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the lame; and such as their bodies are, such are the souls of those others, possessed by dropsy and inflammation. For such is desperation; for after luxury comes crippling; for such is gluttony and drunkenness, making men lame and maimed. And you will see these men also having such souls, as these have bodies, bright, adorned. For those who live in thanksgiving, who seek nothing more than self-sufficiency, who thus practice philosophy are in all cheerfulness. But let us see the end both here and there. There indeed is intemperate pleasure, unrestrained laughter, drunkenness, jesting, shameful speech; for since they are ashamed to utter shameful things themselves, this is done through prostitutes. But here, philanthropy, gentleness. So, for the one who invites those men, vainglory stands by, arming him; but for the one here, philanthropy and gentleness. For philanthropy establishes that table, but this one, vainglory and cruelty out of injustice and greed. And that one ends in 62.308 what I said, in desperation, in ecstasy, in madness; for such is the fruit of vainglory; but this one in thanksgiving and the glory of God. And the praise from men is greater for this one; for they even envy that one, but this one all hold as a common father, even those who have not been well-treated. And just as in the case of the wronged, even those who have not been wronged suffer with them, and they all become enemies together; so also in the case of those who are well-treated, even those who are not well-treated, just like those who are, praise and admire the one who has done it. And there is much envy, but here much care, many prayers from all. And here, indeed, are these things; but there, when Christ comes, this one will stand with much boldness, and will hear before all the world, You saw me hungry, and you fed me; naked, and you clothed me; a stranger, and you took me in, and such things; but that one will hear the opposite, Wicked and lazy servant; and again, Woe to those who are wanton on their couches, and who sleep on ivory beds, who drink strained wine, and anoint themselves with the finest ointments, they reckoned these things as lasting, and not as fleeting. These things have not been said by us simply, but so as to change your mind, and that you might do nothing unprofitable. What then, he says, if I do both these things and those things? This argument is common among all. And what necessity is there, tell me, when it is possible to do all things usefully, to divide them, and to spend some not only for no good purpose, but even rashly, and others usefully? Tell me, if when sowing you cast some upon rock, and some into the best soil, would this have been enough for you, and would you have said: For what harm is there, if we cast some rashly, and some into the best soil? For why not all into the best? why do you diminish the profit? And if you must gather money, you will not say this, but you gather from all sides, but in that case no longer; and if you must lend, you will not say: Why shall we give some to the poor, and some to the wealthy, but all to those; but here, where the profit is so great, why do you not consider this, and stop at some point spending rashly and wasting in vain? But this also has a profit, he says. What kind, tell me? It increases friendships. Nothing is colder among men than friends made from these things, from the table and gluttony of parasites; nothing is more unpleasant than a friendship that takes its beginning from there. Do not insult so wonderful a thing, love, nor say that this is its root. Just as if someone, of a tree bearing gold and precious stones, were to say that its root was not of a like kind, but was born from decay; this is what you also do; for even if a friendship is born from there, nothing could be colder than it. But those tables make friendship, not with men, but with God, and an intense one, when they are held intensely. For the one who spends some things here, and some there, even if he gives much, has done nothing great; but the one who spends all things here, even if he has given little, the

