enemy.  Grant me, O Lord, to discover the way whereby to
+attain unto thee, for my soul is sick of love for thee, and I am
+athirst for thee, the well of salvation."
+
+These were the thoughts of his heart continually, and he communed
+with God, being made one with him by prayer and sublime
+meditation.  And thus eagerly he pursued the road, hoping to
+arrive at the place where Barlaam dwelt.  His meat was the herbs
+that grow in the desert; for he carried nothing with him, as I
+have already said, save his own bones, and the ragged garment
+that was around him.
+
+But whilst he found some food, though scanty and insufficient,
+from the herbs, of water he was quite destitute in that waterless
+and dry desert.  And so at noon-tide, as he held on his way under
+the fierce blaze of the sun, he was parched with thirst in the
+hot drought of that desert place, and he suffered the extreme of
+anguish.  But desire of Christ conquered nature, and the thirst
+wherewith he thirsted for God bedewed the heat of thirst for
+water.
+
+Now the devil, being envious and full of hate for that which is
+beautiful, unable to endure the sight of such steadfastness of
+purpose, and glowing love towards God, raised up against Ioasaph
+many temptations in the wilderness.  He called to his remembrance
+his kingly glory, and his magnificent body-guard, his friends,
+kinsfolk and companions, and how the lives of all had depended on
+his life, and he minded him of the other solaces of life.  Then
+he would confront him with the hardness of virtue, and the many
+sweats that she requireth, with the weakness of his flesh, with
+his lack of practice in such rigours, the long years to come,
+this present distress from thirst, his want of any comfort, and
+the unendingness of his toils.  In a word, he raised a great
+dust-cloud of reasonings in his mind, exactly, I ween, as it hath
+been recorded of the mighty Antony.
+
+But, when the enemy saw himself too weak to shake that purpose
+(for Ioasaph set Christ before his mind, and glowed with love of
+him, and was well strengthened by hope, and steadfast in faith,
+and recked nothing of the devil and his suggestions), then was
+the adversary ashamed of having fallen in the first assault.  So
+he came by another road (for many are his paths of wickedness),
+and endeavoured to overthrow and terrify Ioasaph by means of
+divers apparitions.  Sometimes he appeared to him in black, and
+such indeed he is: sometimes with a drawn sword he leapt upon
+him, and threatened to strike, unless he speedily turned back. 
+At other times he assumed the shapes of all manner of beasts,
+roaring and making a terrible din and bellowing; or again he
+became a dragon, adder, or basilisk.  But that fair and right
+noble athlete kept his soul in quietness, for he had made the
+Most High his refuge: and, being sober in mind, he laughed the
+evil one to scorn, and said, "I know thee, deceiver, who thou
+art, which stiffest up this trouble for me; which from the
+beginning didst devise mischief against mankind, and art ever
+wicked, and never stintest to do hurt.  How becoming and right
+proper is thy habit, that thou shouldest take the shape of beasts
+and of creeping things, and thus display thy bestial and crooked
+nature, and thy venomous and hurtful purpose!  Wherefore, wretch,
+attempt the impossible?  For ever since I discovered that these
+be the contrivances and bug-bears of thy malice, I have now no
+more anxiety concerning thee.  The Lord is on my side, and I
+shall see my desire upon mine enemies.  I shall go upon the adder
+and basilisk, the which thou dost resemble; thee, the lion and
+dragon I shall tread under my feet; for I am strengthened with
+the might of Christ.  Let mine enemies be ashamed and turned
+backward: let them be driven and put to shame suddenly."
+
+Thus speaking, and girding on that invincible weapon, the sign of
+the Cross, he made vain the devil's shows.  For straightway all
+the beasts and creeping things disappeared, like as the smoke
+vanisheth, and like as wax melteth at the fire.  And he, strong
+in the might of Christ, went on his way rejoicing and giving
+thanks unto the Lord.  But there dwelt in that desert many divers
+beasts, and all kinds of serpents, and dragon-shaped monsters,
+and these met him, not now as apparitions but in sober sooth, so
+that his path was beset by fear and toil.  But he overcame both,
+for love, as saith the scripture, cast out fear, and longing made
+toil light.  Thus he wrestled with many sundry misfortunes and
+hardships until, after many days, he arrived at that desert of
+the land of Senaar, wherein Barlaam dwelt.  There also he found
+water and quenched the burning of his thirst.
