Poemata of the most honorable lord michael psellos to the emperor monomachos

 Shining upon all those in darkness for it says clearly, they have pierced both my hands and my feet. and the twenty-third psalm, of the one of the

 This prophet often fled from the one ruling tyrannically wherefore once, having also fled to a city of foreigners, which was named gath, and fearing

 Of the lord, when everything was inhabited. but a psalm having confession inscribed has a declaration of thanksgiving and gladness for confession

 Since indeed your love of learning, o crown-wearer, longs for the strange and varied explanation and knowledge of the song of songs to be interpreted,

 A word which i loved from the midst of her soul. do you ever rest at midday, o bridegroom? for i am persuaded that you remain purely at midday, that i

 About to recline royally in her, they prepare the bride, seemingly gilding her, so that when the king visits her, he will find her most ready for rest

 Souls mixed up with life may have other cares of worldly matters, but i, having known the pleasure of my bridegroom, will engrave him upon the tablets

 For since the groomsmen and friends of the bridegroom, as we have said above in the discourse concerning this, gilded her who was silvered with their

 Not nourishing (for an herb does not nourish), but making itself brilliant with the beauty of its appearance. for the farmer needs to gain nothing fro

 Saying these things to them, as you will find in sequence: his left hand is under my head, and his right hand will embrace me [2, 6]. the power of the

 Further. behold, he stands behind our wall, peeping through the windows, glancing through the lattices [2, 9]. behold, he says, the word and bridegroo

 Of commands? the old law legislates not to commit adultery, but the present one among us, that of the gospels, commands also to cut off all desire th

 Having comprehended all things, when i arrived at the night of the divine mysteries, having fervently sought the word and bridegroom, i did not find h

 Having become myrrh, so to speak, put to death with christ, it never otherwise becomes incense to the lord. behold the bed of solomon, sixty mighty me

 To her, that is, the church: your eyes are a dove's [4, 1]. just as in a mortal's body there are many members, feet and hands and breasts and chest an

 In these things he hints at the passion of the savior. for know the mountain of myrrh as the passions of the savior, and again know the hill of franki

 You are, he says, o bride, enclosed, having the beauty of all good things in yourself, a fruitful olive tree and a sweet fig tree and again you are a

 Eat, and drink my blood. then be drunk, he says, from gladness and receive forgetfulness of all worldly cares, as if becoming ecstatic from the intoxi

 To the city, they struck me, they wounded me [5, 7]. o, the most beautiful progress of the bride and virgin. for behold, she has ascended even to the

 Having scraped off wickedness from themselves, whence they are filled with good hopes. and again, know his belly as a box, the souls and hearts of all

 Pay attention turn your eyes upon me, for the light of your eyes has given me wings and i have despised all earthly things. but he who fulfills the w

 The word who formed this sought it out after it had long ago fallen and having found it and taken it upon his shoulders, the lord brought it up to he

 By the logos, but an individual and one person with the hypostasis. but do not call the flesh the hypostasis of god, but call it enhypostatic, for the

 While the divine justinian, the new lawgiver, was holding the scepters of the romans, and eutychius the wise was then patriarch. and one hundred and s

 Divine scripture teaches and very many others everywhere in the sacred books have preached, taught, and clarified likewise. not having accepted this,

 Of various ranks. for some drive them from the divine church. others only depose those who were ordained, others afflict them with the penalties of ex

 The power of the so-called tenses. the present as standing, as being today the imperfect as extended (for i was striking has an unfinished meaning)

 I will write but of the nouns that end in psi, again with one of these it forms the genitive, master for the pelops, of the pelops, of the ki

 Having a consonant is never regularly disyllabic but since tetheika is trisyllabic in the middle voice, how could the middle exist? this is against

 To glare fiercely. to be angry: to be enraged. a manger for cattle. to know how to fight: to understand the battle against one's betters. a javelin is

 The boarding. foedera are the treaties. chelidonis is the step below the entrance. psairein is to touch, to move. psephaion is that which is dark. the

 And chambers the hollows. hidden the secret things near the feet the footings arteries, iringes and the bones, pomegranate-like. scraped the shaven

 A dispute whether a trial should take place, the issue is an objection, which you will divide thus: for one part of it is written, and the other is un

