巴蘭與約撒法 第 1 章 第 13/18 段

For I confess many thanks to you, that today you became an advocate of the truth, and did not defile your lips with foul words and deceitful pretense, but rather cleansed yourself of many pollutions, having refuted the error of the falsely-named gods and having confirmed the truth of the Christian doctrines.

But I was eager to bring you with me for two reasons:

so that the king should not take you aside privately and punish you for what you spoke that was not pleasing to him, and so that I might repay this favor which you rendered today.

And what is the repayment? To show you how to turn aside from the evil and slippery path which you have walked until now, and to journey the straight and saving path, which you did not fail to know, but which, willfully doing evil, you avoided, casting yourself down into the pits and precipices of iniquity.

Understand, then, O Nachor, being a man of understanding, and be eager to gain Christ alone and the life hidden with him, despising these fleeting and perishing things.

For you will not live for all the age;

but, being mortal, you will depart very soon, just as all who came before you.

And woe to you, if you depart carrying the heavy burden of sin to that place where there is righteous judgment and recompense of deeds, and do not cast it off, though the setting-down of it is easy.

Nachor, then, being pierced in soul at these words, said:

"You have spoken well, O king, well;"

"for I too know the true and unlying God, through whom all things came into being, and I understand the judgment to come, having heard of it from many scriptural sayings;"

"but the evil habit and the malice of the ancient supplanter have blinded the eyes of my heart, and have poured deep darkness around my mind;"

"but now, at your word, casting off the murky veil, I will run to the light of the Lord's countenance."

"Perhaps he will have mercy on me, and will open a door of repentance to his wicked servant and apostate, even though it seems to me impossible for there to be forgiveness of my transgressions, heavier than sand, which I have sinned, in knowledge and in ignorance, from infancy even until this..."

When the king's son heard these things, he at once rose up and became more fervent in soul.

And he began to lift up Nachor's thought, which was bowing down toward despair, and to set it more firmly upon faith in Christ, saying: "Nachor, let there be, let there be no doubt in you concerning this;"

"for it is written that God is able even from these stones to raise up children to Abraham;"

"and what else is this, as father Barlaam said, than that it is possible for those who are without hope and utterly corrupted by all iniquities to be saved, and to become servants of Christ, who, through the utmost excess of his love for mankind, has opened the heavenly gates to all who turn to him, shutting the way of salvation against none of all men, but receiving with compassion those who repent? For this reason also, to those who came to the vineyard about the first hour, and the third, and the sixth, and the ninth, and the eleventh hour, an equal wage is assigned, as the holy Gospel says;"

"so that, even if until now you have grown old in sins, if you approach fervently, you will be counted worthy of the same rewards as those who have contended from their youth."

And having spoken many other things about repentance to Nachor, who had grown old in evils, that most divine youth, promising that Christ would become gracious and pledging forgiveness, and assuring him that the Good One is ever ready to receive repentance, softened his diseased soul as with certain medicines, and granted it pure health.

For Nachor then immediately said to him:

"As for you, O most noble in soul rather than in body, well initiated into these wondrous mysteries, may you remain in this good confession until the end, and may no time or manner cut it out of your heart;"

"but I will go away from this place, seeking my own salvation, and through repentance propitiating the God whom I have provoked to anger."

"for I will no longer see the king's face, if only you should be willing."

And the king's son, becoming greatly rejoiced and gladly receiving this word, embraced him and kissed him, and having prayed earnestly to God, sent him out of the palace.

And Nachor, going out with his soul pierced, leapt like a deer into the deepest desert, and came upon the cave of a certain monk who was clothed with the dignity of the priesthood, where that man was hiding on account of the threatening danger.

He fell down before him most fervently, washed his feet with tears, imitating that harlot of old, and begged for the divine baptism.

The priest, then, being filled with divine grace, rejoiced greatly, and at once, as is the custom, catechized him, and after not a few days perfected him by baptism, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

And Nachor remained with him, ever repenting of what he had sinned, and blessing God, who wills that no one should perish, but awaits the conversion of all and receives with love of mankind those who repent.

At dawn, the king, learning of what had happened concerning Nachor, and having despaired of the hope he had held for him, and seeing his wise men and foolish orators thus utterly defeated, was at a loss.

And assailing some of them with terrible insults and disgraces, while others he scourged severely with ox-hide whips and smeared their faces with soot, he cast them out of his presence;

he himself began to condemn the weakness of the falsely-named gods, even though he was not yet willing to look fully upon the light of Christ.

