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what was hidden, so passion blossoms again in a fattened body. A faded flame flashes up when it catches dry sticks, and pleasure that has been extinguished is rekindled in a surfeit of foods. Do not pity a body lamenting its weakness, nor fatten it with luxurious foods; for if it grows strong, it will rise up against you, and will wage a relentless war against you, until it takes your soul captive, and delivers you as a slave to the passion of fornication. A well-reined horse, a body in want, and it will never throw its rider, for the one yields when choked by the bridle, and obeys the hand of the charioteer, but the body is tamed by hunger and vigil, and does not buck its riding thought, nor will it neigh when moved by passionate impulse.

CHAPTER 4. Concerning fornication. Continence begets temperance, but gluttony,

is the mother of licentiousness; oil feeds the flame of a lamp, and the company of women kindles the torch of pleasure. The violence of waves buffets an unballasted ship, and the thought of fornication, an unrestrained mind. Fornication will take satiety as an ally, for it will release it, and it will stand with the adversaries, and at the last will fight alongside the enemies. He who loves stillness remains unwounded by the arrows of the enemy, but he who mingles with the crowd receives continuous blows. The sight of a woman is a poisoned arrow, it has wounded the soul, and has deposited its venom, and the longer it remains, the greater the corruption it works. He who guards against 79.1149 these arrows, does not attend public festivals, nor does he wander about gaping at feasts; for it is better to remain at home and be at leisure for prayers, than, thinking to honor the feasts, to become a plaything of enemies. Flee the company of women, if you wish to be temperate, and do not give them license ever to be bold with you. For at first they either possess or feign reverence; but later they dare all things shamelessly. At the first encounter they keep their gaze downward, they speak gently, and weep sympathetically, they compose themselves modestly, and sigh bitterly, they ask about chastity, and listen eagerly. You saw them a second time, and they nodded upward a little; a third, and they pay attention shamelessly, you smiled, and they laughed wantonly. Thenceforth they adorn themselves, and display themselves to you clearly, they shape their glance, announcing the passion, they raise their eyebrows, and roll their eyelids, they bare their neck, and with their whole body act wantonly, they speak words that soften the passion, and they contrive a voice that charms the hearing, until through all these things they besiege the soul. These become for you hooks luring you to death, and intricate snares drawing you to destruction, let them not deceive you with words used speciously; for in them is hidden the evil venom of beasts.

CHAPTER 5. Rather approach a burning fire, than a young woman, being young yourself and

yourself; for having approached the fire, and been pained, you will quickly leap away, but being beguiled by the words of women, you will not easily depart. An herb standing by water flourishes, and the passion of licentiousness in the company of women. He who fills his belly, and professes to be temperate, is like one who says he can bridle the power of fire in stubble. For just as it is impossible to check the rush of fire running through stubble, so it is impossible to stop a licentious impulse inflamed by satiety. A pillar is supported by a base, and the passion of fornication rests upon satiety. A storm-tossed ship hastens to a harbor, and the soul of a temperate man seeks solitude; the one flees the waves of the sea that threaten danger, the other the forms of women that inflict destruction. A beautified form sinks one worse than a wave; for from the one it is possible even to swim through, out of a desire for life, but the form of a woman, having deceived, persuades one to despise even life itself. A desert thorn bush escapes the flame of fire unharmed, and a temperate man separated from women not

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τὸ κρυφθὲν, οὕτως ἐν σώματι πιμελώδει ἀναθάλλει τὸ πάθος. Μαρανθεῖσα φλὸξ ἀναλάμπει ἐπιλαβομένη φρυγάνων, καὶ ἡδονὴ σβεσθεῖσα ἀναζωπυροῦται ἐν κόρῳ βρωμάτων. Μὴ ἐλεήσῃς σῶμα ἀτονίαν ἀποδυρόμενον, μηδὲ πιάνῃς αὐτὸ πολυτελείᾳ βρωμάτων· ἐὰν γὰρ ἰσχύσῃ, ἐπαναστήσεταί σοι, καὶ πόλεμον ἄσπονδον κινήσει κατὰ σοῦ, ἕως ἂν αἰχμαλωτεύσῃ σὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ δοῦλον παραδώσει σε τῷ τῆς πορνείας πάθει. Ἵππος εὐήνιος, ἐνδεὲς σῶμα, καὶ οὐ μὴ καταβαλεῖ τὸν ἀναβάτην ποτὲ, ὁ μὲν γὰρ εἴκει ἀγχόμενος χαλινῷ, καὶ τῇ χειρὶ πείθεται τοῦ ἡνιόχου, σῶμα δὲ δαμάζεται ἐν λιμῷ, καὶ ἀγρυπνίᾳ, καὶ οὐκ ἀποσκιρτᾷ τοῦ ἐπιβατοῦντος λογισμοῦ, οὐδὲ χρεμετίσει κινούμενον ὑπὸ ὁρμῆς ἐμπαθοῦς.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. ∆ʹ. Περὶ πορνείας. Σωφροσύνην τίκτει ἐγκράτεια, γαστριμαργία δὲ,

