XXIV.

After the monks had made this godly end, the king bade Araches, his

chief councillor, now that they had failed of their first plan, to look

to the second and summon the man Nachor. At dead of night Araches

repaired to his cave (he dwelt in the desert practising the arts of

divination), and told him of their plans, and returned to the king at

day-break. Again he demanded horsemen, and made as though he went in

quest of Barlaam. When he was gone forth, and was walking the desert,

a man was seen to issue from a ravine. Araches gave command to his men

to pursue him. They took and brought him before their master. When

asked who he was, what his religion and what his name, the man declared

himself a Christian and gave his name as Barlaam, even as he had been

instructed. Araches made great show of joy, apprehended him and

returned quickly to the king, and told his tale and produced his man.

Then said the king in the hearing of all present, "Art thou the devil's

workman, Barlaam?" But he denied it, saying, "I am God's workman, not

the devil's. Revile me not; for I am thy debtor to render me much

thanks, because I have taught thy son to serve God, and have turned him

from error to the true God, and have schooled him in all manner of

virtue." Feigning anger, again spake the king, "Though I ought to

allow thee never a word, and give thee no room for defence, but rather

do thee to death without question, yet such is my humanity that I will

bear with thine effrontery until on a set day I try thy cause. If thou

be persuaded by me, thou shalt receive pardon: if not, thou shalt die

the death." With these words he delivered him to Araches, commanding

that he should be most strictly guarded.

On the morrow the king removed thence, and came back to his own palace,

and it was blazoned abroad that Barlaam was captured, so that the

king's son heard thereof and was exceeding sad at heart, and could in

no wise refrain from weeping. With groans and lamentations he

importuned God, and called upon him to succour the aged man. Nor did

the good God despise his complaint, for he is loving with them that

abide him in the day of trouble, and knoweth them that fear him.

Wherefore in a night-vision he made known the whole plot to the young

prince, and strengthened and cheered him for the trial of his

righteousness. So, when the prince awoke from sleep, he found that his

heart, erstwhile so sore and heavy, was now full of joyaunce, courage

and pleasant light. But the king rejoiced at that which he had done

and planned, imagining that he was well advised, and showering thanks

on Araches. But wickedness lied to itself, to use the words of holy

David, and righteousness overcame iniquity, completely overthrowing it,

and causing the memorial thereof to perish with sound, as our tale in

its sequel shall show.

After two days the king visited his son's palace. When his son came

forth for to meet him, instead of kissing him, as was his wont, the

father put on a show of distress and anger, and entered the royal

chamber, and there sat down frowning. Then calling to his son, he

said, "Child, what is this report that soundeth in mine ears, and

weareth away my soul with despondency? Never, I ween, was man more

filled with gladness of heart at the birth of a son than was I at

thine; and, I trow, never was man so distressed and cruelly treated by

child as I have now been by thee. Thou hast dishonoured my grey hairs,

and taken away the light of mine eyes, and loosed the strength of my

sinews; 'for the thing which I greatly feared concerning thee is come

upon me, and that which I was afraid of hath come unto me.' Thou art

become a joy to mine enemies, and a laughing-stock to mine adversaries.

With untutored mind and childish judgement thou hast followed the

teaching of the deceivers and esteemed the counsel of the malicious

above mine; thou hast forsaken the worship of our gods and become the

servant of a strange God. Child, wherefore hast thou done this? I

hoped to bring thee up in all safety, and have thee for the staff and

support of mine old age, and leave thee, as is most meet, to succeed me

in my kingdom, but thou wast not ashamed to play against me the part of

a relentless foe. And shouldst thou not rather have listened to me,

and followed my injunctions, than have obeyed the idle and foolish

pratings of that crafty old knave, who taught thee to choose a sour

life instead of a sweet, and abandon the charms of dalliance, to tread

the hard and rough road, which the Son of Mary ordereth men to go?

Dost thou not fear the displeasure of the most puissant gods, lest they

strike thee with lightning, or quell thee with thunderbolt, or

overwhelm thee in the yawning earth, because thou hast rejected and

scorned those deities that have so richly blessed us, and adorned our

brow with the kingly diadem, and made populous nations to be our

servants, that, beyond my hope, in answer to my prayer and

supplication, allowed thee to be born, and see the sweet life of day,

and hast joined thyself unto the Crucified, duped by the hopes of his

servants who tell thee fables of worlds to come, and drivel about the

resurrection of dead bodies, and bring in a thousand more absurdities

to catch fools? But now, dearest son, if thou hast any regard for me

thy father, bid a long farewell to these longwinded follies, and come

sacrifice to the gracious gods, and let us propitiate them with

hecatombs and drink-offerings, that they may grant thee pardon for thy

fall; for they be able and strong to bless and to punish. And wouldst

thou have an example of that which I say? Behold us, who by them have

been advanced to this honour, repaying them for their kindness by

honouring their worshippers and chastising the runagates."

