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cause. 14.7.5 I wish to offer you another story, second to the one already told in time, but equal to it in its action. Saul the king was drawn up for battle and was conducting the war with great care; he forbade the people from partaking of food on that day, sealing the judgment with an oath, and death was the penalty for the one who disobeyed. 14.7.6 And while the whole army obediently accepted the command, only the king's son Jonathan, happening upon a honeycomb and being overcome by the honey, dipped his scepter into the honeycombs and tasted of the sweetness. And he came near to danger, had not the whole multitude together resisted the impulse of his father and king, who had decreed to carry out the threat. 14.8.1 In addition to what has been said, one can collect countless such examples from the Scriptures and see clearly that self-control is good, and on the contrary, the licentious enjoyment of drinks and foods is grievous. Fasting is the companion of the saints, fasting is the leader of every good deed. And just as craftsmen do not practice their arts without tools, so also the zealous and those aided by spiritual gifts have never wrought any of the wonders and marvels without self-control. 14.8.2 While fasting, Elisha raised and gave life to a dead man; while fasting, Moses saw God; while fasting, Daniel overcame the sorcery and deceit of the Assyrians; while fasting, the Lord also endured the temptations of the devil; while fasting, the apostles also offered prayers for important matters; by fasting the Ninevites overcame the threat of death; 14.8.3 and, to speak generally, it is an advocate before God, worthy of respect, and a trustworthy intercessor, quickly prevailing on behalf of those for whom it may bring supplication to God. Therefore, every pious man, and whoever is a lover of God rather than a lover of pleasure, approach with me the days of self-control, rejoicing and being cheerful. For no one who is sullen at the beginning of the contests is a noble contestant. 14.8.4 Do not be gloomy like an infant being dragged to school, do not grumble at the purity of the days, do not seek the end of the week as, after a bitter winter, the coming of spring, do not long for the Sabbath for the sake of drunkenness like a Jew, do not count the days of Lent like an idle hireling awaiting the end of his paid term, do not be grieved that from the first hour your house is not filled with smoke, nor does the cook stand by the fire. 14.9.1 Grant something also to the soul, not everything to the body. Abstinence from food nourishes the one, but gluttony the other. But since the two are yoked together and things widely separated by nature have been bound together by the providence and skill of the Creator, let us consider how both might continue without being deprived of their respective suitable needs. You are composed of the two, O man, and for now I am silent that the soul is much more precious and it is fitting to give the greater part of favor to it. 14.9.2 Judge for both as a rational and fair-minded person. Bear with me a little and, if you wish, I will make the argument on behalf of the soul, as for a woman who has entrusted her advocacy, concerning those things in which she says she is wronged and insulted. This, then, is sacred and incorporeal, immortal and indestructible, having its kinship not with the earth and things here but with God. And being pure, it rejoices in pure things, and having an immaterial origin, it flees material things. 14.9.3 But since it was commanded to manage the vessel formed from the earth, as an obedient servant of the Master it attends to the clay and holds to its guard and providence over it, until the command comes permitting the separation. Abstinence from foods, then, benefits this soul that gives life to the body, but for the earthly instrument the enjoyment of foods is necessary. It seeks nothing more, as it is superior. 14.9.4 "Divide for me," it says, "the time of the year; give the six months for enjoyment to the one being steered, and the remaining to the steerer." The request is just and no one is so much a lover of the body, a one-sided judge, as not to the

