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size, stops growing; but the money of the covetous grows along with all time. Animals, having handed on to their offspring the power of begetting, themselves cease from pregnancy; but the monies of lenders both beget offspring, and the original principal is renewed. May you never come to experience this strange beast. You see the sun freely. Why do you begrudge yourself the freedom of life? No boxer so dodges the blows of his antagonist as the borrower dodges encounters with his creditor, shadowing his head against pillars and walls. How then shall I support myself, he says? You have hands, you have a trade; work for hire, serve; many are the contrivances of life, many the resources. But are you unable? beg from those who have. But is it shameful to beg? It is more shameful, then, to borrow and not repay. I do not say these things as laying down a law, but as showing that all things are more bearable for you than borrowing. The ant is able to support itself, neither begging nor borrowing; and the bee gives the remnants of its own food as a gift to kings; to whom nature gave neither hands nor skills; but will you, the resourceful creature, man, not find one means out of all to manage your life? And yet we see not those who lack necessities coming for a loan (for they do not have people to trust them), but people borrow who give themselves over to unrestrained expenses and fruitless luxuries, those who are slaves to womanly pleasures. For me, he says, costly clothing and gold, for the children seemly adornment of their garments, but also for the servants flowery and colorful cloaks, and for the table abundance. He who provides such things for his wife goes to the money-changer, and before he has used what he received, he takes one master after another, and by always changing lenders, through the continuity of the evil he escapes the reproach of his destitution. And just as those with dropsy are under the suspicion of being corpulent, so also this man exists in the fantasy of abundance, always receiving and always giving, and from the second loans 29.277 settling the previous ones, procuring for himself the creditworthiness to receive from the continuity of the evil. Then, just as in the case of cholera, those who vomit up whatever comes up, and before being completely purged, take in a second portion of food, vomit again with pain and convulsions; so also these men, taking interest upon interest, and before clearing the first, bringing in a second loan, living luxuriously for a short time on the property of others, afterwards lamented even their own. Oh how many have the goods of others destroyed! How many who became rich in a dream have reaped the full penalty of the loss! But many, he says, have also grown rich from loans. But more, I think, have also taken hold of nooses. But you see those who grew rich, and do not count those who hanged themselves, who, not bearing the shame of the demands, preferred death by hanging to living in disgrace. I have seen a pitiful sight, free children being dragged to the slave-market for their fathers' debts. You do not have money to leave to your children? Do not take away their noble birth as well. Preserve for them this one possession of freedom, the deposit which you received from your parents. No one has ever been blamed for a father's poverty; but a father's debt leads to prison. Do not leave behind a bond like a father's curse descending upon children and grandchildren. Hear, you rich, what sort of advice we give to the poor on account of your inhumanity: to endure hardships rather than to accept the calamities that come from interest. But if you obeyed the Lord, what need would there be of these words? And what is the counsel of the Master? Lend to those from whom you do not hope to receive back. And what kind of loan is this, he says, to which the hope of repayment is not joined? Understand the power of the saying, and you will marvel at the love for mankind of the lawgiver. When you are about to provide for a poor man for the Lord's sake, it is both a gift and a loan