+
+
+XXXVIII.
+
+Now two full years spent Ioasaph wandering about the ocean of
+that desert, without finding Barlaam; for here also God was
+proving the steadfastness of his purpose, and the nobility of his
+soul.  He lived thus in the open air, scorched with heat or
+frozen with cold, and, as one in search of precious treasure,
+continually looking everywhere for his treasured friend, the aged
+Barlaam.  Frequent were the temptations and assaults of the evil
+spirits that he encountered, and many the hardships that he
+endured through the lack of herbs that he needed for meat,
+because the desert, being dry, yielded even these in but scant
+supply.  But, being kindled by love of her Master, this
+adamantine and indomitable soul bore these annoyances more easily
+than other men bear their pleasures.  Wherefore he failed not of
+the succour that is from above, but, many as were the sorrows and
+toils Chat he endured, comfort came to him from Christ, and,
+asleep or awake, refreshed his soul.  By the space of those two
+years Ioasaph went about continually, seeking him for whom he
+yearned, and rivers of waters ran from his eyes, as he implored
+God, crying aloud and saying, "Show me, O Lord, show me the man
+that was the means of my knowledge of thee, and the cause of my
+many blessings.  Because of the multitude of mine offences,
+deprive me not of this good thing; but grant me to see him, and
+fight with him the ascetic fight."
+
+By the grace of God, he found a cave, by following footsteps that
+led thither.  There he met a monk pursuing a hermit life.  Him he
+embraced and saluted tenderly.  He asked where to find Barlaam's
+dwelling, and told him his own tale, laying all bare.  Of him
+then he learned the abode of the man whom he sought, and thither
+went foot-hot, as when a cunning hunter happeneth on the tracks
+of his game.  And when he had met with certain signs, pointed out
+to him by this other old hermit, he went on rejoicing, strong in
+hope, like a child hoping after long absence to see his father.
+For when divine love hath broken into a soul, it proveth hotter
+and stronger than the natural.
+
+So he stood before the door of the cave, and knocked, saying
+"Benedic, father, benedic!"  When Barlaam heard his voice, he
+came forth from the cave, and by the spirit knew him, who by
+outward appearance could not easily be known, because of the
+marvellous change and alteration that had changed and altered his
+face from its former bloom of youth; for Ioasaph was black with
+the sun's heat, and overgrown with hair, and his cheeks were
+fallen in, and his eyes deep sunken, and his eyelids seared with
+floods of tears, and much distress of hunger.  And Ioasaph
+recognised his spiritual father, for his features were, for the
+more part, the same.  So the old man stood, and, facing the East,
+offered up to God a prayer of thanksgiving; and, after the
+prayer, when they had said the Amen, they embraced and kissed
+each other affectionately, taking their full fill of long
+deferred desire.
+
+But, when they had done with embracing and greeting, they sat
+them down and conversed.  Barlaam began, saying, "Welcome art
+thou, son well beloved son of God, and inheritor of the heavenly
+kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, whom thou lovest, whom
+thou rightly desirest above the things that are temporal and
+corruptible!  Like a prudent and wise merchant, thou hast sold
+all, and bought the pearl that is beyond price, and hast found
+the treasure that cannot be stolen, hidden in the field of the
+commandments of the Lord; thou hast parted with all, and spared
+naught of the things that so soon pass away, that thou mightest
+purchase that field for thyself.  The Lord give thee the eternal
+for the temporal, the things that are incorruptible and wax not
+old for the corruptible!
+
+"But tell me, dearly beloved, how thou camest hither?  How did
+thy matters speed after my departure?  And hath thy father
+learned to know God, or is he still carried away with his former
+foolishness, still under the bondage of devilish deceits? "
+
+Thus questioned Barlaam, and Ioasaph answered, telling him piece
+by piece all that had befallen him since he went away; and in how
+many ways the Lord had prospered him, until they were come
+together again.
+
+The old man listened with pleasure and amazement, and with hot
+tears said, "Glory to thee, our God, that ever standest by and
+succourest them that love thee!  Glory to thee, O Christ, King of
+all and God all-good, that it was thy pleasure that the seed,
+which I sowed in the heart of Ioasaph, thy servant, should thus
+bring forth fruit an hundredfold worthy of the husbandman and
+Master of our souls!  Glory to thee, good Paraclete, the all-holy
+Spirit, because thou didst vouchsafe unto this man to partake of
+that grace which thou gavest thine holy Apostles, and by his hand
+hast delivered multitudes of people from superstitious error, and
+enlightened them with the true knowledge of God!"
