,

drinking from the spring and the water, which Jesus gives, and it remains for him. For he has in himself a spring made for eternal life.

165 and again: "open your eyes and be filled with bread". he who opens the eyes of the "inner man" "will be filled with bread". And so the loaves thus remain as "the spring leaping up into eternal life". And this happened usefully in history, when the widow in Zarephath of Sidon, having a small amount of flour, also fed Elijah and had it unceasing, until abundance came from rain. For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God distracts him in the cheerfulness of his heart. It was necessary in the day of life to remember many things after these, the things that succeed them, because to those who are diligent here, certain greater things happen. Therefore he does not remember many things, but until the present he has the hope, saying: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die". Since: this therefore "that God distracts him"? He distracts in these things, since he does not wish to acquire the things that went before, nor does he labor for their recovery. So that the soul does not become motionless, other things are given to it. And I said this at the beginning of the book, when I prayed: "God has given an evil distraction". Since: the anagogical meaning: "that he does not much remember the days of his life, because God distracts him in the cheerfulness of his heart". Life in the proper and true sense is this: to live according to philosophy and virtue. But people do not remember many things, nor do they make much of this; they attend only to the things that distract and bring pleasures, and what they gather, only about these things are they diligent. But he should have remembered many things ... from the present things what is to come in his life in the true sense. And so here life is common, according to which we perceive, according to which we have the soul joined to the body and according to which the irrational animals also move and perceive. But the life according to reason and divine contemplation is proper to man. Since: he does not remember this? He does not remember the things that contribute to this life, if he has something futile. Again, here "heart" for us is the mind that truly sees God. Of course, the holy one says to God "with boldness": "a perverse heart 166 has not clung to me". Again, others have "hearts of flesh, in which the spirit of the living God writes". And he says "of flesh" meaning the yielding hearts, those quickly receiving the writing of the spirit. And it is possible also †if by the† according to the saying, so that he makes his own heart cheerful. For he chose to have a heart that hunts pleasures. One must understand the words with reference to those who say them. If the one speaking is wise, one must listen to them wisely. If, being wise, he adopts a persona and brings another character suitable to that man, one must again hear his speech. Since the apostle himself says: "whether we eat, or whether we drink, we neither lack nor abound", insofar as we are Christians or wise or "slaves of Christ", we have no addition or subtraction from eating anything more. But when he says: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die", it is the same one writing, it is the same one speaking, but not from his own person, he does not speak as an apostle, but he has taken on the person of those who say that beyond this present life there is no life after this. There is an evil, which I have seen under the sun, and it is great upon man: a man, to whom God will give wealth and possessions and glory. by these evils he is possessed; and this "I saw under the sun" and it especially abounds among men. And among the irrational animals it is possible to find a difference: not all horses are so fond of what is fine as those who are presented for contests or for wars. And likewise in the case of donkeys and dogs. But the difference is great concerning man. For those have it otherwise. To rest thus ... is the ... But here it is a choice, a distracted choice, a choice not able to judge what is beneficial and what is not beneficial; it is a mistaken knowledge to think that in wealth and glory it is possible to produce something

πίνων ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς καὶ τοῦ ὕδατος, οὗ Ἰησοῦς δίδωσιν, καὶ μένει αὐτῷ. ἔχε̣ι γ̣α`̣ρ ἐν ἑαυτῷ γενομένην εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον πηγήν.