For the thick cloud of the mist surrounding him still held fast the sight of his heart.

Nevertheless, he no longer honored the temple-keepers, nor did he keep the festivals or perform libations to the idols;

but he held his mind wavering on both sides, on the one hand condemning the weakness of his own gods, but on the other fearing the strictness of the evangelical way of life, and being unable to tear himself away from his evil habits.

For he was utterly enslaved to the pleasures of the body, and was wholly given over to the passions,

being led like a captive, and drunk, as Isaiah says, without wine, and being dragged as if by the muzzle of evil habit.

While the king was thus wrestling with two conflicting thoughts, his most noble son, who truly possessed a most royal soul, was living quietly in his own palace, displaying to all, through his deeds, the nobility, orderliness, and steadfastness of his nature.

For theaters and horse-races and the practice of hunting, and all the vain pursuits and deceits of youth, the baits of foolish souls, were reckoned by him as nothing;

but he was wholly devoted to the commandments of Christ, and, being wounded in soul with divine love, he longed for him;

he longed for him, the truly desirable one, who is wholly sweetness and desire, and insatiable longing.

And coming into remembrance of his teacher Barlaam, and beholding his life as in a mirror, he was charmed in soul with love, and took the most careful thought as to how he might see him; and, carrying about his words unforgettably in his heart, he was, as it were, a tree planted by the waters of the psalm, watered unceasingly and bringing forth beautiful fruits to the Lord.

For he delivered many souls from the snares of the devil, and brought them to Christ, saved;

for many, coming to him, enjoyed words of salvation, of whom not a few, fleeing error, ran to the saving word;

while others, bidding a distant farewell to the affairs of life, entered into the ascetic arena.

He himself devoted his time to prayers and fastings, and often sent up this cry, saying: "O Lord, my Lord and King, in whom I have believed, to whom I have fled for refuge and from error I have been delivered, render a worthy reward to your servant Barlaam, in return for showing me, who had gone astray, you, the way of truth and of life;"

"and do not deprive me of seeing again that angel in the body, of whom the world is not worthy, and of completing the rest of my life with him, so that, walking in the footsteps of his way of life, I may be well-pleasing to you, God and Master."

At that time there was a public festival of the falsely-named gods, celebrated at public expense, in that city;

and it was necessary for the king to be present at the feast and to adorn it with an abundance of sacrifices.

But the temple-keepers were afraid, seeing him negligent toward their worship and lukewarmly disposed, lest he should neglect his presence in the temple, and they should be deprived of the royal gift given to them and of their other revenues.

Rising up, then, they came to a cave situated in the deepest desert, where there dwelt a certain man devoted to the magical arts, and who was the most fervent champion of the idolatrous error;

whom the king also especially honored, and regarded as a friend and teacher, saying that through his divination his kingdom prospered and advanced;

so then, the idols' attendants, who were not priests, coming to him, summoned him to their aid, and made plain to him the condemnation of the gods that had arisen in the king — both what the king's son had done, and what Nachor had publicly spoken against them — and said, "Unless you yourself," they said, "come to help us, all hope is gone, all reverence for the gods has perished;"

"for you alone remain to us as a consolation in our calamity, and upon you we have set our hopes."

Theudas, then, set out on campaign with the satanic host accompanying him, and armed himself against the truth, having summoned many of the evil spirits, which he knew to cooperate eagerly toward wicked deeds, and which he always used as servants;

with these he came to the king.

When his arrival was announced to the king, and he entered, holding a staff of palm-wood and girded with a small sheepskin, the king rose from his throne, and going to meet him, embraced him, and had a throne brought near his own.

Then Theudas said to the king:

"O king, live forever, being sheltered by the goodwill of the greatest gods."

"For I have heard that you fought a great contest against the Galileans and were crowned with the most splendid diadems of victory."

"Therefore I have come, that we may together celebrate a thanksgiving feast, and sacrifice to the immortal gods beautiful young men and comely maidens, and offer them a hundred bulls and very many other animals, so that we may have them henceforth as unconquerable allies, smoothing out our whole life for us."

To this the king said, "We have not conquered, O elder;"

"we have not conquered, but rather have been utterly defeated."

"For those who were on our side have suddenly turned against us."

"Finding our battle array to be frenzied, and mad, and feeble, they completely overthrew it."