+
+Thus was God blessed by both, and thus were they conversing and
+rejoicing in the grace of God until evenfall.  Then stood they up
+for to pray and to perform the sacred services.  Then also
+remembered they that it was meal-time, and Barlaam spread his
+lavish table, laden with spiritual dainties, but with little to
+attract the palate of sense.  These were uncooked worts, and a
+few dates, planted and tended by Barlaam's own hands, such as are
+found in the same desert, and wild herbs.  So they gave thanks
+and partook of the victuals set before them, and drank water from
+the neighbour springing well, and again gave thanks to God, who
+openeth his hand and filleth all things living.  Then they arose
+again, and, when they had ended their Night Hours, after prayer,
+they joined in spiritual converse again, discoursing wholesome
+words, and full of heavenly wisdom, all the night long until day-
+break bade them once more remember the hour of prayer.
+
+So Ioasaph abode with Barlaam for some many years, pursuing this
+marvellous and more than human life, dwelling with him as with a
+father and tutor, in all obedience and lowliness, exercising
+himself in every kind of virtue, and learning well from practice
+how to wrestle with the invisible spirits of evil.  From that
+time forward he mortified all his sinful passions, and made the
+will of the flesh as subject to the spirit as slave is to his
+master.  He was altogether forgetful of comforts or repose, and
+tyrannized over sleep as over a wicked servant.  And, in brief,
+such was his practice of the religious life, that Barlaam, who
+had spent many years therein, marvelled at him, and failed to
+equal the earnestness of his life.  For he took only so much of
+that coarse and cheerless food as would keep him alive; else had
+he died afore his time, and forfeited the reward of his well-
+doing.  He subdued himself to watchings, as though he were
+without flesh and body.  In prayer and mental exercise his work
+was unceasing, and all the time of his life was spent in
+spiritual and heavenly contemplation, so that not an hour, nor
+even a single moment was wasted, from the day that he came to
+dwell in the desert.  For this is the end of monastic life, never
+to be found idle in spiritual employment: and well herein did
+this noble and active runner of the heavenly race order his way.
+And he kept his ardour unquenched from beginning to end, ever
+ascending in his heart, and going from strength to strength, and
+continually adding desire to desire, and zeal to zeal, until he
+arrived at the bliss that he had hoped and longed for.
+
+
+XXXIX.
+
+Thus did Barlaam and Ioasaph dwell together, rivals in the good
+rivalry, apart from all anxious care and all the turmoils of
+life, possessing their minds undisturbed and clear of all
+confusion.  After their many labours after godliness, one day
+Barlaam called to him his spiritual son, whom he had begotten
+through the Gospel, and opened his mouth to discourse of
+spiritual things, saying, "Long ago, dearly beloved Ioasaph, was
+it destined that thou shouldest dwell in this wilderness; and, in
+answer to my prayer for thee, Christ promised me that I should
+see it before the ending of my life.  I have seen my desire: I
+have seen thee severed from the world and the concerns of the
+world, united to Christ, thy mind never wavering, and come to the
+measure of the perfection of his fulness.  Now therefore as the
+time of my departure is at the door, and seeing that my desire,
+that hath grown with my growth and aged with my years, to be for
+ever with Christ, is even now being fulfilled, thou must bury my
+body in the earth and restore dust to dust, but thyself abide for
+the time to come in this place, holding fast to thy spiritual
+life, and making remembrance of me, poor as I am.  For I fear
+lest perchance the darksome army of fiends may stand in the way
+of my soul, by reason of the multitude of mine ignorances.
+
+"So do thou, my son, think no scorn of the laboriousness of thy
+religious life, neither dread the length of the time, nor the
+tricks of devils.  But, strong in the grace of Christ,
+confidently laugh at the weakness of these thy foes; and, as for
+the hardness of thy toils, and the long duration of the time, be
+as one that daily expecteth his departure hence, and as if the
+same day were the beginning and the end of thy religious life.
+Thus, always forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching
+forth unto those things which are before, press toward the mark
+for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,
+according to the exhortation of the holy Apostle, who saith, `Let
+us not faint; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward
+man is renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is
+but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal
+weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen,
+but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are
+seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are
+eternal."
