9. But what need is there to continue, when in the same fig tree we have the most opposite flavours, as bitter in the sap as it is sweet in the fruit? And in the vine, is it not as sweet in the grapes as it is astringent in the branches? And what a variety of colour! Look how in a meadow this same water becomes red in one flower, purple in another, blue in this one, white in that. And this diversity of colours, is it to be compared to that of scents? But I perceive that an insatiable curiosity is drawing out my discourse beyond its limits. If I do not stop and recall it to the law of creation, day will fail me whilst making you see great wisdom in small things.

“  Let the earth bring forth the fruit tree yielding fruit .” Immediately the tops of the mountains were covered with foliage: paradises were artfully laid out, and an infinitude of plants embellished the banks of the rivers. Some were for the adornment of man’s table; some to nourish animals with their fruits and their leaves; some to provide medicinal help by giving us their sap, their juice, their chips, their bark or their fruit. In a word, the experience of ages, profiting from every chance, has not been able to discover anything useful, which the penetrating foresight of the Creator did not first perceive and call into existence. Therefore, when you see the trees in our gardens, or those of the forest, those which love the water or the land, those which bear flowers, or those which do not flower, I should like to see you recognising grandeur even in small objects, adding incessantly to your admiration of, and redoubling your love for the Creator. Ask yourself why He has made some trees evergreen and others deciduous; why, among the first, some lose their leaves, and others always keep them. Thus the olive and the pine shed their leaves, although they renew them insensibly and never appear to be despoiled of their verdure. The palm tree, on the contrary, from its birth to its death, is always adorned with the same foliage. Think again of the double life of the tamarisk; it is an aquatic plant, and yet it covers the desert. Thus, Jeremiah compares it to the worst of characters—the double character.  28  cf. Jer. xvii. 6, LXX.

Καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ πόρρω λέγειν, ὅπου γε ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς συκῆς πρὸς τὰς ἐναντιωτάτας μεταβαίνει ποιότητας; Πικρότατον μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ὀπῷ, γλυκύτατον δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καρπῷ. Καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀμπέλου στυπτικώτατον μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀκρεμόνων, ἥδιστον δὲ ἐν τοῖς βότρυσιν. Αἱ δὲ κατὰ τὰς χρόας διαφοραὶ, πόσαι; Ἴδοις ἂν ἐν λειμῶνι τὸ αὐτὸ ὕδωρ ἐρυθραινόμενον μὲν ἐν τῷδε τῷ ἄνθει, καὶ ἐν ἄλλῳ πορφυροῦν, καὶ κυανὸν ἐν τῷδε, καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ λευκόν: καὶ πλείονα πάλιν τῆς ἐν ταῖς χρόαις ποικιλίας, τὴν κατὰ τὰς ὀδμὰς διαφορὰν παρεχόμενον. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὁρῶ μοι τὸν λόγον τῇ ἀπληστίᾳ τῆς θεωρίας εἰς ἀμετρίαν ἐκπίπτοντα, ὃν ἐὰν μὴ δήσας πρὸς ἀνάγκην ἀπαγάγω τῆς κτίσεως, ἐπιλείψει με ἡ ἡμέρα τὴν μεγάλην σοφίαν ἐκ τῶν μικροτάτων ὑμῖν παριστῶντα. Βλαστησάτω ἡ γῆ ξύλον κάρπιμον, ποιοῦν καρπὸν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ εὐθὺς αἱ κορυφαὶ τῶν ὀρέων ἐκόμων: καὶ ἐφιλοτεχνοῦντο παράδεισοι, καὶ ποταμῶν ὄχθαι μυρίοις γένεσι φυτῶν ὡραΐζοντο. Καὶ τὰ μὲν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ηὐτρέπιστο κατακοσμῆσαι τράπεζαν: τὰ δὲ βοσκήμασι τροφὴν παρεσκεύαζεν, ἐκ τῶν φύλλων, ἐκ τῶν καρπῶν. Ἄλλα τὰς ἐκ τῆς ἰατρικῆς ὠφελείας ἡμῖν προεξένει: τοὺς χυλοὺς, τοὺς ὀποὺς, τὰ κάρφη, τοὺς φλοιοὺς, τὸν καρπόν: καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ὅσα ἡμῖν ἡ χρονία πεῖρα ἐξεῦρεν, ἐκ τῶν κατὰ μέρος περιπτώσεων συλλεγομένη τὸ χρήσιμον, ταῦτα ἡ ὀξεῖα τοῦ κτίσαντος πρόνοια, ἐξ ἀρχῆς προβλεψαμένη, εἰς γένεσιν ἤγαγε. Σὺ δὲ ὅταν ἴδῃς τὰ ἥμερα, τὰ ἄγρια, τὰ φίλυδρα, τὰ χερσαῖα, τὰ ἀνθοφοροῦντα, ἢ τὰ ἀνάνθη, ἐν μικρῷ τὸν μέγαν ἐπιγινώσκων, πρόσθες ἀεὶ τῷ θαύματι, καὶ αὔξησόν μοι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ κτίσαντος. Ἐξέταζε πῶς τὰ μὲν ἀειθαλῆ ἐποίησε, τὰ δὲ γυμνούμενα: καὶ τῶν ἀειθαλῶν τὰ μὲν φυλλοβόλα, τὰ δὲ ἀείφυλλα. Φυλλοβολεῖ γὰρ καὶ ἐλαία καὶ πίτυς, εἰ καὶ λεληθότως ὑπαλλάσσει τὰ φύλλα, ὥστε μηδέποτε δοκεῖν τῆς κομῆς ἀπογυμνοῦσθαι. Ἀείφυλλον δὲ ὁ φοίνιξ, τῷ αὐτῷ φύλλῳ ἐκ τῆς πρώτης βλαστήσεως εἰς τέλος συμπαραμένων. Ἔπειτα κἀκεῖνο σκόπει, πῶς ἡ μυρίκη ὥσπερ ἀμφίβιόν ἐστι, καὶ τοῖς φιλύδροις συναριθμούμενον, καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἐρήμους πληθυνόμενον. Διὸ καὶ ὁ Ἱερεμίας διαίως τὰ πονηρότερα καὶ ἐπαμφοτερίζοντα τῶν ἠθῶν τῷ τοιούτῳ φυτῷ παρεικάζει.