But having considered that the soul is able to restrain the nature of the body, which is drunken and flowing like wine, and that self-control enslaves desire; I was eager to perceive what serious thing lies before men, and what is truly good that they will accomplish during this life. For I have gone through all the other things that are considered admirable, both the erection of very high houses and the planting of vineyards, and also the construction of parks, and the acquisition and care of all kinds of fruit-bearing trees; where also great reservoirs were constructed for receiving waters, allotted for the abundant irrigation of the plants. And I acquired a multitude of household servants, manservants and maidservants; some having been acquired from outside, and others born in my house, I profited from. Herds of four-footed animals, many of cattle, and many of sheep, came under my authority, more than any of those of old. Treasures of gold and of silver also flowed in, as I had made all the kings my bodyguards and tribute-bearers. And very great choirs were assembled, of men and women together for my delight, producing an all-harmonious song. Indeed, I also appointed for this part of my luxury banquets and wine-pourers, chosen from both sexes of people, whom I could not even enumerate, so much did I surpass in these things the kings of Jerusalem before me. Then it happened that the things of my wisdom diminished, while the things of not good desire increased. For yielding to every enticement of the eyes, and to the unrestrained impulses of the heart falling upon me from all sides, having given myself over to the hopes of pleasures; and to all wretched luxuries, I bound up my own choice. For thus my thoughts were brought to misfortune, so as to consider that these things were good, and that it was fitting for me to do these things. Then one day, having come to my senses and looked up, I saw the things which I held in my 993 hands, were at once wicked and very difficult, the works of a not good spirit. For nothing whatsoever chosen by men now appears to me to be acceptable and worthy of serious pursuit by right reason. Therefore, having considered the good things of wisdom, and the evil things of folly, I would reasonably and sufficiently admire such a man, who, being carried away irrationally, then takes hold of himself and returns to what is right. For the difference between prudence and folly is great, and the difference between them both is as great as that between day and night. Therefore, he who has chosen virtue seems to see each thing clearly and upward; of his* own journey, made in the time of the brightest light; but he who is entangled in vice, and in every kind of error as one wandering in the dark of the moon, being both blind in his sight, and deprived of the light by the darkness of things. But in the end, having considered the difference of each of these lives, I found nothing, and as I have made myself a companion of fools, I will receive the wages of folly. For what good is there in those sophistries, or what profit in many words, where the streams of nonsense rush forth as from a fountain of folly? But for the wise and the foolish there is nothing in common, not in the memory of men, nor in the reward from God. And of the affairs among men, even as they seem to be beginning, the end already overtakes all of them. But a wise man never shares the same end with a foolish one. Therefore I hated my entire life, which was spent in vain things, which I lived devoted to toils on the earth. For to speak concisely, all things have been toiled for by me sorrowfully, being the works of an irrational impulse; and another will succeed to them, whether wise or foolish, to the cold fruits of my labors. But when I took these things and cast them away, the truly good things set before man became apparent: the knowledge of wisdom, and the acquisition of courage. But if someone has not cared for these things, but is terrified of others, such a one has chosen evil things instead of good, and has pursued wickedness instead of goodness, and toil instead of quiet, being dragged about by various troubles, being distressed continually night and day, and of the body

