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showing the insolence of drunkards; since irrational animals know the limits of nature, but drunkards seek the female in the male, and the male in the female. Nor is it easy to recount in speech all the terrible things that come from drunkenness.

The harms from a plague, then, come upon people over time, as the air little by little instills its own corruption into their bodies; but those from wine rush in at once. For thus having destroyed their soul, so as to be stained by every spot, they also corrupt the very condition of their body; not only being wasted and dissolute by the 31.452 excess of pleasures that drive them mad for lust, but also bearing a body that is bloated and swollen in its very mass and deprived of its vital tone. Their eyes are livid; their complexion is sallow; their breath is offensive; their tongue is limp, and their cry is indistinct; their feet are unsteady like those of children; and their discharges of waste are automatic, as if flowing from lifeless things. Pitiful in their luxury, more pitiful than those storm-tossed at sea, whom waves, succeeding and overwhelming one another, do not permit to come up from the surge. So also the souls of these men are carried underwater, submerged in wine. Therefore, just as storm-tossed ships, when they become swamped, are necessarily lightened by jettisoning their cargo; so also for these men, the setting aside of what weighs them down is necessary. For by vomiting and gushing it out, they are barely freed from the weight; so much more pitiful than those who sail with difficulty, inasmuch as the latter blame winds and the sea and external necessities; but the former draw upon themselves a self-chosen storm from drunkenness. The possessed man is pitiful; but the drunkard, suffering the same things, is not even worthy of pity, wrestling with a self-chosen demon. These men even concoct potions for drunkenness, contriving not to avoid suffering something terrible from the wine, but to not stop being drunk. For the day is short for them; and the night, even a winter one, is short, at least for the time of drinking. And there is no end to the evil. For the wine itself leads itself on to more. For it does not satisfy the need, but creates an inescapable need for another drink, kindling the drunkards, and always calling them to the desire for more. And while contriving to have an insatiable appetite for drinking, they suffer the opposite of what they have chosen.

For by the continuity of their luxury they deaden their senses. For just as excessive brightness dims the sight, and just as those battered by great noises are brought by the immoderation of the blow to the point of not hearing at all; so also these men, without noticing it, have lost pleasure because of their excessive love of pleasure. For to them the wine is tasteless and watery, even if it is unmixed; and their perception of the new wine is lukewarm, even if it is the purest, even snow itself, unable to quench the flame burning inside them from the immoderation of the wine. To whom woe? To whom tumult? To whom lawsuits? To whom quarrels and babblings? To whom bruises without cause? Whose eyes are livid? Is it not for those who tarry long over wine, and who seek out where drinking parties are happening? The "woe" is an utterance of lamentation. And drunkards are worthy of lamentation, because "Drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God." And tumult because of the disturbance that arises in the thoughts from wine. And 31.453 quarrels because of the bitter results from the pleasure of drinking. For their feet are bound, and their hands are bound by the fluxes sent upon them by drunkenness. And yet even before these sufferings, at the very time of drinking, the sufferings of the frenzied befall them. For when the membranes of the brain become full of the vapor which the wine sends up as it evaporates, the head is struck with unbearable pains; and being unable to remain upright on the shoulders, it falls now one way, now another, upon the vertebrae

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μεθυόντων ὕβρεως ἀποφαίνουσα· εἴπερ τὰ μὲν ἄλογα γνωρίζει τοὺς ὅρους τῆς φύσεως, οἱ δὲ μεθύοντες ἐν ἄῤῥενι μὲν τὸ θῆλυ, ἐν δὲ τῷ θήλει τὸ ἄῤῥεν ἐπιζητοῦσιν. Οὐδὲ ἐπεξελθεῖν τῷ λόγῳ ῥᾴδιον πᾶσι τοῖς ἐκ τῆς μέθης δεινοῖς.

