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enjoyment cannot increase beyond the measure of nature, to what end do we draw to ourselves the inflows of revenues, never overflowing from what comes in for the good of others? But since, according to the account of vanity given to us, vanity is either a foolish word or a useless deed, he rightly begins his discourse from there, so that we should consider neither any of the things that happen nor any of the things that are said, if it looks to the goal here below, 5.290 as having any substance. For all the zeal of men occupied with some of the things of this life is plainly the playthings of children on the sand, for whom the enjoyment of the things that are made has ended together with the zeal for making them; for as soon as they ceased from their labor, the sand, flowing back upon itself, left no trace of what had been labored over by the children. This is human life, sand is ambition, sand is power, sand is wealth, sand is each of the things zealously enjoyed through the flesh; in which now childish souls, busying themselves with things that have no substance and enduring many labors for each of these, if only they should leave the place of sand—I mean, the life in the flesh—then they will recognize the vanity of the sojourn here; for enjoyment also remained with the material life, drawing along with themselves nothing but conscience alone. And so it seems to me, the great Preacher, as if he had already become outside of these things and with a naked soul was treading upon the immaterial life, said those things, which it is likely that we too will say someday, when we are outside this coastal place, around which is the sand that is spit up by the sea of life, and we are separated from all the waves that crash around and roar against us, bringing from the perceived sea only 5.291 the memory of the things zealously pursued here, saying, 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' and 'What profit has a man, for which he labors under the sun.' For truly, at least in my judgment, this is the saying of every soul, when, stripped of the things here, it emigrates to the life that is hoped for. For if it has accomplished any of the higher things in this life, it speaks against that state in which it was, dishonoring the past by comparison with what it has found. Or if, having been passionately disposed toward matter, it should see the unexpected things and learn by experience the uselessness of the things it zealously pursued throughout its life, then, lamenting, it will utter this cry, just as we humans, out of repentance, relate our own follies in our lamentations, 'Vanity of vanities' and the rest. All words, he says, are wearisome, and a man cannot speak. And yet nothing is considered offhand easier than speaking. For what is the toil for one who speaks whatever he wants? The tongue is moist and flexible, and effortlessly shapes itself to whatever form of words it wishes; unhindered is the drawing of the airy breath, with which it works together to produce sounds; the service of the cheeks is painless, and likewise for the lips the cooperation 5.292 in the utterance of what is said. What toil, then, does he see in the word, when bodily labor does not create the toil for the word? For we do not utter words while digging the earth or rolling stones or carrying burdens on our shoulders or performing any other toilsome task, but a thought formed in us, when revealed through the voice, becomes a word. But since such a word has no toil, one must understand what are the toilsome words, which a man cannot speak. The elders, he says, should be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word. But an elder, according to common usage, is said to be one who has passed the disorderly age and has come to be in a state of old age, so that if someone should be unstable in his reasoning and have his life in disorder, such a one is not yet an elder, even if he happens to appear with gray hair, but is still a man. Therefore, the words, those that are truly words, which are spoken for the benefit of souls and the use of men, these are full of sweat and pains and bring on much toil, so that they may become words. For the farmer who labors must first