+
+"Ponder thou over these things, beloved: quit thee like a man;
+yea, be strong; and, as a good soldier, do thy diligence to
+please him who hath called thee to be a soldier.  And, even if
+the evil one stir in thee thoughts of neglecting duty, and thou
+art minded to slacken the string of thy purpose, fear not his
+devices, but remember the Lord's command, which saith, `In the
+world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have
+overcome the world.'  Wherefore, rejoice in the Lord alway; for
+he hath chosen and separated thee out of the world, and set thee,
+as it were before his countenance.  The Master, who hath called
+thee with a holy calling, is alway near.  Be careful for nothing,
+but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
+let thy requests be made known unto God.  For he himself hath
+said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."  So, by the
+hardness of thy life, and by scorn of its rigours, win such
+thoughts as these, and rejoice, remembering our Lord God, for he
+saith, `I remembered God and was glad.'
+
+"But when the adversary, seeking another fashion of war,
+proposeth high and arrogant thoughts, and suggesteth the glory of
+the kingdom of this world, which thou hast forsaken, and all its
+lures, hold out, as a shield before thee, the saving word that
+saith, `When ye shall have done all those things which are
+commanded you, say, "We are unprofitable servants, for we have
+done that which was our duty to do."'  And, indeed, which of us
+is able to repay the debt that we owe our Master, for that he,
+though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we
+through his poverty might become rich, and, being without
+suffering, yet suffered, that we might be delivered from
+suffering?  What thanks hath the servant if he suffer like as his
+Master?  But we fall far short of his sufferings.  Meditate upon
+these things, casting down imaginations, and every high thing
+that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
+into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.  And the
+peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep thy heart
+and thoughts in Christ Jesus."
+
+When blessed Barlaam had so said, Ioasaph's tears knew no
+measure, but, like water from the brimming fountain, bedewed him
+and the ground whereon he sat.  He mourned over the parting, and
+earnestly implored that he might be his companion on his last
+journey, and might remain no longer in this world after Barlaam's
+decease, saying, "Wherefore, father, seekest thou only thine own,
+and not thy neighbour's welfare?  How fulfillest thou perfect
+love in this, according to him that said, `Thou shalt love thy
+neighbour as thyself,' in departing thyself to rest and life, and
+leaving me to tribulation and distress?  And, before I have been
+well exercised in the conflicts of the religious life, before I
+have learned the wily attacks of the enemy, why expose me to
+fight singlehanded against their marshalled host?  And for what
+purpose but to see me overthrown by their mischievous
+machinations, and to see me die, alas! the true spiritual and
+eternal death?  That is the fate which must befall inexperienced
+and cowardly monks.  But, I beseech thee, pray the Lord to take
+me also together with thee from life.  Yea, by the very hope that
+thou hast of receiving the reward of thy labour, pray that, after
+thy departure, I may not live one day more in the world, nor
+wander into the ocean depths of this desert."
+
+While Ioasaph spake thus in tears, the old man cheeked him gently
+and calmly, saying, "Son, we ought not to resist the judgements
+of God, which are beyond our reach.  For though I have oftentimes
+prayed concerning this matter, and constrained the Master, that
+cannot be constrained, not to part us one from the other, yet
+have I been taught by his goodness that it is not expedient for
+thee now to lay aside the burden of the flesh: but thou must
+remain behind in the practice of virtue, until the crown, which
+thou art weaving, be more glorious.  As yet, thou hast not
+striven enough after the recompense in store for thee, but must
+toil yet a little longer, that thou mayest joyfully enter into
+the joy of thy Lord.  For myself, I am, as I reckon, well-nigh an
+hundred winters old, and have now spent seventy and five years in
+this desert place.  But for thee, even if thy days be not so far
+lengthened as mine, yet must thou approach thereto, as the Lord
+ordereth, that thou mayest prove no unworthy match for them that
+have borne the burden and heat of the day.  Therefore, beloved,
+gladly accept the decrees of God.  What God hath ordered, who, of
+men, can scatter?  Endure, then, under the protection of his
+grace.