Αἱ μὲν οὖν ἐκ τοῦ λοιμοῦ βλάβαι χρόνῳ ἐγγίνονται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, κατὰ μικρὸν τοῦ ἀέρος τὴν παρ' ἑαυτοῦ φθορὰν ἐντιθέντος τοῖς σώμασιν· αἱ δὲ παρὰ τοῦ οἴνου εὐθὺς συνεισπίπτου σιν. Οὕτω γὰρ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπολωλότες, ὡς ὑπὸ πάσης κηλῖδος εἶναι κατεστιγμένοι, ἔτι καὶ αὐτὴν τοῦ σώ ματος τὴν ἕξιν προσδιαφθείρονται· οὐ μόνον τῇ 31.452 ὑπερβολῇ τῶν ἡδονῶν ἐξοιστρουσῶν ἐπὶ λαγνείας ἐκτετηκότες καὶ διαῤῥέοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ ὄγκῳ πεπλαδηκὸς καὶ βρυῶδες καὶ τοῦ ζωτικοῦ τόνου λελυμένον τὸ σῶμα φέροντες. Τούτων πελιδνοὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί· ὕπωχρος δὲ ἡ ἐπιφάνεια· πνεῦμα προσ εστηκός· γλῶσσα παρειμένη, καὶ κραυγὴ ἄση μος· ἀκροσφαλεῖς οἱ πόδες καθάπερ οἱ τῶν παίδων· ἐκκρίσεις δὲ τῶν περιττωμάτων αὐτόματοι ὥσπερ ἀπὸ ἀψύχων ῥέουσαι. Ἐλεεινοὶ τῆς τρυφῆς, ἐλεεινό τεροι τῶν ἐν πελάγει χειμαζομένων, οὓς ἄλλα ἐξ ἄλ λων διαδεχόμενα καὶ ἐπιβαπτίζοντα κύματα ἀναφέ ρειν οὐκ ἐπιτρέπει τοῦ κλύδωνος. Οὕτω δὴ καὶ τού των αἱ ψυχαὶ ὑποβρύχιοι φέρονται βεβαπτισμέναι τῷ οἴνῳ. ∆ιόπερ ὡς τὰ χειμαζόμενα πλοῖα, ἐπειδὰν ὑπέραντλα γένηται, ἀναγκαίως τῇ ἐκβολῇ τοῦ φόρ του κουφίζεται· οὕτω καὶ τούτοις ἀναγκαῖαι τῶν βαρυνόντων αἱ ἀποθέσεις. Ἐμοῦντες γὰρ καὶ ἀποβλύ ζοντες, μόλις ἐλευθεροῦνται τοῦ βάρους· τοσοῦτον τῶν δυσπλοούντων ἐλεεινότεροι, ὅσον οἱ μὲν ἀνέμους καὶ θάλασσαν καὶ τὰς ἔξωθεν ἀνάγκας ἐπαιτιῶνται· οἱ δὲ αὐθαίρετον ἐπισπῶνται τὸν ἐκ τῆς μέθης χει μῶνα. Ὁ δαιμονῶν ἐλεεινός· ὁ δὲ μεθύων, τὰ αὐτὰ πάσχων, οὐδὲ τοῦ ἐλεεῖσθαι ἄξιος, αὐθαιρέτῳ δαίμονι προσπαλαίων. Οἳ καὶ μέθης συντιθέασι φάρμακα, οὐχὶ τὸ μὴ παθεῖν τι δεινὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴνου, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ διαλείπειν μεθύοντες μηχανώμενοι. Ὀλίγη μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἡ ἡμέρα· μικρὰ δὲ ἡ νὺξ καὶ ἡ χειμέ ριος, πρός γε τὸν τοῦ πότου χρόνον. Τέλος δὲ οὐκ ἔστι τοῦ κακοῦ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ ἑαυτὸν ὁ οἶνος ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖον προάγει. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν χρείαν παραμυθεῖ ται, ἀλλ' ἑτέρου πότου χρείαν ἀπαραίτητον ἐμποιεῖ, ἐκκαίων τοὺς μεθύοντας, καὶ ἀεὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πλείο νος ἔφεσιν προκαλούμενος. Ἀπλήρωτον δὲ τοῦ πί νειν τὴν ὄρεξιν ἔχειν ἐπινοοῦντες, τὸ ἐναντίον πάσχου σιν ἢ προῄρηνται.

Τῷ γὰρ συνεχεῖ τῆς τρυφῆς τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἀπομαραίνουσιν. Ὡς γὰρ τὸ ἄγαν λαμπρὸν ἀμαυροῖ τὰς ὄψεις, καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τοῖς μεγάλοις ψό φοις κατακρουόμενοι τῇ ἀμετρίᾳ τῆς πληγῆς εἰς τὸ μηδὲ ἀκούειν παντελῶς περιάγονται· οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι λελήθασιν ἑαυτοὺς ὑπὸ τῆς ἄγαν φιληδονίας τὴν ἡδονὴν ἀπολέσαντες. Ἄποιος μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς καὶ ὑδατώδης ὁ οἶνος, κἂν ἄκρατος ᾖ· χλιαρὰ δὲ τοῦ νεα ροῦ ἡ ἀντίληψις, κἂν τὸ ἀκραιφνέστατον ᾖ, κἂν αὐτὴ χιὼν, κατασβέσαι τὴν ἔνδον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῆς ἀμετρίας τοῦ οἴνου καιομένην φλόγα μὴ δυναμένη. Τίνι οὐαί; τίνι θόρυβος; τίνι κρίσεις; τίνι ἀηδίαι καὶ λέσχαι; τίνι συντρίμματα διακενῆς; τίνος πελιδνοὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοί; Οὐ τῶν ἐγχρονιζόντων ἐν οἴνῳ, καὶ κατασκοπούντων ποῦ πότοι γίνονται; Τὸ οὐαὶ θρηνῶδές ἐστι ἐπίφθεγμα. Θρήνου δὲ ἄξιοι οἱ μεθύοντες, διότι Μέθυσοι βασιλείαν Θεοῦ οὐ κληρονομήσουσι. Θόρυβος δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου ταραχὴν ἐγγινομένην τοῖς λογισμοῖς. Καὶ 31.453 ἀηδίαι διὰ τὰς πικρὰς ἐκ τῆς τοῦ πίνειν ἡδονῆς ἀνα δόσεις. Τούτων γὰρ δεσμοῦνται μὲν οἱ πόδες, δε σμοῦνται δὲ χεῖρες ἐκ τῶν ἐπιπεμπομένων αὐτοῖς παρὰ τῆς μέθης ῥευμάτων. Καίτοι καὶ πρὸ τού των τῶν παθῶν, παρ' αὐτὸν τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πίνειν, τὰ τῶν φρενιτικῶν αὐτοῖς συμπίπτει πάθη. Ὅταν γὰρ πλήρεις αἱ μήνιγγες γένωνται τῆς αἰθάλης, ἣν ὁ οἶνος ἐξατμιζόμενος ἀναφέρει, βάλλεται μὲν ὀδύ ναις ἀφορήτοις ἡ κεφαλή· μένειν δὲ ὀρθὴ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων μὴ δυναμένη, ἄλλοτε ἐπ' ἄλλα καταπίπτει, τοῖς σπονδύλοις