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made them liable to punishments. And now, O father, since you have stopped your ears from hearing my voice which sings good things to you, at least do not hinder me from walking the straight path. For this I long, for this I desire, to be freed from all things, and to reach the places where Barlaam, the servant of Christ, has his dwellings, and with him to live out the rest of my present life. But if you should wish to restrain me by force, 474 you will see me sooner dead from grief and distress; and you will no longer be called a father, nor will you have me as a son anymore. xxxi Then despondency again seized the king; again he renounced his whole life, and turning over terrible things in his mind, he went away to his own palace. And the spirits of wickedness sent by Theudas against the divine child, returning to him, ashamed confessed their defeat, although they were lovers of lies; for they bore clear signs of their defeat on their wicked faces. And he said, "And are you so weak and wretched as not to overcome one youth?" Then the evil spirits, being punished by divine power, unwillingly brought the truth to light, saying, "We cannot endure, nor even look in the face of the power of Christ and the symbol of His passion, which they call the cross. For when that is being formed, we are put to flight without a cry and are driven away, all we the rulers of the air and the world-rulers of darkness, before it is even completely formed. Wherefore, falling upon this youth, we troubled him terribly; but he, calling upon Christ for aid and arming himself with the sign of the cross, both drove us away with wrath and established safety for himself. Therefore, without delay, we found an instrument, through which 476 our ruler, having once spoken to the first-formed man, subdued him. And indeed we too would have set the young man's hope at naught, but Christ, being called again for aid, burning us with the fire of wrath from above, made us fugitives. And we decided to approach him no more." Thus, then, the evil spirits clearly made known to Theudas what had happened. But the king, being at a loss on all sides, summoned Theudas again, and said: "Having fulfilled all the things decreed by you, most wise one, we have found no benefit; but now, if any other device is left to you, we will make a trial of that too; perhaps I may find some solution to the evil." And when Theudas asked to come into conversation with his son, the king, taking him along in the morning, went to visit his son. And sitting down, the king began a speech, reproaching him and blaming him for his disobedience and unyielding mind. But when he affirmed the same things again and cried out that he preferred nothing to the love of Christ, Theudas, coming forward into the midst, said: "What have you condemned, O Joasaph, in our immortal gods, that you have departed from their worship, and, thus provoking your father and king, have become hateful to all the people? Is not your life from them? Did they not grant you to your father, having heard his prayer and delivered him from the bonds of childlessness? But as the one grown old in evil things put forward many vain words and useless propositions, and stitched together syllogisms about the preaching of the 478 Gospel, wishing to mock this and to strengthen the cause of the idols, the son of the kingdom above, and a citizen of that city which the Lord, and not man, has built, paused for a little, and said to Theudas. "Listen, O abyss of error and gloomier than palpable darkness, O Babylonian seed, offspring of the Chalanean tower-building, by which the world was confused, O foolish and wretched old man, compared to whom even the pentapolis burned down with fire and brimstone has become lighter in its sins. Why do you attempt to mock the

