.
p.423
I.
THOUGH declining to pronounce on the origin and
history of the fables of "Barlaam and Joasaph" until
the Buddhist Jatakas have been translated from the
Pali, M. Zotenberg has been at pains to collect these
fables and to edit them with a revised Greek text as
an appendix to his "Notice sur le livre de Barlaam et
Joasaph" (Paris, 1886). A translation of his text is
here given; and for the convenience of students of
comparative folk-lore,(1) I have added a translation,
from Boissonade's text in " Anecdota Graeca," of
further passages bearing on the life of Joasaph. The
passages in square brackets [ ] are those from
Boissonade; the numbers at the head of the remaining
sections corresponding to the numbers of the sections
of M. Zotenberg's text.
As regards date and authorship of the book, the
conclusions of M. Zotenberg are that it was not
written by St. John of Jerusalem, but (as most of the
ancient manuscripts state) "a ‚t‚ apport‚ dans la
ville sainte (i.e. Jerusalem) par un moine du convent
de St. Saba nomm‚ Jean." As the monastery founded by
St. Euthymus was only restored in A.D. 491 by St.
Saba, and as no mention of Mahomedanism occurs in the
category of faiths mentioned by the author of
"Barlaam and Joasaph," the date of the book must be
either the sixth or the beginning of the seventh
century A.D. On doctrinal and other internal evidence
the date is probably about.A.D. 630.
_____________________________________________________
(1) See the translation of an Arabic version in this
Journal, January, 1890.
p.424
As regards the origin and history of the book, I
venture to think that it is the life of Joasaph (or
"Bodisat ") which is the important matter, even more
than the interpolated fables. In a further paper I
propose to consider the life of Joasaph in the light
of the several accounts of the life of the Buddha,
and to trace the early history of the fables.
[Now when monasteries commenced to spring up in
Egypt and monks to assemble in great numbers, and
when the report of their virtue and angelic life
began to spread to the ends of the earth and came to
the Indians, it aroused these latter also to like
zeal, so that many of them, leaving all, took to the
wilderness, and, whilst still of mortal mould, showed
forth the state of angels.
Whilst matters fared thus well, and numbers were
winging their way to heaven on golden wings (as the
saying is), there arose a king in that same land,
Abenner by name, who grew great in wealth and power
and in victory over his adversaries, and won glory in
war, and was proud of his great stature and beauty of
features, revelling in the marvels that are of this
world and will fade all too quickly. But great king
as he was, he was oppressed in his soul by the direst
poverty.and vexed by many evils, being of the Greek
(i.e. pagan) faction and abject in the error of
idolworship. Now though he lived in great luxury and
enjoyment of the joys and pleasures of life, never
being thwarted in any of his wishes and desires,
there was one thing in which his gladness was marred
and his soul filled with cares, namely, the
misfortune of being childless. For being without
offspring, he was moat anxious to be free from such a
limitation, and to be called a father of children
--an end which most men compass very readily.]
p.425
1. OF ANGER AND DESIRE,
Hearing this, that man of God(1) made suave but
steadfast reply, as follows: "If, sire, it be your
wish to confer with me, first remove your enemies
from your court, and then I will make answer
concerning whatsoever you may seek to learn. For,
whilst those enemies are by your side, I have naught
to say to your majesty. Saying naught, let me be
punished, put to death, and dealt with as you will,
For unto me,' says my Master, 'the world has been
crucified, and I unto the world.' "(2) Then when the
King asked who these enemies were whom he was to
remove, the man of God answered, " Anger and Desire.
For as these were originally implanted by the Creator
to abet the natural man, even such is their action
now too, in the case of all that are governed not
according to the Flesh but according to the Spirit.
To all such of you as are wholly Flesh and share not
in the Spirit, they have proved themselves
adversaries, and labour in the cause of your enemies
and foes. For Desire, as it excites pleasure when in
activity, so it excites Anger when ungratified. and
inactive. Let these two, therefore, be put from you
this day; and let Understanding and Justice preside
at the tribunal, to hear and to judge this cause.
For, if you will lay aside Anger and Desire, and will
substitute for them Understanding and Justice, I will
tell you everything as truth dictates."
[Now, when the ex-Satrap had departed to the
wilderness again, the King being still more incensed,
set about a fiercer persecution of monasticism,
whilst he paid greater honour to the ministers and
priests of the idols. And whilst the King was in this
fearful error and delusion, a son was born to him, a
child of great loveliness, whose infantine beauty
foreshadowed the future man. For it was said that
never in that country had one been seen so extremely
handsome
_____________________________________________________
(1) He had been the Chief Satrap, who, being
converted to Christianity, had retired to be a
monk in the wilderness, from which he was brought
back by the king's command.
(2) Galatians vi. 14.
p.426
and beautiful. Filled with very great joy at the
birth of his son, the King named him Joasaph, and
went in person to the idols' temples to pay
sacrifices, in his senseless folly, to gods even more
senseless, and to offer up hymns of thanksgiving,
knowing not who is the Giver of all good things, unto
Whom should be offered the sacrifice of the spirit.
Whilst the festivities over the child's birth
were still in progress, they brought to the King some
five-and-fifty chosen men, learned in the
astrological knowledge of the Chaldeans. And the
King, placing them very close to himself, proceeded
to ask them to declare each of them what would be the
destiny of the son born to him. After much:
consideration they answered that he would be great,
both in riches and in power, and was destined to
surpass all the kings before him. But one of the
astrologers, the most distinguished of them all,
said, "From what the courses of the stars tell me,
Sire, the advancement of the child now born to you
belongs not to this kingdom of yours, but to another
kingdom infinitely superior. And I consider that he
will embrace the religion of the Christians whom you
are persecuting, nor do I for my part think that he
will be foiled of his aim and hope." Thus spake the
astrologer, as of old spake Baalam; not because
astrology speaks true, but because God was showing
the truth by its opposite, so as to rob the ungodly
of every excuse.]
