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they lead both this one and that one, but rather, if you trust in experience, the birth of the poor woman is easier, and the birth pangs are less. For the habit of labor bestows ease. Therefore, even for luxurious women, the sons of doctors in the days before pregnancy impose necessary labor. Therefore, they conceive in the same way, but they do not give birth in the same way, but where there is the comfort of wealth, the difficulty is greater; but where there is a lack of necessities, nature assists with ease, providing comfort; rather, the Creator of nature, having thus mixed the unequal things, and to the difficulty in childbirth that comes from prosperity, offering the comfort from doctors and medicines, but to the one who, through poverty, lacks this assistance, providing the help of nature. Behold the scales of the just judge, and move your tongue to praise; and behold also those who are born, coming forth naked in the same way; for the infant of the rich is not clothed in purple, while that of the poor is wrapped in rags, but both come forth naked, with the Creator proclaiming their equality. It draws in the air in the same way, it draws from the nipple in the same way; the infant of the poor is not nourished with one kind of milk, while another is offered to the infant of the rich, but both this one and that one enjoy equal and the same food. And not only do we all have one and the same entrance into life, but also an equal exit. For one death receives us; for death does not fear 83.660 wealth, nor is it afraid of bodyguards, it does not shudder at the purple robe, it despises even walls, and towers, and palaces, and it comes within the chambers, it does not pity the one who weeps, it does not feel compassion for the one who begs, it is not corrupted by gifts, it does not tolerate the art of medicine, it shows the powers of medicines to be useless, and often it does not allow one to make a will and make clear the heir of the estate, but it snatches, it drags, it separates the soul from the body. And therefore, those who boast in wealth and those who live with poverty have a common end, and also the things after the end and the departure from here. For in the same way decay follows, and ichor flows down, and worms are bred, and the grim eye is extinguished and wastes away, and the insatiable mouth, and the raging tongue, become the food of worms. And the proud neck is not only bent, but also dissolved; and the puffed-up jaw is not only contracted, but also reduced to a little dust; and the bloom of the cheek withers, and vanishes completely; and the fingers that write wickedness, lie completely scattered from their joints. Therefore, all these things are set forth in common for both rich and poor. Therefore, poverty and wealth remain, which you indeed think are private, but the argument will show, with God's help, to be common. For those who live with poverty partake of the abundance of the rich in the same way. For the Creator of these and those adorned poverty with all kinds of skills, because of which the rich frequent the doors of the poor, and by giving money, they receive from them their necessary needs, and needing more because of their wealth, they are in want of every need. And from some, they buy bread, and from others, cooked food; others fit sandals to their feet, others make tunics, and outer garments, and cloaks; others, carpets, and garlands, and coverings; and some build houses, others couches and chairs, others kinds of vegetables, and countless types of fruits, others wheat and barley, and the good things from agriculture, without which it is among the impossible things to live, even if one has the gold of Croesus and Midas. But for the poor man, even bread of millet or of bran is sufficient, and any common relish suffices. Whom then, judging rightly and justly, will you call needy and poor, and lacking in necessities, the one who needs few things, or the one who needs very many? The one who has the means of life in his own two hands, or the one who trusts in untrustworthy gold, which also

