THE SOLDIER'S STORY

"My wife and I once had an earnest desire to pay a visit to the school of virtue. For so I think the place ought to be called, in which that blessed soul had her abode. Now there [996D] lived with us also our little daughter, who had been left with an affliction of the eye after an infectious illness. And her appearance was hideous and pitiable, the membrane round the eye being enlarged and whitish from the complaint. But when we came inside that divine abode, my wife and I separated in our visit to those seekers after philosophy according to our sex. I went to the men's department, presided over by Peter, your brother; while my wife went to the women's side and conversed with the saint. And when a suitable interval had elapsed, we considered it time to depart from the Retreat, and already our preparations were being made for this, but kind protests were raised from both sides equally. Your brother was urging me to stay [998A] and partake of the philosophers' table; and the blessed lady would not let my wife go, but holding our little girl in her bosom, said she would not give her up before she had prepared a meal for them and had entertained them with the riches of philosophy. And kissing the child, as was natural, and putting her lips to her eyes, she saw the complaint of the pupil and said----

"'If you grant me this favour and share our meal, I will give you in return a reward not unworthy of such an honour.'

"'What is that? ' said the child's mother.

"'I have a drug,' said the great lady, 'which is powerful to cure eye complaints.'  

"And then news was brought me from the women's apartments, telling me of this promise, and we gladly remained, thinking little of the pressing necessity of starting on our journey.

[998B] "But when the feast came to an end and we had said the prayer, great Peter waiting on us with his own hands and cheering us, and when holy Macrina had dismissed my wife with all courtesy, then at last we went home together with glad and cheerful hearts, telling one another as we journeyed what had befallen us. I described to her what had happened in the men's room, both what I had heard and seen. She told every detail as in a history, and thought nothing ought to be left out, even the smallest points. She told everything in order, keeping the sequence of the narrative. [998C] When she came to the point at which the promise was made to cure the child's eyes, she broke off her tale.

"'Oh, what have we done?' she cried.

'How could we have neglected the promise, that salve-cure that the lady said she would give?'  

"I was vexed at the carelessness, and bade some one run back quickly to fetch it. Just as this was being done, the child, who was in her nurse's arms, looked at her mother, and the mother looked at the child eyes.

"'Stop,' she said, 'being vexed at the carelessness,'----she cried aloud with joy and fright. 'For, see! Nothing of what was promised us is lacking! She has indeed given her the true drug which cures disease; it is the healing that comes from prayer. She has both given it and it has already proved efficacious, and nothing is left of the affliction [998D] of the eye. It is all purged away by that divine drug.'

"And as she said this, she took up the child and laid her in my arms. And I understood the marvels of the Gospel that hitherto had been incredible to me and said----

"'What is there surprising in the blind recovering their sight by the hand of God, when now His handmaiden, accomplishing those cures by faith in Him, has worked a thing not much inferior to those miracles?'"

Such was his story; it was interrupted by sobs, and tears choked his utterance, So much for the soldier and his tale.