2. How JOASAPH WAS GUARDED.
When he heard this, the King was sore distressed
at the news; and sorrow began to abate his wonted
gladness. Nevertheless, in a quiet retired town, he
built a palace of great beauty, with fair chambers
richly decorated, wherein he set his son to dwell.
Further, the King ordered that the prince was not to
set foot outside the palace after his earliest
childhood. The tutors and servants whom the King
appointed were all young and very handsome, and their
mandate from the King was not to allow the prince to
see any of the loathly sights of life, such as
old-age,
p.427
disease, poverty, and all other sad shows which might
abate the prince's gladness. Instead, they were to
present to his view all things pleasant and
delightful, in order that his mind, taking pleasure
and revelling therein, might have no force left to
speculate on the future, and that not a syllable
about Christ and His creed should reach the ears of
the prince. For, beyond everything else, it was the
King's peculiar anxiety to keep Christianity a secret
from his son, because of his secret dread of the
astrologer's prophecy.
If any of the attendants chanced to fall ill, the
King used to order him to be removed from the
precincts at once, and replaced him by one who was
quite healthy and well, ˘wall to prevent his son
from seeing any strange and startling sight.
3. THE THREE MEETINGS.
Now the king's son, about whom our story set out
originally to speak, grew up to adolescence within
the palace prepared for him, without ever setting
foot outside. He had gone through all the learning of
the AEthiopians and Persians, and in soul no less
than in body showed perfection and beauty, sense and
understanding, and a brilliant array of all good
endowments. So profound were the questions' touching
Nature which he propounded to his teachers that they
were astounded at the boy's subtlety and wit, whilst
the king, too, marvelled both at the loveliness of
his face and the beautiful nature of his soul within.
And the King continued to charge those about the
prince not to let him come to have the slightest
inkling of the loathly things of life or of the doom
of all our delights to give place to death. But vain
were the hopes on which he leaned--essaying to shoot
at, the heavens, as the proverb has it. For how
could. the idea of death have possibly eluded human
nature? At any rate, it did not elude this young boy.
For he, bringing all his intelligence to bear upon
the question, set himself to consider privately the
reasons why the King refused to let him ever set foot
outside the palace, and did not admit
p.428
all who wished to have access to his son, For of
himself the prince knew that all this was by the
King's command. Yet he did not like to ask the King,
holding that it was impossible that his father aimed
at anything but his son's welfare, and arguing that,
if this were his father's design, questioning him
would fail to elicit the truth. Hence the prince
resolved to get his knowledge not from his father,
but from others. Now one of his tutors was nearer and
dearer to him than all the rest, being treated with
closer intimacy and honoured with more costly
presents; and from this man the prince set about
enquiring what was the King's object in mewing him up
within those walls. '' Explain this to me," said he,
"and you shall be my favourite beyond all others, and
I will make a league with you of everlasting
friendship." Now the tutor, who was himself, too, a
man of sense, and knew the intelligence and perfect
understanding of the boy, and was assured that he
would be exposed to no peril by his young charge,
related the whole story to him from beginning to end,
telling the prince of the persecution which the King
had waged against the Christians, and particularly
against the ascetics and how they had been driven out
and expelled from that country, and what prophecies
had been uttered by the astrologers when the prince
was born. "In order, therefore," said the tutor, "
that you might not hear their teachings and come to
prefer their religion to ours, the King was careful
that your associates should not be many but definite
in number, and he gave us commands not to let any of
the loathly things of life come to your knowledge."
Having heard this, the youth forebore to speak
further; but his heart was touched by the Word of
Salvation, and the Grace of the Comforter set to work
to open the eyes of his mind, leading him by the hand
to the true God in order that the Word going before
might reveal Him. Very frequently the Ring, his
father, came to see his son, for he loved him with an
exceeding affection; and one day his son said, "I
wanted to ask you one thing, my lord and master, as
to which grief unending and ceaseless care devours my
p.429
heart." Filled with inward grief at the mere words,
the King said, "Tell me, my darling son, what the
grief is that possesses you, and I will try to change
it quickly into joy." The boy answered, "What
confinement is this of mine here that you have
imprisoned me within walls and gates, and suffer me
not to go abroad or to be seen publicly?" Said the
father, "I desire, my son, that you should see
nothing likely to sadden your heart or abate your
gladness. For it is my aim that you should live your
whole life lapped in ceaseless delight and joy and
pleasure." "Oh, but be well assured, sire," answered
the boy, "that this present life of mine is not
filled with joy and pleasure to me; nay, rather it is
filled with sorrow and tribulation, so that my very
meat and drink seem distasteful and bitter. For I
yearn to see all that lies outside these gates. If,
then, you wish me not to live in pain, give orders
that I am to go forth at my pleasure and to gladden
my heart with the sight of what has been invisible to
me hitherto." Grief filled the King's heart when he
heard this, and he began to ponder how; if he were to
refuse his son's request, he would bring on the boy
still greater harm and sorrow, So he made answer, "I
will do what you desire, my son," and gave orders
that a special chariot should be at once made ready
and a king's escort to attend it. Then he directed
that the prince should be at liberty to ride out
whenever he wished, and charged the prince's
companions not to confront him with anything
repulsive, but to point out to the boy everything
beautiful and delightful. Companies of minstrels were
to dance and sing in harmonious unison along the
highways, and plays of great beauty were to be
performed, so that his mind might be absorbed therein
and filled with pleasure. When he was in the frequent
habit of going out thus at random along the roads,
the King's son saw one day, through the carelessness
of his attendants, two men, of whom the one was
maimed and the other blind. Seeing them and being
pained at heart by the sight, he said to those with
him, " Who are these, and what means their unpleasant
appearance? " And his attendants, being unable
p.430
to conceal what had come before his eyes, replied,
"These are states of human suffering such as are wont
to assail mortals as the result of corrupt substance
and an illhumoured body." Said the boy, "Do all men
alike usually come to this?" "No; not all," was the
answer; "only those who lose their health because of
the malignancy of their humours." So the boy set
about questioning them again, saying, "If not all,
but only some men come to this, are the individuals
known beforehand who will be attacked by these
horrors? or is the attack undefined in scope and
unforeseen?" Said they, "Who among men can know the
secrets of the future and have sure knowledge
thereof? For this is too great for man, and has
fallen to the lot of the immortal gods alone." Then
the prince oeased from his questioning, but pained
was his heart at what he had seen; and a change came
over his countenance because of the strangeness of
the thing.
