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being separated from the body, suffering many pains, as they say; but rather so that she might feel double pains, being separated from you and from the body, and not even in Hades be able to forget you, if there is any perception for souls of things here after their departure from here.”

Having heard these things, the grand domestic groaned bitterly, having never before up to then experienced this in the presence of the emperor, but always beating his breast and wailing outside, while inside striving especially to be master of himself; but then, being now clearly overcome by his emotion, he groaned from the bottom of his heart and wept for his companion, so that even those outside, hearing the wail, thought the emperor had died. The wailing therefore was prolonged for a long time, with all the others present wailing together; but when it was enough, the emperor again said to him to stop the wailing as it was not the time, but to go up to the bed and do what was ordered. But when the time for wailing arrives, you will weep much and often and I myself, like a dead man, will from my heart forget other people; would that I could cast out even a small part of your memory from my own! The grand domestic therefore went up to the emperor's 1.409 bed; and holding his head, he contemplated what was to come, shedding tears silently. As night was already beginning, the emperor's pulse completely failed and there was no longer any doubt about his death. And around the fourth hour of it, the emperor asked the doctors how much time they thought his life would last, and he ordered them to report with truth. And they, wailing at the same time, said they thought it would extend until night. Not much time having passed, his extremities began to grow cold, as his life-force was leaving, and he himself now lost control of his limbs and his voice. And his shins were growing black up to the knees, and his forearms were not unlike those of the lifeless, and his eyelids, having lost their natural tone, were drooping more than their measure, and his nose was growing very sharp and his temples had sunken in, and all the signs of death that the students of physicians know could be seen occurring, so that even they thought he would die before the appointed time. Therefore, all things necessary for burial had already been prepared, and there was nothing else for anyone to expect except burial. But the emperor, with a faint and as if already failing voice, asked if it was possible for some of the holy waters gushing from the ever-flowing and saving spring of the Mother of God to be found. But Phakrasina, one of the noble women attending the empress, said that one of her own servants, having arrived from Byzantium in the evening, had brought some of the holy 1.410 waters; and at the same time bringing it, she offered it with haste. And when it was brought to the emperor's mouth, he seemed to swallow it down, and it was marveled at by all that, although breathing his last, he did not abstain from faith and reverence for holy things. Nevertheless, he seemed to be drawing no less near to the gates of Hades; but when his flesh was anointed from those waters, he became completely still and from that hour remained voiceless and motionless until dawn, believed to be alive only by his breathing. But around dawn, as if coming back to life from the dead, he said, “Glory to you, O God.” And when the grand domestic asked how he was, he said that he himself did not know, but God who knows all would know. But the chief of the physicians, approaching and taking the emperor's hand, thought he felt a faint pulse; but thinking he was deceived by the unreasonableness of the event—for no hope was left that he would live—he searched again carefully and examined the pulses and felt the hands all over. And when he was convinced he was not deceived, he was astonished at the unexpectedness of the event and cried out, "Great is God, who alone is able to lead down to the gates of Hades and bring up again from there." And gathering around him the other crowd of physicians, as if from astonishment not even trusting himself, he asked if the same things seemed to them also concerning the emperor. And when they too agreed, astonishment and joy seized them all

