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my mind, at least, I will not persuade. ΞΑʹ. A Lament. The image is emptied, what word will help? The image is emptied, the gift of the undefiled God. The image is insulted; I burn, O envy, envy, by alien words and sophistries. 1405 Fountain of evils, do not gush forth, do not, O foolish mind. But if you, O tongue, do not receive the filth. And if you, O hand, do not receive what is worse. Thus the image would remain incorruptible for us.

ΞΒʹ. Supplications to Christ. May I not forget you, nor may you forget me, O Lord, Lord, care of the wise, and threefold light; Lest the enemy seize and forget me, to the hiding-places of Hades, and the bitter gates of darkness. For he is terrible, and lies in wait for your friends Whom, I know, I shall escape, if you have memory of me, always in frequent words and thoughts. 1406

ΞΙʹ. A Lament to Christ. Woe is me, the dragon has approached again, my Christ. Woe is me, he has approached me who is exceedingly fearful. Woe is me, I have tasted of the tree of knowledge. Woe is me, for envy has persuaded me to be envied. I am not divine, and I have been cast out of delight. O sword, quench for a little while the evil flame, that you may again receive me inside among the plants entering in with Christ, a robber from a tree.

Ξ∆ʹ. Another to Christ. Again the dragon has approached; I take hold of you. Let David be present, let him strike the lyre. Go away, go away, suffocating spirit, evils. 1407

ΞΕʹ. A Lament. If the constitution of my body were ill, I would have found some physician. If

I were poor, I would have gone to the rich man; and to a harbor in a storm; and if I were wronged, to the laws and the tribunal. A bush saved one from a precipice. But if the destroyer of the image trips me up, who would be a defense for me, except you, O Lord?

Ξς. Another to Christ. What is this new, new thing, O Word of God, what new thing

do I suffer? The depth of my heart is empty of words and wise thoughts, 1408 The evil spirit has fled and is gone; but the space in me is not yet full of the better one. Fill me with what is yours, lest envy come again, and make me a worse workshop for itself.

ΞΖʹ. To Himself. I have been deceived, my Christ, by trusting you too much. I was lifted up and brought down exceedingly. But raise me up again; for I realized I was mocking myself. If I should be lifted up again, again I would suffer a fall and a shattering. If you receive me; but if not, I am dead indeed. Will you have spent your goodness on me alone? 1409

ΞΗʹ. To Himself. Those who hate me say (and as it seems to me, they do not say just things;

for how is it just to despise friends, as if I would not call him God, before whom all things lie, and are known clearly, to the one who sees sharply); But they speak, overcome by envy, by envy, a just passion, which wastes those who have it, as is fitting. What then, look, do they say. They say that they themselves, having cast me, the unfortunate one, 1410 (for they think this) out of the city of Constantine made me haughty. Well done; For I was burdensome to them, and full of boldness. Cutting untrodden paths, a corrupter of ancestral customs and laws, if base things are law, of wealth, and pride, effeminacy, love of power, of those things now prevailing. For so wretched are they in their mind, that they do not hesitate to say, things which it would be fitting to cover up, even when others speak and detest them. 1411 So blind a thing is wickedness, and it harms understanding. So let these men be gone from the midst of my discourse; these things are nothing to us, neither those who speak ill, nor those who speak well. Let them flow as they wish; For nothing is more versatile than the tongue; let it say something also towards

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μου, τόν γε νοῦν οὐ πείσομαι. ΞΑʹ. Θρῆνος. Εἰκὼν κενοῦται, τίς βοηθήσει λόγος; Εἰκὼν κενοῦται, δῶρον ἀχράντου Θεοῦ. Ὑβρίζετ' εἰκών· αἴθομ', ὦ φθόνε, φθόνε, Ἀλλοτρίοις λόγοις τε καὶ σοφίσμασι. 1405 Πηγὴ κακῶν, μὴ βλύζε, μὴ ματαία φρήν. Εἰ δ' οὖν σὺ, γλῶσσα, μὴ δέχου τὸν βόρβορον. Εἰ δ' οὖν σὺ, χείρ γε, μὴ δέχου τὰ χείρονα. Οὕτως ἂν εἰκὼν ἡμῖν ἄφθαρτος μένῃ.

ΞΒʹ. Ἱκετήρια εἰς Χριστόν. Μή σου λαθοίμην, μηδέ μου λάθῃς, Ἄναξ, Ἄναξ σοφῶν μέλημα, καὶ τρισσὸν φάος· Μή που λάθῃ με δυσμενὴς συναρπάσας, Κευθμῶν' ἐς ᾅδου, καὶ σκότου πικρὰς πύλας. ∆εινὸς γάρ ἐστι, καὶ λοχῶν τούς σοι φίλους Ὃν, οἶδα, φεύξομ', εἰ σύ μου μνήμην ἔχεις, Πυκνῶν ἀεὶ λόγοις τε καὶ νοήμασιν. 1406

ΞΙʹ. Θρῆνος πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν. Οἴμοι προσῆλθε, Χριστέ μου, πάλιν δράκων. Οἴμοι προσῆλθε δειλιῶντί μοι σφόδρα. Οἴμοι γέγευμαι τοῦ ξύλου τῆς γνώσεως. Οἴμοι φθονεῖσθαι δ' ὁ φθόνος πέπεικέ με. Οὔτ' εἰμὶ θεῖος, καὶ βέβλημ' ἔξω τρυφῆς. Ῥομφαία, μικρὸν τὴν κακὴν σβέσον φλόγα, Ὡς ἂν πάλιν δέξῃ με τῶν φυτῶν ἔσω Χριστῷ συνεισελθόντα λῃστὴν ἐκ ξύλου.