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ἀπόλαυσις πλεονάσαι οὐ δύναται παρὰ τὸ μέτρον τῆς φύσεως, εἰς τί τὰς τῶν προσόδων ἐπιρροὰς ἐφελκόμεθα, οὐδέποτε πρὸς εὐποιΐαν ἄλλων ἐκ τῶν ἐπεισιόντων ὑπερχεόμενοι; ἐπεὶ δὲ κατὰ τὸν ἀποδοθέντα ἡμῖν τῆς ματαιότητος λόγον ἢ τὸ ἀνόητον ῥῆμα ἢ τὸ ἀνόνητον πρᾶγμα ματαιότης ἐστίν, καλῶς ἐκεῖθεν τοῦ λόγου ἄρχεται, ὡς ἂν μήτε τι τῶν γινομένων μήτε τι τῶν λεγομένων, εἴ τι πρὸς τὸν ὧδε βλέπει σκοπόν, 5.290 ὡς ὑφεστὼς λογισώμεθα. πᾶσα γὰρ ἀνθρώπων σπουδὴ πρός τι τῶν παρὰ τὸν βίον ἀσχολουμένη νηπίων ἄντικρύς ἐστι τὰ ἐπὶ ψάμμων ἀθύρματα, οἷς ἡ τῶν γινομένων ἀπόλαυσις τῇ περὶ τὰ γινόμενα σπουδῇ συναπέληξεν· ἅμα τε γὰρ τοῦ πονεῖν ἐπαύσαντο, καὶ ἡ ψάμμος πρὸς ἑαυτὴν συρρυεῖσα οὐδὲν ἴχνος τῶν πεπονημένων τοῖς παισὶν ὑπελείπετο. Τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ ἀνθρώπινος βίος, ψάμμος ἡ φιλοτιμία, ψάμμος ἡ δυναστεία, ψάμμος ὁ πλοῦτος, ψάμμος ἕκαστον τῶν κατὰ σπουδὴν διὰ σαρκὸς ἀπολαυομένων· ἐν οἷς νῦν αἱ νηπιώδεις ψυχαὶ τοῖς ἀνυποστάτοις ἐμματαιάζουσαι καὶ πολλοὺς περὶ ἕκαστον τούτων ὑπομένουσαι πόνους, εἰ μόνον ἀπολείποιεν τὸ τῆς ψάμμου χωρίον, τὴν ἐν σαρκὶ λέγω ζωήν, τότε τὸ μάταιον τῆς ὧδε διατριβῆς ἐπιγνώσονται· τῷ γὰρ ὑλικῷ βίῳ καὶ ἡ ἀπόλαυσις συναπέμεινεν, ἐφέλκον δὲ μεθ' ἑαυτῶν οὐδὲν ὅτι μὴ τὴν συνείδησιν μόνην. ὡς μοι δοκεῖ καὶ ὁ μέγας ἐκκλησιαστὴς ὥσπερ ἤδη ἔξω τούτων γενόμενος καὶ γυμνῇ τῇ ψυχῇ τῆς ἀΰλου ζωῆς ἐπιβατεύων ἐκεῖνα εἶπεν, ἃ εἰκός ποτε καὶ ἡμᾶς εἰπεῖν, ὅταν ἔξω τοῦ παραλίου τούτου τόπου γενώμεθα, περὶ ὃν ἡ ψάμμος ἐστὶν ἡ ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ βίου θαλάσσης ἐκπτυομένη, καὶ πάντων χωρισθῶμεν τῶν περικτυπούντων ἡμᾶς καὶ καταβομβούντων κυμάτων, ἐκ τῆς νοηθείσης θαλάσσης μόνον 5.291 τὴν μνήμην τῶν ὧδε σπουδασθέντων ἐπαγόμενοι, λέγων τὸ Ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, τὰ πάντα ματαιότης, καὶ τὸ Τίς περισσεία τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, ᾧ μοχθεῖ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον. ὄντως γάρ, κατά γε τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, πάσης ἐστὶ ψυχῆς οὗτος ὁ λόγος, ὅταν γυμνωθεῖσα τῶν τῇδε πρὸς τὸν ἐλπιζόμενον μετοικισθῇ βίον. εἴτε γάρ τι τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ κατώρθω σε, κατηγορεῖ τούτου, ἐν ᾧ ἦν, τῇ πρὸς τὸ εὑρεθὲν συγκρίσει τὸ παρελθὸν ἀτιμάζουσα· εἴτε καὶ προσπαθῶς περὶ τὴν ὕλην διατεθεῖσα ἴδοι τὰ ἀπροσδόκητα καὶ τῇ πείρᾳ μάθοι τῶν σπουδασθέντων παρὰ τὸν βίον αὐτῇ τὸ ἀνόνητον, τότε θρηνοῦσα τὴν φωνὴν ταύτην προήσεται, οἷα δὴ ποιοῦμεν ἐκ μεταμελείας οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὰς ἀβουλίας ἑαυτῶν ἐν τοῖς ὀλοφυρμοῖς διηγούμενοι, τὸ Ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων καὶ τὰ λειπόμενα. Πάντες οἱ λόγοι, φησίν, ἔγκοποι, καὶ οὐ δυνήσεται ἀνὴρ τοῦ λαλεῖν. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲν ἐκ τοῦ προχείρου νομίζεται τοῦ λαλεῖν εὐκολώτερον. τίς γάρ ἐστι κόπος τῷ λαλοῦντι ὅ τί τις βούλεται; ὑγρὰ ἡ γλῶσσα καὶ εὔστροφος καὶ πρὸς ὅτιπερ ἂν ἐθέλῃ ῥημάτων εἶδος ἀπόνως ἑαυτὴν σχηματίζουσα· ἀκώλυτος ἡ ὁλκὴ τοῦ ἀερίου πνεύματος, ᾧ συγκεχρημένη τοὺς φθόγγους ἐργάζεται· ἄλυπος ταῖς παρειαῖς ἡ ὑπουργία καὶ τοῖς χείλεσιν ἅμα ἡ πρὸς τὴν ἐκφώνησιν τοῦ λεγομένου 5.292 συνεργία. τίνα οὖν ἐνορᾷ κόπον τῷ λόγῳ, τοῦ σωματικοῦ πόνου μὴ ποιοῦντος τῷ λόγῳ τὸν κόπον; οὐ γὰρ γῆν σκά πτοντες ἢ πέτρας ἀνακυλίοντες ἢ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἀχθοφοροῦντες ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐπιπόνων κατεργαζόμενοι τὸν λόγον διεξο δεύομεν, ἀλλὰ τὸ συστὰν ἐν ἡμῖν νόημα διὰ φωνῆς ἐκκαλυφθὲν λόγος ἐγένετο. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ὁ τοιοῦτος λόγος κόπον οὐκ ἔχει, νοητέον ἂν εἴη, τίνες οἱ κοπιῶντες λόγοι, οὓς οὐ δυνήσεται ἀνὴρ τοῦ λαλεῖν. Οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, φησί, διπλῆς τιμῆς ἀξιούσθωσαν, μάλιστα οἱ κοπιῶντες ἐν λόγῳ. πρεσβύτερος δὲ κατὰ τὴν κοινὴν συνήθειαν ὁ ἐκβὰς τὴν ἄτακτον ἡλικίαν καὶ ἐν γηραιᾷ καταστάσει γενόμενος λέγεται, ὡς εἴ γέ τις ἀστατοίη τῷ λογισμῷ καὶ ἐν ἀταξίᾳ τὸν βίον ἔχοι, οὔπω πρεσβύτερος ὁ τοιοῦτος, κἂν ἐν πολιᾷ τύχῃ φαινόμενος, ἀλλ' ἔτι ἀνήρ. οὐκοῦν οἱ λόγοι, οἵ γε ἀληθῶς λόγοι, οἱ πρὸς τὸ ψυχωφελές τε καὶ χρήσιμον τῶν ἀνθρώπων γινόμενοι, οὗτοι πλήρεις ἱδρώτων εἰσὶ καὶ πόνων καὶ πολὺν ἐπάγονται κόπον, ἵνα γένωνται λόγοι. τὸν γὰρ κοπιῶντα γεωργὸν δεῖ πρῶτον