On Dreams, Book 2

(2.1) In describing the third species of dreams which are sent from God, we very naturally call on Moses as an ally, so that, just as he learnt after having been ignorant before, he may instruct us, who are also ignorant, about these signs, illustrating each one of them. This third species of dreams occurs whenever, in sleep, the mind is set in motion by itself and, agitating itself, is filled with frenzy and inspiration, so that it predicts future events by a certain prophetic power. (2.2) For the first kind of dreams we mentioned was the kind that proceeded from God as the author of its motion, and in some invisible manner prompted us with what was indistinct to us but well known to himself. The second kind was when our own intellect was set in motion simultaneously with the soul of the universe, and became filled with divine madness, by which it is permitted to foretell events that are about to happen; (2.3) and for this reason the interpreter of the sacred will very plainly and clearly speaks of dreams, indicating by this expression the visions which appear according to the first species, as if God, through dreams, gave suggestions equivalent to distinct and precise oracles. He speaks of the visions of the second species neither very clearly nor very obscurely; an example is the vision of the ladder reaching up to heaven; for this vision was an enigmatical one; nevertheless, the meaning was not hidden from those who were able to see with any great acuteness. (2.4) But the visions of the third species of dreams, being less clear than the two earlier kinds because their enigmatical meaning is deeply seated and fully coloured, require the science of an interpreter of dreams. At any rate, all the dreams of this class that the lawgiver records are interpreted by men skilled in this art. (2.5) Whose dreams, then, am I alluding to here? Surely everyone must see that I mean those of Joseph and of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and the dreams that the chief baker and chief butler themselves saw; (2.6) and it is always good to begin our instruction with the first instances. The first dreams are the ones Joseph saw, receiving two visions from the two parts of the world, heaven and earth. From the earth came the dream about the harvest, which runs as follows, "I thought that we were all binding sheaves in the middle of the field; and my sheaf stood up." (2.7) The other concerns the circle of the zodiac, and runs, "They worshipped me as the sun and the moon and the eleven stars." The interpretation of the first, delivered with great and violent reproof, is as follows, "Will you be a king and reign over us? or will you be a lord and lord it over us?" The interpretation of the second is again full of just indignation, "Shall I, and your mother, and your brothers come and fall down upon the ground and worship you?"

(2.8) Let these things be laid down first as a foundation; and on this foundation let us raise up the rest of the building, following the rules of that wise architect, allegory, and accurately investigating each particular of the dreams; but first we must mention what needs attention before the dreams. Some people have extended the nature of good over many things, and others have attributed it to the most excellent Being alone; some, again, have mixed it with other things, while others have spoken of it as unalloyed. (2.9) So those who have called only what is honourable good have kept this nature free from alloy, and have attributed it only to what is most excellent, namely to the reason that is in us; but those who have mixed it have combined it with three things, the soul, the body, and external circumstances. Those who do this are people of a somewhat effeminate and luxurious way of life, brought up for most of their time, from earliest infancy, in the women's apartments and among the effeminate race which is found in the women's apartments. But those who argue differently are men inclined to a harder regimen, brought up from boyhood among men, and themselves men in mind, who embrace what is right in preference to what is pleasant, and devoting themselves to nourishment fit for athletes for the sake of strength and vigour, not of pleasure. (2.10) Moses, moreover, presents two people as leaders of these two companies. The leader of the noble and good company is the self-taught and self-instructed Isaac; for he records that he was weaned, choosing to make no use at all of tender, and milk-like, and childish, and infantine food, but only of food that was vigorous and perfect, since he was formed by nature, from his very infancy, for acts of virtue, and was always in the prime and vigour of youth and energy. But the leader of the company that yields and inclines to softer measures is Joseph; (2.11) for he does not indeed neglect the virtues of the soul, but he likewise shows anxiety about the stability and permanence of the body, and also desires an abundance of worldly treasures; and, in strict accordance with natural truth, he is represented as drawn in different directions, since he sets himself many different objects in life; and being attracted by each of them, he is kept in a state of commotion and agitation, without being able to stand firm. (2.12) And his case is not like the case of cities, which make a truce and enjoy peace, and yet after a time are attacked again, so that they win and are defeated by turns; for at times a great influx of riches and glory comes upon them and subdues all their cares for the body and the soul, but afterwards, being repelled by both these things, they are conquered by the adversary; (2.13) and in the same way all the pleasures of the body, coming upon the soul in compact array, overwhelm and efface all the objects of the intellect one after the other; and then, after a short time, wisdom, changing its course and blowing in the opposite direction with a fresh and violent breeze, causes the stream of the pleasures to slacken, and altogether moderates all the eagerness, and impetuosity, and rivalry of the external senses. (2.14) Such, then, is the circle of never-ending war that revolves around the soul, subject as it is to so many changes; for when one enemy has been destroyed, another, more powerful, immediately springs up, like the many-headed hydra; for they say that with this monster another head sprang up in place of the one that was cut off, and by this they mean to suggest the multiform, and prolific, and almost invincible character of undying wickedness. (2.15) Do not, therefore, select any single thing as Joseph's sole portion, but know that he is the image of multiform and mixed knowledge. For in him appears a rational species of continence, of the masculine kind, fashioned after his father Jacob; (2.16) and the kind that is devoid of reason is also visible, I mean the kind belonging to the outward sense, made in the likeness of his maternal race, after Rachel. The seed of bodily pleasures also appears in him, which his association with the chief butlers, and chief bakers, and chief cooks has stamped upon him. The seed of vain opinion is also visible, which he mounts like a chariot because of his levity, being puffed up, and elated, and raising himself to a height to the destruction of equality.