 To refashion in different words, with various terms, varying and transposing first what is to be done, then its cause, then what has been omitted, the

 To murder,” he introduced an objection negating the action but if someone should say, “even if you had to, but not in such a way,” he spoke a counter

 When having cut a question into two parts, of which each is a precipice, you question certain enemies for you would either silence them, being unable

 Two main points: the more foundational ones, which both lead the argument back to its beginning and tighten it, and again, further on, set out most be

 (for they love man), properly but not properly, for the concept of philanthropy has another meaning and that which is said by similarity of word is s

 Having summarized the discourse, i have made an easily graspable compilation of the laws. first, it must be explained to you how many parts the law ha

 Again, it is tripartite, for of this law there is the twelve-table of the twelve oracles, the decrees of kings, the laws of the praetors. but it must

 Concerning the division of common property, that concerning the peculium and that from a will, both the institutoria and the exercitoria, that against

 Being formulated: let titius inherit my property but if he is unwilling, let primus inherit. one who has entered into an unlawful marriage is both

 What has been paid does not have a subsequent claim for repetition, as was decided by the law. private agreements do not harm the public interest. the

 To receive a book of the first lawsuit initiated and to add a deadline of twenty days. but the one who has obtained a second trial by recusal cannot r

 Would kill it while grazing. this action is by nature also penal, and it is also utilis, and it is also directa if someone harms a body with a body,

 The judge must decide the case being brought, if some are disputing with each other concerning possession. and one kind of possession is the natural h

 It begins at the seventh hour of the night and has its precise completion by the sixth hour of the next night. an appeal is issued within ten days. af

 In thirty years without claim it is both extinguished and destroyed, in no way further a personal action by this time limit, if the interval is not i

 According to use in itself and according to ownership and the same reciprocity happens for the man. let the son who is sui iuris and dies childless g

 Made. an adolescent is not a witness, nor any woman but if the event is such that it cannot accept the sight of a man, women testify. and a slave may

 They fall into a specific class of contract, into sale, into letting, or also into partnership. but if perhaps it should remain unchangeable into some

 Let him make a choice, he distinguished, he did not weave it into the word of paulus. manifest is in the presence of a multitude for it is necessa

 He reasonably gives the property in question according to the laws but in the court of possession, my lord, the seller, having given double, is not r

 But things for pleasure have by nature been spent of necessary things are the mole of the sea, and to plant a new plant, both a vine and trees, and f

 Somehow public, these belonging to the community, the former to individuals. an indecent gift to a prostitute is confirmed according to the laws. but

 Hear briefly the definitions of diseases and symptoms together. thrush is by nature a twofold ulcer in children for the one is easily cured, white-co

 It empties the belly, bites the stomach, greatly enlarges the liver. twice-boiled cabbage is a binder of the belly, but once-boiled, mixed with salt,

 The tower-sparrow is in all things similar to the aforementioned, but it has tougher flesh than the others. and the nature of the duck, the wood-pigeo

 This is a kind of pulse: there are in all three dimensions in principle, length, width, and depth, the principles of bodies. so the three dimensions o

 More briefly, then relaxing in tone and speed and contracting towards the end of its course, or even changing to the opposite. and again vary these fo

 Called, the third into refined oil. but if it should take on a burnt color, it indicates spasm and immediate death but if it comes from the kidneys,

 It would form, not having putrefied, but having putrefied, a kind of eating herpes. but the humor that is terrible and black in nature, if it contains

 The fire of insatiability is wont to eat. nausea is naturally a surge of the stomach, with bad humors thus intertwined. hiccups are increased either b

 Of the head, spirits and a shattering of the anterior cavities. but learn that epilepsy is of this sort. it is by nature a sudden clonus of the body,

 Of this affliction blindness is the greatest extension of the evil. a chalazion is a certain hardening of fluid in the eyelid, suddenly compacted. a

 Of inflammation with a twofold affection: for one has a stabbing pain, and a twofold cough, on the one hand only without sputum, showing that the dise

 A natural pain of the colon indigestion and colic, obstructions of the stomach, and piercing pains of the sufferer. this is the division of this conn

 But again, excessive cleansing is a sudden flow and again, a flow in women is a pneumatism of the uterus. an impassioned inflammation of the uterus i