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σώματος χωριζομένῃ, πολλὰς, ὡς λέγουσιν, ὑφισταμένῃ τὰς ὀδύνας· μᾶλλον δ' ἵν' αἰσθάνηται διπλῶν τῶν ὀδυνῶν, σοῦ τε καὶ σώματος χωριζομένη, καὶ μήδ' ἐν ᾅδου σοῦ δύνηται ἐπιλαθέσθαι, εἴ τις αἴσθησις τῶν τῇδε ψυχαῖς μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγήν.» Τούτων ὁ μέγας δομέστικος ἀκούσας, ἀνῴμωξέ τε πικρὸν, οὔπω πρότερον ἄχρι τότε τοῦτο παθὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλέως, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ μὲν ἔξω κοπτόμενος καὶ θρηνῶν, ἔνδον δὲ μάλιστα σπουδάζων ἐγκρατὴς εἶναι ἑαυτοῦ· τότε δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους ἤδη λαμπρῶς νενικημένος, ἔστενέ τε βύθιον ἐκ καρδίας καὶ τὸν ἑταῖρον ἀνεκλαίετο, ὡς καὶ τοὺς ἔξωθεν αἰσθομένους τῆς ὀλωλυγῆς, τετελευτηκέναι νομίσαι βασιλέα. ἐπιπολὺ μὲν οὖν ὁ θρῆνος παρετάθη, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν παρόντων πάντων συνθρηνούντων· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἱκανῶς εἶχεν, αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὖθις, τὸ μὲν θρηνεῖν, εἶπεν, ἐᾷν οὐκ ἂν κατὰ καιρὸν, ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης δὲ ἀνελθόντα, τὸ προστεταγμένον ποιεῖν. ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὁ τοῦ θρηνεῖν ἀφίκηται καιρὸς, σύ τε κλαύσῃ πολλὰ πολλάκις καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς νεκρὸς ἀπὸ καρδίας ἐπιλησθήσομαι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων· εἴθε δὲ καὶ τῆς σῆς μέρος τι μικρὸν τῆς μνήμης τῆς ἐμῆς ἠδυνήθην ἐκβαλεῖν! Ἀνῆλθε μὲν οὖν ὁ μέγας δομέστικος ἐπὶ τῆς βασι 1.409 λέως κλίνης· καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἡμμένος, τὸ μέλλον ἀπεσκόπει, δάκρυα προχέων ἀψοφητί. ἤδη δὲ ἠργμένης τῆς νυκτὸς, τό, τε σφύζειν παντελῶς ἀπέλιπε βασιλέα καὶ οὐκέτι ἀμφιβάλλειν ἦν περὶ τῆς τελευτῆς. περὶ δὲ ὥραν αὐτῆς τετάρτην ἐπυνθάνετο τῶν ἰατρῶν ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν χρόνον ὁπόσον ἂν αὐτῷ νομίζοιεν διαρκέσειν τὴν ζωὴν, καὶ ἐκέλευε σὺν ἀληθείᾳ ἀπαγγέλλειν. οἱ δ' ἅμα καὶ θρηνοῦντες ἄχρι νύκτα ἔλεγον οἴεσθαι ἐξήκειν. οὐ πολλοῦ δὲ χρόνου διαλιπόντος, τά τε ἄκρα ψύχεσθαι ἤρχετο, ἀπολείποντος τοῦ ζωτικοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἤδη καὶ τὰ μέλη παρεῖτο καὶ τὴν φωνήν. καὶ κνῆμαι μὲν ἐμελαίνοντο ἄχρι γονάτων, πήχυς δὲ χειρῶν οὐδὲν ἦσαν ἀψύχων ἀπεοικυῖαι, βλέφαρά τε τῶν φυσικῶν ἐκλυθέντα τόνων, καθίεντο τοῦ μέτρου πλέον, καὶ ῥὶς ἀπωξύνετο ἐπιπολὺ καὶ κρόταφοι συνεπεπτώκεσαν, καὶ πάνθ' ὅσα τελευτῆς τεκμήρια παῖδες ἴσασιν ἰατρῶν γινόμενα ἦν ὁρᾷν, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὺς καὶ τῆς προθεσμίας οἰηθῆναι πρότερον τελευτήσειν. ὅσα μὲν οὖν ἦν ἀναγκαῖα πρὸς ταφὴν, πάντα ἤδη ἐπεπόριστο, καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν ἕτερον οὐδένα προσδοκᾷν πλὴν ταφῆς. βασιλεὺς δ' ἀμυδρᾷ φωνῇ καὶ οἷον ἤδη ἐκλειπούσῃ, εἰ τῶν ἱερῶν ὑδάτων τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἀεννάου καὶ σωτηρίου πηγῆς τῆς θεομήτορος ἐκβλυζόντων εὑρεθῆναι ἠρώτα δυνατόν. Φακρασίνα δὲ τῶν τῇ βασιλίδι συνουσῶν μία γυναικῶν εὐγενῶν τῆς ἑσπέρας ἔφασκεν ἥκοντα ἐκ Βυζαντίου τῶν αὐτῆς τινα οἰκετῶν, τῶν ἱε 1.410 ρῶν ὑδάτων κεκομικέναι· ἅμα δὲ καὶ φέρουσα παρείχετο σὺν σπουδῇ. προσαχθέντων τε τῷ στόματι βασιλέως ἐδόκει μὲν καταβροχθίσαι, καὶ ἐθαυμάζετο παρὰ πάντων, ὅτι καίτοι τὰ τελευταῖα πνέων, οὐκ ἀπέσχετο τῆς περὶ τὰ σεβάσμια καὶ πίστεως καὶ τιμῆς. ὅμως δὲ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐγγίζειν ἐδόκει ταῖς ᾅδου πύλαις· χρισθείσης δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς ἐξ ἐκείνων τῶν ὑδάτων, ἡσύχασέ τε παντελῶς καὶ ἀπ' ἐκείνης τῆς ὥρας ἄφωνός τε καὶ ἀκίνητος ἔμεινεν ὄρθρου ἄχρι παντελῶς, ζῆν μόνῳ πιστευόμενος τῷ ἀναπνεῖν. περὶ ὄρθρον δὲ ὥσπερ ἐκ τεθνεώτων ἀναβιοὺς «δόξα σοι, ὦ θεὸς,» εἶπεν. ἐρομένου δὲ ὅπως ἔχει τοῦ μεγάλου δομεστίκου, αὐτὸς μὲν εἶπεν οὐκ εἰδέναι, εἰδείη δ' ἂν ὁ πάντα γινώσκων θεός. προσελθὼν δ' ὁ τῶν ἰατρῶν προέχων καὶ τῆς χειρὸς ἁψάμενος τῆς βασιλέως, ἐδόκει μὲν σφύζειν ἀμυδρῶς· τῷ παραλόγῳ δὲ τοῦ πράγματος οἰόμενος ἠπατῆσθαι οὐδεμία γὰρ ὑπελείπετο ἐλπὶς τοῦ ζήσεσθαι αὐτὸν ἀνηρεύνα τε αὖθις ἐπιμελῶς καὶ περιειργάζετο τοὺς σφυγμοὺς καὶ τὰς χεῖρας περιέψα. ὡς δὲ ἐπείθετο οὐκ ἠπατημένος ὢν, ἐξεπέπληκτό τε τοῦ πράγματος τῷ παραδόξῳ καὶ «μέγας ὁ θεὸς» ἀνεβόησεν «ὁ μόνος δυνάμενος εἰς ᾅδου κατάγειν πύλας καὶ ἀνάγειν αὖθις ἐκεῖθεν.» περιστησάμενος δὲ καὶ τὸν ἄλλον ὅμιλον τῶν ἰατρῶν ὥσπερ ὑπ' ἐκπλήξεως οὐδ' ἑαυτῷ θαῤῥῶν, εἰ καὶ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἴσα περὶ βασιλέως ἐπυνθάνετο δοκεῖ. συνθεμένων δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν, ἔκπληξις μὲν πάντας εἶχε καὶ χαρὰ