μήτηρ ἀκολασίας· ἔλαιον τρέφει λαμπάδα λύχνου, καὶ πυρσὸν ἡδονῆς ἐξάπτει συντυχία γυναικῶν. Κυμάτων βία χειμάζει πλοῖον ἀνερμάτιστον, καὶ λογισμὸς πορνείας, νοῦν ἀκρατῆ. Πορνεία συμπαραλήψεται κόρον εἰς συμμαχίαν, ἀφήσει γὰρ αὐτὸν, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἐναντίων στήσεται, καὶ ἐπ' ἐσχάτων συμπολεμήσει τοῖς ἐχθροῖς. Ἄτρωτος διαμένει ἀπὸ τῶν βελῶν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ὁ ἀγαπῶν ἡσυχίαν, συναναμιγνύμενος δὲ πλήθει συνεχεῖς δέχεται πληγάς. Ὄψις γυναικὸς βέλος ἐστὶ πεφαρμακευμένον, ἔτρωσε τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ τὸν ἰὸν ἐναπέθετο, καὶ ὅσον χρονίζει, πλείονα τὴν σῆψιν ἐργάζεται. Ὁ φυλασσόμενος 79.1149 ταῦτα τὰ βέλη, οὐ παραβάλλει πανηγύρεσι πανδήμοις, οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς περιάξει κεχηνώς· βέλτιον γὰρ οἴκοι μένοντα σχολάζειν προσευχαῖς, ἢ τιμᾷν νομίζοντα τὰς ἑορτὰς, γίνεσθαι πάρεργον ἐχθρῶν. Φεῦγε συντυχίαν γυναικῶν, ἐὰν θέλῃς σωφρονεῖν, καὶ μὴ δῷς παῤῥησίαν αὐταῖς θαῤῥῆσαί σοί ποτε. Εὐλάβειαν γὰρ ἐν ἀρχαῖς ἢ ἔχουσιν ἢ ὑποκρίνονται· ὕστερον δὲ πάντα τολμῶσιν ἀναιδῶς· πρώτῃ συντυχίᾳ τὸ βλέμμα ἔχουσι κάτω, λαλοῦσι πράως, καὶ δακρύουσι συμπαθῶς, σχηματίζονται σεμνῶς, καὶ στενάζουσι πικρὰ, ἐρωτῶσι περὶ ἁγνείας, καὶ ἀκούουσι σπουδαίως· δεύτερον εἶδες, καὶ μικρὸν ἀνένευσαν ἄνω· τρίτον, καὶ προσέχουσιν ἀναιδῶς, ἐμειδιάσας, κἀκεῖναι κεχυμένως ἐγέλασαν· κοσμοῦνται λοιπὸν, καὶ ἐνδείκνυνταί σοι σαφῶς, βλέμμα μορφοῦσιν εὐαγγελιζόμεναι τὸ πάθος, ὀφρῦς ἀνατείνουσι, καὶ περιστρέφουσι βλέφαρα, γυμνοῦσι τὸν τράχηλον, καὶ ὅλῳ τῷ σώματι θρύπτονται, λόγους λαλοῦσι μαλάσσοντας τὸ πάθος, καὶ φθέγμα ἐπιτηδεύουσι θέλγηστρον ἀκοῆς, ἕως ἂν διὰ πάντων πολιορκήσωσι τὴν ψυχήν. Ταῦτα γίνεταί σοι ἄγκιστρα δελεάζοντα εἰς θάνατον, καὶ θήρατρα πολύπλοκα ἕλκοντα εἰς ἀπώλειαν, μή σε πλανήσωσι λόγοις ἐπιεικῶς κεχρημέναι· ἐγκέκρυπται γὰρ αὐταῖς ἰὸς πονηρὸς θηρίων.

ΚΕΦΑΛ. Εʹ. Μᾶλλον προσέγγισον πυρὶ καιομένῳ, ἢ γυναικὶ νέᾳ, νέος ὢν καὶ

αὐτός· πυρὶ μὲν γὰρ προσελθὼν, καὶ ὀδυνηθεὶς, ταχέως ἀποπηδήσεις, γυναικείοις δὲ ῥήμασι χαυνωθεὶς, οὐκ εὐχερῶς ἀναχωρήσεις. Θάλλει βοτάνη ἑστῶσα παρ' ὕδατι, καὶ πάθος ἀκολασίας ἐν συντυχίᾳ γυναικῶν. Ὁ πληρῶν γαστέρα, καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενος σωφρονεῖν, ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ λέγοντι, χαλινοῦν πυρὸς ἐνέργειαν ἐν καλάμῃ. Ὃν τρόπον γὰρ πυρὸς ῥοπὴν ἐν καλάμῃ τρέχουσαν ἀδύνατον ἐπισχεῖν, οὕτως ὁρμὴν ἀκόλαστον φλεγομένην ἐν κόρῳ παῦσαι ἀδύνατον. Στύλος ἐπερείδεται βάσει, καὶ πορνείας πάθος ἐπαναπαύεται κόρῳ. Εἰς λιμένα ἐπείγεται χειμαζομένη ναῦς, καὶ ψυχὴ σώφρονος ἐπιζητεῖ ἐρημίαν· φεύγει ἡ μὲν κύματα θαλάσσης ἀπειλοῦντα κίνδυνον, ἡ δὲ μορφὰς γυναικῶν ὀδυνούσας ὄλεθρον. Μορφὴ κεκαλλωπισμένη κύματος χεῖρον βυθίζει· τοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἕστι καὶ διανήξασθαι, πόθῳ ζωῆς, μορφὴ δὲ γυναικὸς ἀπατήσασα, καταφρονεῖν πείθει καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ζωῆς. Βάτος ἐρημικὴ διαφεύγει φλόγα πυρὸς ἀβλαβῶς, καὶ σώφρων κεχωρισμένος γυναικῶν οὐκ