Λογισάμενος δὲ, ὅτι ψυχὴ δύναται στῆσαι μεθύουσαν καὶ ῥέουσαν ὥσπερ οἶνον σώματος φύσιν, ἐγκράτεια δὲ δουλοῦται ἐπιθυμίαν· προεθυμήθην κατιδεῖν, τί ποτε εἴη προκείμενον ἀνθρώποις σπου δαῖον, καὶ τῷ ὄντι καλὸν ὃ καταπράξονται παρὰ του τονὶ τὸν βίον. ∆ιεξελήλυθα γὰρ τὰ λοιπὰ σύμπαντα ὅσ' ἀξιάγαστα νομίζεται, οἴκων τε ὑπερυψήλων ἀνορ θώσεις καὶ φυτείας ἀμπέλων, ἔτι δὲ παραδείσων κατασκευὰς, καὶ παντοίων δένδρων καρποφόρων κτήσεις καὶ ἐπιμελείας· ὅπου δὲ καὶ δεξαμεναὶ μεγάλαι πρὸς ὑποδοχὰς ὑδάτων κατεσκευάσθησαν, εἰς δαψιλῆ ἀρδείαν τῶν φυτῶν ἀπονενεμημέναι. Πε ριεβαλόμην δὲ καὶ οἰκετῶν πλῆθος, θεράποντας καὶ θεραπαίνας· ἄλλους μὲν ἔξωθεν κτησάμενος, ἄλλους δὲ καὶ παρ' ἐμαυτῷ γενομένους καρπωσάμενος. Ζώων δὲ τετραπόδων ἀγέλαι, πολλαὶ μὲν βουκολίων, πολλαὶ δὲ ποιμνίων ὑπὸ τὴν ἐμὴν ἦλθον ἐξουσίαν παρ' ὁντινοῦν τῶν πάλαι. Θησαυροί τε χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου προσέῤῥεον, δορυφόρους τέ μοι καὶ δασμοφόρους, τοὺς ἁπάντων βασιλεῖς πεποιημένῳ. Χοροί τε συνεκροτοῦντο παμπληθεῖς, ἀῤῥένων δέ τε ὁμοῦ καὶ θηλειῶν εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν τέρψιν, παναρ μόνιον ἐκπονούντων ᾠδήν. Συμπόσιά γε μὴν καὶ οἰνοχόους εἰς τοῦτο ἀπέταξα τῆς τρυφῆς μέρος ἐξ ἑκατέρου γένους ἀνθρώπων ἐξειλεγμένους, οὐδ' ἂν καταλέγειν ἔχοιμι, τοσοῦτον ὑπερέβαλον τούτοις τοὺς πρὸ ἐμοῦ βασιλεύσαντας Ἱερουσαλήμ. Εἶτα συνέ βαινε, τὰ μὲν τῆς σοφίας μοι ἐλαττοῦσθαι, πληθύνειν δὲ τὰ τῆς οὐκ ἀγαθῆς ἐπιθυμίας. Παντὶ γὰρ ὀφθαλ μῶν τε δελεάσματι, καὶ καρδίας ἀκράτοις ὁρμαῖς ἐφιεὶς πανταχόθεν προσπιπτούσαις, ἡδονῶν ἐλπίσιν ἐμαυτὸν ἐκδεδωκώς· καὶ πάσαις τρυφαῖς δειλαί αις, τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ἐγκατέδησα προαίρεσιν. Οὕτω γάρ μου αἱ ἐνθυμήσεις, εἰς δυσπραγίαν ἠνέχθησαν, ὡς ταῦτα μὲν εἶναι καλὰ, ταῦτα δέ μοι προσήκειν διαπράττεσθαι νομίζειν. Εἶτα ποτὲ ἀνανήψας ἐγὼ καὶ ἀναβλέψας, κατεῖδον ἅπερ ἐν 993 χερσὶν εἶχον, μοχθηρὰ ὁμοῦ καὶ παγχάλεπα, πνεύματος οὐκ ἀγαθοῦ ποιήματα. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ὁτιοῦν ὑπ' ἀνθρώπων ᾑρημένον, ἀποδεκτὸν εἶναί μοι νῦν καταφαίνεται καὶ περισπούδαστον ὀρθῷ λογισμῷ. Συλλογισάμενος οὖν τά τε σοφίας ἀγαθὰ, καὶ τὰ ἀφροσύνης κακὰ, εἰκότως ἂν ἱκανῶς θαυμάζοιμι ἄν δρα τοιοῦτον, ὅς τις φερόμενος ἀλόγως· ἔπειτα ἑαυ τοῦ λαβόμενος, εἰς τὸ δέον ἐπιστρέψει. Φρονή σεως γὰρ καὶ ἀφροσύνης πολὺ τὸ μέσον, διαφορὰ δὲ ἀμφοῖν τοσαύτη, ὅση περ ἡμέρας πρὸς νύκτα. Ἔοικε τοίνυν, ὁ μὲν ἀρετὴν ᾑρημένος, τρανῶς τε ἕκαστα καὶ ἄνω βλέποντι· τῆς* τε ἑαυτοῦ πορείας, λαμπρο τάτου φέγγους καιρῷ πεποιημένῳ· ὁ δ' αὖ κακίᾳ ἐμπεπλεγμένος, καὶ πλάνῃ παντοίᾳ ὡς ἐν σκοτομήνῃ πλανωμένῳ, τυφλός τε ὢν τὴν πρόσοψιν, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ σκότους τῶν πραγμάτων ἀφῃρημένος. Τέλος δὲ ἐπινοήσας ἑκατέρου τῶν βίων τούτων ἐγὼ τὸ διά φορον, εὗρον οὐδὲν, καὶ ὡς κοινωνὸν ἀφρόνων ἐμαυ τὸν καταστήσας, τὰ τῆς ἀφροσύνης ἐπίχειρα δέξο μαι. Τί γὰρ ἢ τῶν σοφισμάτων ἐκείνων ἀγαθὸν, ἢ ποία ὄνησις τῶν πολλῶν λόγων, ὅπου γε τὰ φλυαρίας ῥεύματα, ὥσπερ ἐκ πηγῆς ὁρμᾶται τῆς ἀφροσύνης; Σοφῷ δὲ καὶ ἄφρονι κοινὸν οὐδὲν, οὐ κατὰ ἀνθρώπων μνήμην, οὐ κατὰ Θεοῦ ἀμοιβήν. Τῶν δ' ἐν ἀνθρώποις πραγμάτων, ἔτι ἄρχεσθαι δοκούντων, ἤδη τὸ τέλος ἐπιλαμβάνει ἁπάντων. Σοφὸς δὲ οὐδέποτε ἀσυνέτῳ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κοινωνεῖ τέλους. Ἐμίσησα τοίνυν καὶ τὸν σύμπαντά μου βίον, τὸν ἐν τοῖς ματαίοις ἀναλωθέντα, ὃν διήγαγον τοῖς περὶ γῆν πόνοις προστετηκώς. Ὡς γὰρ συνελόντι φάναι, πάντα μοι λυπηρῶς ἐκμε μόχθηται ὁρμῆς ἀλογίστου γενόμενα ποιήματα· καὶ διαδέξεταί τις αὐτὰ ἕτερος, εἴτε σοφὸς, εἴτε ἠλίθιος, τὰς ψυχρὰς τῶν ἐμῶν καμάτων ἐπικαρπίας. Ἀπο λαβομένῳ δέ μοι ταῦτα καὶ ἀποῤῥίψαντι, κατεφάνη τὰ τῷ ὄντι ἀγαθὰ προκείμενα ἀνθρώπῳ, σοφίας τε γνῶσις, καὶ κτῆσις ἀνδρείας. Εἰ δέ τις τούτων μὲν οὐκ ἐφρόντισεν, ἑτέρων δὲ ἐπτόηται, ὁ τοιοῦτος εἵ λετο μὲν πονηρὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν, μετῆλθε δὲ κακίαν ἀντὶ χρηστότητος, καὶ μόχθον ἀνθ' ἡσυχίας, ταράχοις ποικίλοις περιελκόμενος, νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθ' ἡμέ ραν συνεχόμενος ἀεὶ, σώματός τε