Ξ∆ʹ. Ἄλλο πρὸς Χριστόν. Πάλιν προσῆλθεν ὁ δράκων· σοῦ δράσσομαι. ∆αβὶδ παρέστω, κρουέτω τὴν κινύραν. Ἄπελθ', ἄπελθε, πνεῦμα συμπνίγον, κακά. 1407

ΞΕʹ. Θρῆνος. Εἴ μοι πονήρως εἶχε κρᾶσις σώματος, Ἰατρὸν ἄν τιν' εὗρον. Εἰ

πένης τις ἦν, Τῷ πλουσίῳ προσῆλθον· ὅρμῳ δ' ἐν ζάλῃ· Εἰ δ' ἠδικούμην, τοῖς νόμοις καὶ βήματι. Θάμνος δὲ ἐξέσωσεν ἐκ κρημνίσματος. Εἰ δὲ σκελίζει μ' ὁ φθορεὺς τῆς εἰκόνος, Τίς μοι γένοιτ' ἔρυμα, πλὴν σοῦ, Κοίρανε;

Ξς. Ἄλλος πρὸς Χριστόν. Καινὸν, καινὸν τί τοῦτο, ὦ Θεοῦ Λόγε, Καινὸν τί

πάσχω; καρδίας ἐμῆς βάθος Κενὸν λόγων τε καὶ νοημάτων σοφῶν, 1408 Τὸ μὲν πονηρὸν πνεῦμα φεῦγον οἴχεται· Οὔπω δὲ μεστὴ χώρα μοι τοῦ κρείσσονος. Πλῆσόν με τῶν σῶν, μὴ πάλιν ἐλθὼν φθόνος, Αὐτοῦ με θῆται χεῖρον ἐργαστήριον.

ΞΖʹ. Εἰς ἑαυτόν. Ἐξηπάτημαι, Χριστέ μου, τῷ σοι σφόδρα Θαῤῥεῖν. Ἐπήρθην καὶ κατηνέχθην σφόδρα. Ἀλλ' αὖθις ὕψωσόν με· καὶ γὰρ ᾐσθόμην Παίζων ἐμαυτόν. Εἰ δ' ἐπαρθείην ἔτι, Αὖθις πέσοιμι πτῶμα καὶ συντρίμματος. Εἰ μὲν δέχῃ με· εἰ δὲ μὴ, τέθνηκα μέν. Ἐμοὶ τὸ χρηστὸν ἐξανηλώσω μόνῳ; 1409

ΞΗʹ. Εἰς ἑαυτόν. Λέγουσιν οἱ μισοῦντες (ὡς δ' ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, Λέγουσιν οὐ δίκαια·

Πῶς γὰρ δίκαιον τοὺς φίλους περιφρονεῖν, Ὡς μὴ Θεὸν λέγοιμι, Ὧ πρόσθε κεῖται πάντα, καὶ γινώσκεται Σαφῶς, ὀξὺ βλέποντι)· Ἀλλ' οὖν λέγουσι τῷ φθόνῳ νικώμενοι, Φθόνῳ παθῶν δικαίῳ, Τήκοντι τοὺς ἔχοντας, ὥσπερ ἄξιον. Τί οὖν, ἄθρει, λέγουσι. Λέγουσιν, ὡς αὐτοί με τὸν δυσδαίμονα 1410 (Καὶ γὰρ δοκοῦσι τοῦτο) Κωνσταντίνου βαλόντες ἐκτὸς ἄστεος Ἀπωφρύωσαν. Εὖγε· Βαρὺς γὰρ αὐτοῖς, καὶ θράσους ἤμην γέμων. Τέμνων ὁδοὺς ἀτρίπτους, Ἐθῶν πατρῴων καὶ νόμων διαφθορεὺς, Εἴπερ νόμος τὰ φαῦλα, Πλούτου, τύφου τε, θρύψεως, φιλαρχίας, Τῶν νῦν ἐπικρατούντων. Οὕτω γάρ εἰσι τὴν φρόνησιν ἄθλιοι, Ὥστ' οὐ λέγειν ὀκνοῦσιν, Ἃ καὶ λεγόντων ἐγκαλύπτεσθ' ἦν πρέπον Ἄλλων ἀπεχθαιρόντων. 1411 Οὕτω τι τυφλόν ἐστιν ἡ μοχθηρία, Καὶ τὸ φρονεῖν βλάπτουσα. Οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἔῤῥοιεν ἐκ μέσου λόγου· Οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ταῦτα, Οὔθ' οἱ κακῶς λέγοντες, οὔθ' οἱ δεξιῶς. Ῥείτωσαν ὡς θέλουσιν· Γλώττης γὰρ οὐδέν ἐστιν εὐστροφώτερον· Λέγῃ τι καὶ πρὸς