VIII.  Churn milk and it will be butter;12    Prov. xxx. 33. examine this and perhaps you may find something more nourishing in it.  For I think that the Word here seems to deprecate second marriage.  For, if there were two Christs, there may be two husbands or two wives; but if Christ is One, one Head of the Church, let there be also one flesh, and let a second be rejected; and if it hinder the second what is to be said for a third?  The first is law, the second is indulgence, the third is transgression, and anything beyond this is swinish, such as has not even many examples of its wickedness.  Now the Law grants divorce for every cause; but Christ not for every cause; but He allows only separation from the whore; and in all other things He commands patience.  He allows to put away the fornicatress, because she corrupts the offspring; but in all other matters let us be patient and endure; or rather be ye13    An indication that S. Gregory was himself unmarried. enduring and patient, as many as have received the yoke of matrimony.  If you see lines or marks upon her, take away her ornaments; if a hasty tongue, restrain it; if a meretricious laugh, make it modest; if immoderate expenditure or drink, reduce it; if unseasonable going out, shackle it; if a lofty eye, chastise it.  It is uncertain which is in danger, the separator or the separated.  Let thy fountain of water, it says, be only thine own, and let no stranger share it with thee;14    Prov. v. 17. and, let the colt of thy favours and the stag of thy love company with thee; do thou then take care not to be a strange river, nor to please others better than thine own wife.  But if thou be carried elsewhere, then thou makest a law of lewdness for thy partner also.  Thus saith the Saviour.

Ηʹ. Ἄμελγε γάλα, καὶ ἔσται βούτυρον: ἐξέταζε καὶ τυχὸν ἂν εὕροις τι ἐν αὐτῷ τροφιμώτερον. Δοκεῖ μοι γὰρ παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν διγαμίαν ἐνταῦθα ὁ λόγος. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ δύο Χριστοὶ, δύο καὶ ἄνδρες, δύο καὶ γυναῖκες: εἰ δὲ εἷς Χριστὸς, μία κεφαλὴ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ μία σάρξ: ἡ δευτέρα δὲ ἀποπτυέσθω. Τὸ δεύτερον δὲ ἂν κωλύσῃ, τοῦ τρίτου τίς λόγος; Τὸ πρῶτον νόμος, τὸ δεύτερον συγχώρησις, τὸ τρίτον παρανομία. Ὁ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοῦτο, χοιρώδης, οἷος οὐδὲ πολλὰ ἔχων τῆς κακίας τὰ παραδείγματα. Ὁ μὲν νόμος κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν τὸ ἀποστάσιον δίδωσι: Χριστὸς δὲ οὐ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν: ἀλλὰ συγχωρεῖ μὲν μόνον χωρίζεσθαι τῆς πόρνης, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πάντα φιλοσοφεῖν κελεύει. Καὶ τὴν πόρνην, ὅτι νοθεύει τὸ γένος: τὰ δ' ἄλλα πάντα καρτερῶμεν καὶ φιλοσοφῶμεν: μᾶλλον δὲ καρτερεῖτε καὶ φιλοσοφεῖτε, ὅσοι τὸν τοῦ γάμου ζυγὸν ἐδέξασθε. Ἐὰν ἐπιγραφὰς ἴδῃς ἢ ὑπογραφὰς, ἀποκόσμησον: κἂν γλῶσσαν προπετῆ, σωφρόνισον: ἂν γέλωτα πορνικὸν, κατηφῆ ποίησον: ἐὰν δαπάνην, ἢ ποτὸν ἄμετρον, σύστειλον: ἐὰν προόδους ἀκαίρους, πέδησον: ἐὰν ὀφθαλμὸν μετέωρον, κόλασον. Μὴ τέμῃς δὲ προπετῶς, μὴ χωρίσῃς. Ἄδηλον, τί κινδυνεύει, τὸ τέμνον, ἢ τὸ τεμνόμενον. Ἡ πηγὴ, φησὶ, τοῦ ὕδατος ἔστω σοι ἰδία, καὶ μηδεὶς ἀλλότριος μετασχέτω σοι: καὶ, Πῶλος σῶν χαρίτων, καὶ ἔλαφος σῆς φιλίας ὁμιλείτω σοι. Σὺ τοίνυν μὴ γίνου ποταμὸς ἀλλότριος, μηδὲ ἄλλαις ἀρέσκειν σπούδαζε μᾶλλον, ἢ τῇ σῇ γυναικί. Εἰ δὲ ἀλλαχοῦ φέρῃ, καὶ τῷ σῷ μέλει νομοθετεῖς τὴν ἀσέλγειαν. Οὕτω μὲν ὁ Σωτήρ.