72

those who have experienced it know, and those who have been spectators of it know also; for they roll about very much like mad dogs, turning this way and that and at the same time stretching out and drawing in their feet; and there are times when they both sit down and stand up and walk, contriving to find some means of rest; for this reason they also frequent the baths and enter many times, enjoying some relief. And why must I prolong the account, listing things that are clear and plain to all? Struggling with such an affliction and assailed by so many and so great pains, he did not enjoy a physician's help, did not endure a bed, did not accept the relief from drugs or foods, but sitting on a plank lying on the ground, he accepted healing by prayer and the sign of the cross, and with the incantation of the divine name he put the pains to sleep. 22.5 And another time, walking at night, he stepped with his heel on a sleeping viper; but it, seizing his ankle, fixed its fangs in it. But trying to defend his foot, he bent down and brought his hand to it, but he transferred the beast's mouth to this [hand]; and again, using his left hand to help the other, he drew the beast's fury against this one too. When it had had its fill of madness—for it had inflicted more than ten bites on him—it departed and went into its own hole, but he was assailed from all sides by bitter pains. But not even then did he endure the art of medicine, but applied to the wounds only the medicines of faith: the sign of the cross, and prayer, and the invocation of God. 22.6 For this reason, I think, the God of all allowed that beast to rage against his sacred body, in order to show to all the naked endurance of that divine soul. For we see this same economy of his in the case of the noble Job; for he allowed him to be overwhelmed by many and various tempests, wishing to show to all the wisdom of the helmsman. For from where else would we have known either the courage of the one or the endurance of the other, if the adversary of piety had not had the opportunity to release all kinds of darts against them? So then, these things are sufficient to teach of the man's endurance. 22.7 But let us show his love for humanity from another side; for having gathered many who were deprived of sight and forced to beg, and having built lodgings on both sides, to the east and to the west, he instructed them to live in them and to hymn God, ordering their necessary food to be supplied by those who came to him. And he himself, enclosed in the middle, stirs up both this group and that to hymnody, and it is possible to hear them continually hymning the master. With such great love for his fellow men he continues to live; and the time of the open-air struggles is the same for him and for the great Jacob; for they have now completed their thirty-eighth year. 23.t JOHN 23.1 John also emulated this way of life, a man shining among others for his gentleness and meekness; and having taken possession of a very rugged ridge, wintry and northern, on that he spent twenty-five years, receiving the opposing assaults of the air. And all the other things, that I may not go through them one by one, food and clothing and the burdens of iron, are very similar to those already mentioned. And he is so superior to all human things as to reap no consolation from them. And of this I will straightway provide clear proof. For when a certain one of the zealous