Now when the king had ended all this idle parleying, gainsaying and

slandering of our religion, and belauding and praising of his idolatry,

the saintly young prince saw that the matter needed no further to be

hid in a corner, but to be lighted and made plain to the eyes of all;

and, full of boldness and courage, he said:

"That which I have done, sir, I will not deny. I have fled from

darkness and run to the light: I have left error and joined the

household of truth: I have deserted the service of devils, and joined

the service of Christ, the Son and Word of God the Father, at whose

decree the world was brought out of nothing; who, after forming man out

of clay, breathed into him the breath of life, and set him to live in a

paradise of delight, and, when he had broken his commandment and was

become subject unto death, and had fallen into the power of the dread

ruler of this world, did not fail him, but wrought diligently to bring

him back to his former honour. Wherefore he, the framer of all

Creation and maker of our race, became man for our sake, and, coming

from a holy Virgin's womb; on earth conversed with men: for us

ungrateful servants did the master endure death, even the death of the

Cross, that the tyranny of sin might be destroyed, that the former

condemnation might be abolished, that the gates of heaven might be open

to us again. Thither he hath exalted our nature, and set it on the

throne of glory, and granted to them that love him an everlasting

kingdom and joys beyond all that tongue can tell, or ear can hear. He

is the mighty and only potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords,

whose might is invincible, and whose lordship is beyond compare, who

only is holy and dwelleth in holiness, who with the Father and with the

Holy Ghost is glorified; into this faith I have been baptized. And I

acknowledge and glorify and worship One God in Three persons, of one

substance, and not to be confounded, increate and immortal, eternal,

infinite, boundless, without body, without passions, immutable,

unchangeable, undefinable, the fountain of goodness, righteousness and

everlasting light, maker of all things visible and invisible,

containing and sustaining all things, provident for all, ruler and King

of all. Without him was there nothing made, nor without his providence

can aught subsist. He is the life of all, the support of all, the

light of all, being wholly sweetness and insatiable desire, the summit

of aspiration. To leave God, then, who is so good, so wise, so mighty,

and to serve impure devils, makers of all sinful lusts, and to assign

worship to deaf and dumb images, that are not, and never shall be, were

not that the extreme of folly and madness? When was there ever heard

utterance or language from their lips? When have they given even the

smallest answer to their bedesmen? When have they walked, or received

any impression of sense? Those of them that stand have never thought

of sitting down; and those that sit have never been seen to rise. From

an holy man have I learned the ugliness, ill savour and insensibility

of these idols, and, moreover, the rottenness and weakness of the

devils that operate in them and by them deceive you; and I loathe their

wickednesses and, hating them with a perfect hatred, have joined myself

to the living and true God, and him will I serve until my latest

breath, that my spirit also may return into his hands. When these

unspeakable blessings came in my path I rejoiced to be freed from the

bondage of evil devils, and to be reclaimed from dire captivity and to

be illumined with the light of the countenance of the Lord. But my

soul was distressed and divided asunder, that thou, my lord and father,

didst not share in my blessings. Yet I feared the stubbornness of thy

mind, and kept my grief to myself, not wishing to anger thee; but,

without ceasing, I prayed God to draw thee to himself, and call thee

back from the long exile that thou hast imposed upon thyself, a

runagate alas! from righteousness, and a servant of all sin and

wickedness. But sith thou thyself, O my father, hast brought mine

affairs to light, hear the sum of my resolve: I will not be false to my

covenant with Christ; no, I swear it by him that bought me out of

slavery with his own precious blood; even if I must needs die a

thousand deaths for his sake, die I will. Knowing then how matters now

stand with me, prithee, no longer trouble thyself in endeavouring to

persuade me to change my good confession. For as it were a thankless

and never ending task for thee to try to grasp the heavens with thy

hand, or to dry up the waters of the sea, so hard were it for thee to

change me. Either then now listen to my counsel, and join the

household of Christ, and so thou shalt gain blessings past man's

understanding, and we shall be fellows with one another by faith, even

as by nature; or else, be well assured, I shall depart thy sonship, and

serve my God with a clear conscience."

Now when the king heard all these words, he was furiously enraged: and,

seized with ungovernable anger, he cried out wrathfully against him,

and gnashed his teeth fiercely, like any madman. "And who," said he,

"is blameable for all my misfortunes but myself, who have dealt with

thee so kindly, and cared for thee as no father before? Hence the

perversity and contrariness of thy mind, gathering strength by the

licence that I gave thee, hath made thy madness to fall upon mine own

pate. Rightly prophesied the astrologers in thy nativity that thou

shouldest prove a knave and villain, an impostor and rebellious son.

But now, if thou wilt make void my counsel, and cease to be my son, I

will become thine enemy, and entreat thee worse than ever man yet

entreated his foes."