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κολάσεων ὑπευθύνους εἰργάσαντο. καὶ νῦν, ὦ πάτερ, ἐπεί σου τὰ ὦτα ἔβυσας τοῦ μὴ ἀκοῦσαί μου τῆς φωνῆς τῆς τὰ ἀγαθά σοι ἐπᾳδούσης, κἂν ἐμὲ μὴ κώλυε τὴν εὐθεῖαν βαδίσαι ὁδόν. τοῦτο γὰρ ποθῶ, τούτου ἐφίεμαι, τοῦ πάντων ἀπαλλαγῆναι, καὶ τόπους καταλαβεῖν ἔνθα Βαρλαὰμ ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ θεράπων τὰς οἰκήσεις ἔχει, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ τὸ λοιπὸν τῆς παρούσης μου διανῦσαι ζωῆς. εἰ δὲ βίᾳ κατα 474 σχεῖν με θελήσειας, ὄψει με θᾶττον τῇ λύπῃ καὶ ἀδημονίᾳ νεκρόν· καὶ οὔτε σὺ τὸ λοιπὸν πατὴρ κληθήσῃ, οὔτε υἱόν με ἔτι ἕξεις. χχχι Πάλιν οὖν ἀθυμία κατέσχε τὸν βασιλέα· πάλιν ἀπελέγετο ὅλην αὐτοῦ τὴν ζωήν, καὶ δεινὰ στρέφων ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἰς τὸ ἴδιον ἀπῄει παλάτιον. τὰ δὲ παρὰ τοῦ Θευδᾶ ἀποσταλέντα τῆς πονηρίας πνεύματα κατὰ τοῦ θείου παιδός, ἐπανελθόντα πρὸς αὐτόν, κατῃσχυμμένα τὴν ἧτταν ἀνωμολόγει, καίτοι φιλοψευδῆ ὄντα· σύμβολα γὰρ σαφῆ τῆς ἥττης ἔφερον ἐπὶ τῆς πονηρᾶς αὐτῶν ὄψεως. ὁ δέ, Καὶ οὕτω, φησίν, ἀσθενεῖς ὑμεῖς καὶ ταλαίπωροι, ὡς ἑνὸς μειρακίου μὴ περιγενέσθαι; τότε τὰ πονηρὰ πνεύματα, θείᾳ δυνάμει τιμωρούμενα, εἰς φῶς ἄκοντα τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἦγεν, Οὐχ ὑπομένομεν, λέγοντα, οὐδὲ ἀντοφθαλμῆσαι ὅλως τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ δυνάμει καὶ τῷ συμβόλῳ τοῦ πάθους αὐτοῦ, ὃν σταυρὸν καλοῦσιν. ἐκείνου γὰρ τυπουμένου, φθάνομεν ἀνακράτος φεύγοντές τε καὶ διωθούμενοι πάντες οἱ τοῦ ἀέρος ἄρχοντες καὶ κοσμοκράτορες τοῦ σκότους, πρὶν ἢ τελείως αὐτὸ τυπωθῆναι. ὅθεν καὶ τῷ νεανίσκῳ τούτῳ ἐπιπεσόντες δεινῶς ἐταράξαμεν· ὁ δέ, τὸν Χριστὸν ἐπικαλεσάμενος εἰς συμμαχίαν καὶ τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ καθοπλίσας ἑαυτόν, ἡμᾶς τε διώσατο μετ' ὀργῆς καὶ ἀσφάλειαν ἑαυτῷ ἔθετο. μὴ μελλήσαντες οὖν εὕρομεν ὄργανον, δι' οὗ καὶ 476 τῷ πρωτοπλάστῳ ὁμιλήσας ποτὲ ὁ ἄρχων ἡμῶν τοῦτον ἐχειρώσατο. καὶ δὴ παρ' οὐδὲν ἐθέμεθα ἂν καὶ ἡμεῖς κενὴν τὴν ἐλπίδα τοῦ νέου, ἀλλ' ἐπικληθεὶς αὖθις ὁ Χριστὸς εἰς συμμαχίαν, πυρὶ τῆς ἄνωθεν ὀργῆς ἡμᾶς καταφλέξας, φυγάδας εἰργάσατο. καὶ ἔγνωμεν μηκέτι πλησιάσαι αὐτῷ. οὕτω μὲν οὖν τὰ πονηρὰ πνεύματα σαφῶς ἐγνώρισε τῷ Θευδᾷ τὰ γεγενημένα. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεύς, πάντοθεν ἀπορούμενος, τὸν Θευδᾶν αὖθις προσκαλεῖται, καί φησι· Τὰ μὲν δεδογμένα σοι, σοφώτατε, πάντα πληρώσαντες, οὐδεμίαν τὴν ὠφέλειαν εὕρομεν· νυνὶ δέ, εἴ τίς σοι ἑτέρα ὑπολέλειπται ἐπίνοια, κἀκείνης πεῖραν ληψόμεθα· ἴσως εὕρω τινὰ τοῦ κακοῦ λύσιν. Αἰτησαμένου δὲ τοῦ Θευδᾶ εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἐλθεῖν τοῦ υἱοῦ, ἕωθεν συμπαραλαβὼν αὐτόν, ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν ἀπέρχεται τοῦ υἱοῦ. καὶ καθίσας λόγους ἐκίνησεν ὁ βασιλεύς, ὀνειδίζων αὐτὸν καὶ μεμφόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνηκοΐᾳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνενδότῳ γνώμῃ. ἐκείνου δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ αὖθις βεβαιοῦντος καὶ μηδὲν προτιμᾶν τῆς Χριστοῦ ἀγάπης βοῶντος, παρελθὼν εἰς μέσον, ὁ Θευδᾶς ἔφη· Τί κατέγνως, ὦ Ἰωάσαφ, τῶν ἀθανάτων ἡμῶν θεῶν, ὅτι τῆς αὐτῶν ἀπέστης λατρείας, καί, τὸν σὸν πατέρα καὶ βασιλέα οὕτως παροργίζων, μισητὸς παντὶ γέγονας τῷ λαῷ; οὐχὶ παρ' αὐτῶν σοι τὸ ζῆν; οὐκ αὐτοὶ παρέσχον σε τῷ πατρί, τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσαντες εὐχῆς καὶ τῶν τῆς ἀτεκνίας δεσμῶν λυτρωσάμενοι; πολλὰς δὲ ματαιολογίας καὶ ἀνωφελεῖς προτάσεις ὁ ἐν κακοῖς γηράσας προβαλλόμενος, καὶ συλλογισμοὺς ῥάπτων περὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος τοῦ 478 Εὐαγγελίου, βουλόμενος τοῦτο μὲν χλευάζειν, τὰ δὲ τῶν εἰδώλων κρατύνειν, ὀλίγον ἐπισχὼν ὁ τῆς ἄνω βασιλείας υἱός, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐκείνης πολίτης ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ Κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, φησὶ πρὸς τὸν Θευδᾶν. Ἄκουσον, ὦ πλάνης βυθὲ καὶ ψηλαφητοῦ σκότους ζοφωδέστερε, τὸ Βαβυλώνιον σπέρμα, τὸ τῆς Χαλανικῆς πυργοποιΐας ἔκγονον, δι' ἧς ὁ κόσμος συνεχύθη, ματαιόφρον καὶ ἄθλιε γέρον, οὗπερ καὶ ἡ πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ κατακαυθεῖσα πεντάπολις ἐλαφροτέρα τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι γέγονε. τί χλευάζειν ἐπιχειρεῖς τὸ τῆς