+
+"But be thou ever sober against thoughts other than these; and,
+like a right precious treasure, keep safely from robbers thy
+purity of heart, stepping up day by day to higher work and
+contemplation, that that may be fulfilled in thee, which the
+Saviour promised to his friends, when he said, `If any man love
+me, he will keep my word: and my father will love him, and we
+will come unto him, and make our abode with him.'"
+
+With these words, and many others, full worthy of that sanctified
+soul and inspired tongue, did the old man comfort Ioasaph's
+anguished soul.  Then he sent him unto certain brethren, which
+abode a long way off, for to fetch the things fitting for the
+Holy Sacrifice.  And Ioasaph girded up his loins, and with all
+speed fulfilled his errand: for he dreaded lest peradventure, in
+his absence, Barlaam might pay the debt of nature, and, yielding
+up the ghost to God, might inflict on him the loss of missing his
+departing words and utterances, his last orisons and blessings.
+
+So when Ioasaph had manfully finished his long journey, and had
+brought the things required for the Holy Sacrifice, saintly
+Barlaam offered up to God the unbloody Sacrifice.  When he had
+communicated himself, and also given to Ioasaph of the undefiled
+Mysteries of Christ, he rejoiced in the Spirit.  And when they
+had taken together of their ordinary food, Barlaam again fed
+Ioasaph's soul with edifying words, saying, "Well-beloved son, no
+longer in this world shall we share one common hearth and board;
+for now I go my last journey, even the way of my fathers.  Needs
+must thou, therefore, prove thy loving affection for me by thy
+keeping of God's commandments, and by thy continuance in this
+place even to the end, living as thou hast learned and been
+instructed, and alway remembering my poor and slothful soul.
+Rejoice, therefore, with great joy, and make merry with the
+gladness that is in Christ, because thou hast exchanged the
+earthly and corruptible for the eternal and incorruptible; and
+because there draweth nigh the reward of thy works, and thy
+rewarder is already at hand, who shall come to see the vineyard
+which thou hast dressed, and shall richly pay thee the wages of
+thine husbandry.  `Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all
+acceptation,' as proclaimed by Paul the divine, `For if we be
+dead with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we
+shall also reign with him in his eternal and everlasting kingdom,
+being illuminated with the light unapproachable, and guerdoned
+with the effulgence of the blessed and life-giving Trinity.'"
+
+Thus until even-tide and all night long did Barlaam converse with
+Ioasaph, who wept tears that could not be stayed, and could not
+bear the parting.  But just as day began to dawn, Barlaam ended
+his discourse, lifted up his hands and eyes to heaven, and
+offered his thanks to God, thus saying, "O Lord, my God, who art
+everywhere present, and fillest all things, I thank thee, for
+that thou hast looked upon my lowliness, and hast granted me to
+fulfil the course of this mine earthly pilgrimage in thy true
+Faith, and in the way of thy commandments.  And now, thou lover
+of good, all-merciful Master, receive me into thine everlasting
+habitations; and remember not all the sins that I have committed
+against thee, in knowledge or in ignorance.  Defend also this thy
+faithful servant, before whom thou hast granted to me, thine
+unprofitable servant, to stand.  Deliver him from all vanity, and
+all despiteful treatment of the adversary, and set him clear of
+the many-meshed nets which the wicked one spreadeth abroad for to
+trip all them that would full fain be saved.  Destroy, Almighty
+Lord, all the might of the deceiver from before the face of thy
+servant, and grant him authority to trample on the baneful head
+of the enemy of our souls.  Send down from on high the grace of
+thy Holy Spirit; and strengthen him against the invisible hosts,
+that he may receive at thy hands the crown of victory, and that
+in him thy name may be glorified, the Father, the Son, and the
+Holy Ghost, for to thee belongeth glory and praise for ever and
+ever.  Amen."
+
+Thus prayed he, and in fatherly wise embraced Ioasaph, and
+saluted him with an holy kiss.  Then he sealed himself with the
+sign of the Cross, and gathered up his feet, and, with exceeding
+great joy, as at the home-coming of friends, departed on that
+blessed journey, to receive his reward yonder, an old man and
+full of days in the Spirit.
+
+
+XL.
