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I cast out of my heart, like a dog that bites in secret. For the earnest man, loving to have boldness in everything, just as he avoids things done in secret because they are worthy of shame; so also he does not endure speaking or hearing against someone secretly. For the matter is malevolent and ignoble, and danger hangs over the deed, as the Scripture says: Do not love to speak evil, lest you be cut off; and, Do not speak evil of one another, brothers, lest you fall under judgment. But what it is to speak evil must be handed down by way of an example. For not just any speaking about someone secretly is speaking evil of him; for often we speak badly of someone who is absent, not wishing to speak evil of him, but being grieved because he is perhaps wicked; and we try to say things about him to those who likewise care for him and are concerned for him from a friendly disposition. He, then, who speaks thus against an absent person is not an evil-speaker; but he is eager to speak against him with pleasure, not being vexed that he has done such things, but even rejoicing. For he tells things about him to those who hate him, and who are able by promise to reveal things about him to many others. But what is the meaning of the addition "secretly," since it is manifest that every accusation is made secretly? Either it says what is, or it must be distinguished thus: of those who accuse someone, some speak ill of them to their face when they are present, and these are usually called revilers and insolent men; nevertheless, then, by speaking against someone they would be evil-speakers; but others speak secretly and against the accused when they are absent. The saint says, then, to drive out the one who holds this rank, 23.1245 not those who revile to the face. For he against whom the blasphemies are spoken will either defend himself when present, or, being convicted of being such a person, will be ashamed. It is possible to distinguish the evil-speaking that happens in secret from the accusation before judges. For this too is evil-speaking by its kind, but it is not done secretly. Therefore, the fruit of a holy mind is to avoid the wicked; but the proof of extreme wickedness is to speak evil of a brother, and that secretly, and not to his face, so that the accused may not defend himself when present; for he who speaks evil of another in our presence will not refrain from speaking evil of us in the presence of others. Therefore, such a person should rightly be driven away as a common enemy, as one who imitates the dragon in paradise, who, having spoken evil of God, deceived Eve. But let us neither speak badly, nor give a hearing to those who do. But, he says, "do not accept a vain report"; he did not say, "do not believe," but, "do not accept." Wherefore the Prophet also says, "I persecuted him who speaks evil"; he did not say, "I did not believe," or, "I did not accept what was said," but I also drove him away as an enemy. Say to the evil-speaker, "If you have someone to praise, I open my ears to receive the perfumes; if you wish to speak evil, I block the entrance to your words, for I do not endure receiving dung and mire." Muzzle the evil-speaker in your hearing, so that you do not commit a double sin with him, both by accustoming yourself to a destructive passion, and by not stopping him from chattering against his neighbor. Do not give your hearing to the tongue of the evil-speaker, nor your tongue to the hearing of the fault-finder, gladly speaking or hearing against your neighbor, lest you fall from love and be found a stranger to eternal life. But it is different to condemn, to despise, and to speak evil. For to speak evil is to say against someone, for example, that "So-and-so lied," or "was angry," or "committed fornication," or something of that sort; for he spoke with passion about the sin of his brother. But to condemn is to say that, "So-and-so is a liar, a fornicator, an angry person"; for behold, he condemned the very disposition of his soul, and made a pronouncement concerning his whole life, saying that he is such a person; for it is one thing to say, "He was angry," and another, "He is an angry person." But to despise is, as it were,