 Burning with a fiery heat the affected places in common. and every inflamed swelling is a phlegmon but what is properly called phlegmon arises from g

 The substance of twins. the nature of hermaphrodites is quick to anger. 10 verses on leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal a w

 Is earth, moon, light-bringer, and soul and flesh here and mind appropriately so set one against one somehow, but reasonably, mind against sun, body

 An image, the dignity of the mind, the delightful flower, the place of delight, the comely dwelling of the graces, she who alone had and bore all the

 They flocked to orpheus with insatiable desire, and everyone who saw him stood astounded, looking and if some modesty had not hidden your appearance,

 An old man, from there again wept in response even more, roaring from the depths like a lion and with his groans making a great sound, as if speaking

 Keep the nightingale's mouth shut, it has the songs of orpheus do not comb through the braid of her hair you held a treasure, not a dead little body

 Long ago which nothing is so strong to whiten as a broad hand of gifts and graces. then my old woman, alas, my mother, care for her in her old age an

 Shown to you fittingly. hail, general and king of the whole earth, greatest, all-renowned, power of the empire for men assembled, who do not delight

 With contrary inclinations, sleeps, pains, toils and pleasures. you were not of bronze, nor of iron in nature for christ hates excessive zeal. a grea

 Blasphemies and though appointed a champion of the poor, you strip them naked even to their tunic boasting your zeal like a new elijah, you do not b

 A new thing of life, foul-smelling dog, a serpent in wickedness o idle beast, a grievous burden of the earth o tongue quick to blasphemy and hand re

 A murderer. did you then yield as one slow of speech by nature or running ahead did you seize not a ministry, but a completely foreign unutterable dee

 In verse, but he gladly loved comedy. prol 22 verses of a certain monk jacob from the monastery of the synkellos against psellos o master zeus and fat

 Unmixed wine. from the belly a cry of yours was heard, jacob, in the womb of the jar, and he who pours out the wine for you has hearkened to you, all-

 Let us hang clusters of grapes gracefully, and let us hang wineskins around your neck, / and let us shout loudly, / he who drinks unceasingly is thus

 God beautified and graced you with the beauties of your words. you were devoted to the divine scriptures, o holy one, and tracing the lives of the sai

 Blessed one, you have departed to the lord, on the very day on which the renowned stephen is perfected / the holy martyr, with whom you were also glor

 Of counsels, as initiating the friends as initiates, the body a soul-nourishing table, and he mixes the blood as nectar sweetening the mind. but appro

 Of humility the master a type a type to the disciples showing, the master of humility and of a moderate spirit he who binds all things girds himself w

 Of all ages, a beginning of ways, an unoriginate word of unknown things. he begets thus, then also creates again for works these things of those now b

 31 of psellos, on saint george. how steadfast, how fearless, how beyond nature you courageously bore the pains of contest, most excellent george, glor

 The glory of generals, of the other children of jesse he was the youngest in appearance plain, but beautiful in soul, most manly in judgment, strong

 A medicine, the common health of souls, a collection of good things, salvation for men. for it removes and drives away every sickness of the soul, it

 By counsel he tripped up a woman, but a woman cast him down by bearing god in the flesh, the redeemer of men, his destroyer, she who is blessed among

 That the book of psalms is of david and of him alone, and that he himself composed all of them, both those having superscriptions and those without su

 Of things written, these were referred to christ, and must be expressed in the dative. for christ in the scriptures is called the new david, for he wa

 Is spoken in the voice of the hebrews. the lord is the one who is sung to, to whom we sing the hymns, a psalm is the composition, the melody is the ps

 But the four regions of the world, through which the sound of the psalms was to advance. and seventy-two men constituted the choir and the matter sig

 Of those prophesying who prefigured the glorious things of the new covenant, and the deep and obscure nature of the sayings, which is a characteristic

 To the four hundred and the wretched aquila, being angry with the christians, produced a great corruption of the interpretation. aelius hadrian was r

 About things that are going to happen after some time, and at other times he composes his words about present things. and he often altered the sequenc

 The king, the wonderful and all-wise david the psalmist. who, as a prophet, clearly foresaw future events and those things that were accomplished many

 A book. this too, my christ, is a sign of your providence for a man truly barbarous in language and manners made a great effort to find the book of d