Not many days later as he was again passing
along, he chanced upon an aged man, very full of
gears, wizen in face, tottering in the legs, and bent
double; he was white with age, his teeth were gone,
and his speech was broken and stammering. Amazement,
therefore, seized the prince, and, bringing the old
man near, he began to ask to know the marvel he saw.
Then said those with him, "This man has now reached
extreme age; and as his strength kept waning little
by little, and as his limbs. grew feeble, he passed
unawares into the wretched plight you see." "And
what," asked the boy, "is the end of this?" said
they, "The next and only change is death." "Pray tell
me, does this fate await all men alike," asked the
prince, " or only some?" They answered and said, "
Unless death anticipate and bear off a man hence, it
is impossible, as years roll on, not to come to have
experience of this condition." Said the prince,
"After how many years then does this come upon a man?
And tell me if death is the doom always, and if there
is no means of evading it and also of escaping this
misery." They answered, "In eighty or a hundred years
men glide into this senility, and then
p.431
die, no alternative being given. For death is a
natural debt laid on mankind in the beginning, and
inexorable is death's coming."
Now, when the clever and intelligent youth had
seen and heard all this, he said, with groanings from
the depths of his heart, "Bitter is this life and
full of all pain and wretchedness, if this be so. And
how shall a man be free from care for thinking of
unknowable death, whose coming is not only inexorable
but also unknowable, and not to be foretold, as you
say?" And he went away turning all this over in his
mind, and unceasingly pondering thereon, and;
reminding himself again and again of death, his life
being wedded thenceforth to trouble and despondency,
and possessed with ceaseless sorrow. For he said in
himself, "shall I one day fall a prey to death? And
who will ' hold me in remembrance after death, seeing
that time hands over all things to oblivion? And if I
die, shall I be dissolved into nothingness? or is
there any other life, and another and a different
world?"
4. PARABLE OF THE JEWEL.
For it chanced that at that time there was a
certain wise monk, who glorified God both in his life
and with his mouth, and had passed through all
monastic training. Whence he came, and what his
lineage was, I cannot say; but he had taken up his
abode in a desert of the land of Senaar,(1) and had
become perfect in the grace of the holy state.
Barlaam was the name of this old man.
He then it was, who, learning about the king's
son by a revelation from God, came out of the
wilderness to where men dwelt. Changing his own
monastic garb for a lay dress, and embarking on a
vessel, he came to the kingdom of India. Then in the
guise of a merchant he made his way to the city where
the palace was of the king's son. After residing
there for many days, he made precise enquiries
concerning the prince and the people about him.
Learning,
_____________________________________________________
(1) Gen. x. 10; Dan. i. 2.
p.432
therefore, that beyond all others the aforesaid tutor
was near and dear to the prince, he went to him and
said privily, "I would have you to know, my lord,
that I am a merchant from a far country, and that I
have a precious stone the like of which has never
been discovered before. Up till now I have shown it
to no man, but I disclose it to you (whom I see to be
a man of intelligence and sense), in order that you
may bring me before the king's son and that I may
present it to him. For, unquestionably, nothing can
match it for beauty. It has power to give the light
of wisdom to the blind in heart, to open the ears of
the deaf, to give speech to the dumb, and strength to
the sick. The foolish it makes wise, demons it drives
out, and furnishes all things good and fair without
stint to its possessor." Said the tutor to him, "I
was taking you for a man of settled and solid mind.
But your words prove you an unmeasured braggart. For,
as to stones and pearls of great price and value, how
could I recount all I have seen? Yet never did I
either see or hear fell of one with such virtues as
you say. Nevertheless, show it me, and if it tallies
with your description I will take it in at once to
the prince, and you shall have the highest honours
and presents at his hands: But before I have
fortified myself by the sure witness of my own eyes,
I cannot carry this preposterous report about an
unseen thing to my prince and master." Barlaam made
answer, "Truly did you say that you have never yet
either seen or heard tell of such powers and virtues.
For what I tell you relates not to an ordinary thing,
but to a great marvel. And for that you sought to see
this stone, hearken to my words. This precious stone
possesses with the aforesaid powers and virtues this
further quality, namely, that if cannot be seen, even
when straight before him, by any man who has not both
strong; and healthy vision and a body chaste and
wholly undefiled. For if a man who falls short in
these two points, gaze unabashed upon this precious
stone, of a sooth he shall further lose the vision he
has and his senses. Now, I, who am not unversed in
physicians' lore, see that your eyes are not
p.433
without blemish, and I fear to rob you even of the
sight you have. But I have heard that the king's son
is both chaste of life and endowed with perfect eyes
of healthy vision. This is why I have not feared to
show him this treasure. So go not astray in this
matter, and rob not your master of such a treasure."