165 καὶ πάλιν· "διάνοιξον το̣ὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου καὶ ἐνπλήσθητι ἄρτων". ὁ διοίγων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ "ἔσω ἀνθρώπου" "πλησ̣θήσεται ἄρτων". καὶ οἱ ἄρτοι οὖν οὕτω μένουσιν ὡς "ἡ πηγὴ ἡ ἀλλομένη εἰς ζωη`̣ν α̣ι᾿̣ώνιον". γέγονεν δὲ και`̣ ἐφ̣' ἱστορίᾳ χρησίμως τοῦτο, ὅτε ὀλίγην δραχμὴν ἔχου σα ἀλεύρου ἡ χήρα ἡ ἐν Σάραπτε τῆς Σιδωνίας θρέψασα καὶ τὸν Ἠλίουν ἐ´̣σ̣χ̣εν ἐκείνην ἀνέκλειπτον, ἕως οὗ εὐθηνία ἐξ ὑετοῦ γεγένηται. ὅτι οὐ πολλα`̣ μ̣νησθήσεται τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς περισπᾷ αὐτὸν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καρδίας αὐτοῦ. ἔδ̣ει ἐν τῇ ἡμε´̣ρᾳ τῆς ζωῆς πολλὰ μνημονεύειν τὰ μετὰ τα̣ῦτα, τὰ διαδε̣cο´̣ μ̣ε̣ν̣α̣, ὅτι τοῖς ἐνταῦθα σπουδαζομένοις ἐπιγίνεταί τ̣ινα μείζονα. οὐ πολ λὰ οὖν μνημονεύει, ἀλλὰ μέχρι τοῦ π̣άροντος ἔχει τὴν ἐλπίδα λέγων· "φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμ̣ε̣ν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνῄσκομεν". ἐπερ· τοῦτο οὖν "ὅτι ὁ θεὸς περισπᾷ αὐτόν"; περισπᾷ ἐν τούτοις, ἐπεὶ τὰ προηγούμενα οὐ θέλει κτήσασθαι, οὐδὲ πονεῖ περὶ ἀναλήμψεως αὐτῶν. ὅπως μὴ ἀκίνητος ἡ ψυχὴ γένηται, δίδοται αὐτῇ ἄλλα. εἶπον δὲ τ̣οῦτ̣ο̣ ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ βιβλίου, ὅτε εἰχόμη̣ν̣· "περισπασμὸν πονηρὸν ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός". ε᾿̣π̣ε̣ρ̣· τὴν ἀναγωγήν· "ὅτι οὐ πολλὰ μνημονεύει τ̣ὰς̣ ἡμέρας̣ τ̣ῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς περ̣ισπ̣ᾷ αὐτὸν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καρ̣δι´̣ας α̣υ᾿̣του῀"̣. ἡ κυρ̣ίως καὶ ἀληθῶς ζωη`̣ τ̣ο̣υ῀̣τ̣ο̣ τ̣ὸ κ̣ατ̣α`̣ φιλοσοφίαν καὶ ἀρετήν ε᾿̣σ̣τ̣ιν ζῆν. οὐ πολλὰ δὲ μνημο̣ν̣ε̣υ´̣ο̣υσιν ο̣ἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὐ περὶ πολλοῦ του῀̣το ποιοῦσιν· τοῖς περισπ̣ῶσιν καὶ τὰ ἥδ̣ε̣α̣ φέρουσιν ἐπιστάνουσιν μόνοις κα̣ὶ ἃ συνάγουσιν, μόνα περὶ ταῦτα σπ̣ουδ̣άζουσιν. ἔδει δὲ πολλὰ μνηςθῆ ναι π···· τῶν ἐνόντων τὰ ἐσόμενα τῇ ζωῇ ἑαυτοῦ τῇ ἀληθῶς. καὶ ὧδε οὖν κοι̣νή ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ ἡ καθ' ἣν αἰσθανόμεθα, καθ' ἣν συνε ζευγμένην ἔχομεν τὴν ψυχ̣ὴν τῷ σώματι καὶ καθ' ἣν κινεῖται καὶ αἰσθ̣ητι κῶς τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα. ἰδία δε`̣ το̣υ῀̣ ἀνθρώπου ἐστὶν ἡ κατὰ λόγον καὶ θεωρίαν θεϊκήν. ἐπερ· ταύτης οὐ μέμ̣νηται; οὐ μέμνηται τῶν συντελούντων εἰς ταύτην τὴν ζωήν, ἐὰν μάταιόν̣ τι ἔχῃ. πάλιν ὧδε "καρδία" ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὁ ἀληθῶς νοῦς ο῾̣ ὁρῶν τὸν θεόν. ἀμέλει γοῦν ὁ ἅγιος "ἐν παρρησίᾳ" πρὸς τὸν θεὸν