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of neighbors, and others to our own, more pious perhaps. Pn. How much better to look only to the hands of God, Who both gives and asks in a fatherly way, 655 And to do nothing shameful for the sake of receiving, Imitating the blood-lapping leech, Holding fast to some, but resting one's mind on others, Looking at some things not with good eyes, While being shaped by the hopes of dreams, Always more a pauper in what is desired? Kosm. But how will someone bear the burden of a difficult time, Bearing no support against the unpleasantness? Pn. You asked me how one will escape a well-aimed arrow? A hair is not easily split, not even from close up. Become narrow for me; and you will flee the burden of evils. The reed bears the winds, but not the oaks. For the one yields, but their weight overturns the others. Kosm. It is permitted for me to live in luxury. Pn. But for me, luxury is To not live in luxury, with satiety and with the bowels 656 Swelling, and being sick with a rich man's disease, Stinking with the pleasant mire beyond the throat, Constricting the mind with the thickness of the mud. Kosm. The pastries are mine. Pn. Bread is my seasoning, For me, the drinks, from salt everything is sweet. At which I spit out the bitter salt of the luxurious. Kosm. The smell of perfumes is a delight for me, songs, The clapping of hands and feet, graceful inflections, The symphony of harmonious instruments. Pn. You praise these things, but these are the things by which wealth is evil to me, as a teacher of evils. Better for us than instruments is psalmody; Harmonizing the soul with the things that are understood And Christ is more fragrant than any perfume, Who for us was emptied, that he might release us from the stench, 657 with which the deadness of sin filled me. And I clap my hands, if my murderer falls, After introducing some word or some deed that is evil. The dance of the feet, an inspired turning. Kosm. Perhaps you would say this, that poverty also for diseases Suffices, bearing more cures for bodies. Pn. I would not say this. For it is not a true saying; But what is true, this also will be spoken; The poor man is much stronger than those who have. And God has given, balancing the grace, Strength to the poor, and medicines to the wealthy; The poor man toils, with sweat he empties out the humors, He hungers, he shivers, he is burned with the midday sun, He journeys, he is burdened, he is rained on, he groans; 658 At the right time a simple and plain nourishment He has received, he knows nothing of the tricks, Which cooks and ministers of luxury Procure from the recesses of land and sea, Setting out an effeminate table for men. Inflations, catarrhs, spleens, dislocations, Cries, litters, palenesses, faintings Of the wealthy; these are the offspring of satiety. Who neither have pleasure in what they have, And seek for those to whom they may leave their bulk, often Envying the healthier who are weaker; Bereft of all things, unfortunate fortunate ones. Gold, gems, embroideries of clothing, dyes And of the painter's purple of matching color, 659 Of walls, of roofs and of the trodden mosaic; 659 Silver, some hidden in the bosom of the earth, Confined whence it came, worthy of tombs, And some on display, and flashing at banquets; Horses, carpets, chariots, charioteers, Dogs, huntsmen, trackers of beasts; And these pleasant things, indeed, of an evil mistress, Are a grace of the belly, and of the all-receiving passage of the throat; Bed-makers, doorkeepers, callers, bed-chamberlains, Flower-bearers, sprinklers, cup-wipers, Tasters, shade-bearers, overseers of nods, Bathers, mixers by the raising of fingers, Young women, sweetnesses for the eyes; All things of a rich tomb, of painted dust. 660 But the needy one stands, and if he should fall Worn out by disease, with difficulty or after a long time, He will cause no trouble to his own friends, He will die like a lion amid his roarings, A corpse, much more flourishing than the very rich. What remains then? Insolence, anger, ecstasy, boldness, Drunkenness, unrestrained laughter, shameful words, Contempt for God, for blood-kin, for friends, These things belong not to the poor but rather to the rich; For wealth bears insolence, and that bears destruction. But he is hard-pressed for the most part, and not arrogant; The fear of God especially would run with his fortune. A strong tutor of all good things. But consider each thing for each thing briefly, 661 Remaining a just judge of both lives, If it does not seem an insult to you to bear this also. As to stand even near to the poor, Or to breathe the same air, or one name To be called, to seem to be under the same roof and a fellow-voyager.

