6.  What then were my feelings, and what was the reason of my disobedience?  For to most men I did not at the time seem consistent with myself, or to be such as they had known me, but to have undergone some deterioration, and to exhibit greater resistance and self-will than was right.  And the causes of this you have long been desirous to hear.  First, and most important, I was astounded at the unexpectedness of what had occurred, as people are terrified by sudden noises; and, losing the control of my reasoning faculties, my self-respect, which had hitherto controlled me, gave way.  In the next place, there came over me an eager longing17    Eager longing.  Nearly all mss. read “pity”—which would have to be understood in the sense of “regretful affection.” for the blessings of calm and retirement, of which I had from the first been enamoured to a higher degree, I imagine, than any other student of letters, and which amidst the greatest and most threatening dangers I had promised to God, and of which I had also had so much experience, that I was then upon its threshold, my longing having in consequence been greatly kindled, so that I could not submit to be thrust into the midst of a life of turmoil by an arbitrary act of oppression, and to be torn away by force from the holy sanctuary of such a life as this.

2ʹ. Τί οὖν ἐστιν ὃ πέπονθα; καὶ τίς ὁ λόγος τῆς ἐμῆς ἀπειθείας; Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔδοξα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τότε μένειν, οὐδ' εἶναι ὥσπερ ἐγινωσκόμην, ἀλλ' ἕτερος ἐξ ἑτέρου τις γεγονέναι, καὶ πλέον ἢ καλῶς εἶχεν ἀντιτείνειν καὶ αὐθαδιάζεσθαι. Τούτου δὴ τὰς αἰτίας ἀκούοιτ' ἂν ἤδη πάλαι ποθοῦντες. Μάλιστα μὲν τῷ ἀδοκήτῳ πληγεὶς, ὥσπερ οἱ τοῖς αἰφνιδίοις τῶν ψόφων καταπλαγέντες, οὐ κατέσχον τοὺς λογισμούς: καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔλυσα τὴν αἰδῶ, πάντα τὸν χρόνον ταύτῃ συνειθισμένος. Ἔπειτά μέ τις ὑπεισῄει ἔρως τοῦ καλοῦ τῆς ἡσυχίας καὶ τῆς ἀναχωρήσεως: ἧς ἐραστὴς γενόμενος ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ὡς οὐκ οἶδ' εἴ τις ἄλλος τῶν περὶ λόγους ἐσπουδακότων, καὶ ἣν ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις καὶ χαλεπωτάτοις κινδύνοις καθυποσχόμενος τῷ Θεῷ, καί τι καὶ προσαψάμενος ταύτης, ὅσον ἐν προθύροις γενέσθαι, καὶ πλείονά μοι τὸν πόθον ἐξαφθῆναι διὰ τῆς πείρας, οὐκ ἤνεγκα τυραννούμενος καὶ εἰς μέσους τοὺς θορύβους ὠθούμενος, καὶ οἷον ἀπὸ ἱεροῦ τινος ἀσύλου τοῦ βίου τούτου πρὸς βίαν ἀποσπώμενος.