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is destroyed along with it. They wished, therefore, to "take me in their hands" and to encompass me with a circle of words, then thus to reveal the very sting of the blow, for which reason they also sent me a letter, reproaching my very long lack of communication with them and mocking my neglect concerning my studies and, how I do not stop as I began—but, having leaped swiftly from the starting-point, my breath for the race quickly fails—, they also added some of the usual things about my sister, by which I happened to have been often ensnared. With these things, therefore, they turn me back to them. And they thought their scheme would go unnoticed, but I, besieged from another side, was captured and before the noble deceit, the truth brought me down. But how, my account will tell. I happened, then, to have already entered the city wall and to have come to that part where my sister's body was buried; and it happened to be the seventh day after her burial and many of our kin were present both to mourn her who lay there and to console our mother. There, then, having met one of my kinsmen, a "simple" and "noble man" who knew neither the deceit nor that I was being drawn along, ensnared by my parents, I inquired both about my father and about my other relatives. And he, weaving nothing in or obscuring the truth at all: "Your father," he says, "is offering the funeral laments to his daughter, and your mother is indeed present with him, inconsolably, as you know, in her misfortune." He, then, said these things, but I do not know what I suffered; for as if burned through by divine fire, I had become withered and speechless. I slid, at any rate, even from my seat on the horse and the report about me reached the ears of my parents. Then another lament arose and a wailing over me, much more violent than the first; for upon a lit fire, even a small piece of kindling placed underneath rouses the flame and "fans the breath of wind" and doubles the excess of the conflagration. For when they perceived it, they ran toward me as if mad, and then for the first time my mother exposed her face in public, scorning the sight of men. Rushing then upon me as I lay there and taking hold of me, one from one side, one from another, they revived me with their own laments; then, indeed, leading me, half-dead, they gave me over to my sister's tomb. But oh, how shall I hold back my tears even now as I relate this, and how shall I be able to weave my tale, with my soul seized by a mist? I will speak, then, as I am able, strengthening myself with better reasonings. When, then, opening my eyes, I saw my sister's tomb and had recognized my suffering and gathered my wits, suddenly rushing forward, I poured out the channels of my tears upon her who lay there like "libations upon a tomb," saying: "O you who are sweet to me, not only a sister but also if there is any other name more kindred or more beloved. O indescribable beauty, incomparable nature, unparalleled virtue, 'living statue,' goad of persuasion, 'siren of speech, invincible grace,' O all things to me and more than my soul. But how did you depart, leaving your brother? How were you torn away from what grew with you? How do you endure your solitude for so long? Oh, what station has received you, what lodging, having been allotted to you, gives you rest, what meadows, what graces? What paradise enchants you? And what is that beauty which you have preferred to my company and sight? What flower draws you to it, what rose gardens, what gushing little stream? What nightingales, what cicadas uttering a sweet sound? And the beauty of your body, does nature, having received it, guard and treasure it, or has the dust consumed it and the lamp of your eyes been extinguished and the flower upon your lip vanished and has the composition been dissolved and the constitution been unmade, or does your beauty still remain, preserved in the treasury of the tomb? If, then, the spirit that has departed from you has turned entirely to God and you have nowhere a thought or memory of things here, hold to your vision there and your illumination. I do not blame you for your lack of communion, not