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ἐξέβαλον ἐκ τῆς καρδίας μου, ὡς κύνα λαθροδήκτην. Ὁ γὰρ σπουδαῖος, ἐν παντί τῳ παῤῥησίαν ἔχειν ἀγαπῶν, ὥσπερ τὰ λάθρα δρώμενα τῷ αἰσχύνης εἶναι ἄξια, παραιτεῖται· οὕτω καὶ τὸ λέγειν ἢ ἀκούειν κατά τινος κρύβδην οὐκ ἀνέχεται· κακοήθους γὰρ καὶ ἀνελευθέρου τὸ χρῆμα, ἐπήρτηται δὲ κίνδυνος τῷ πράγματι, τῆς Γραφῆς λεγούσης· Μὴ ἀγάπα καταλαλεῖν, ἵνα μὴ ἐξαρθῇς· καὶ, Μὴ καταλαλεῖτε ἀλλήλων, ἀδελφοὶ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ κρίσιν πέσητε. Τί δέ ἐστι τὸ καταλαλεῖν ὡς ἐν τύπῳ παραδοτέον· οὐ γὰρ τὸ ὁπωσοῦν λέγειν περί τινος καὶ λάθρα ἐκείνου καταλαλεῖν ἐστι· πολλάκις γοῦν ἀγορεύομέν τινα κακῶς ἀπόντα, οὐ καταλαλεῖν αὐτοῦ βουλόμενοι, ἀλλὰ λυπούμενοι διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἴσως φαῦλον· πειρώμεθα δὲ λέγειν τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῖς ὡσαύτως ἡμῖν κηδομένοις αὐτοῦ καὶ φροντίζουσιν ἀπὸ διαθέσεως φιλικῆς. Ὁ οὖν οὕτω λέγων κατὰ ἀπόντος, οὐ κατάλαλός ἐστιν· ἀλλὰ σπουδὴν ἔχει σὺν ἡδονῆς κατ' ἐκείνου λέγειν, οὐκ ἀχθόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ τοιαῦτα ἐκεῖνον πεποιηκέναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ χαίρων. Λέγει γοῦν ἐκείνοις τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῖς μισοῦσιν αὐτὸν, καὶ φανερῶσαι δυναμένοις δι' ἐπαγγελίας ἑτέροις πλείοσι τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ. Τί δὲ βούλεται προσκείμενον τὸ, λάθρα, φανεροῦ ὄντος, ὅτι πᾶσα κατηγορία λάθρα γίνεται; Ἢ αὐτὸ λέγει τὸ ὂν, ἢ διαιρετέον οὕτω, ὅτι τῶν κατηγορούντων τινὰς, οἱ μὲν κατὰ πρόσωπον παρόντας κακηγοροῦσι, λοίδοροι δὲ οὗτοι καὶ ὑβρισταὶ συνήθως καλοῦνται· ὅμως οὖν τῷ κατά τινος λέγειν κατάλαλοι ἂν εἶεν· οἱ δὲ λάθρα καὶ ἀπόντων τῶν κατηγορουμένων λέγουσι κατ' αὐτῶν. Τὸν ταύτην 23.1245 οὖν ἔχοντα τὴν τάξιν ἐκδιώκειν ὁ ἅγιος λέγει, οὐ τοὺς εἰς πρόσωπον διαλοιδορουμένους. Ἐκεῖνος γὰρ καθ' οὗ αἱ βλασφημίαι ἢ παρὼν ἀπολογήσεται, ἢ ἐλεγχθεὶς ἐπὶ τῷ τοιοῦτος εἶναι, αἰσχυνθήσεται. ∆υνατὸν ἀντιδιαστέλλεσθαι τὴν λάθρα γινομένην καταλαλιὰν πρὸς τὴν ἐπὶ κριτῶν κατηγορίαν. Καὶ γὰρ αὕτη τῷ γένει καταλαλιὰ, ἀλλ' οὐ λάθρα γινομένη. Καρπὸς μὲν οὖν διανοίας ἁγιοπρεποῦς τὸ παραιτεῖσθαι τοὺς πονηρούς· ἐσχάτης δὲ πονηρίας ἀπόδειξις τὸ καταλαλεῖν ἀδελφοῦ, καὶ ταῦτα λάθρα, ἀλλὰ μὴ εἰς πρόσωπον, ἵνα μὴ παρὼν ἀπολογήσηται ὁ κατηγορούμενος· ὡς ὅ γε ἐφ' ἡμῶν ἑτέρου καταλαλῶν, οὗτος οὐδὲ ἡμῶν καταλαλεῖν ἐφ' ἑτέρων ἀφέξεται. Ὅθεν χρὴ τὸν τοιοῦτον ὡς κοινὸν ἐχθρὸν εἰκότως ἐλαύνεσθαι, ὡς τὸν ἐν παραδείσῳ μιμούμενον δράκοντα, ὃς τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλαλήσας τὴν Εὔαν ἠπάτησεν. Ἡμεῖς δὲ μήτε λέγωμεν κακῶς, καὶ τοῖς λέγουσιν ἀκοὴν μὴ παράσχωμεν. Ἀκοὴν δὲ, φησὶ, ματαίαν μὴ παραδέξῃ· οὐκ εἶπε, μὴ πιστεύσῃς, ἀλλὰ, μὴ παραδέξῃ. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ Προφήτης, Ἐξεδίωκον, φησὶ, τὸν καταλαλοῦντα· οὐκ εἶπεν· Οὐκ ἐπίστευον, ἢ, Οὐ παρεδεχόμην τὰ λεγόμενα· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς ἐχθρὸν ἀπήλαυνον. Εἰπὲ πρὸς τὸν καταλαλοῦντα, Ἔχεις ἐπαινέσαι τινὰ, ἀνοίγω τὰς ἀκοὰς, ἵνα δέξωμαι τὰ μύρα· κακῶς θέλεις εἰπεῖν, ἀποφράττω τὴν εἴσοδον τοῖς ῥήμασιν· οὐ γὰρ ἀνέχομαι κόπρον καὶ βόρβορον δέχεσθαι. Ἐπιστόμιζε τὸν καταλαλοῦντα ἐν ἀκοαῖς σου, ἵνα μὴ διπλῆν ἁμαρτίαν σὺν αὐτῷ ἁμαρτάνῃς, καὶ σαυτὸν ὀλεθρίῳ πάθει ἐθίζων, κἀκεῖνον κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον φλυαρεῖν οὐκ ἀνακόπτων. Μὴ δῴης τὴν ἀκοήν σου τῇ γλώσσῃ τοῦ καταλάλου, μηδὲ τὴν γλῶσσάν σου τῇ ἀκοῇ τοῦ φιλοψόγου, ἡδέως λαλῶν ἢ ἀκούων κατὰ τοῦ πέλας, ἵνα μὴ ἐκπέσῃς τῆς ἀγάπης, καὶ ἀλλότριος εὑρεθῇς τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς. ∆ιαφέρει δὲ τὸ κατακρῖναι, τὸ ἐξουδενῶσαι, καὶ τὸ καταλαλῆσαι. Καταλαλῆσαι γάρ ἐστι τὸ εἰπεῖν κατά τινος, οἷον, ὅτι Ἐψεύσατο ὁ δεῖνα, ἢ, ὠργίσθη, ἢ ἐπόρνευσεν, ἤ τι τοιοῦτον· ἐλάλησε γὰρ ἐμπαθῶς τὸ ἁμάρτημα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. Κατακρῖναι δέ ἐστι τὸ εἰπεῖν, ὅτι Ὁ δεῖνα ψεύστης ἐστὶ, πόρνος, ὀργίλος· ἰδοὺ γὰρ κατέκρινεν αὐτὴν τὴν διάθεσιν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπεφήνατο καθ' ὅλου τοῦ βίου αὐτοῦ λέγων, ὅτι τοιόσδε ἐστίν· ἄλλο γάρ ἐστι τὸ εἰπεῖν, Ὠργίσθη, καὶ ἄλλο τὸ, Ὀργίλος ἐστίν. Ἐξουδενῶσαι δέ ἐστι τὸ οἱονεὶ