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γειτόνων, Ἄλλους δ' ἐς ἡμῶν, εὐσεβεστέρους ἴσως. Πν. Πόσον τὸ χεῖρας εἰς Θεοῦ μόνον βλέπειν, Τοῦ καὶ διδόντος καὶ πατρικῶς αἰτουμένου, 655 Αἰσχρὸν δὲ μηδὲν τοῦ λαβεῖν δρᾶσαι χάριν, Τὴν αἱμολάπτιν βδέλλαν ἐκμιμούμενον, Τὰ μὲν κρατοῦντα, τοῖς δ' ἐρείδοντα φρένα, Τὰ δὲ βλέποντα οὐ καλοῖς ἐν ὄμμασι, Τὰ δ' ἐκτυποῦντα ταῖς ὀνείρων ἐλπίσιν, Ἀεὶ πλέον πένητα τῷ ποθουμένῳ; Κοσμ. Οἴσει δὲ πῶς τις δυσκόλου καιροῦ φορὰν, Μηδὲν φέρων ἔρεισμα τῆς ἀηδίας; Πν. Ἤρου με πῶς τις φεύξετ' εὔστοχον βέλος; Θρὶξ οὐ διαιρεῖτ' εὐπετῶς, οὐδ' ἐγγύθεν. Γενοῦ στενός μοι· καὶ κακῶν φεύξῃ φοράν. ∆όναξ φέρει τὰ πνεύματ', ἀλλ' οὐχὶ δρύες. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ εἴκει, τὰς δ' ἀνατρέπει βάρος. Κοσμ. Ἐμοὶ τρυφᾷν ἔξεστιν. Πν. Ἀλλ' ἐμοὶ τρυφὴ, Τὸ μὴ τρυφᾷν, κόρῳ τε καὶ τοῖς ἐντέροις 656 Οἰδοῦντα, καὶ νοσοῦντα πλουσίᾳ νόσῳ, Ὄζοντα τερπνῷ βορβόρῳ λαιμοῦ πέρα, Τὸν νοῦν στενοῦντα τῷ πάχει τῆς ἰλύος. Κοσμ. Ἐμοῦ τὰ πέμματ'. Πν. Ἄρτος ἡ καρυκεία, Ἐμοὶ τὰ πόματ', ἐξ ἁλῶν ἅπαν γλυκύ. Οἷς τῶν τρυφώντων ἀλμυρὸν καταπτύω. Κοσμ. Ὀσμὴ μύρων ἔμοιγε τέρψις, ᾄσματα, Χερῶν ποδῶν κροτήματ', εὔρυθμοι κλάσεις, Ὁμοῤῥοθούντων ὀργάνων συμφωνία. Πν. Αἰνεῖς σὺ ταῦτα, ταῦτα δ' ἐστὶν, οἷς κακὸς Ἔμοιγ' ὁ πλοῦτος, ὡς κακῶν διδάσκαλος. Κρείσσων μὲν ἡμῖν ὀργάνων ψαλμῳδία· Ψυχὴν συναρμόζουσα τοῖς νοουμένοις Μύρου δὲ παντὸς Χριστὸς εὐωδέστερος, Ἡμῖν κενωθεὶς, ὡς λύσῃ δυσωδίας, 657 Ἧς νεκρότης μ' ἔπλησε τῆς ἁμαρτίας, Κροτῶ δὲ χεῖρας, ἢν πέσῃ φονεὺς ἐμὸς, Λόγον τιν' ἢ πρᾶξίν τιν' εἰσηγούμενος Κακήν. Ποδῶν ὄρχησις, ἔνθεος στροφή. Κοσμ. Τάχ' ἂν τόδ' εἴποις, ὡς πενία καὶ ταῖς νόσοις Ἀρκεῖ, πλέον φέρουσα σωμάτων ἄκη. Πν. Τόδ' οὐκ ἂν εἴποιμ'. Οὐκ ἀληθὴς γὰρ λόγος· Ὃ δ' ἔστ' ἀληθὲς, τοῦτο καὶ λελέξεται· Πένης ἐχόντων εὐσθενέστερος πολύ. Θεὸς δ' ἔδωκεν, ἀντανιστῶν τὴν χάριν, Ἰσχὺν πένησιν, εὐπόροις δὲ φάρμακα· Μοχθεῖ πένης, ἱδρῶσι τὰς ὕλας κενοῖ, Πεινᾷ, ῥιγοῖ, συγκαίεθ' ἡλίῳ μέσῳ Ὁδοιπορεῖ, φορτίζεθ', ὕεται, στένει· 658 Καιροῦ τροφὴν ἁπλῆν τε καὶ ἀσύνθετον Ἐδέξατ', οὐδὲν οἶδε μαγγανευμάτων, Ὧν ὀψοποιοὶ καὶ τρυφῆς ὑπηρέται Γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης ἐκπορίζουσι μυχῶν, Θῆλυν τράπεζαν ἐκτιθέντες ἀνδράσι Φύσαι, κατάῤῥοι, σπλῆνες, ἐξαρθρήματα, Βοαὶ, φορήσεις, ὠχρότητες, ἐκλύσεις Τῶν εὐπορούντων· τῶν κόρων οὗτοι τόκοι. Οἳ μήτ' ἔχουσιν ὧν ἔχουσιν ἡδονὴν, Ζητοῦσί θ' οἷς λείψωσιν ὄγκον, πολλάκις Ζηλοῦντες εὐεκτοῦντας ἀσθενεστέρους· Πάντων ἔρημοι, δυστυχεῖς εὐδαίμονες. Χρυσὸς, λίθοι, ποικίλματ' ἐσθῆτος, βαφαὶ Ζωογράφου τε πορφύρας ἀντιχρόου, 659 Τοίχων, ὀρόφων καὶ ψηφῖδος πεδοστιβοῦς· 659 Ἄργυρος, ὁ μέν τις κρυπτὸς ἐν κόλποις χθονὸς Εἰρχθεὶς, ὅθεν προῆλθεν, ἄξιος τάφων, Ὁ δ' ἐν προσθήκῃ, καὶ προσαστράπτων πότοις· Ἵπποι, τάπητες, ἅρμαθ', ἁρματηλάται, Κύνες, κυνηγοὶ, θηρίων ἰχνεύμονες· Καὶ ταῦτα δὴ τὰ τερπνὰ, δεσποίνης κακῆς, Γαστρὸς, πόρου τε πανδόχου λαιμοῦ χάρις· Στρῶται, θυρωροὶ, κλήτορες, κοιμήτορες, Ἀνθηφόροι, ῥαντῆρες, ἐκμαγεῖς κύκλων, Γεῦσται, σκιασταὶ, νευμάτων ἐπίσκοποι, Λοῦσται, κερασταὶ δακτύλων ὑψώμασι, Κοῦραι γυναῖκες, ὀμμάτων ἡδύσματα· Τύμβου τὰ πάντα πλουσίου, γραπτῆς χοός. 660 Ὁ δ' ἐνδεὴς ἕστηκεν, ἂν δὲ καὶ πέσῃ Νόσῳ καμὼν, μόγις ποτ' ἢ μακρῷ χρόνῳ, Οὐδὲν παρέξει πρᾶγμα τοῖς αὑτοῦ φίλοις, Τεθνήξεθ' ὡς λέων τις ἐν βρυχήμασι Νεκρὸς, ζαπλούτων πλεῖστον εὐανθέστερος. Τί λοιπόν; ὕβρις, θυμὸς, ἔκστασις, θράσος, Μέθη, γέλωτες ἀκρατεῖς, αἰσχροὶ λόγοι, Θεοῦ περιφρόνησις, αἵματος, φίλων, Ταῦτ' οὐ πενήτων μᾶλλόν ἐστ' ἢ πλουσίων· Πλοῦτος γὰρ ὕβριν, ἡ δ' ἀπώλειαν φέρει. Ὁ δ' ἐκπιέζεθ' ὡς τὰ πόλλ', οὐδ' αἵρεται· Θεοῦ μάλιστ' ἂν συνδραμὼν φόβος τύχῃ. Καλῶν ἁπάντων παιδαγωγὸς εὐσθενής. Ἄθρει δ' ἕκαστον ἀνθ' ἑκάστου συντόμως, 661 Ἀμφοῖν δίκαιος τοῖν βίοιν μένων βραβεὺς, Εἰ μὴ φέρειν σοι καὶ τόδ' ὕβριν φαίνεται. Ὥσπερ πενήτων ἑστάναι καὶ πλησίον, Ἢ πνεῖν τὸν αὐτὸν ἀέρα, ἢ κλῆσιν μίαν Καλεῖσθ', ὁμόστεγός τε καὶ σύμπλους δοκεῖν.