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ἡγοῦνται καὶ τούτου κἀκείνου, μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ τῇ πείρᾳ πιστεύεις, ῥᾴων ὁ τόκος τῆς πενομένης, καὶ μείους αἱ ὠδῖνες. Ἡ γὰρ περὶ τὸ πονεῖν συνήθεια δωρεῖται τὴν εὐκολίαν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ταῖς τρυφώσαις ἰατρῶν παῖδες ἐν ταῖς πρὸ τῆς κυήσεως ἡμέραις ἀναγκαῖον ἐπιφέρουσι πόνον. Οὐκοῦν ὁμοίως μὲν κύουσιν, οὐχ ὁμοίως δὲ τίκτουσιν, ἀλλ' ἔνθα μὲν ἡ τοῦ πλούτου παραμυθία, πλείων ἡ δυσκολία, ἔνθα δὲ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἡ ἔνδεια, ἡ φύσις ἐπικουρεῖ τῇ εὐκολίᾳ ψυχαγωγοῦσα· μᾶλλον δὲ, ὁ τῆς φύσεως Ποιητὴς οὕτω κεράσας τὰ ἄνισα, καὶ τῇ μὲν ἐξ εὐ πραγίας γινομένῃ περὶ τὸν τόκον δυσκολίᾳ, τὴν ἐκ τῶν ἰατρῶν καὶ τῶν φαρμάκων παραμυθίαν προσ φέρων, τῇ δὲ διὰ τὴν πενίαν τῆς ἐπικουρίας ταύτης σπανιζούσῃ, παρέχων τῆς φύσεως τὴν βοήθειαν. Βλέπε τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ τὰ ζυγὰ, καὶ κίνησον εἰς εὐφημίαν τὴν γλῶτταν· βλέπε δὲ καὶ τὰ τικτόμενα, ὁμοίως γυμνὰ προϊόντα· οὐ γὰρ τὸ τοῦ πλουσίου βρέφος ἁλουργίδα περιβέβληται, τὸ δὲ τοῦ πέ νητος ῥάκια περίκειται, ἀλλ' ἄμφω γυμνὰ προέρχε ται, τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ κηρύσσοντος τὴν ἰσότητα. Ὁμοίως σπᾷ τὸν ἀέρα, ὁμοίως ἕλκει τὴν θηλήν· οὐχ ἑτέρῳ γάλακτι τὸ τοῦ πένητος τρέφεται, ἕτερον δὲ τῷ τοῦ πλουσίου προσφέρεται, ἀλλ' ἴσης καὶ τοῦτο κἀκεῖνο καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀπολαύει τροφῆς. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τὴν εἰς τὸν βίον εἴσοδον μίαν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχο μεν ἅπαντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἔξοδον ἴσην. Εἷς γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὑποδέχεται θάνατος· οὐ γὰρ φοβεῖται τὸν 83.660 πλοῦτον ὁ θάνατος, οὐδὲ δειμαίνει τοὺς δορυφόρους, οὐ φρίττει τὴν ἁλουργίδα, καταφρονεῖ καὶ τείχους, καὶ πύργων, καὶ βασιλείων, καὶ ἐντὸς τῶν θαλάμων γίνεται, οὐκ ἐλεεῖ δακρύοντα, οὐκ οἰκτείρει παρακα λοῦντα, οὐ διαφθείρεται δώροις, τῆς ἰατρικῆς οὐκ ἀνέχεται τέχνης, ἀργὰς δείκνυσι τὰς τῶν φαρμάκων δυνάμεις, οὐδὲ ἐπισκῆψαι πολλάκις συγχωρεῖ, καὶ δῆλον ποιῆσαι τὸν τοῦ κλήρου διάδοχον, ἀλλ' ἁρπά ζει, σύρει, χωρίζει τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχήν. Καὶ τὸ τέλος τοιγαροῦν κοινὸν ἔχουσιν οἱ πλούτῳ κομῶντες, καὶ οἱ πενίᾳ συζῶντες, καὶ τὰ μετὰ τὸ τέλος δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἐκδημίαν. Ὁμοίως γὰρ σηπεδὼν ἕπεται, καὶ ἰχὼρ καταῤῥεῖ, καὶ σκώληκες ἀποτί κτονται, καὶ τὸ βλοσυρὸν ὄμμα σβέννυταί τε καὶ δια τήκεται, καὶ τὸ ἀκόρεστον στόμα, καὶ ἡ λυττῶσα γλῶσσα, σκωλήκων γίνεται παρανάλωμα. Καὶ ὁ γαυριῶν τράχηλος οὐ κάμπτεται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διαλύεται· καὶ ἡ φυσωμένη γνάθος, οὐ συστέλλεται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς ὀλίγην κόνιν συνίσταται· καὶ τὸ τῆς παρειᾶς ἄνθος μαραίνεται, καὶ φροῦδον παντά πασι γίνεται· καὶ οἱ γράφοντες τὴν πονηρίαν δά κτυλοι, κεῖνται τῆς ἁρμονίας παντελῶς ἐσκεδασμέ νοι. Οὐκοῦν ταῦτα μὲν ἅπαντα κοινὰ καὶ πλου σίοις καὶ πένησι πρόκειται. Ὑπολείπεται τοίνυν καὶ πενία καὶ πλοῦτος, ἃ σὺ μὲν νομίζεις ἴδια, δείξει δὲ ὁ λόγος, σὺν Θεῷ φάναι, κοινά. Ὁμοίως γὰρ τῆς τῶν πλουσίων περιουσίας οἱ πενίᾳ συζῶντες τυγχάνου σιν. Ὁ γὰρ τούτων κἀκείνων ∆ημιουργὸς, τέχναις παντοδαπαῖς τὴν πενίαν ἐκόσμησε, δι' ἃς παρὰ τὰς τῶν πενήτων θύρας φοιτῶσιν οἱ πλούσιοι, καὶ χρή ματα διδόντες, τὰς ἀναγκαίας παρ' αὐτῶν κομίζον ται χρείας, καὶ πλειόνων διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον δεόμενοι, πάσης σπανίζουσι χρείας. Καὶ παρὰ μὲν τούτων, ἄρτους, παρὰ δὲ ἐκείνων, ὄψα ὠνοῦνται· ὑποδήματα ἕτεροι τοῖς ποσὶ προσαρμόττουσιν, ἄλλοι χιτῶνας, καὶ ἀμπεχόνας, καὶ ἐφεστρίδας κατασκευάζουσιν· ἄλλοι τάπητας, καὶ στέμματα, καὶ περιβόλαια· καὶ οἱ μὲν οἰκίας, οἱ δὲ κλίνας καὶ θρόνους, οἱ δὲ λαχάνων γένη, καὶ ὀπωρῶν εἴδη μυρία, οἱ δὲ πυροὺς καὶ κριθὰς, καὶ τὰ ἐκ γεωργίας ἀγαθὰ, ὧν δίχα διαβιῶναι τῶν ἀδυνάτων, κἂν ἔχῃ τις τὸν Κροίσου καὶ Μίδου χρυσόν. Τῷ δὲ πένητι, καὶ ἄρτος ἀπόχρη κεγχριδίας, καὶ πιτυρίας, καὶ τὸ τυχὸν ὄψον ἀρκεῖ. Τίνα οὖν ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως δικάζων καλέσεις ἐνδεῆ καὶ πένητα, καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαίων σπανίζοντα, τὸν τῶν ὀλίγων δεόμενον, ἢ τὸν παμπόλλων; τὸν ἐν ταῖν χε ροῖν ἔχοντα τῆς ζωῆς τὰς ἀφορμὰς, ἢ τὸν χρυσῷ τῷ ἀπίστῳ πιστεύοντα, ὃς καὶ