To him the tutor replied, "Well, if this be the
case, do not show me the stone. For my life has been
defiled by many sins, and my sight too, as you say,
is not sound. But, being persuaded by your words, I
will not shrink from making this known to my lord and
master." With these words he went in and related
everything point by point to the prince. And when the
latter heard the tutor's story, he felt joy and
spiritual gladness breathe in upon his heart, and, as
though inspired by God, bade the man be brought in at
once.
When, therefore, Barlaam came in and gave him due
salutation of peace, the prince allowed him to be
seated. Then when the tutor bad retired, Joasaph said
to the old man, " Show me the precious stone to which
my tutor tells me you attribute such great and
marvellous properties."
So Barlaam began his discourse in these words,
"It is not right, sire, for me to utter an untrue or
ill-considered word before your Highness' exceeding
majesty. For all that has been communicated to you
from me is true and beyond dispute. Yet, unless I
first make proof of your understanding, I am
forbidden to reveal the mystery."
5. PARABLE OF THE TRUMP OF DEATH.
6. PARABLE OF THE FOUR BOXES.
For there was a great and glorious king, and it
fell out that, as he was riding along in his
gold-studded chariot with a royal escort, he met two
men clad in filthy rags with pallid, pinched faces,
Now the king recognized that they were wasted away by
reason of their contemning the body and mortifying
the flesh with asceticism. As soon therefore as he
saw them, he leapt down straightway from his chariot
p.434
and fell upon the ground in all reverence. Rising
from the ground he embraced them, and gave them a
most loving welcome. This shocked his magnates and
nobles, who thought the king's action derogatory to
his royal majesty. Yet not daring to rebuke their
sovereign to his face, they moved his brother-german
to tell the king not to degrade his kingly dignity
thus. When the brother urged this on the king and
took him to task for his ill-advised selfabasement,
the king gave him an answer which the brother did not
understand. For the king had a custom whenever he was
minded to sentence any one to death, to send a herald
to the doomed man's gates with a trumpet kept
purposely for this service. Its note told all that
the man was under doom of death. Accordingly, when
evening came on, the king sent the trumpet of death
to sound at the gates of his brother's house. So when
this latter heard the trumpet of death, he despaired
of his life, and spent the whole night in putting his
affairs in order. At daybreak he came in black
mourning garments with his wife and children to the
gates of the royal palace, weeping and wailing.
Taking him in and seeing him thus lamenting, the king
said, 'Foolish and senseless man, if you were so
terrified by the messenger of your own brother of
like rank with yourself, towards whom you know
yourself with to be void of offence, how was it you
upbraided me for greeting with humility the messenger
of my God, who, more clearly than those trumpet's
notes, signify to me death and the dread meeting with
my Lord, against whom I know that I have sinned often
and sinned deeply? Know that it was to expose your
folly that I adopted this stratagem. And in like
manner I will convict of folly forthwith those who
egged you on to censure me.' With this treatment and
marks of his favour the king sent his brother home.
The king ordered four boxes of wood to be made.
Two he cased in gold all over, and, first filling
them with the stinking bones of corpses, secured them
with golden fastenings. The other two he daubed over
with pitch and ˙
p.435
bitumen, and filled them with precious stones and
pearls of great price and all fragrances of myrrh and
frankincense, tying them up with common cords. Then
he summoned the magnates who censured him for his
greeting to the two ascetics, and set before them the
four boxes that they might estimate the respective
value of each pair. And the magnates proceeded to
give their opinion that the goldplated boxes were of
infinite value, 'For, maybe,' says one, 'they contain
royal tiaras and girdles, whilst those daubed over
with pitch and bitumen are of sorry, trifling worth.'
Said the king to them,'I know as well as you that
you are making these remarks. For you judge the
object of sense by the organs of sense. But this is
not the right way. Rather you should look with your
inward eyes on the worth or worthlessness treasured
up within.' Then he ordered the gold-plated boxes to
be opened, and awful was the stench that, issued from
them, and horrible the sight their opening disclosed.
Therefore the king said, 'This is a type of those
that are clad in rich and glorious raiment, and are
puffed up with much glory and dominion, but inwardly
are festering corpses and evil doing.' Next, bidding
the pitch and bitumen boxes to be disclosed, he
gladdened the whole circle by the sheen and
fragrance of their contents. And he said to them,
'Know you whom these are like? They are like unto
those humble men in poor clothing, whose outward
aspect prompted you to think scorn of my prostrating
myself to the earth before them. But I, perceiving
with the mind's eye the worth and beauty of their
souls, was honoured by their touch,: and held them
to be of greater worth than all crowns and imperial
purple.' Thus he put them to shame, and taught them
not to be led astray by mere outward appearances, but
to concentrate their attention on underlying
realities.
7. PARABLE OF THE FOWLER AND THE BIRD.
The worshippers of idols are like the fowler who
caught one of the small birds, called a nightingale.
But as he took
p.436
his knife to kill and eat it, articulate speech was
given to the nightingale, and it addressed the fowler
as follows: 'What good will my death be to you, man?
For I shall not enable you to fill your stomach. Now,
if you will free me from this gin, I will impart to
you three maxims, rules the observance of which will
profit you all your life long.' Astounded at the bird
finding speech, he promised, if the bird told him
anything new, to set it free from durance. Then the
nightingale turned to the man and said, 'Never
attempt impossibilities never fret over the past;
never believe the incredible. Observe just these
three maxims and it will be well with you.'