 He counts the impious wretched. on the 2nd psalm, why did they rage it prophesies concerning christ, and calls the nations to faith. this one reveal

 Again: «behold, just as that one was in travail with injustice, he conceived trouble within, he brought forth lawlessness, and dug a deep grave, but h

 He has spoken this prophecy of many. on the 14th psalm, lord, who shall sojourn in your tabernacle? a description of the saints who were perfected i

 Greatest prophet, as if spoken by hezekiah, when that sennacherib campaigns against him, then is sent away empty, having been defeated. for the greate

 Thirdly by the twelve tribes, just as we have found in the histories of the four kingdoms. on the 27th psalm, to you, o lord, will i cry an ode of t

 He saved him from his enemies for he says, “i will bless the lord at all times.” on the 34th psalm, “judge, o lord, those who wrong me” a supplicatio

 To obtain freedom from god. for “as the deer longs for the springs of water, so,” he says, “my soul longs to run to you. for i have thirsted to see yo

 Introducing in its place the new. announcing the overthrow of the sacrifices of the law and the introduction of the new and recent covenant, the most

 Alone, not bearing to see the superstition of the enemies. whence he says, i went far off, o lord, fleeing, and i lodged in the wilderness having fl

 Of idumea? are you not by all means, christ, god, who has cast me off?” on the 60th psalm, “hear, o god, my prayer” it prophesies the calling of the g

 Of the savior and the fall of the most cursed hebrews. for for my thirst, he says, they gave me vinegar to drink, and for my food they have given m

 Through love for humanity, but then again he punishes because of sin, but nevertheless later coming to judgment with angels he will make those who hav

 Reveals of the jews. but this one rebukes the most lawless judges, whom the greatest prophet also called gods. for he says thus to them in the person

 And of the god-man word for he says the lord of all reigned. to the 93rd psalm, god of vengeances is the lord he foretells uprisings and persecut

 Within me.” teaches how one must give thanks to the lord for all things. in this he again advises to honor the master. for “alleluia” wishes to signif

 Of the pure virgin. for to my lord, he says, the lord said, sit at the right hand of my throne and of glory, until i make your enemies as your foot

 Their war and that of their neighbors. however, each of the psalms of ascents has been most beautifully formed and somehow set to melody, as if by a c

 May you eat and see your sons' sons begetting children.” on the 128th, “many a time have they fought against me” it speaks of the victory of the lord'

 Wishing to build the temple of the lord from captivity, were often hindered by their neighbors, as they engaged them in war daily. for he says, unles

 Unceasingly. to the 137th psalm, i will give thanks to you he gives thanks to the lord and prophesies the future. he wrote this in the person of the

 To his saints» the prophet commands all to hymn god unceasingly. the prophet urges every breath and power and nature to the unceasing praise of the lo

 In summer. and it surpasses the whole earth in size for the earth, as it seems, is cone-shaped. and you have set the moon to give light to the night

 And there was the blameless and god-child mary, from the country of jesse and david the prophet. and joachim and anna bore the virgin. and for three y

 The shedding of the blood cleansed adam and purified creation which had been greatly defiled. [.........] because of extreme compassion he fixed a [sw

 A subtle theory. for one thing often refers to two, sometimes three, so that he who cuts up the divine oracles and improperly leaves behind some of th

 An activity was connected to these. and from this, the transfer of the divine mysteries to the altar brings jesus’ entrance from bethany into jerusale

 The joy of the tyrant and the affliction of sufferings and he who demonstrates this through good deeds asks for the lord’s “will to be done” he who

 They deny the power of christ, saying, whence did he have leavened bread, when leaven was absent from the passover in those days because of what moses

 That there are no leavened things in the venerable and all-honorable supper because of which moses threatened in the law, as we said above in the proo

 He himself demonstrates, the master of the old and of the new, abolishing the one as unbelievable and not working for the salvation of mortals, but st

 For this is also half of the modii. and finding another shape having the measure thus, one schoinos at the head and five at the foot, and on both side

 Of the fort. it leaves on the right the rights of so-and-so and the oaks planted there in a row, among which a well-formed mark has been found, and ab

 Setting down the mountainous nature of the place, or rough, or impassable, or even nomadic. but when others have measured with a ten-fathom rope, more