+
+Then did Ioasaph embrace the good father, with all the devotion
+and sorrow that can be told, and washed his corpse with his
+tears.  Then he wrapped it in the hair-shirt, which Barlaam had
+given him in his palace; and over him he recited the proper
+psalms, chanting all the day long, and throughout the night, and
+watering the venerable body of the Saint with his tears.  On the
+morrow, he made a grave hard by the cave, and thither reverently
+bore the sacred body, and there, like a good and honourable son,
+laid his spiritual father in his sepulchre.  And then, the fire
+of grief kindling all the hotter within his soul, he set himself
+to pray the more earnestly, saying:
+
+"O Lord my God, hearken unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 
+Have mercy upon me, and hear me, for I seek thee with all my
+heart.  My soul hath sought for thee: O hide not thy face from
+me, and turn not away in anger from thy servant.  Be thou my
+helper; cast me not utterly away, and forsake me not, O God my
+Saviour, because my father and mother forsake me; but do thou, O
+Lord, take me up.  Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in the
+right way because of mine enemies.  Deliver me not over unto the
+souls of them that afflict me; for I have been cast upon thee
+ever since I was born; thou art my God even from my mother's
+womb.  O go not from me, because, except thee, there is none to
+help me.  For lo, I set the hope of my soul upon the ocean of thy
+mercies.  Be thou the pilot of my soul, thou that steerest all
+creation with the unspeakable forethought of thy wisdom; and shew
+thou me the way that I should walk in; and, as thou art a good
+God and a lover of men, save me by the prayers and intercessions
+of Barlaam thy servant, for thou art my God, and thee I glorify,
+the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, world without end. 
+Amen."
+
+Thus prayed he, and sat him down nigh the sepulchre, a-weeping.
+And as he sat, he fell asleep, and saw those dread men, whom he
+had seen before, coming to him, and carrying him away to the
+great and marvellous plain, and bringing him to that glorious
+and exceeding bright city.  When he had passed within the gate,
+there met him others, gloriously apparelled with much light,
+having in their hands crowns radiant with unspeakable beauty,
+such as mortal eye hath never seen.  And, when Ioasaph enquired,
+"Whose are these exceeding bright crowns of glory, which I see?"
+"Thine," said they, "is the one, prepared for thee, because of
+the many souls which thou hast saved, and now made still more
+beautiful because of the religious life that thou leadest, if
+thou continue therein bravely until the end.  And this other
+crown is thine also; but it must thou give unto thy father, who,
+by thy means, turned from his evil way unto the Lord, and was
+truly penitent."  But Ioasaph was as one sore vexed, and said,
+"How is it possible that, for his repentance alone, my father
+should receive reward equal to mine, that have laboured so much?"
+Thus spake he, and straightway thought that he saw Barlaam, as it
+were, chiding him and saying, "These are my words, Ioasaph, which
+I once spake unto thee, saying, `When thou waxest passing rich,
+thou wilt not be glad to distribute,' and thou understoodest not
+my saying.  But now, why art thou displeased at thy father's
+equality with thee in honour, and art not rather glad at heart
+that thine orisons in his behalf have been heard?"  Then Ioasaph
+said unto him, as he was ever wont to say, "Pardon! father,
+pardon!  But shew me where thou dwellest?"  Barlaam answered, "In
+this mighty and exceeding fair city.  It is my lot to dwell in
+the mid-most street of the city, a street that flasheth with
+light supernal."  Again Ioasaph thought he asked Barlaam to bring
+him to his own habitation, and, in friendly wise, to shew him the
+sights thereof.  But Barlaam said that his time was not yet come
+to win those habitations, while he was under the burden of the
+flesh.  "But," said he, "if thou persevere bravely, even as I
+charged thee, in a little while thou shalt come hither, and gain
+the same habitations, and obtain the same joy and glory, and be
+my companion for ever."  Hereupon Ioasaph awoke out of sleep, but
+his soul was still full of that light and ineffable glory; and
+greatly wondering, he raised to his Lord a song of thanksgiving.