"But now, if you have any power and strength to help our religion, which lies fallen, and to raise it up again, declare it to me."

And Theudas gave such answers to the king:

"Do not fear the objections and vain talk of the Galileans, O king;"

"for what are the things spoken by them, when set against rational and sensible men? These, in my judgment, will be cast down more easily than a leaf shaken by the wind."

"for they will not even endure to come before my face, let alone to join argument with me and proceed to propositions and counter-arguments."

"But, in order that this contest now before us, and whatever else we might wish, may go straight for us, and that affairs may proceed smoothly, adorn this public festival, and put on the goodwill of the gods as if it were some mighty weapon;"

Having thus boasted, he who was mighty in evil and who meditated iniquity all the day long (for let David join his voice with us here), and who gave his neighbor a turbid overthrow to drink, as Isaiah says, by the cooperation of the evil spirits accompanying him, caused the king to forget altogether the thoughts that reminded him toward salvation, and to cling once more diligently to his former habits.

Hence, when royal letters had gone forth everywhere for all to assemble at their abominable festival, one could see the multitudes streaming together, sheep and oxen and various kinds of animals being led along.

When all had gathered together, the king arose and, together with the deceiver Theudas, proceeded to the temple, bringing a hundred and twenty bulls to sacrifice, and many animals besides.

And they carried out their accursed festival, so that the city resounded with the voices of the irrational animals, and the very air was polluted by the reek of the sacrifices.

When these things had thus been accomplished, and the spirits of wickedness had greatly exulted over the victory of Theudas, and the temple-wardens had rendered him thanks, the king returned again to the palace.

"Behold now, just as you commanded, we have omitted no diligence in the splendor of the festival and the abundance of the sacrifices."

"It is time now to fulfill what was promised, and to rescue my son, who has apostatized from our objects of worship, from the error of the Christians, and to reconcile him to the gracious gods."

"For I, having set in motion every art and every hand, have found no remedy for this evil;"

"but I have seen that his resolve is stronger than all of them."

"If I dealt with him gently and mildly, I found him not paying attention to me at all;"

"if I dealt harshly and sternly, I saw him being roused rather to desperation."

"I therefore entrust to your wisdom the matter of this calamity that has befallen me."

"If, then, being freed from this through you, I shall again see my son serving my gods together with me, and enjoying the desires of this pleasurable life and of the kingdom, I will erect for you a golden statue, and appoint that you be honored by all, equal to the gods, for all the endless time to come."

Theudas, then, having inclined an attentive ear to the evil one, and from

him being initiated into wicked and destructive counsel, having become his tongue and mouth, said to the king:

"If you wish to subdue your son and render his resistance vain, I have devised a device against which he will not even be able to hold out, but his hard and unyielding reasoning will be softened more easily than wax that comes into contact with a most fierce fire."

But the king, seeing the vain man thus boasting so idly, immediately turned to pleasure and cheerfulness, hoping that that licentious and audacious tongue would prevail over a soul taught by God and full of philosophy.

And he asked to learn what the device was.

Then Theudas, like a sharpened razor, wove his villainy and terribly concocted his poisons.

And behold the malicious sophistry and the instigation of the evil one.

"O king," he said, "remove far from your son all those who attend and serve him, and command that beautiful women, exceedingly comely and adorned so as to be all the more alluring, be with him continually and wait upon him, share his daily life and dwell together with him."

"And I, sending against him one of the spirits appointed to me for such purposes, will kindle the fire of pleasure the more violently."

"And the moment he has union with even one single one of such women, if all does not turn out according to your wish, then let me henceforth be despised and useless to you, and worthy of the greatest punishments, not honors."

"For nothing is so naturally apt to draw in and bewitch the reasoning of men as the sight of women."

"And hear a story that bears witness to my word."

"A certain king, lacking a male child, was greatly grieved in soul, being distressed and reckoning this no small misfortune."

"While he was in this state, a son was born to him;"

"and the king's heart was filled with joy over this."

"But the skilled physicians told him that if, within twelve years, this child should see the sun or fire, he would be deprived entirely of his sight;"

"for the condition of his eyes indicated this."

"When the king heard this, it is said that he hewed out a cave-like dwelling from a certain rock, and shut the child up there together with his nurses, showing him no gleam of light whatsoever until the completion of the twelve years."