«Ἐγένετό τις ἡμῖν ἐπιθυμία ποτὲ τῇ τε γαμετῇ καὶ ἐμοὶ καταλαβεῖν κατὰ σπουδὴν τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς φροντιστήριον: οὕτω γὰρ οἶμαι χρῆναι, φησί, τὸν χῶρον ἐκεῖνον κατονομάζεσθαι, ἐν ᾧ τὴν διαγωγὴν εἶχεν ἡ μακαρία ψυχή. Συνῆν δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ θυγάτριον, ᾧ τις ἐκ λοιμώδους ἀρρωστίας συνέβη περὶ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν συμφορά: καὶ ἦν θέαμα εἰδεχθὲς καὶ ἐλεεινόν, παχυνθέντος τοῦ περὶ τὴν κόρην χιτῶνος καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πάθους ὑπολευκαίνοντος. Ὡς δὲ ἐντὸς ἦμεν τῆς θείας ἐκείνης διαγωγῆς, διελόμενοι κατὰ γένος τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν τῶν ἐν τόπῳ φιλοσοφούντων ἐγώ τε καὶ ἡ ὁμόζυγος, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐν τῷ ἀνδρῶνι ἤμην, ὧν καθηγεῖτο Πέτρος ὁ σὸς ἀδελφός, ἡ δὲ τοῦ παρθενῶνος ἐντὸς γενομένη τῇ ἁγίᾳ συνῆν. Συμμέτρου δὲ διαγενομένου ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ διαστήματος, καιρὸν εἶναι τοῦ ἀποχωρεῖν τῆς ἐσχατιᾶς πάλιν ἐκρίναμεν, καὶ ἤδη πρὸς τοῦτο ἦν ἡμῖν ἡ ὁρμή, σύμφωνος δὲ παρ' ἑκατέρων ἡ περὶ ἡμᾶς φιλοφροσύνη ἐγίνετο. Ἐμοί τε γὰρ ὁ σὸς ἀδελφὸς μένειν ἐνεκελεύετο καὶ μετασχεῖν τῆς φιλοσόφου τραπέζης: ἥ τε μακαρία τὴν ἐμὴν γαμετὴν οὐ μεθίει, ἀλλ' ἐν κόλποις ἔχουσα τὸ θυγάτριον οὐ πρότερον ἔλεγεν ἀποδώσειν, πρὶν τράπεζαν αὐτοῖς παραστήσασθαι, καὶ τῷ τῆς φιλοσοφίας δεξιώσασθαι πλούτῳ: φιλοῦσα δὲ οἷα εἰκὸς τὸ παιδίον καὶ προσάγουσα τὸ στόμα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, ἐπειδὴ εἶδε τὸ περὶ τὴν κόρην πάθος, »Ἐάν μοι, φησί, δῶτε τὴν χάριν καὶ τῆς τραπέζης ἡμῖν κοινωνήσητε, ἀντιδώσω μισθὸν ὑμῖν τῆς τοιαύτης ὑμῶν τιμῆς οὐκ ἀνάξιον«_»Τίνα τοῦτον;« εἰπούσης τῆς τοῦ παιδίου μητρός, »Ἔστι μοι φάρμακον, ἡ μεγάλη φησίν, ὃ δυνατῶς ἔχει τὸ κατὰ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν πάθος ἰάσασθαι«. Ἐπὶ τούτοις δηλώματός μοι παρὰ τῆς γυναικωνίτιδος ἥκοντος τοῦ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἐκείνην καταμηνύσαντος ἄσμενοι παρεμείναμεν, μικρὰ φροντίσαντες τῆς ἐπειγούσης ἡμᾶς πρὸς τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν ἀνάγκης.
Ὡς δὲ τέλος εἶχεν ἡ εὐωχία καὶ πλήρης ἦν ἡμῖν ἡ ψυχή, τοῦ μὲν μεγάλου Πέτρου ταῖς οἰκείαις χερσὶν εὐωχοῦντος ἡμᾶς καὶ φαιδρύνοντος, τῆς δὲ ἁγίας Μακρίνης διὰ πάσης εὐπρεποῦς θυμηδίας τὴν ὁμόζυγον ἡμῶν ἀνιείσης, οὕτω φαιδροί τε καὶ γεγηθότες τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἐπανῄειμεν, διήγημα τῷ ἑτέρῳ τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἑκάτερος ἐν τῇ ὁδοιπορίᾳ ποιούμενοι. Κἀγὼ μὲν διεξῄειν ἐκ τοῦ ἀνδρῶνος ὅσα τε εἶδον καὶ ὅσα ἤκουσα, ἐκείνη δὲ τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον ἐκδιηγουμένη καθάπερ ἐφ' ἱστορίας οὐδὲν ᾤετο δεῖν οὐδὲ τῶν μικρῶν παραλανθάνειν: ἀκολούθως δὲ πάντα καθάπερ ἐπὶ συγγραφῆς διεξιοῦσα ὡς κατὰ τὸ μέρος ἐγεγόνει ἐκεῖνο, ἐν ᾧ ἡ ὑπόσχεσις ἦν τῆς τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ θεραπείας, ἐγκόψασα τὴν διήγησιν »Τί τοῦτο, φησί, πεπόνθαμεν; πῶς τῆς ὑποσχέσεως ἠμελήσαμεν, τὸ ἐπαγγελθὲν ἡμῖν ἐκεῖνο ἐν κολλυρίῳ φάρμακον;«. Κἀμοῦ συνδυσχεραίνοντος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀμελείᾳ καί τινα διὰ τάχους ἐκδραμεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ φάρμακον ἐγκελευσαμένου βλέπει κατὰ τὸ συμβὰν πρὸς τὴν μητέρα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ὂν τῆς τιθηνουμένης τὸ νήπιον, καὶ ἡ μήτηρ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τοῦ παιδίου ἐνατενίσασα »Παύου, φησί, δυσχεραίνων ἐπὶ τῇ ἀμελείᾳ«, μεγάλῃ τοῦτο τῇ φωνῇ ὑπὸ χαρᾶς ἅμα καὶ ἐκπλήξεως λέγουσα: »Ἰδοὺ γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐλλέλειπται ἡμῖν τῶν ἐπηγγελμένων, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἐκείνης φάρμακον τὸ τῶν παθημάτων ἰατικόν, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡ ἐκ τῶν εὐχῶν θεραπεία, καὶ ἔδωκε καὶ ἐνεργὸν ἤδη γέγονε, καὶ ὑπολέλειπται τῆς κατὰ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἀρρωστίας οὐδ' ὁτιοῦν, τῷ θείῳ ἐκείνῳ φαρμάκῳ κεκαθαρμένον«. Καὶ ἅμα ταῦτα διεξιοῦσα αὐτή τε τὸ παιδίον ἐνηγκαλίζετο καὶ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἐνετίθει χερσί. Κἀγὼ τότε τὰ ἀπιστούμενα κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον θαύματα τῇ διανοίᾳ λάβων »Τί μέγα, εἶπον, διὰ χειρὸς θεοῦ τυφλοῖς τὰς ὄψεις ἀποκαθίστασθαι, ὁπότε νῦν ἡ δούλη αὐτοῦ τὰς ἰάσεις ἐκείνας κατορθοῦσα τῇ εἰς αὐτὸν πίστει πρᾶγμα κατείργασται οὐ πολὺ τῶν θαυμάτων ἐκείνων ἀπολειπόμενον;«» Ταῦτα λέγων μεταξὺ λυγμῷ τὴν φωνὴν ἐνεκόπτετο, τῶν δακρύων ἐπιρρυέντων τῷ διηγήματι. Τὰ μὲν οὖν παρὰ τοῦ στρατιώτου ταῦτα.