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a camel; and its offspring was a little camel, which, he says, when its mother was killed, cried out to God, and he took it to himself. To whom we say: From where did that camel come? And they say that it was from God. And we say: Was another camel mated with it? And they say: No. From where then, we say, did it give birth? For we see your camel without father and without mother and without genealogy, but having given birth, it suffered evil. But the one who mounted it does not appear, and the little camel was taken up. Your prophet, therefore, to whom, as you say, God spoke, why did he not learn about the camel, where it grazes and who enjoys it by milking it? Or was it also perhaps killed, having encountered evil like its mother, or has it entered into paradise as your forerunner, from which will be the river of milk for you, about which you talk nonsense? For you say that three rivers flow for you in paradise: of water, of wine, and of milk. If your forerunner camel is outside of paradise, it is clear that it has dried up from hunger and thirst or others are enjoying its milk, and your prophet boasts in vain of having spoken with God; for the mystery of the camel was not revealed to him. But if it is in paradise, it again drinks the water, and you are dried up by drought in the midst of the delight of paradise. And if you should desire wine from the river flowing by, since water is not present—for the camel drank it all—drinking it unmixed you are set on fire and you rave in drunkenness and fall asleep; and with a heavy head even after sleep and hungover from wine you forget the pleasures of paradise. How then did your prophet not consider these things, lest they happen to you in the paradise of delight, nor did he give any thought to the camel, where it is now? But neither did you ask him, when he, while daydreaming, told you about the three rivers. But we clearly declare that your wonderful camel has run ahead of you to the souls of donkeys, where you also are going to live as beasts. But there is outer darkness and unending punishment, roaring fire, a sleepless worm, and Tartarean demons. Again Mamed says: and the scripture "of the table" says that Christ asked God for a table, and it was given to him. For God, he says, said to him, "I have given to you and to yours an incorruptible table." Again he speaks of a scripture "of the little ox" and some other words worthy of laughter, which, because of their number, I think I must pass over. Having legislated that these people be circumcised along with their women and having commanded them neither to keep the sabbath nor to be baptized, he handed down that they eat some of the things forbidden in the law, but abstain from others; and he forbade wine-drinking altogether.

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κάμηλον· τῆς δὲ γέννημα ὑπῆρχεν μικρὰ κάμηλος, ἥτις, φησί, τῆς μητρὸς ἀναιρεθείσης ἀνεβόησε πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτὴν πρὸς ἑαυτόν. Πρὸς οὕς φαμεν· Πόθεν ἡ κάμηλος ἐκείνη· Καὶ λέγουσιν, ὅτι ἐκ θεοῦ. Καί φαμεν· Συνεβιβάσθη ταύτῃ κάμηλος ἄλλη; Καὶ λέγουσιν· Οὐχί. Πόθεν οὖν, φαμέν, ἐγέννησεν; Ὁρῶμεν γὰρ τὴν κάμηλον ὑμῶν ἀπάτορα καὶ ἀμήτορα καὶ ἀγενεαλόγητον, γεννήσασα δὲ κακὸν ἔπαθεν. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ὁ βιβάσας φαίνεται, καὶ ἡ μικρὰ κάμηλος ἀνελήφθη. Ὁ οὖν προφήτης ὑμῶν, ᾧ, καθὼς λέγετε, ἐλάλησεν ὁ θεός, διὰ τί περὶ τῆς καμήλου οὐκ ἔμαθε, ποῦ βόσκεται καὶ τίνες γαλεύονται ταύτην ἀμέλγοντες; Ἢ καὶ αὐτὴ μή ποτε κακοῖς ὡς ἡ μήτηρ περιτυχοῦσα ἀνῃρέθη ἢ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ πρόδρομος ὑμῶν εἰσῆλθεν, ἀφ' ἧς ὁ ποταμὸς ὑμῖν ἔσται, ὃν ληρεῖτε, τοῦ γάλακτος; Τρεῖς γάρ φατε ποταμοὺς ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ῥέειν· ὕδατος, οἴνου καὶ γάλακτος. Ἐὰν ἐκτός ἐστιν ἡ πρόδρομος ὑμῶν κάμηλος τοῦ παραδείσου, δῆλον, ὅτι ἀπεξηράνθη πείνῃ καὶ δίψῃ ἢ ἄλλοι τοῦ γάλακτος αὐτῆς ἀπολαύουσι, καὶ μάτην ὁ προφήτης ὑμῶν φρυάττεται ὡς ὁμιλήσας θεῷ· οὐ γὰρ τὸ μυστήριον αὐτῷ ἀπεκαλύφθη τῆς καμήλου. Εἰ δὲ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ ἐστί, πάλιν πίνει τὸ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἀνυδρίᾳ ξηραίνεσθε ἐν μέσῳ τῆς τρυφῆς τοῦ παραδείσου. Κἂν οἶνον ἐκ τοῦ παροδεύοντος ἐπιθυμήσητε ποταμοῦ, μὴ παρόντος ὕδατος-ἀπέπιε γὰρ ὅλον ἡ κάμηλος- ἄκρατον πίνοντες ἐκκαίεσθε καὶ μέθῃ παραπαίετε καὶ καθεύδετε· καρηβαροῦντες δὲ καὶ μεθ' ὕπνον καὶ κεκραιπαληκότες ἐξ οἴνου τῶν ἡδέων ἐπιλανθάνεσθε τοῦ παραδείσου. Πῶς οὖν ὁ προφήτης ὑμῶν οὐκ ἐνενοήθη ταῦτα, μήποτε συμβῇ ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τῆς τρυφῆς, οὐδὲ περὶ τῆς καμήλου πεφρόντικεν, ὅπου νῦν διάγει; Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἠρωτήσατε αὐτόν, ὡς ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν τριῶν διηγόρευσεν ὀνειροπολούμενος ποταμῶν. Ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς σαφῶς τὴν θαυμαστὴν ὑμῶν κάμηλον εἰς ψυχὰς ὄνων, ὅπου καὶ ὑμεῖς μέλλετε διάγειν ὡς κτηνώδεις, προδραμοῦσαν ὑμῶν ἐπαγγελλόμεθα. Ἐκεῖσε δὲ σκότος ἐστὶ τὸ ἐξώτερον καὶ κόλασις ἀτελεύτητος, πῦρ ἠχοῦν, σκώληξ ἀκοίμητος καὶ ταρτάριοι δαίμονες. Πάλιν φησὶν ὁ Μάμεδ· ἡ γραφὴ «τῆς τραπέζης» λέγει δέ, ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς ᾐτήσατο παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τράπεζαν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ. Ὁ γὰρ θεός, φησίν, εἶπεν αὐτῷ, ὅτι δέδωκά σοι καὶ τοῖς σοῖς τράπεζαν ἄφθαρτον. Πάλιν γραφὴν «βοιδίου» λέγει καὶ ἄλλα τινὰ ῥήματα γέλωτος ἄξια, ἃ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος παραδραμεῖν οἴομαι δεῖν. Τούτους περιτέμνεσθαι σὺν γυναιξὶ νομοθετήσας καὶ μήτε σαββατίζειν μήτε βαπτίζεσθαι προστάξας, τὰ μὲν τῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ἀπηγορευμένων ἐσθίειν, τῶν δὲ ἀπέχεσθαι παραδούς· οἰνοποσίαν δὲ παντελῶς ἀπηγόρευσεν.