(2.17) The character of Joseph is sketched out in the outlines above. But each of his dreams must be investigated with accuracy; and first of all we must examine the one about the sheaves. "I thought," he says, "that we were all binding sheaves." The expression, "I thought," is clearly the language of a person who is not certain, but who is hesitating and supposing with some amount of indistinctness, not of one who sees positively and clearly; (2.18) for it is very natural for persons just awakening out of a deep sleep, and still dozing as it were, to say, "I thought;" but not for people who are thoroughly awake, and who can see distinctly. (2.19) And the practitioner of virtue, Jacob, does not say, "I thought," but says, "Look, a ladder firmly set, the head of which reached up to heaven." And again he says, when "the sheep conceived I saw them with my eyes in my sleep, and behold the he-goats and the rams leapt upon the ewes and upon the she-goats, white, and variegated, and ring-streaked, and speckled." (2.20) For the sleeping conceptions of those who regard what is honourable as worth choosing for its own sake are necessarily also more distinct and purer, just as their waking actions are more deserving of approval.

(2.21) But when I hear Joseph relating his dream I marvel that he fancied he was binding up the sheaves, and not reaping the grain; for binding is the task of the lower classes and of servants, but reaping is the occupation of the employers, and of men more skilled in agriculture. (2.22) For to be able to distinguish what is necessary from what is mischievous, and what is nutritious from what is not, and what is genuine from what is spurious, and useful fruit from a worthless root, not only in the things the land bears, but also in those the intellect bears, is the work of most perfect virtue. (2.23) So the holy scripture represents those who see, that is, the sons of Israel, as reaping, and, most extraordinary of all, as reaping not barley or wheat but the harvest itself; and so Moses says, "When you reap your harvest, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your harvest." (2.24) For he means here that the virtuous man is not merely the judge of things which differ from one another, and that he does not only distinguish the things from which some produce is derived from the produce itself; but also that, in distinguishing while he reaps the harvest, he is able to remove this opinion of his own ability to distinguish, and to eradicate a man's own opinion of himself; because he is firmly persuaded, and believes Moses when he affirms that "judgment belongs to God alone," with whom rest the comparisons and distinctions between all things, and to whom it is good for a man to confess that he is inferior, a confession more glorious than the most renowned victory. (2.25) Reaping a harvest is like cutting a second time what has already been cut; some people fond of novelty applied themselves to this and found a circumcision of circumcision, and a purification of purification; that is to say, they found that the purification of the soul was itself purified, attributing the power of making bright to God, and never fancying that they themselves were competent, without the assistance of the divine wisdom, to wash and cleanse a life which is full of stains. (2.26) The double cave is akin to this, which is a symbol of the twofold and excellent recollections (the one relating to the creature, and the other to the Creator), in which the virtuous man is brought up, contemplating the things that are in the world, and also fond of inquiring about the father who made them; (2.27) and in my opinion it is because of these twofold recollections that the double symphony in music, the double diapason, was invented. (2.28) For the work and the creator had to be made happy in two most perfect melodies, not both in the same one. For since the excellencies they were to celebrate differed from one another, it necessarily followed that the melodies and symphonies should likewise differ from one another. The combined symphony is assigned to the world, which is a compound creation made up of many different parts, and the disjoined melody to him who in his essence is separated from every creature, namely God. (2.29) Moreover, the interpreter of the sacred will again sets out an opinion friendly to virtue, saying that it is not proper "to thoroughly reap every corner of the harvest field;" remembering the original proposition, according to which he agreed that "the tribute belonged to the Lord," to whom the authority and the conformation of these things also belong; (2.30) but the man uninitiated in reaping boasts so far as to say, "I thought that I was with the others binding up the sheaves which I had reaped." And he does not consider that this is the occupation of servants and unskilled hands, as I said a little while ago. (2.31) But the word sheaves is an allegorical expression that really means the affairs each man takes in hand to support his house, in which he hopes to live and dwell for ever.