Again said Ioasaph, "Why, O king, hast thou been kindled to wrath? Art

thou grieved that I have gained such bliss? Why, what father was ever

seen to be sorrowful in the prosperity of his son? Would not such an

one be called an enemy rather than a father? Therefore will I no more

call thee my father, but will withdraw from thee, as a man fleeth from

a snake, if I know that thou grudgest me my salvation, and with violent

hand forcest me to destruction. If thou wilt force me, and play the

tyrant, as thou hast threatened, be assured that thou shalt gain nought

thereby save to exchange the name of father for that of tyrant and

murderer. It were easier for thee to attain to the ways Of the eagle,

and, like him, cleave the air, than to alter my loyalty to Christ, and

that good confession that I have confessed in him. But be wise, O my

father, and shake off the rheum and mist from the eyes of thy mind,

lift them aloft and look upward to view the light of my God that

enlighteneth all around, and be thyself, at last, enlightened with this

light most sweet. Why art thou wholly given up to the passions and

desires of the flesh, and why is there no looking upward? Know thou

that all flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of

grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but

the word of my Lord, which by the gospel is preached unto all, shall

endure for ever. Why then dost thou thus madly cling to and embrace

that glory, which, like spring flowers, fadeth and perisheth, and to

beastly unsavoury wantonness, and to the abominable passions of the

belly and the members thereunder, which for a season please the senses

of fools, but afterwards make returns more bitter than gall, when the

shadows and dreams of this vain life are passed away, and the lovers

thereof, and workers of iniquity are imprisoned in the perpetual pain

of dark and unquenchable fire, where the worm that sleepeth not gnaweth

for ever, and where the fire burneth without ceasing and without

quenching through endless ages? And with these sinners alas! thou too

shalt be imprisoned and grievously tormented, and shalt bitterly rue

thy wicked counsels, and bitterly regret thy days that now are, and

think upon my words, but there shall be no advantage in repentance; for

in death there is no confession and repentance. But the present is the

set time for work: the future for reward. Even if the pleasures of the

present world were not evanescent and fleeting, but were to endure for

ever with their owners, not even thus should any man choose them before

the gifts of Christ, and the good things that pass man's understanding.

Soothly, as the sun surpasseth in radiance and brightness the dead of

night, even so, and much more so, doth the happiness promised to those

that love God excel in glory and magnificence all earthly kinship and

glory; and there is utter need for a man to choose the more excellent

before the more worthless. And forasmuch as everything here is

fleeting and subject to decay, and passeth and vanisheth as a dream,

and as a shadow and vision of sleep; and as one may sooner trust the

unstable breezes, or the tracks of a ship passing over the waves, than

the prosperity of men, what simplicity, nay, what folly and madness it

is to choose the corruptible and perishable, the weak things of no

worth, rather than the incorruptible and everlasting, the imperishable

and endless, and, by the temporal enjoyment of these things, to forfeit

the eternal fruition of the happiness to come! Wilt thou not understand

this, my father? Wilt thou not haste past the things which haste pass

thee, and attach thyself to that which endureth? Wilt thou not prefer

a home land to a foreign land, light to darkness, the spirit to the

flesh, eternal life to the shadow of death, the indestructible to the

fleeting? Wilt thou not escape from the grievous bondage of the cruel

prince of this world, I mean the evil one, the devil, and become the

servant of the good, tenderhearted, and all merciful Lord? Wilt thou

not break away from serving thy many gods, falsely so called, and serve

the one, true and living God? Though thou hast sinned against him

often times by blaspheming him, and often times by slaying his servants

with dread torments, yet, I know well, that if thou turn again, he

shall in his kindness receive thee, and no more remember thine

offences: because he willeth not the death of a sinner but rather that

he may turn and live--he, who came down from the unspeakable heights,

to seek us that had gone astray: who endured for us Cross, scourge and

death: who bought with his precious blood us who had been sold in

bondage under sin. Unto him be glory and praise for ever and ever!

Amen."

The king was overwhelmed with astonishment and anger; with

astonishment, at his son's wisdom and unanswerable words; with anger,

at the persistence with which he denounced his father's gods, and

mocked and ridiculed the whole tenour of his life. He could not admit

the glory of his discourse because of the grossness of the darkness

within, but natural affection forbad him to punish his son, or evilly

to entreat him, and he utterly despaired of moving him by threats.

Fearing then that, if he argued further with him, his son's boldness

and bitter satire of the gods might kindle him to hotter anger, and

lead him to do him a mischief, he arose in wrath and withdrew. "Would

that thou hadst never been born," he cried, "nor hadst come to the

light of day, destined as thou weft to be such an one, a blasphemer of

the gods, and a renegade from thy father's love and admonition." But

thou shalt not alway mock the invincible gods, nor shall their enemies

rejoice for long, nor shall these knavish sorceries prevail. For

except thou become obedient unto me, and right-minded toward the gods,

I will first deliver time to sundry tortures, and then put thee to the

cruellest death, dealing with thee not as with a son, but as with an

enemy and rebel."