"After the completion of the twelve years, he brought the boy out of the little dwelling, who had seen nothing at all of the world, and the king commanded that everything be arranged and shown to him according to kind: men in one place, women in another, gold elsewhere, silver, and from another place pearls and costly stones, splendid and elegant garments, magnificent chariots with royal horses bearing golden bridles together with purple carpets, and armed riders upon them, herds of oxen and flocks of sheep."

"And, in short, they showed everything to the boy in order."

"And when he inquired what each of these things was called, the king's shield-bearers and spearmen told him the name of each; but when he asked to learn the name of the women, the king's sword-bearer wittily said that they were called demons, who lead men astray."

"But the boy's heart was more enchanted by desire for them than by all the rest."

"So when, having gone about and seen everything, they brought him back to the king, the king asked him what among the things he had seen had appeared pleasing to him."

"What," said the boy, "but those demons, who lead men astray? For my soul was set ablaze with desire for the friendship of none of the things I saw today, except theirs."

"And that king marveled at the boy's saying, and at what a tyrannical thing the love of women is."

"So you too, then, must not think to subdue your son by any other means than by this very method."

The king received the word gladly.

And maidens were brought before him by selection.

Beautiful and exceedingly comely, whom, having also adorned with resplendent finery and prepared them entirely to be alluring, he cast out all the attendants and servants of his son from the palace, and put those women in their place.

These women then clung to him, entwined themselves about him, and provoked him toward abominable intercourse, enticing him to pleasure by every gesture and word.

He had no one else to look upon, or converse with, or dine together with;

for these women were everything to him.

These things, then, the king did.

But Theudas, having again resorted to that wicked cave, and having bent over the books capable of effecting such things, and having summoned one of the evil spirits, sent it forth to war against the soldier arrayed for Christ;

not knowing, wretched man, what mockery he was about to suffer, and how filled with shame he would be, together with the whole demonic phalanx under him.

The evil spirit, having taken along with it other, still more evil spirits, seized upon the bedchamber of the noble youth, and fell upon him, having kindled the furnace of the flesh most violently.

And the evil one inflamed him from within;

while the maidens, comely in appearance but exceedingly hideous in soul, supplied the wicked fuel from without.

But that pure soul, perceiving the assault of the evil one, and seeing the war of improper thoughts coming upon it with violence, was thrown into turmoil;

and sought to find a release from so great an evil, and to present himself pure to Christ, and not to defile with the mire of the passions that holy robe with which the grace of holy baptism had clothed him.

So he at once set love against love, the divine against the licentious, and brought to his own remembrance that beauty and ineffable glory of Christ, the immortal Bridegroom of the purest souls, and of that bridal chamber and marriage, from which those who have stained the wedding garment are pitiably cast out, bound hand and foot, into the outer darkness.

Having pondered these things and being moved to tears, he struck his breast, driving away from there the evil thoughts as though they were wicked drones.

Then, rising up and lifting his hands to heaven, with hot tears and groanings he called upon God for aid, and said:

"Lord Almighty, who alone art powerful and compassionate, the hope of those who have despaired, the help of the helpless, remember me, your unworthy servant, in this hour, and look upon me with a merciful eye, and deliver my soul from the demonic sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog;"

"and do not let me fall into the hands of my enemies, nor let those who hate me gloat over me;"

"and do not abandon me to be corrupted in iniquities, and to have my body defiled, which I promised to present to you pure."

"For it is you whom I desire, and it is to you that I bow down in worship, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages."

And having said the Amen, he perceived a divine consolation coming upon him from heaven, and the evil thoughts withdrew;

and he continued praying until morning.

And having recognized the schemes of the deceitful one, he began to afflict his body all the more with lack of food and drink and with other hardships, performing all-night vigils, reminding himself of his professions of faith to God, and sketching before his mind the radiance there of the righteous, and vividly recounting the Gehenna threatened against the wicked;

so that the enemy, finding the soul idle and at ease, might not easily sow into it wicked thoughts and muddy the purity of the mind.

The enemy, then, being utterly at a loss on every side, and having wholly despaired of capturing the noble youth, that terrible one resorts to another, more elaborate deceit, being ever wicked and never ceasing to devise schemes and to do harm.

For he made countless efforts to bring into effect what had been commanded him by Theudas.

And thus he again concocted his potions.