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μέγεθος, τῆς αὐξή σεως ἵσταται· τὸ δὲ τῶν πλεονεκτῶν ἀργύριον τῷ χρόνῳ παντὶ συμπαραύξεται. Τὰ ζῶα, παραδόντα τοῖς ἐγγόνοις τὸ τίκτειν, αὐτὰ τῆς κυήσεως παύεται· τὰ δὲ τῶν δανειστῶν ἀργύρια καὶ τὰ ἐπιγινόμενα τίκτει, καὶ τὰ ἀρχαῖα νεάζει. Μὴ σύ γε εἰς πεῖραν ἔλθοις τοῦ ἀλλοκότου τούτου θηρίου. Ἐλεύθερον ὁρᾷς τὸν ἥλιον. Τί φθονεῖς σεαυτῷ τῆς παῤῥησίας τοῦ βίου; Οὐδεὶς πύκτης οὕτω τὰς πληγὰς τοῦ ἀνταγωνιστοῦ ὑποφεύγει, ὡς ὁ δανεισάμενος τοῦ χρήστου τὰς συντυχίας, πρὸς κίονας καὶ τοίχους ἀποσκιάζων τὴν κεφαλήν. Πῶς οὖν διατραφῶ, φησίν; Ἔχεις χεῖρας, ἔχεις τέχνην· μισθαρνοῦ, διακόνει· πολλαὶ ἐπίνοιαι τοῦ βίου, πολ λαὶ ἀφορμαί. Ἀλλ' ἀδυνάτως ἔχεις; προσαίτει παρὰ τῶν κεκτημένων. Ἀλλ' αἰσχρὸν τὸ αἰτεῖν; Αἰσχρότε ρον μὲν οὖν τὸ δανεισάμενον ἀποστερεῖν. Οὐ πάντως νομοθετῶν ταῦτα λέγω, ἀλλ' ὑποδεικνὺς, ὅτι πάντα σοι τοῦ δανείζεσθαι φορητότερα. Ὁ μύρμηξ μὲν δύ ναται, μήτε προσαιτῶν, μήτε δανειζόμενος, διατρέ φεσθαι· καὶ μέλισσα τὰ λείψανα τῆς οἰκείας τροφῆς βασιλεῦσι χαρίζεται· οἷς οὔτε χεῖρας, οὔτε τέχνας ἡ φύσις ἔδωκεν· σὺ δὲ τὸ εὐμήχανον ζῶον ὁ ἄνθρω πος μίαν τῶν πασῶν μηχανὴν οὐχ εὑρήσεις πρὸς τὴν τοῦ βίου διαγωγήν; Καίτοι ὁρῶμεν οὐχὶ τοὺς τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐνδεεῖς ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ δάνειον (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχουσι τοὺς πιστεύοντας), ἀλλὰ δανείζονται ἄνθρωποι, δαπάναις ἀνειμέναις καὶ πολυτελείαις ἀκάρποις ἑαυτοὺς ἐπιδιδόντες, οἱ γυναικείαις ἡδυ παθείαις δουλεύοντες. Ἐμοὶ, φησὶν, ἐσθῆτα πολυ τελῆ καὶ χρυσία, τοῖς παιδίοις κόσμον αὐτοῖς εὐπρεπῆ τῶν ἐνδυμάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς οἰκέταις ἀν θινὰ καὶ ποικίλα τὰ περιβόλαια, τῇ τραπέζῃ δαψί λειαν. Ὁ τὰ τοιαῦτα λειτουργῶν γυναικὶ ἐπὶ τὸν τραπεζίτην ἔρχεται, καὶ πρὶν χρήσασθαι τοῖς ληφθεῖ σιν, ἄλλον ἐξ ἄλλου μεταλαμβάνει δεσπότην, καὶ μετενδεσμῶν ἀεὶ τοὺς δανείζοντας, τῇ συνεχείᾳ τοῦ κακοῦ φεύγει τῆς ἀπορίας τὸν ἔλεγχον. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ ὑδεριῶντες ἐν ὑπονοίᾳ πολυσαρκίας εἰσὶν, οὕτω καὶ οὗτος ἐν φαντασίᾳ περιουσίας ὑπάρχει, ἀεὶ λαμ βάνων, καὶ ἀεὶ διδοὺς, καὶ ἐκ τῶν δευτέρων δια 29.277 λύων τὰ φθάσαντα, τὴν πρὸς τὸ λαμβάνειν ἀξιοπιστίαν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ κακοῦ συνεχείας περιποιού μενος ἑαυτῷ. Εἶτα ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς χολέρας οἱ τὸ ἀεὶ προϊστάμενον ἐξερῶντες, καὶ πρὶν παντελῶς καθαρθῆναι δευτέραν τροφὴν ἐπεμβαλλόμενοι, πάλιν ἐμοῦσι μετ' ὀδύνης καὶ σπαραγμῶν· οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι τόκους ἐκ τόκων μεταλαμβάνοντες, καὶ πρὶν ἐκκα θᾶραι τὰ πρῶτα, δεύτερον ἐπεισάγοντες δάνεισμα, μικρὸν χρόνον τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐναβρυνόμενοι, ὕστε ρον καὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα ὠδύραντο. Ὢ πόσους ἀπώλεσε τὰ ἀλλότρια ἀγαθά! Πόσοι ὄναρ πλουτήσαντες ὑπεραπή λαυσαν τῆς ζημίας! Ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ, φησὶ, καὶ ἐκ δα νεισμάτων ἐπλούτησαν. Πλείους δὲ, οἶμαι, καὶ βρό χων ἥψαντο. Σὺ δὲ τοὺς μὲν πλουτήσαντας βλέπεις, τοὺς δὲ ἀπαγξαμένους οὐκ ἀριθμεῖς, οἳ, τὴν ἐπὶ ταῖς ἀπαιτήσεσιν αἰσχύνην μὴ φέροντες, τὸν δι' ἀγχόνης θάνατον τοῦ ἐπονειδίστως ζῇν προετί μησαν. Εἶδον ἐγὼ ἐλεεινὸν θέαμα, παῖδας ἐλευθέ ρους ὑπὲρ χρεῶν πατρικῶν ἑλκομένους εἰς τὸ πρατήριον. Οὐκ ἔχεις καταλιπεῖν χρήματα τοῖς παισί; μὴ προσαφέλῃ καὶ τὴν εὐγένειαν. Ἓν τοῦτο διατήρησον αὐτοῖς τὸ κτῆμα τῆς ἐλευθερίας, τὴν πα ρακαταθήκην ἣν παρὰ τῶν γονέων παρέλαβες. Οὐ δεὶς πενίαν πατρὸς ἐνεκλήθη ποτέ· ὄφλημα δὲ πα τρῷον εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἄγει. Μὴ καταλίπῃς γραμ ματεῖον ὥσπερ ἀρὰν πατρικὴν εἰς παῖδας καταβαί νουσαν καὶ ἐγγόνους. Ἀκούετε, οἱ πλούσιοι, ὁποῖα συμβουλεύομεν τοῖς πτωχοῖς διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀπανθρωπίαν· ἐγ καρτερεῖν μᾶλλον τοῖς δεινοῖς, ἢ τὰς ἐκ τῶν τόκων συμφορὰς ὑποδέχεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ ἐπείθεσθε τῷ Κυρίῳ, τίς χρεία τῶν λόγων τούτων; Τίς δέ ἐστιν ἡ συμ βουλὴ τοῦ ∆εσπότου; ∆ανείζετε παρ' ὧν οὐκ ἐλπίζετε ἀπολαβεῖν. Καὶ ποῖον, φησὶ, τοῦτο δάνεισμα, ᾧ τῆς ἀποδόσεως ἐλπὶς οὐ συνέζευκται; Νόησον τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ῥητοῦ, καὶ θαυμάσεις τὴν φιλαν θρωπίαν τοῦ νομοθέτου. Ὅταν πτωχῷ παρέχειν μέλ λῃς διὰ τὸν Κύριον, τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ δῶρόν ἐστι καὶ δά