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αἰτίαν. 14.7.5 Θέλω δὲ ὑμῖν καὶ ἄλλο παραθέσθαι διήγημα, δεύτερον μὲν τοῦ προλεχθέντος τοῖς χρόνοις, ἰσοδυναμοῦν δὲ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν. Ὁ Σαοὺλ ὁ βασιλεὺς παρετάττετο καὶ διὰ πολλῆς φροντίδος ἦγε τὸν πόλεμον· ἀπηγόρευσε τῷ λαῷ τροφῆς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ μὴ μεταλαβεῖν ὄρκῳ τὴν κρίσιν ἐπισφραγίσας καὶ θάνατος ἦν ἡ ζημία τῷ παρακούσαντι. 14.7.6 Πάσης δὲ τῆς στρατιᾶς εὐπειθῶς δεξαμένης τὸ πρόσταγμα μόνος ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως παῖς Ἰωνάθαν σμήνει περιτυχὼν καὶ τοῦ μέλιτος ἡττηθείς, ἐμπήξας τοῖς κηρίοις τὸ σκῆπτρον τοῦ γλυκάσματος ἀπεγεύσατο. Ἦλθε δὲ ἐγγὺς τοῦ κινδύνου, εἰ μὴ τὸ πλῆθος ἅπαν κοίνῃ πρὸς τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ βασιλέως ἀντέσχον ἀπαγαγεῖν τὴν ἀπειλὴν εἰς ἔργον ὁρίσαντος. 14.8.1 Πρὸς δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις μυρία τοιαῦτα ἔξεστιν ἀπὸ τῶν Γραφῶν συλλεξάμενον σαφῶς κατιδεῖν, ὡς ἀγαθὸν ἡ ἐγκράτεια καὶ τοὐναντίον χαλεπὸν ἡ ἀκόλαστος τῶν πότων καὶ τῶν ὄψων ἀπόλαυσις. Νηστεία τῶν ἁγίων σύντροφος, νηστεία πάσης ἀγαθῆς πράξεως ἀρχηγός. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τεχνῖται χωρὶς ὀργάνων οὐκ ἐνεργοῦσι τὰς τέχνας, οὕτως οὐδὲ οἱ σπουδαῖοι καὶ ἐν πνευματικαῖς χάρισι βοηθέντες ἄνευ ἐγκρατείας ποτέ τι τῶν θαυμάτων καὶ τεραστίων εἰργάσαντο. 14.8.2 Νηστεύων Ἐλι σαῖος ἤγειρε νεκρὸν καὶ ἐψύχωσε· νηστεύων Μωϋσῆς εἶδε Θεόν· νηστεύων ∆ανιὴλ τῆς γοητείας καὶ πλάνης τῶν Ἀσσυρίων ἐκράτησε· νηστεύων καὶ ὁ Κύριος τοῦ διαβόλου τῶν πειρασμῶν ἠνέσχετο· νηστεύοντες καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν σπουδαίων πραγμάτων δεήσεις ἐτέλουν· νηστείᾳ Νινευΐται τὴν ἀπειλὴν ἐνίκησαν τοῦ θανάτου· 14.8.3 καὶ ὡς ἐπίπαν εἰπεῖν, αὕτη πρὸς Θεὸν παράκλητος, αἰδοῦς ἀξία, καὶ πρέσβις ἀξιόπιστος ταχέως δυσωποῦσα ὑπὲρ ὧν ἂν προσαγάγῃ τῷ Θεῷ τὴν ἱκετηρίαν. ∆ιὸ πᾶς ἀνὴρ εὐσεβὴς καὶ ὅστις φιλόθεος μᾶλλον ἢ φιλήδονος χαίρων μοι καὶ εὐθυμούμενος πρόσελθε ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς ἐγκρατείας. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ σκυ θρωπάζων ἐν ἀρχῇ τῶν ἀγώνων γενναῖός ἐστιν ἀγωνιστής. 14.8.4 Μὴ γίνου στυγνὸς ὡς βρέφος ἐπὶ τὸ διδασκαλεῖον ἑλκομένον, μὴ καταγόγγυζε τῆς τῶν ἡμέρων καθαρότητος, μὴ ζήτει τῆς ἑβδομάδος τὸ τέλος ὡς μετὰ χειμῶνα πικρὸν παρουσίαν ἔαρος, μὴ ἐπιθύμει τοῦ σαββάτου διὰ μεθὴν ὡς Ἰουδαῖος, μὴ ἀρίθμει τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς ὡς ἀργὸς μισθωτὸς ἀναμένων τῆς ἐμμίσθου προθεσμίας τὸ τέλος, μὴ λυποῦ ὅτι σου ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ὥρας ἡ οἰκία οὐ καπνίζεται, οὐδὲ ὁ μάγειρος ἔστηκε πρὸς τῷ πυρί. 14.9.1 Χάρισαί τι καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ, μὴ πάντα τῷ σώματι. Τὴν μὲν ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν σιτίων τρέφει, τὸ δὲ ἡ ἐμφόρησις. Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ τὰ δύο ἀλλήλοις συνέζευκται καὶ τὰ πολὺ κεχωρισμένα κατὰ τὴν φύσιν τῇ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ συνεδέθη προνοίᾳ καὶ τέχνῃ, βουλευσώμεθα ὅπως ἂν ἀμφότερα διαγένοιτο τῶν καταλλήλων ἕκαστα χρειῶν μὴ στερούμενα. Ἐκ τῶν δύο συνέστηκας, ἄνθρωπε, καὶ σιωπῶ τέως ὅτι πολὺ προτιμότερον ἐστὶν ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ προσῆκεν ἐκείνῃ νέμειν τῆς εὐνοίας τὸ πλέον. 14.9.2 ∆ίκασον δὲ ἀμφοτέροις ὡς λογικὸς καὶ εὐγνώμων. Ἀνάσχου δὲ μικρὸν καί, εἰ βουληθείης, ἐγὼ τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ψυχῆς λόγον ποιήσομαι ὡς γυναικὶ πιστευσάσῃ συνηγορίαν, ἐφ' οἷς ἀδικεῖσθαι λέγει καὶ καθυβρίζεσθαι. Αὕτη τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἱερὰ καὶ ἀσώματος, ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀνώλεθρος, οὐ πρὸς γῆν καὶ τὰ τῇδε ἀλλὰ πρὸς Θεὸν ἔχουσα τὴν συγγένειαν. Καθαρὰ δὲ οὖσα χαίρει τοῖς καθαροῖς καὶ ἄϋλον ἔχουσα τὴν γένεσιν φεύγει τὰς ὕλας. 14.9.3 Πλὴν ἐπειδὴ προσετάχθη τὸ ἐκ γῆς μορφωθὲν σκεῦος οἰκονομεῖν, ὡς εὐπειθὴς τοῦ ∆εσπότου δούλη τῷ πηλῷ προσεδρεύει καὶ τῆς φυλακῆς ἔχεται καὶ τῆς ἐπ' αὐτῷ προ νοίας, μέχρις ἂν ἔλθῃ πρόσταγμα τὸν χωρισμὸν ἐπιτρέπον. Ταύτην μὲν οὖν τὴν τὸ σῶμα ζωοποιοῦσαν ὀνίνησι ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν βρωμάτων, τῷ γηΐνῳ δὲ ὀργάνῳ ἡ τῶν σιτίων ἀπόλαυσις ἀναγκαία. Οὐδὲν ζητεῖ πλέον ὡς κρείττων. 14.9.4 Μέρισόν μοι, φησί, τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ τὸν χρόνον, δὸς τοὺς ἓξ μῆνας εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν τῷ κυβερνωμένῳ καὶ τοὺς λειπομένους τῷ κυβερνήτῃ. ∆ικαία ἡ αἴτησις καὶ οὐδεὶς οὕτως φιλοσώματος, ἑτερορρεπὴς δικαστής, ὡς μὴ τοῖς