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χωλούς· καὶ οἷα τούτων τὰ σώματα, τοιαῦται ἐκείνων αἱ ψυχαὶ, ὑδέρῳ καὶ φλεγμονῇ κατεχόμεναι. Τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ ἀπόνοια· μετὰ γὰρ τὴν τρυφὴν πήρωσις γίνεται· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ πλησμονὴ καὶ ἡ μέθη, χωλοὺς καὶ κυλλοὺς ποιοῦσα. Καὶ ὄψει καὶ τούτους τοιαύτας ἔχοντας ψυχὰς, οἷα οὗτοι τὰ σώματα, λαμπρὰς, κεκοσμημένας. Οἱ γὰρ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ ζῶντες, οἱ τῆς αὐταρκείας μηδὲν πλέον ἐπιζητοῦντες, οἱ φιλοσοφοῦντες οὕτως εἰσὶν ἐν πάσῃ φαιδρότητι. Ἴδωμεν δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐκεῖ τὸ τέλος. Ἐκεῖ μὲν ἡδονὴ ἀκόλαστος, γέλως κεχυμένος, μέθη, εὐτραπελία, αἰσχρολογία· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτοὶ αἰδοῦνται αἰσχρὰ φθέγγεσθαι, διὰ τῶν πορνῶν τοῦτο γίνεται. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ φιλανθρωπία, ἡμερότης. Τῷ μὲν οὖν ἐκείνους καλοῦντι παρέστηκε κενοδοξία ὁπλίζουσα αὐτόν· τῷ δὲ ἐνταῦθα φιλανθρωπία καὶ ἡμερότης. Ἐκείνην μὲν γὰρ τὴν τράπεζαν φιλανθρωπία συνίστησι, ταύτην δὲ κενοδοξία καὶ ὠμότης ἐξ ἀδικίας καὶ πλεονεξίας. Κἀκείνη μὲν καταλήγει εἰς 62.308 ἅπερ εἶπον, εἰς ἀπόνοιαν, εἰς ἔκστασιν, εἰς μανίαν· τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ τῆς κενοδοξίας βλάστη· αὕτη δὲ εἰς εὐχαριστίαν καὶ δόξαν Θεοῦ. Καὶ ὁ ἔπαινος δὲ ὁ παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ταύτῃ πλείων· ἐκείνῳ μὲν γὰρ καὶ βασκαίνουσι, τοῦτον δὲ ὡς κοινὸν πατέρα πάντες ἔχουσι καὶ οἱ μὴ παθόντες εὖ. Καὶ καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἠδικημένων καὶ οἱ μηδὲν ἠδικημένοι συναλγοῦσι, καὶ κοινῇ γίνονται πάντες ἐχθροί· οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν πασχόντων εὖ καὶ οἱ μὴ παθόντες εὖ, καθάπερ οἱ παθόντες, ἐπαινοῦσι καὶ θαυμάζουσι τὸν πεποιηκότα. Κἀκεῖ μὲν πολὺς ὁ φθόνος, ἐνταῦθα δὲ πολλὴ ἡ κηδεμονία, πολλαὶ παρὰ πάντων εὐχαί. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα μὲν ταῦτα· ἐκεῖ δὲ, ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς παραγένηται, οὗτος μὲν στήσεται μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς παῤῥησίας, καὶ ἀκούσεται ἐπὶ πάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης, Πεινῶντά με εἶδες, καὶ ἔθρεψας· γυμνὸν, καὶ ἐνέδυσας· ξένον, καὶ συνήγαγες, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα· ἐκεῖνος δὲ τὰ ἐναντία ἀκούσεται, Πονηρὲ δοῦλε καὶ ὀκνηρέ· καὶ πάλιν, Οὐαὶ οἱ κατασπαταλῶντες ἐπὶ ταῖς στρωμναῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ οἱ καθεύδοντες ἐπὶ κλινῶν ἐλεφαντίνων, οἱ πίνοντες τὸν διυλισμένον οἶνον, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μύρα χριόμενοι, ὡς ἑστῶτα ἐλογίσαντο, καὶ οὐχ ὡς φεύγοντα. Ταῦτα ἡμῖν οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἴρηται, ἀλλ' ὥστε μεταθεῖναι ὑμῶν τὴν γνώμην, καὶ μηδὲν ὑμᾶς ἀκερδὲς ποιεῖν. Τί οὖν, φησὶ, κἂν ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα ποιῶ; Πολὺς οὗτος ὁ λόγος παρὰ πᾶσι. Καὶ ποία ἀνάγκη, εἰπέ μοι, ἐξὸν πάντα χρησίμως ποιεῖν, διαιρεῖν, καὶ τὰ μὲν μὴ μόνον εἰς οὐδὲν δέον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰκῆ ἀναλίσκειν, τὰ δὲ χρησίμως; Εἰπέ μοι, εἰ σπείρων τὰ μὲν εἰς πέτραν ἔῤῥιπτες, τὰ δὲ εἰς γῆν ἀρίστην, ἆρα ἂν ἀπέχρησέ σοι τοῦτο, καὶ εἶπες ἄν· Τί γὰρ βλάπτει, ἂν τὰ μὲν εἰκῆ, τὰ δὲ εἰς ἀρίστην γῆν ῥίψωμεν; ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ μὴ πάντα εἰς ἀρίστην; διὰ τί τὸ κέρδος ἐλαττοῖς; Κἂν μὲν συνάγειν δέοι χρήματα, οὐκ ἐρεῖς τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ πάντοθεν συνάγεις, ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐκέτι· κἂν δανείζειν δέοι, οὐκ ἐρεῖ· ∆ιὰ τί τὰ μὲν τοῖς ἀπόροις, τὰ δὲ τοῖς εὐπόροις δώσομεν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐκείνοις· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, ἔνθα τοσοῦτον κέρδος, διὰ τί οὐ λογίζῃ τοῦτο, καὶ παύσῃ ποτὲ τοῦ εἰκῇ δαπανᾶσθαι καὶ μάτην ἀναλίσκειν; Ἀλλ' ἔχει καὶ τοῦτο κέρδος, φησί. Ποῖον, εἰπέ μοι, Τὰς φιλίας αὔξει. Οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπων ψυχρότερον ἀπὸ τούτων φίλων γινομένων, ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης καὶ πλησμονῆς τῶν παρασίτων· οὐδὲν φιλίας ἀηδέστερον ἐντεῦθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν λαμβανούσης. Μὴ ὑβρίσῃς πρᾶγμα οὕτω θαυμαστὸν, τὴν ἀγάπην, μηδὲ ταύτην αὐτῆς εἶναι ῥίζαν φῄς. Ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις δένδρου χρυσὸν καὶ λίθους τιμίους φέροντος τὴν ῥίζαν οὐχὶ τοιαύτην ἔλεγεν εἶναι, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ σηπεδόνος τίκτεσθαι· τοῦτο καὶ σὺ ποιεῖς· κἂν γὰρ τεχθῇ φιλία ἐντεῦθεν, οὐδὲν αὐτῆς ψυχρότερον γένοιτ' ἄν. Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖναι αἱ τράπεζαι φιλίαν ποιοῦσιν, οὐχὶ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐπιτεταμένην, ὅταν ἐπιτεταμέναι γίνωνται. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὰ μὲν ἐνταῦθα, τὰ δὲ ἐκεῖ καταναλίσκων, κἂν πολλὰ δῷ, οὐδὲν μέγα πεποίηκεν· ὁ δὲ πάντα ἐνταῦθα ἀναλίσκων, κἂν ὀλίγα δεδωκὼς ᾖ, τὸ