72

οἱ τὴν πείραν δεξάμενοι, ἴσασι δὲ καὶ οἱ τούτου γενόμενοι θεαταί· καλινδοῦνται γὰρ τοῖς λυττῶσι παραπλησίως, τῇδε κἀκεῖσε μεταστρεφόμενοι καὶ ἅμα τοὺς πόδας ἐκτείνοντες καὶ συστέλλοντες· ἔστι δὲ ὅτε καὶ κάθηνται καὶ ἀνίστανται καὶ βαδίζουσιν, ἀναπαύλης τινὸς πόρον εὑρεῖν μηχανώμενοι· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ βαλανείοις προσεδρεύουσι καὶ πολλάκις εἰσίασι, ψυχαγωγίας τινὸς ἀπολαύοντες. Καὶ τί δεῖ μηκύνειν τὰ πᾶσι δῆλα καὶ σαφῆ καταλέγοντα; Τοιούτῳ πάθει προσπαλαίων καὶ τοσαύταις καὶ τηλικαύταις ὀδύναις βαλλόμενος οὐκ ἰατρικῆς ἐπικουρίας ἀπέλαυσεν, οὐ κλίνης ἠνέσχετο, οὐ τὴν ἀπὸ φαρμάκων ἢ σιτίων ψυχαγωγίαν ἐδέξατο, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ σανίδος χαμαὶ κειμένης καθήμενος, προσευχῇ καὶ σφραγῖδι τὴν θεραπείαν ἐδέξατο καὶ τῇ τῆς θείας προσηγορίας ἐπῳδῇ τὰς ὀδύνας ἐκοίμισεν. 22.5 Καὶ ἄλλοτε δὲ νύκτωρ βαδίζων ἔχεως ἐπέβη τῇ πτέρνῃ καθεύδοντος· ὁ δὲ τοῦ ταρσοῦ ἐπιλαβόμενος τοὺς ὀδόντας ἐπήγνυ. Ἐπαμύναι δὲ τῷ ποδὶ πειραθεὶς κατέκυπτε μὲν καὶ τὴν χεῖρα τούτῳ προσέφερε, μετέφερε δὲ εἰς ταύτην τοῦ θηρίου τὸ στόμα· πάλιν δὲ τῇ εὐωνύμῳ χρησάμενος εἰς βοήθειαν τῆς ἑτέρας, εἷλκε καὶ κατὰ ταύτης τὸν τοῦ θηρίου θυμόν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κόρον ἔλαβε τῆς μανίας-πλείονα γὰρ αὐτῷ ἢ δέκα προσενήνοχε δήγματα-, τὸ μὲν ἀπέστη καὶ τὸν χηραμὸν τὸν οἰκεῖον κατέλαβεν, ὁ δὲ πάντοθεν πικραῖς ὀδύναις ἐβάλλετο. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τότε τῆς ἰατρικῆς ἠνέσχετο τέχνης, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἕλκεσι προσέφερε μόνα τὰ τῆς πίστεως φάρμακα, σφραγῖδα καὶ προσευχὴν καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἐπίκλησιν. 22.6 ∆ιὰ τοῦτο δὲ οἶμαι καὶ ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς εἴασε κατὰ τοῦ ἱεροῦ σώματος τὸ θηρίον ἐκεῖνο λυττῆσαι ἵνα γυμνὴν ἅπασι τῆς θείας ἐκείνης ψυχῆς ἐπιδείξῃ τὴν καρτερίαν. Ταύτην γὰρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ γενναίου Ἰὼβ τὴν οἰκονομίαν ὁρῶμεν· πολλαῖς γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ παντοδαπαῖς εἴασε τρικυ μίαις περικλυσθῆναι, δεῖξαι τοῦ κυβερνήτου τὴν σοφίαν ἅπασιν ἐθελήσας. Πόθεν γὰρ ἂν ἄλλοθεν ἔγνωμεν ἢ τὴν ἐκείνου ἀνδρείαν ἢ τὴν τούτου γε καρτερίαν εἰ μὴ χώραν ἔλαβεν ἀφεῖναι βέλη παντοδαπὰ κατ' αὐτῶν ὁ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀντίπαλος; Τὴν μὲν οὖν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καρτερίαν ἱκανὰ καὶ ταῦτα διδάξαι. 22.7 Τὴν δὲ φιλανθρωπίαν ἑτέρωθεν ἐπιδείξωμεν· πολλοὺς γὰρ τὸ βλέπειν ἀφῃρημένους καὶ προσαιτεῖν ἠναγκασμένους συναγαγὼν καὶ ἑκατέρωθεν πρὸς ἕω καὶ πρὸς ἑσπέραν δειμάμενος καταγώγια, διάγειν ἐν τούτοις καὶ τὸν θεὸν ὑμνεῖν παρηγγύησε, τὴν ἀναγκαίαν αὐτοῖς τροφὴν παρὰ τῶν ὡς αὐτὸν ἀφικνουμένων χορηγεῖσθαι κελεύων. Μέσος δὲ αὐτὸς καθειργμένος καὶ τούτους κἀκείνους εἰς ὑμνῳδίαν διεγείρει καὶ ἔστιν ἀκούειν αὐτῶν διηνεκῶς τὸν δεσπότην ὑμνούντων. Τοσαύτῃ περὶ τοὺς ὁμοφυεῖς φιλανθρωπίᾳ κεχρημένος διατελεῖ· τῶν δὲ ὑπαιθρίων ἀγώνων αὐτῷ τε καὶ τῷ μεγάλῳ Ἰακώβῳ ὁ αὐτός ἐστι χρόνος· ὄγδοον γὰρ καὶ τριακοστὸν ἤδη συνεπλήρωσαν ἔτος. 23.t ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ 23.1 Ταύτην ἐζήλωσε τὴν πολιτείαν καὶ Ἰωάννης, ἀνὴρ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἡμερότητι καὶ πρᾳότητι λάμπων· ῥαχίαν δὲ τραχεῖαν μάλα καταλαβὼν δυσχείμερον καὶ προσάρκτιον, ἐν ἐκείνῃ τέως πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι διετέλεσεν ἔτη, τὰς ἐναντίας τοῦ ἀέρος δεχόμενος προσβολάς. Τἄλλα δὲ πάντα, ἵνα μὴ καθ' ἕκαστον διεξέρχωμαι, τροφὴ καὶ ἐσθὴς καὶ τὰ τοῦ σιδήρου φορτία τοῖς προειρημένοις ἐστὶ παραπλήσια. Οὕτω δέ ἐστι τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἁπάντων ὑπέρτερος ὡς μηδεμίαν ἐκ τούτων καρποῦσθαι παραψυχήν. Καὶ τούτου τεκμήριον ἐναργὲς αὐτίκα παρέξομαι. Ἐπειδὴ γάρ τις τῶν σπουδαίων