 You will find the perimeter of the place being measured and thus you may hit the mark and you will not miss the measurement. 59 concerning the twelve

 Bowels and intestines, belly the abdomen and call the small of the intestine for me the omentum. they call the veins around the heart *itides*. the p

 Wanting to see the emperor's procession at the church of the holy apostles, he pitilessly beat me (alas for me) with a club, striking unsparingly shou

 Passing by my wretched fortunes. o dearest wife, and more than light, very sweetness of my whole heart, anna my breath, light of my eyes, meadow of gr

 The divine with labor, that he may grant to us a ransom for our errors and complete forgiveness for all our faults, before our material union is broke

 He says, “we know in part, and we speak in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be gone,” and for the most part he counts this one also

 Borne of much love, even if it had some bite and some irony, a letter analogous to the one you sent me. but wishing to speak, yet not wanting to liste

 That coming to you i no longer grind out words. do not, therefore, weary yourself, man, saying this and that begin concisely from his very own ancest

 And at another time stoking the fires at the bath of makres kochalos, which is the official bath of the castle, adapting yourself by many arts and dev

 Ends of the world, by whom he cast down the powerful and the wise and kings. for from these of low birth and of lowly fortune and those who seem insig

 For while putting on airs of knowing the art of verses, you have corrected neither the accents nor your corresponding lines, nor have you harmonized t

 Are you sleeping, writing to me with much boldness and the usual hateful, ignorant folly iambics of which you have never had any experience at all? go

 77 on the ascension having come from the east to the west, you rose again towards the rays of the sun. for having come to earth with compassion, o mas

 Every desire is a pain but if it is for a good youth, the pain is fourfold and if for one beloved, the pain is tenfold and if for more than a frien

ends of the world, by whom he cast down the powerful and the wise and kings. For from these of low birth and of lowly fortune and those who seem insignificant and exceedingly poor, he appointed the sacred chorus of the apostles, Peter, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Paul, Matthew and Luke, James and Mark, and John the great and Simon and Matthias. Paul, the first of these, confirms what is said; for he says, “the low-born of the world and the things that are not, God has chosen”, and see for what reason: “that”, he says, “he might put to shame the lofty and the wise.” For since the entire nature of the earth-born is one, being composed of both soul and body together, it shows the mortal substance to be one race. For it is not possible to find a human soul's nature to be other than an in-breathing from the most divine; but we are by nature one body seen to be from the dust. If, therefore, †this also and small† is the whole nature of mortals, from the breath from above and the dust from below, there is not here one of more noble birth or of low birth, but those who seem well-born, glorious, and great, if they possess a life purified for Christ and live according to the Gospel, blamelessly and justly, are truly most noble and brilliant and great; but if they are always wallowing in shameful passions and find a teacher in things contrary to Christ, you should seek no others of low birth besides these. But I myself would also gladly ask you this, which Christ once proposed to the Pharisees, if I did not see that the argument would be stretched to length. Nevertheless, I will ask you, and you answer me. What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? For if you do not think the things of Nestorius, you will surely tell me that he is by nature the son and Word of the living God, being of the same substance co-natural with the Father himself. But this all-praised one, the one of compassion, moved then by much love for mankind, wishing to become man from a pure virgin and desiring to renew my own refashioning, having associated with those below, he who is above all, was reckoned the son of Joseph the carpenter. What do you say to this, master, and what do you now answer? Will you change the name of Christ to that of the Hebrews, becoming a protorempes, called Abrachas, and will you accept circumcision and accept keeping the sabbath, and will you also revile Christ, as they did then, calling him the son of Joseph the carpenter? O your splendor, o your nobility, how clearly you have been lifted up against Christ, not even revering that ineffable radiance, the beauty of which he once revealed before the cross and astonished the disciples on Mount Tabor. In addition to all this, know this also concerning everything, that every virtue which one might achieve with a lofty mind and arrogant boldness is not reckoned a virtue, whether first, or last, whether virginity, or prayer, or almsgiving, or continence from the womb, or rivers of tears, or contempt for many possessions and goods one happens to achieve, or anything else of the sort. And let the word of Christ's parable persuade, which has cast down the brow of the Pharisee to the earth, but has lifted up the humility of the publican to the heights. 68 Of the same to the same †political and codical† A long time has passed since I received your letter and did not send you a reply. And you surely had cause to blame our boorishness, or rather, it is better to say, our great laziness, for having shown contempt for such a fine thing. But nevertheless, since your letters are not worthy of mention, from the moment you sent them out of the lightness of your mind, they were tossed aside in some corner of my cell and were given over to forgetfulness until the present. But now, having come to search for necessary things and groping about, I do not know how I found your letters. Which having taken and read a little, and clapping my hands, I laughed greatly at your lack of education, or rather at the excess of your extreme simple-mindedness. How