+
+And he continued to the end, verily leading on earth the life of
+an angel, and after the death of his aged friend using himself to
+severer austerity. Twenty and five years old was he when he left
+his earthly kingdom, and adopted the monastic life; and thirty
+and five years in this vast desert did he, like one dis-fleshed,
+endure rigours above the endurance of man, but not before he had
+delivered the souls of many men from the soul-devouring dragon,
+and presented them to God, saved for aye; winning herewith the
+Apostolic grace.  In will he had proved a martyr, and had with
+boldness confessed Christ before kings and tyrants, and had
+proved himself the mighty-voiced preacher of his greatness, and
+had overthrown many spirits of wickedness in the desert, and had
+overcome all in the strength of Christ.  Partaking richly of the
+gift of grace from above, he kept his mind's eye purified from
+every earth-born cloud, and looked forward to the things that are
+to come, as though they were already come.  Christ was his
+recompense for all: Christ was his desire: Christ he ever saw as
+present with him: Christ and his fair beauty everywhere met his
+sight, according to the saying of the prophet, "I have set God
+always before me; for he is on my right hand, therefore I shall
+not fall."  And again, "My soul cleaveth to thee; thy right hand
+hath upholden me."  For verily Ioasaph's soul clave to Christ,
+being knit to him in indissoluble union.  From this marvellous
+work he never swerved, never altered the rule of his ascetic
+life, from beginning to end, but maintained his zeal from his
+youth even until old age; or rather, he daily advanced higher in
+virtue, and daily gained purer power of vision.
+
+Thus did Ioasaph spend his days, and render unto him that called
+him labour worthy of his calling, having crucified the world to
+himself, and himself unto the world, and, at the last, departed
+in peace unto the God of peace, and passed to that Master whom he
+had alway longed for.  There he appeared in the immediate
+presence of the Lord, and was crowned with the crown of glory
+already prepared for him: there it is granted to him to behold
+Christ, to be with Christ, to rejoice for ever in the fair beauty
+of Christ, into whose hands he commended his spirit, when he
+departed to walk in the land of the living, where is the song of
+them that feast, the dwelling-place of them that rejoice.
+
+As for his venerable body, it befell thus; about the very hour of
+Ioasaph's death, there came by divine revelation, from one of the
+neighbouring cells, a certain holy man.  It was the same that
+once pointed out to Ioasaph his way to Barlaam.  This man
+honoured the corpse with sacred hymns, and shed tears, the token
+of affection, over him, and performed all the last Christian
+rites, and laid him in the sepulchre of his father Barlaam; for
+it was only meet that their bodies should rest side by side,
+since their souls were to dwell through eternity together.
+
+In obedience to the strict command of a dread Angel that appeared
+to him in a dream, this hermit, who had performed the last rites,
+journeyed to the kingdom of India, and, entering in to King
+Barachias, made known unto him all that had befallen Barlaam, and
+this blessed Ioasaph.  Barachias, making no delay, set forth with
+a mighty host, and arrived at the cave, and beheld their
+sepulchre, and wept bitterly over it, and raised the gravestone.
+There he descried Barlaam and Ioasaph lying, as they had been in
+life.  Their bodies had not lost their former hue, but were whole
+and uncorrupt, together with their garments.  These, the
+consecrated tabernacles of two holy souls, that sent forth full
+sweet savour, and showed naught distressful, were placed by King
+Barachias in costly tombs and conveyed by him into his own
+country.
+
+Now when the people heard tell of that which had come to pass,
+there assembled a countless multitude out of all the cities and
+regions round about, to venerate and view the bodies of these
+Saints.  Thereupon, sooth to say, they chanted the sacred hymns
+over them, and vied one with another to light lamps lavishly, and
+rightly and fitly, might one say, in honour of these children and
+inheritors of light.  And with splendour and much solemnity they
+laid their bodies in the Church which Ioasaph had built from the
+very foundation.  And many miracles and cures, during the
+translation and deposition of their relics, as also in later
+times, did the Lord work by his holy servants.  And King
+Barachias and all the people beheld the mighty virtues that were
+shown by them; and many of the nations round about, that were
+sick of unbelief and ignorance of God, believed through the
+miracles that were wrought at their sepulchre.  And all they that
+saw and heard of the Angelic life of Ioasaph, and of his love of
+God from his childhood upward, marvelled, and in all things
+glorified God that alway worketh together with them that love
+him, and granteth them exceeding great reward.
+
+Here endeth this history, which I have written, to the best of my
+ability, even as I heard it from the truthful lips of worthy men
+who delivered it unto me.  And may God grant that all we that
+read or hear this edifying story may obtain the heritage of such
+as have pleased the Lord, by the prayers and intercessions of
+blessed Barlaam and Ioasaph, of whom this story telleth, in
+Christ Jesu our Lord; to whom belongeth worship, might, majesty
+and glory, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and for
+evermore, world without end.  Amen.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Barlaam and Ioasaph
+