λέγει· "οὐκ ἐκολλήθη μοι καρ 166 δία σκανβή". πάλιν ἄλλοι ἔχουσιν "καρδίας σαρκίνας, ἐν αἷς γράφει τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος". σαρκίνας δὲ λέγει τὰς εὐείκτους, τὰς τα χέως δεχομένας τὴν γραφὴν του῀̣ πνεύματος. δύναται δὲ καὶ †ἐαν ὑπὸ τῶν† κατὰ τὸ ῥητόν, ὥστε τὴν αὑτοῦ καρδίαν εὐφραι´̣νει. εἵλατο γὰρ καρδίαν ἔχειν θηρεύουσαν ἡδονάς. δεῖ τοὺς λόγους̣ π̣ρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας ἐκλαμβάνειν. εἰ σοφός ἐστιν ὁ λέ γων, σοφῶς αὐτῶν ἀκούειν δεῖ. εἰ σοφὸς ὢν προσωποποιεῖται καὶ ἕτερον πρόσωπον καὶ κατάλληλον φέρει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκείνῳ, ὁμιλίαν δεῖ πάλιν ἐκεί νου ἀκοῦσαι. ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγ̣ε̣ι· "κἂν φάγωμεν, κἂν πίωμεν, οὔτε ὑστερούμεθα οὔτε π̣ε̣ρ̣ι̣σσεύομεν", ᾗ Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν ἢ σοφοὶ ἢ "δοῦλοι Χριστοῦ", οὐκ ἔχομεν προσθήκην ἢ ἀφαίρεσιν ἐκ τοῦ φαγεῖν ἔτι τ̣ι. ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ· "φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνῄσκομεν", ο῾̣ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ γράφων, ὁ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ λέγων, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπὸ ἰδίου π̣ροσώ που, οὐχ ὡς ἀπόστολος λέγει, ἀλλὰ πρόσωπον ἐδέξατο τῶν λεγόντων, ὅτι πέρα τοῦ πάρο̣ν̣τος βίου τούτου οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡ ζωή. ἔστ̣ι̣ν̣ πονηρία, ἣν εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, καὶ πο̣λ̣λ̣η´̣ ἐστιν παρὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον· ἀνήρ, ᾧ δώσει αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς πλοῦτον καὶ ὑπάρχοντ̣α καὶ δόξαν. ταύταις κ̣ατ̣έχεται πονηρίαις· καὶ ταύτην "εἶδον ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον̣" κ̣α̣ὶ μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς α᾿̣ν̣θρώποις π̣ε̣ρ̣ισσε̣ύει. καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀλόγοις ζῴοις ἔστιν διαφορὰν εὑρεῖν· οὐ πάντες οἱ ἵπποι οὕτω φιλοκαλοῦνται ὡς ο̣ἱ εἰς ἀγῶνας ἢ εἰς πολέμους παριστα´̣μενοι. καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὄνων καὶ κυνῶν ὁμοίως. πολλὴ δέ ἐστιν ἡ διαφορὰ περὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον. ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ ἀλλοίως ἔχουσιν. τὸ οὕτως ἀναπαύεσθαι ·····εια ἐστιν ἡ ἐκκα·ο̣υ̣μένη. ὧδε δὲ προαίρεσίς ἐστιν προαίρεσις περισπω̣μένη, προαίρεσις οὐ δυνα μένη κρῖναι τὰ ὠφελοῦντα καὶ μὴ ὠφελοῦντα· γνῶσίς ἐστιν ἐσφαλμένη τὸ νομίζειν, ὅτι ἐν πλούτῳ καὶ δόξῃ δύναταί τι παρα´̣γειν