πέρατα τοῦ κόσμου, ὑφ' ὧν δυνάστας καὶ σοφοὺς καὶ βασιλεῖς καθεῖλε. ἐκ τούτων γὰρ τῶν ἀγενῶν καὶ τῶν τῆς κάτω τύχης καὶ τῶν δοκούντων ἀτελῶν καὶ πάνυ πενεστάτων τὸ ἱερὸν ἀνέδειξεν χορὸν τῶν ἀποστόλων, Πέτρον, Ἀνδρέαν, Φίλιππον, Θωμᾶν, Βαρθολομαῖον, Παῦλον, Ματθαῖον καὶ Λουκᾶν, Ἰάκωβον καὶ Μάρκον, καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν πολὺν καὶ Σίμων καὶ Ματθίαν. κυροῖ δὲ τὰ λεγόμενα Παῦλος ὁ τούων πρῶτος· «τὰ δυσγενῆ τοῦ κόσμου» γὰρ φησὶ «καὶ τὰ μὴ ὄντα ὁ θεὸς ἐξελέξατο», καὶ βλέπε τίνος χάριν· «ἵνα» φησὶ «τοὺς ὑψηλοὺς καὶ σοφοὺς καταισχύνῃ.» Μία γὰρ οὖσα σύμπασα τῶν γηγενῶν ἡ φύσις, ἐκ ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος ὁμοῦ συνισταμένη, ἓν γένος ὑποδείκνυσι τὴν βρότειον οὐσίαν. οὐδ' ἔστι γὰρ εὑρεῖν ψυχῆς ἀνθρώπου φύσιν ἄλλην πλὴν ἐμφυσήματος ἐκτὸς ἔχειν τοῦ θειοτάτου· ἀλλ' ἓν σῶμα πεφύκαμεν ἐκ τοῦ χοὸς ὁρᾶσθαι. εἰ τοίνυν †αὕτης καὶ μικρὰν† βροτῶν ἡ πᾶσα φύσις, ἐκ τῆς πνοῆς τῆς ἄνωθεν καὶ τοῦ χοὸς τοῦ κάτω, οὐκ ἔστιν εὐγενέστερος ἢ δυσγενὴς ἐνταῦθα, οἱ δὲ δοκοῦντες εὐγενεῖς, ἔνδοξοι καὶ μεγάλοι, εἰ μὲν τὸν βίον κέκτηνται Χριστῷ κεκαθαρμένον καὶ ζῶσιν εὐαγγελικῶς, ἀμέμπτως καὶ δικαίως, ὄντως πανευγενέστατοι καὶ λαμπροὶ καὶ μεγάλοι· εἰ δέ γε πάθεσιν αἰσχροῖς ἀεὶ προσκυλινδοῦνται καὶ τἀναντία τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδάσκαλον εὑρῶσιν, μηδὲν ἑτέρους ἀγενεῖς ζητήσῃς παρὰ τούτους. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτ' ἂν ἡδέως ἐροίμην ἔγωγέ σε, ὅπερ προὐβάλετό ποτε Χριστὸς τοῖς Φαρισαίοις, εἰ μὴ πρὸς μῆκος ἔβλεπον ἐκτείνεσθαι τὸν λόγον. ὅμως γοῦν ἐρωτήσω σε, σὺ δ' ἀποκρίθητί μοι. τί σοι δοκεῖ περὶ Χριστοῦ; τίνος υἱὸς τυγχάνει; εἰ μὴ τὰ Νεστορίου γὰρ φρονεῖς, ἐρεῖς μοι πάντως ὅτι τοῦ ζῶντος πέφυκεν θεοῦ υἱὸς καὶ λόγος, τῆς αὐτῆς αὐτῷ τῷ πατρὶ συμπεφυκὼς οὐσίας. ἀλλ' οὗτος ὁ πανύμνητος, ὁ τῆς φιλευσπλαγχνίας, ὑπὸ πολλῆς κινούμενος τότε φιλανθρωπίας, ἐνανθρωπίσαι βουληθεὶς ἁγνῆς ἐξ ἀπειράνδρου καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάπλασιν θέλων ἀνακαινίσαι, τοῖς κάτω συναναστραφεὶς ὁ πάντων ὑπεράνω, τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱὸς κατενομίσθη. τί φῇς πρὸς τοῦτο, δέσποτα, καὶ τί νῦν ἀποκρίνῃ; μεταβαλεῖς τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ κλῆσιν εἰς τὴν Ἑβραίων, πρωτορεμπῆς γενόμενος, Ἁβραχὰς λελεγμένος, καὶ δέχῃ τὴν περιτομὴν καὶ δέχῃ σαββατίζειν, καὶ λοιδορεῖς καὶ σὺ Χριστόν, καθὼς ἐκεῖνοι τότε, τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ τοῦ τέκτονος υἱὸν κατονομάζων; βαβαί σου τῆς λαμπρότητος, βαβαὶ τῆς εὐγενείας, ὡς ὅτι γε κατὰ Χριστοῦ τρανότερον ἐπήρθης, μηδὲ τὴν αἴγλην αἰδεσθεὶς τὴν ἄφραστον ἐκείνην, ἧσπέρ ποτε πρὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ τὸ κάλλος παρανοίξας τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐξέπληξεν ἐν ὄρει Θαβωρίῳ. Πρὸς τούτοις πᾶσι γίνωσκε καὶ τοῦτο περὶ πάντα, ὡς ὅτι πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἣν ἄν τις κατορθώσῃ μεθ' ὑψηλοῦ φρονήματος καὶ θράσους ἐπηρμένου οὐκ ἀρετὴ λογίζεται, κἂν πρώτη, κἂν ἐσχάτη, κἂν παρθενίαν, κἂν εὐχήν, κἂν ἐλεημοσύνην, κἂν ἐκ γαστρὸς ἐγκράτειαν, κἂν ποταμοὺς δακρύων, κἂν καταφρόνησιν πολλῶν κτημάτων καὶ χρημάτων τύχῃ τις κατορθούμενος, κἂν ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον. καὶ πειθέτω τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παραβολῆς ὁ λόγος, τὴν Φαρισαίου μὲν ὀφρῦν εἰς γῆν κατεσπακότος, τελώνου δὲ τὸ ταπεινὸν ἐπάραντος εἰς ὕψος. 68 Τοῦ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν †πολιπιστικαὶ καὶ κονδικοί† Χρόνος πολὺς παρέδραμεν ἀφ' οὗπέρ σου τὸ γράμμα δεξάμενος ἀντιγραφὴν οὐκ ἀνταπέστειλά σοι. καὶ πάντως εἶχες μέμψασθαι τὴν ἡμῶν ἀγροικίαν, ἢ μᾶλλον φάναι βέλτιον τὴν πολλὴν ῥαθυμίαν ὡς καταφρόνησιν καλοῦ τοιούτου δεδρακότας. πλὴν δ' ὅμως ὡς οὐκ ἄξια λόγου τὰ γράμματά σου, ἐξ ὅτου πέπομφας αὐτὰ σῆς φρενὸς ἐλαφρίᾳ, ἔν τινι παρερρίφθησαν τῆς κέλλης μου γωνίᾳ καὶ λήθῃ παρεδόθησαν ἄχρι καὶ τοῦ παρόντος. νῦν δὲ πρὸς ζήτησιν ἐλθὼν πραγμάτων ἀναγκαίων καὶ ψηλαφῶν οὐκ οἶδα πῶς εὗρον τὰ γράμματά σου. ἅπερ λαβών, ὑπαναγνούς, κροτήσας δὲ τὰς χεῖρας μεγάλως κατεγέλασα τὴν σὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν, ἢ μᾶλλον τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς ἄκρας εὐηθείας. Πῶς