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ξυναπόλλυται. ἐβούλοντο οὖν με «ἐν χερσὶν ἑλεῖν» καὶ κύκλῳ λόγων περιλαβεῖν, εἶθ' οὕτως αὐτὸ τῆς πληγῆς τὸ κέντρον ἐκφῆναι, ὅθεν μοι καὶ ἐπιστολὴν προὔπεμψαν τὴν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ μήκιστον ἀκοινωνησίαν κατονειδίζουσαν καὶ τὴν περὶ τοὺς λόγους ἀμέλειαν ἐπισκώπτουσαν καί, ὡς οὐχ ὡς ἀρχόμενος λήγω-ἀλλ' ὀξέως ἐκθορόντι τῆς ἀφετηρίας ἐπιλείπει ταχὺ τοῦ δρόμου τὸ πνεῦμα -, προσέθεσάν τι καὶ τῶν περὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς εἰωθότων, οἷς ἐγὼ πολλάκις τεθηραμένος ἐτύγχανον. τούτοις οὖν με πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀναστρέφουσι. κἀκεῖνοι μὲν ᾤοντο διαλαθεῖν τὸ μηχάνημα, ἐγὼ δ' ἑτέρωθεν ἐκπολιορκηθεὶς ἑάλωκα καὶ πρὸ τῆς καλῆς ἀπάτης κατήνεγκεν ἡ ἀλήθεια. τὸ δ' ὅπως ὁ λόγος ἐρεῖ. Ἔτυχον μὲν οὖν ἤδη τὸ τεῖχος εἰσεληλυθὼς καὶ κατ' ἐκεῖνο τὸ μέρος γενόμενος ἔνθα τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἀδελφῆς τέθαπτο· ἑβδομαία δὲ παρὰ τὰς ταφὰς οὖσα ἐτύγχανε καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ γένους παρῆσαν τήν τε κειμένην πενθήσοντες καὶ τὴν μητέρα παρηγορήσοντες. αὐτοῦ γοῦν τῶν συγγενῶν τινι ἐντυχών, «ἀνδρὶ» ἁπλοικῷ «καὶ γενναίῳ» μήτε τὴν ἀπάτην εἰδότι μήθ' ὅτι πρὸς τῶν γεννησαμένων θηραθεὶς ἕλκομαι, περί τε τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπυθόμην καὶ τῶν ἄλλως ἐμοὶ προσηκόντων. ὁ δέ, μηδέν τι συμπλέξας ἢ ἐπηλυγάσας τοῦ ἀληθοῦς· «ὁ μὲν πατὴρ τοὺς ἐπικηδείους-φησί-θρήνους τῇ θυγατρὶ ἀποδίδωσιν, ἡ δὲ μήτηρ ἐπ' αὐτῷ καὶ δὴ πάρεστιν ἀπαρακλήτως, ὡς οἶσθα, περὶ τὴν συμφορὰν ἔχουσα». ὁ μὲν οὖν ταῦτ' εἶπεν, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπερ ἐπεπόνθειν· ὥσπερ γὰρ πυρὶ θείῳ διακαείς, αὖος ἐγεγόνειν καὶ ἄναυδος. κατωλίσθησα γοῦν καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν ἵππον ἕδρας καὶ ἡ περὶ ἐμὲ φήμη τὰς τῶν γονέων κατείληφεν ἀκοάς. Θρῆνος οὖν ἄλλος ἐγήγερτο καὶ κλαυθμὸς ἐπ' ἐμοὶ πολὺ τοῦ προτέρου σφοδρότερος· ἐπὶ γὰρ ἡμμένῳ πυρὶ καὶ βραχύ τι ὑποβληθὲν ἔκκαυμα ἐγείρει τὴν φλόγα καὶ «ἀναρριπίζει τὸ πνεῦμα» καὶ διπλασιάζει τῆς πυρκαϊᾶς τὴν ὑπερβολήν. ὡς γὰρ ᾔσθοντο καθαπερεὶ μεμηνότες ἔθεον ἐπ' ἐμέ, καὶ τότε πρῶτον ἡ μήτηρ τὴν ὥραν ἐδημοσίευσεν, ἀρρένων καταφρονήσασα ὄψεως. κατενεχθέντες γοῦν ἐπ' ἐμοὶ κειμένῳ καὶ ἄλλος ἀλλαχόθεν μεταλαβόντες, τοῖς ἑαυτῶν θρήνοις ἀνεκαλέσαντο· εἶτα δῆτα καὶ ἡμιθνῆτα περιαγαγόντες τῷ τῆς ἀδελφῆς τάφῳ ἀποδιδόασιν. ἀλλ' ὤ, πῶς ἐφέξω καὶ νῦν τὸ δάκρυον διηγούμενος, πῶς δὲ καὶ ἐξυφᾶναι τὸν λόγον δυνήσομαι, ἀχλύϊ καταληφθεὶς τὴν ψυχήν; λέξω οὖν, ὡς ἂν οἶός τε ὦ, κρείττοσι λογισμοῖς ἀναρρωννὺς ἐμαυτόν. ὡς γοῦν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἀνοίξας τὸν τύμβον ἐθεασάμην τῆς ἀδελφῆς καὶ ἐπεγνώκειν τὸ πάθος καὶ ξυνείλοχα τὸ φρονοῦν, ἀθρόον κατενεχθεὶς ὥσπερ «ἐπιτυμβίους χοὰς» τοὺς τῶν δακρύων ὀχετοὺς τῇ κειμένῃ κατέσπενδον, «ὦ γλυκεῖά μοι-λέγων- οὐκ ἀδελφὴ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ εἴ τι ἕτερον ὄνομα συγγενέστερον ἢ συμπαθέστερον. ὦ κάλλος ἀμήχανον, φύσις ἀσύγκριτος, ἀρετὴ ἀπαράμιλλος, «ἔμψυχον ἄγαλμα», κέντρον πειθοῦς, «λόγων σειρήν, χάρις» ἀνίκητος, ὦ πάντα ἐμοὶ καὶ πλέον ἢ ψυχή. ἀλλὰ πῶς ἀπῆλθες ἀφεῖσα τὸν ἀδελφόν, πῶς δὲ ἀπερράγης τοῦ συμφυοῦς, πῶς δὲ καὶ τὴν μοναυλίαν μέχρι πολλοῦ καρτερεῖς; ὤ, ποῖός σε σταθμὸς ὑπεδέξατο, ποία ἀναπαύει λαχοῦσα καταγωγή, τίνες λειμῶνες, τίνες χάριτες; ποῖός σε καταθέλγει παράδεισος; τί δ' ἐστὶν ἐκεῖνο τὸ κάλλος ὃ τῆς ἐμῆς ὁμιλίας καὶ θέας προκέκρικας; ποῖόν σε ἄνθος ἀνθέλκει, τίνες ῥοδωνιαί, ποῖον βλύζον ὑδάτιον; τίνες ἀηδόνες, ποῖοι τέττιγες ἡδεῖαν ἱέντες φωνήν; τὸ δέ σοι κάλλος τοῦ σώματος πότερον ἡ φύσις παραλαβοῦσα παραφυλάττει καὶ ταμιεύει, ἢ ὁ χοῦς ἐξανάλωσε καὶ ἀπέσβη σοι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὁ λαμπτὴρ καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ χείλους ἄνθος ἠφάνισται καὶ διαλέλυται ἡ συνθήκη καὶ ἡ σύγκρισις ἀναλέλυται, ἢ ἔτι σου μένει τὸ κάλλος ἐν θησαυρῷ τῷ τάφῳ τηρούμενον; ἢν μὲν οὖν τὸ ἀπελθὸν ἀπὸ σοῦ πνεῦμα ὅλον ἐπέστραπται πρὸς Θεὸν καὶ οὐδαμοῦ σοι τῶν ἐνταῦθα λόγος οὐδὲ ἀνάμνησις, ἔχου τῆς ἐνταῦθα θεωρίας καὶ τῆς ἐλλάμψεως. οὐ μέμφομαί σοι τὸ ἀκοινώνητον, οὐκ