Marvelling at the terse wisdom of the bird, the
fowler loosed it from its bonds and let it fly away,
Curious to know if the man grasped the force of its
counsel and had profited thereby, the bird said to
him as it winged its way through its native air,
'Alack for your folly, man! What a treasure you have
lost to-day! Know that in my inwards there is a pearl
bigger than an ostrich's egg.' Hearing this, the
fowler was overcome with grief, repenting sore that
the nightingale had escaped his hand, In an endeavour
to catch it again, he said, 'Come into my house, and
I will be very kind to you and send you away loaded
with honour.' Said the nightingale, 'Now I know you
to be a downright fool. Though you listened so
intently and heard me so gladly, you derived no
profit from what I told you. I told you never to fret
over what was past and gone; and here are you
overcome with grief, because I am escaped from your
hands. This is fretting over the past. Next, I
charged you not to attempt impossibilities, and you
try to catch me though you cannot reach my airy
pathways. Furthermore, I also enjoined you not to
believe the incredible. And lo! you believed that in
my inwards there was a pearl bigger than my body, and
had not the wit to understand that the whole of me is
not equal to the size of an ostrich's egg. How then
was I able to contain within me so big a pearl?'
p.437
8. PARABLE OF THE MAN AND THE UNICORN.
Therefore, those who are so enslaved to a cruel
and wicked tyrant, alienating themselves to their
souls' hurt from the good Master who loves men; those
who clutch at temporal things and are wedded thereto,
never taking thought of things to come; who
unceasingly pant after bodily enjoyments and allow
their souls to waste away with hunger and be
afflicted with countless evils; these men I conceive
to be like a man who, fleeing from the presence of a
mad unicorn, and being unable to bear the noise of
its roaring and its horrible bellowing, has fled
headlong to escape falling a prey to the beast, and,
as he runs along so hotly, has fallen head over heels
into a great pit. But as he fell, he stretched out
his arms, and clutching a tree held tightly on to it.
Firmly planting his feet on a foothold, he seemed to
be in peace and safety thenceforward. But looking
down, he saw two mice, one white and one black,
ceaselessly engaged in gnawing through the root of
the tree to which he clung, and just on the point of
cutting through it. Then casting his eyes down to the
bottom of the pit, he saw a dragon of terrible
aspect, breathing forth flames and glaring with
inconceivable fierceness, yawning horribly with its
mouth, and thirsting to swallow him up. And again, as
he strained his glance upon the foothold which
supported him, he saw four serpents' heads issuing
from the wall to which he had clung! Then, looking
upward, he saw a little honey trickling down from the
branches of the tree. Thereupon, casting from him all
thought of the dangers which encompassed him,
heedless of how, without, the unicorn in its fell
fury sought to devour him, whilst, beneath, the grim
dragon had its jaws open to swallow him up; heedless
of how the tree which he grasped was all but cut
through, and of how his feet rested on a slippery and
treacherous support; yes, fondly forgetting all these
terrible horrors, his whole attention was bent upon
the sweetness of that little honey.
This is the similitude of those who cleave to the
deceits
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of this life, and I will forthwith tell you its
interpretation. The unicorn shall be a type of Death,
which is ever pursuing and ever straining to catch
the race of Adam. The pit is the world, full of all
manner of evils and deadly snares. The tree to which
the man clung, and which was unceasingly being gnawed
through by the two mice, is the race-course whereon
each man's life is run, which is spent and expended
by the hours of Day and Night, and little by little
draws near its final severance. The four serpents
symbolize the constitution of the human body as based
on four fleeting and unstable elements, the disorder
and disorganization of which destroy the constitution
of the body. Moreover, the fiery ravening dragon
typifies the fearful maw of hell which is all agog to
engulf those who prefer temporal pleasures to the
blessings to come. And the drip of honey signifies
the sweetness of the world's pleasures, that
sweetness whereby the world deludes its lovers and
debars them from taking forethought for their own
salvation.
9. PARABLE OF THE MAN AND HIS THREE FRIENDS.
Said the old man, "Again, those who love this
world's delights and are steeped in its sweets, those
who prefer what is fleeting and frail to the secure
and abiding bliss to come, are like a certain man who
had three friends, two of whom he used exceedingly to
honour and cherish as friends, championing them even
with his life, and wooing peril for their sake.
Whereas to the third he used to bear himself
disdainfully, never deeming him worthy of honour or
of the love that was his due, but showing him little
or no friendship. Now one day he was seized by
terrible and lawless soldiers, who proceeded to haul
him in all haste before the king to answer for a debt
of a thousand talents! In his need he set himself to
seek a helper to stand by him in his dreaded
reckoning before the king. Running therefore to his
first and most intimate friend of all, he said, 'You
know, friend, how I have ever exposed my life for
you.
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Now, yes this very day, I require help in my pressing
need. To what extent do you promise to stand by me
now? And what may I hope at your hands, my dearest
friend?' Then the other answered and said, 'I am no
friend of yours my man. I do not know who you are. I
have other friends with whom I must make merry to-day
and secure their future friendship. See, I let you
have two old coats to take with you on your way,
though they will be no earthly good to you. But don't
imagine you have any further hopes from me
whatsoever. Hearing this and realizing that he had
failed to get the help he was hoping for, away he
went to the second friend and said, 'You remember,
comrade, the honour and goodwill I always paid you.