For, having stealthily insinuated himself into one of those maidens—who was the most beautiful of them all, being the daughter of a king, and had been made a captive, estranged from her own homeland, and had been brought to King Abenner as a most magnificent gift, and whom, being exceedingly most beautiful, the father had sent to be the ruin and tripping-stone of his son—into this maiden the deceiver stealthily entered, and suggested to her words that displayed great wisdom and shrewdness of her reasoning.

For the evil one readily resorts to every device conducive to wickedness.

Then, falling upon the king's son from the right side, he instilled in him a love-charm for the maiden, on account of her seeming discretion and modesty, and because, being so nobly born and of royal lineage, she had been deprived at once of her homeland and of her glory.

In addition to this, he also sowed in him the thoughts of freeing her from her idol-madness and making her a Christian.

All these things were devices of the deceitful dragon.

For the king's son, being so disposed in soul, and seeing in himself no filthy thought or passionate desire stirring toward the maiden, but only compassion and pity for her calamity and the loss of her soul, did not know that the matter was a demonic device.

For indeed he is darkness, yet feigns to be light.

For as the king's son began to converse with the maiden and to speak to her the words of the knowledge of God, saying, 'Understand, O woman, the God who lives forever, and do not be corrupted by this error of idols, but recognize the Master and Creator of this universe, and you will be blessed, wedded to the immortal Bridegroom.'

As he admonished her with many such words, the evil spirit immediately dictated to the woman to spread beneath him the snares of deceit and to drag that soul beloved of God down into the pit of passion, just as he once did to the first-father through Eve, wretchedly, alas, banishing him from paradise and from God, and bringing it about that he became liable to death instead of the blessed and immortal life.

For when the maiden heard those words full of all wisdom, being without understanding, she did not comprehend them.

But she gave such answers as one who had become a tongue and mouth for the evil one, and she said:

"If, my lord, you care for my salvation, and are eager to bring me to your God and to save my humble soul, do also yourself grant me one request, and I will at once renounce all my ancestral gods and join myself to your God, serving him until my last breath, and you shall receive the reward of my salvation and my conversion to God."

And when he said, 'What is the request, O woman?' she, composing her posture and glance and voice and her whole self to allure, said, 'Join with me in the union of marriage, and I will gladly follow your commands.'

But he said, 'In vain, O woman, have you set before me such a harsh request.'

For I am indeed deeply concerned for your salvation, and I long to draw you up out of the depth of perdition;

but to defile my body through shameful union is grievous to me and altogether impossible.

But she, smoothing and levelling the whole path for him, said, 'Why do you, who are filled with all wisdom, say such things? Why have you called the matter defilement and called the union shameful? For I too am not uninitiated in the Christian books;

but I have encountered many writings in my own country, and I have heard many Christians conversing with me.

Is it not written, then, in one of your books, 'Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled'? And, 'It is better to marry than to burn'? And, 'What God has joined together, let no man put asunder'? Do not your Scriptures teach that all the righteous of old, both patriarchs and prophets, were joined in marriage? Is it not written that that Peter, whom you say became chief of the apostles, had a wife? Persuaded by whom, then, do you yourself call this thing defilement? You seem to me, my lord, quite

astray from the truth of your own doctrines.

But he said, 'Yes, O woman;'

all these things are just as you have said.

For it is permitted to those who wish to partake of marriage;

but not to those who have once vowed to Christ to remain virgin.

For I, from the time I was cleansed by the washing of holy baptism, resolved to present myself to Christ pure from the faults of my youth and ignorance;

and how shall I dare to dissolve what I have professed to God?" Again the woman said:

Let this too be as you will, according to your wish.

But fulfill another small and trifling desire of mine, if indeed you truly wish to save my soul.

Lie with me this one night only, and let me delight in your beauty, and be yourself filled with my loveliness.

And I give you my word that at dawn I will become a Christian and flee entirely from the worship of my gods.

And you shall have not only pardon on account of this dispensation, but also a recompense of gifts from your God on account of my salvation;

For, as your Scripture says, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

If, then, there is joy in heaven at the conversion of a sinner, is not a great reward owed to the one who brings about that conversion? Yes, it is so, and do not doubt it.

Did not the leaders of your religion, the apostles, also do many things out of dispensation, at times transgressing one commandment for the sake of a greater commandment? Is it not said that Paul circumcised Timothy, for the sake of a better dispensation? And yet circumcision is reckoned unlawful for Christians;

yet nevertheless he did not refuse to do this.