Well, to-day being fallen into distress and very
great calamity, I need a supporter. How far can you
back me? Let me know at once.' And the other
replied,'I have no time to-day to stand by you; for,
like you, I am in trouble and difficulties myself,
and hard put to it. None the less I will go a little
way with you, even though I shall not do you any
good. I must soon turn back home again and busy
myself with my own personal cares, which absorb the
whole of my attention and time.' So returning
emptyhanded from his second as from his first friend,
and knowing not what on earth to do, the man began to
bewail the vanity of his expectations from those
ungrateful friends, and lamented the unprofitable
sacrifices he had undergone for their love. Last of
all, he went to the third friend, whom he had never
courted or bidden to share his jollity. To him he
said with shamefaced and downcast look, 'I cannot
open my lips to address you, knowing as I do so well
that you have no memory of kindnesses or affection
shown you by me. Still, inasmuch as I am beset by the
direst calamity, and as I found no hope of saving
myself anywhere among the rest of my friends, I am
come to you in my importunity, to see if you have
power to give me a little assistance. Do not refuse
me in indignation at my former lack of kindly feeling
towards you.' The other replied, with a cheery and
gracious countenance, 'Nay, indeed, I call you my
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most genuine friend, and remembering that small
service of yours, will repay it this day with
interest. Have no fear or alarm, for I will go on
ahead of you and importune the king in your behalf;
rest assured that I will never deliver you into the
hands of your enemies. Be of good courage, my dearest
friend, and give over sorrowing.' Thereon the poor
man was pricked to the heart and said with tears,
'Alack! where shall I make beginning of my weeping
and of my regrets? Shall I repent me of my
infatuation for those ungrateful, thankless, and
false friends? Or shall I cry out upon the degraded
indifference which I displayed to this true and
genuine friend?'" Now Joasaph, who had listened to
this story too with wonderment, proceeded to ask its
interpretation. And Barlaam said, "The first friend
may be taken to be superfluity of riches and love of
money-making, for which man plunges into countless
dangers and faces manifold hardships. But when the
last summons of Death comes, he receives nothing from
all these save the worthless rage needed for his
burial. The second friend is a name for wife and
children and all other relations and intimates, to
whom we cling so fondly that we can scarce be torn
from them, showing ourselves careless of our very
soul and body because of our love for them. Yet no
profit did any man ever have of them in the hour of
death--save that they barely accompany him to the
tomb and then straightway turn back and absorb
themselves in their own trouble and difficulties,
burying the memory of their whilom dear one as deeply
in oblivion as they buried his body in the grave. But
the third friend, on the contrary, who was overlooked
and held cheap, who was not visited, but avoided and
shunned as it were, he is the fellowship of good
works, such as faith, hope, love, mercy,
loving-kindness, and the rest of the band of the
virtues, which can go before us as we are quitting
the body and importune the Lord in our behalf,
ransoming us from our enemies and from the dread
exactors who ply us in the air with the dread summons
to pay, and cruelly seek to get mastery over us. This
is that amiable and good
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friend who bears faithfully in mind even well-doing,
and is minded to repay it interest." our all modicum
of to us with interest."
10. PARABLE OF THE KING WHO ASSURED HIMSELF A
HAPPY FUTURE.
Hearken to a similitude of this matter also. I
have heard of a great city whose citizens had
observed from olden times a custom of taking some
unknown stranger, perfectly ignorant of the laws and
usages of their city, and of setting him up as king
over them, with full enjoyment of entire authority
and with unfettered poner to carry out his own will
until the completion of a year's time. Then, all of a
sudden, while the man was quite at his ease and
unsuspectingly revelling and luxuriating, fancying he
would remain king all his life long, it was the
practice of the citizens to rise against him, and,
stripping him of his royal apparel, to parade him
stark naked through the city, ending up with
banishing him as an outlaw to a large island afar
off. In this island, for lack of supplies of food and
raiment, the whilom king suffered anguish from hunger
and nakedness, the luxury and delights which had
unexpectedly been given him being transformed again
to sorrow, contrary to all his hopes and
expectations.
According, therefore, to the native custom of
these citizens, a certain man was set up to be king
whose judgment was adorned with perfect
understanding. He was not carried away by the sudden
advancement which had attended him, nor did he vie
with the lack of forethought of his royal
predecessors now miserably banished; on the contrary,
he was always alert and on the watch to see how he
could ensure his welfare: Now, by the persistent
search for accurate information, he learned through a
very wise councillor the custom of the citizens and
the place of perpetual exile, and was shown clearly
how he ought to safeguard himself. When, therefore,
he knew this and learned that the island was on the
point of receiving him,
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and that he must leave to other newcomers the throne
which he had possessed but which was not his own, he
straightway opened the treasuries (of which meantime
he had free and unfettered control) and took thence
money in abundance and an enormous quantity of gold
and silver bullion and precious stones. This he
entrusted to devoted slaves and sent them on with the
treasure in advance to the island to which he was to
be banished. At the close of the appointed year the
citizens rose and transported him all naked, like his
predecessors before him, to banishment. Wherefore,
whilst the rest of the kings, who were stupid and
lived but for the day, were starving miserably, this
man, thanks to the wealth he had stored up in advance
of his coming, lived a life of unbroken ease in the
lap of inexhaustible luxury, and, relieved entirely
from the fear of the turbulent and wicked citizens,
ceased not to congratulate himself on his shrewd
wisdom.
Understand, then, by the city this vain and
deceitful world; by the citizens the princes and
potentates of the devils, the world-rulers of the
darkness of this life, who angle for us with the ease
of pleasure and egg us on to regard as incorruptible
what is transitory and corruptible, as though our
enjoyment thereof would last eternally and always be
with us. If then we are deceived thus and take no
heed concerning the things eternal, neither lay up
provision for ourselves against the after life,
sudden destruction falls upon us, the destruction of
death;...
11. PARABLE OF THE POOR BUT HAPPY COUPLE.
For I have heard that there was a certain king
who ruled his kingdom very righteously and treated
his subjects with gentleness and mildness, but failed
solely therein that he was not rich in the
enlightenment of knowledge of God, but was misled by
the delusion of idols. Now, he had a councillor, a
good man, adorned with piety towards God and with all
other virtuous wisdom, who, being pained and
distressed at the king's errors, desired to bring the
truth
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home to him; but he fought shy of carrying out his
purpose, fearing lest he should bring trouble both on
himself and on the king's friends and put a stop to
the benefits many were enjoying at the king's hands.
Nevertheleee, he kept on the look out for a suitable
opportunity to lead the king to the truth. So one
night the king said to him, 'Come, let us go out and
stroll about in the city to see whether we shall
chance to see anything profitable.' And as they were
strolling about the city, they saw a light shining
out of a chink. Clapping their eyes to the hole, they
saw a sort of underground cellar, in the foreground
of which sat a man plunged in extreme poverty and
clad in sorry rags. By him was standing his wife,
mixing wine. And as the man took the cup in his
hands, his wife tried to please him by singing a song
in a clear voice as she danced to the tune, and by
cheering him up with flattering words. In con-
sequence, those with the king, after watching long
enough, were astonished that these people, though
pinched so sorely. by poverty as neither to have
decent shelter, or clothing, were such cheerful
livers. Then said the king to his prime minister,
'What a marvel, my friend, that you and I never
enjoyed our lives, brightened though they are by such
dignify and luxury, so heartily as these simple folk
enjoy this sorry and miserable existence, and rejoice
in this rough and detestable life which seems to them
easy and comfortable.' Seizing the favourable
opportunity the prime minister said, 'And how, pray,
does their condition strike you, sire?' 'As the most
unpleasant and the most woful I have ever seen,' said
the king; 'I call it abominable and detestable.' Then
said his prime minister, 'Even such and far more
harsh is the view of our life taken by those gifted
with insight, and those who know the mysteries of the
everlasting glory and the blessings which pass all
understanding. Palaces gleaming with gold and this
rich raiment and all the rest of this life's luxuries
are less pleasing than dung and ditch-water in the
eyes of those who know the unspeakable beauty of the
heavenly mansions not built by hands, of God-spun
raiment, and of the in- ˙
p.444
corruptible diadems which the All-Creator and Lord
has prepared for those that love Him. For, as these
two people were adjudged foolish by us, much more do
we, who are led astray by the world and are
self-satisfied in the midst of this false glory and
foolish luxury, merit weeping and tears in the eyes
of those who have tasted the sweetness of those good
things.'
12. PARABLE OF THE RICH YOUTH AND THE POOR
MAIDEN.
And the old man answered him as follows: "If you
do this, you will be like a certain youth of great
intelligence, of whom I have heard that he was the
son of rich and noble parents. His father had
arranged a marriage for him with a very beautiful
girl, the daughter of a gentleman notable for his
birth and riches; but when he communicated with his
son about the marriage and the arrangements that were
being made in the son's behalf, the latter had no
sooner heard the project than he thrust it aside as
if it were shameful and monstrous, and ran away from
his father. On his journey, he received hospitality
in the house of a poor old man, as he halted for
repose during the heat of the day. Now the old man
had an only daughter, a virgin, who, as she sat in
the doorway, kept working away with her hands, whilst
with her lips she never ceased to praise God,
thanking Him from the depths of her heart. Hearing
her hymns of praise, the young man said to her, 'What
are you engaged in? And what is the reason why you,
who are so poor and so badly off, sing hymns of
praise and return thanks to the Giver of your sorry
lot as heartily as though you had received great
gifts at His hands?' She answered him and said, 'Do
you not know that, even as a tiny drug oftentimes
saves a man from serious ailments, so also
thankfulness to God for small things leads to great
things? Accordingly, I, though the daughter of a poor
old man, nevertheless thank God and bless Him for
these small mercies, knowing that He who gives them
can give greater things also. So much then for
external things that
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are not our own, wherefrom neither the possessors of
abundance reap any additional gain (not to speak of
the actual loss in many cases), nor do they derive
hurt whose portion is smaller--seing that both rich
and poor are travelling the same road and pressing on
to the same goal. Next, in respect of most necessary
and momentous things, I have enjoyed many great
blessings from my Lord, blessings without number and
beyond compare. For in God's image have I been
created, and of His knowledge have I been deemed
worthy; I have been endowed with reason beyond all
living creatures, and have been summoned from death
to life on account of the bowels of compassion of
God; I received authority to share in His mysteries,
and the door of Paradise has been opened, affording
me free and unrestrained entrance, if I will.
Therefore, for all these great gifts (which are
shared alike by rich and by poor), it is utterly
beyond my powers to return thanks sufficient. But if
I fail to bring even this little tribute of praise to
the Giver, what manner of defence shall I have to
plead?'
Marvelling exceedingly at the girl's great
understanding, he called to him her father and said,
'Give me your daughter. For I am enamoured of her
understanding and piety.' Said the old man, 'It is
impossible for you, who come of a rich family, to
take the poor man's daughter to wife.' But the young
man rejoined, 'Yes, I will marry her, if you will
give your consent. For a daughter of a rich and noble
house has been sought in marriage for me, and I put
her from me and took to flight. But, as regards your
daughter, it is for her piety to God and her sensible
understanding that I have fallen in love with her,
and am set upon being united to her.' Then said the
old man to him, 'I cannot give her to you to take
away to your father's house, and to tear her from my
embrace, for she is my only child.' 'Nay,' answered
the young man, 'I will stop with you and will adopt
your way of life.' Therewithal he stripped off his
own rich suit and attired himself in clothes which he
begged of the old man. After numerous trials, and
after manifold tests of his determination,
p.446
the old man was sure that the youth was of steadfast
mind, and was not seeking the girl merely out of
passion bred of folly, but, on the contrary, that
through love of piety he was choosing a life of
poverty, preferring such piety to his own estate and
nobility. Then, taking the youth by the hand, the old
man led him into his treasure chamber, and displayed
the great wealth he had stored up and his countless
piles of money, more than the youth had ever before
set eyes on. 'My son,' said the old man to him, 'all
this do I give you because of your deliberate choice
to succeed to my lot.' The young man became his heir,
and outstripped all the noble and rich of the land.
13. PARABLE OF THE FAWN.
A rich man was rearing a young fawn: when it grew
big, its natural disposition led it to pine for the
wilderness. So, going out one day, it found a herd of
gazelles grazing, and, keeping with them, traversed
the expenses of cultivated land, returning at
evening, but sallying out again at early morn through
neglect of the servants, and grazing with the wild
gazelles. But as they changed their feeding grounds
and moved further off, the fawn, too, travelled along
with them. Marking this, the rich man's servants
pursued on horseback and captured their own fawn,
whom they brought back alive, never letting it go
abroad in future. As for the rest of the herd of
gazelles, they killed some and maimed others.
14. PARABLE RESPECTING LOVE FOR WOMEN.
A certain king used to fret over not having a
son, a lack which he deplored deeply and accounted a
signal misfortune. And while he was like this, a son
was born to him, and joy filled the king's heart. But
the sagest amongst the physicians told him that, if
within twelve years the infant were to see sun or
fire, it would lose its sight altogether, as they
perceived from the disposition of its eyes. Tradition
p.447
says that the king consequently hewed a cave-dwelling
out of the solid rock, and there shut up the babe and
its nurses, in order not to let it see a single
glimmer of light till the twelve years were past and
gone. When these years had elapsed, the king took
from this dwelling the boy who had never seen
anything of the world, and bade everything be paraded
before him, each after its kind, for the boy to see.
There were men in one place, women in another; gold
and silver here; and there pearls and precious
stones; rich and gorgeous raiment; beautiful chariots
drawn by royal horses with golden bits and purple
housings, ridden by men in armour; herds of cattle
and flocks of sheep. In brief, they proceeded to show
the boy everything in succession. And as he kept
asking what each was called, the king's swordsmen and
spearsmen failed not to tell him its name. But when
he asked the name of the women, the king's Yeoman of
the Guard merrily said that they were called
'Demons,' who led men astray. Now the boy's heart was
much more captivated by them than by anything else.
When, therefore, they took him back to the king at
the end of the survey, the king proceeded to ask what
he thought he liked best of all he had seen. 'Why,
those demons,' replied the boy, 'who lead men astray,
For, of all I have seen to-day, my heart went out to
nothing save them.' And that king marvelled at the
boy's reply, and at the imperious might of man's love
for women."
[The Evil One entered into one of the damsels,
who was the fairest of them all, being the daughter
of a king, and a captive led away from her own
country, and given to the king Abenner as a peerless
gift, whom the father of Joasaph had sent to be a
snare and a stumbling-block to his son. Into her the
Deceiver entered, and inspired her with words
abundantly proving the wisdom and intelligence of her
understanding. And he inspired the prince with love
for the damsel on account of her wit, forsoofh, and
beauty; and also on account of her having lost, nobly
born and royal though she was by descent, at once her
country and her state. Further, he suggested
arguments to the prince to
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turn her from her idolatry and to make her a
Christian. But all this was the craft of the guileful
Serpent....
The King divided into two parts the whole of the
territory subject to him, made his son king, crowned
him with a diadem, and, adorning him with all royal
pomp and state, despatched him with a brilliant train
to the kingdom set apart for him.
Filled with holy zeal, the king Abenner (who had
been converted by his son Joasaph) stamped heavily
upon the idols of gold and silver which were in his
palace, and broke them into fragments, which he
distributed among the poor, thus making that useful
which before had been useless. And with his son he
beset the temples and altars of idols, and razed them
to their very foundations. And this they did, not
only in the city, but also throughout the whole land,
with great zeal. Then was the king Abenner made
perfect by baptism. And Joasaph was his sponsor at
the font, in this last matter appearing as the parent
of his own father, repaying his father in the flesh
with spiritual re-birth.
On the eighth day after his father's death,
Joasaph returned to his palace and distributed among
the poor all his riches and substance, so that no one
was left needy. A few days sufficing to do this
service and to empty all his treasuries, in order
that the pride of riches might not trammel him in his
contemplated passage through the narrow gate, --on
the fortieth day after his father's death, erecting a
tomb to the latter, he summoned together all those in
authority and vested with military command, and a
number of the citizens (and told them he was resolved
to become a monk, to their great sorrow).... By
night, unseen of any, he left the palace. But he
could not escape them entirely. For at daybreak the
news caused uproar and lamentation among the people;
and they all set out with great speed to find him,
with intent to divert him by every means from his
flight.... They found him in a ravine with his hands
uplifted to heaven, and repeating the prayer of the
sixth hour. Seeing him, they gathered round him
sorrowing, and upbraiding his flight. "In vain is
your
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toil," he answered; "give up all hopes of having me
for your king henceforth."... Thus did that noble
youth yield up his throne with joy, even as when from
a far land a man returns to his own country right
glad of heart. He was clad outwardly in his usual
garments, but underneath in the hair shirt which
Barlaam had given him. That night he went into the
house of a poor man on his way, and doffing his outer
raiment, gave it to the poor man as his last act of
benevolence..... After many diverse mischances and
tribulations he came, after many days, to the
wilderness of the land of Senaar, in which Barlaam
was dwelling.... (After Barlaam's death) Joasaph
endured to the end, leading upon the earth a life
truly angelic, and subjecting himself to still
sterner discipline after the passing of the old man.
Five-and-twenty years old was he when he gave up an
earthly kingdom and engaged in the ascetic's
struggle; five-and-thirty years in the heart of the
wilderness did he, angel-like, persevere in an
asceticism too rigorous for mortal man.]