(2.32) There is, therefore, an infinite number of differences between sheaves, that is to say, between such affairs as support a house. There is also a countless host of differences between those who gather and take up the sheaves in their hand, so that it is impossible to mention or even to imagine them all. Still, it is not out of place to describe by way of example a few of them, which he too mentioned when he was recounting his dream. (2.33) For he says to his brothers, "I thought that we were binding up sheaves." He has ten brothers who are sons of the same father as himself, and one who is by the same mother; and the name of each of them is an emblem of some most necessary thing. Reuben is an emblem of natural acuteness, for he is called "the son who sees," and insofar as he is a son he is not perfect, but insofar as he is endowed with the faculty of sight and sees acutely, he is naturally well qualified. (2.34) Simeon is an emblem of learning, for his name, interpreted, means, "listening." Levi is a symbol of virtuous energies and actions, and of holy ministrations. Judas is an emblem of songs and hymns addressed to God. Issachar, of wages which are given for good work; but perhaps the works themselves are their own perfect reward. Zabulon is a symbol of light, since his name means the departure of night; and when the night departs and leaves us, light necessarily arises. (2.35) Dan is a symbol of the distinction between, and division of, different things. Gad is an emblem of the invasion of pirates, and of a counter attack made upon them. Asser is a symbol of natural wealth, for his name, interpreted, signifies "a calling blessed," since wealth is counted a blessed possession. (2.36) Napthali is a symbol of peace, for peace opens and extends all things, just as war, on the other hand, closes them; and his name, interpreted, means, "widening," or "that which is opened." Benjamin is an emblem of young and old times; for his name, interpreted, means "the son of days," and both young time and old time are measured by days and nights. (2.37) So each of them takes up in his hand what belongs to him; and having taken it up, binds all the parts together; the man well endowed by nature taking up the parts of dexterity, and perseverance, and memory, which make up good natural endowments; the man who has learnt well takes up the parts of listening, tranquillity, and attention; the man willing to endeavour takes up courage and a happy confidence which does not shrink from danger; (2.38) the man inclined to gratitude takes up praises, panegyrics, hymns, and blessings, both in speaking and in singing; the man who is eager for wages takes up unhesitating industry, most enduring gratitude, and care, armed with a promptness not to be despised; (2.39) he who pursues light rather than darkness takes up wakefulness and acuteness of sight; the man who admires the division and distinction between things takes up well-sharpened reasons so as not to be deceived into treating similar things as identical, impartiality so as not to be led away by favour, and incorruptibility; (2.40) he who, in something of a piratical fashion, lays ambushes for those who plot against him in turn, takes up deceit, cajolery, trickery, sophistry, pretence, and hypocrisy, which, though blameworthy by nature, are nevertheless praised when used against the enemy; he who strives to be rich in the riches of nature takes up temperance and frugality; he who loves peace takes up obedience to law, a good reputation, freedom from pride, and equality.

(2.41) It is of these things, then, that the sheaves of his brothers by the same father are composed and bound up; but the sheaf of his brother by the same mother is composed of days and of time, which are the causes of nothing, as if they were the causes of all things. (2.42) But the dreamer and interpreter of dreams himself (for he combined both roles) makes a sheaf of empty opinion as if it were the greatest and most brilliant of possessions and the most useful to life. For this reason he is first made known to the king of the bodily country by his dreams, which are things dear to night, and not by any performance of conspicuous actions, which require day for their exhibition. (2.43) After that, he is appointed overseer or governor of all Egypt, and is honoured with the second rank in the kingdom, and made inferior in honour only to the king. In the eye of wisdom, if wisdom were the judge, all these things are more inglorious and more ridiculous than even defeat and dishonour. (2.44) After that he puts on a golden necklace, a most illustrious halter, the circlet and wheel of interminable necessity, not the consequence and regular order of things in life, nor the connection of the affairs of nature, as Thamar's was; for her ornament was not a necklace, but an armlet. Moreover, he puts on a ring, a royal gift which is no gift, a pledge devoid of good faith, the very opposite of the gift given to that same Thamar by Judah the son of the seeing king, Israel; (2.45) for God gives to the soul a seal, a very beautiful gift, to show that he has given shape to the essence of all things, which was previously devoid of shape, and has stamped a particular character on what previously had no character, and has given form to what previously had no distinctive form, and having perfected the entire world, he has impressed upon it an image and appearance, namely, his own word. (2.46) But Joseph also mounts the second chariot, being puffed up with elation of mind and vain arrogance. He is also regulator of the provisions, laying up and preserving the treasures for the body, and providing it with food from all quarters: and this is a very formidable fortification against the soul. (2.47) Moreover, his name bears no slight witness to his deliberate choice of life and to the life he admires; for Joseph, interpreted, means "addition;" and vain opinion is always adding what is spurious to what is genuine, and what is the property of others to what is one's own, and what is false to what is true, and what is superfluous to what is adequate, and luxury to what is sufficient to support existence, and pride to life.

(2.48) Consider now what I want to prove here. We are nourished by food and drink, even though the food is the most ordinary grain, and the drink plain water from the stream. Besides this, vain opinion has added to it an infinite number of varieties of cakes, and cheese-cakes, and sweetmeats, and costly and various mixtures of an indescribable multitude of wines, for enjoying pleasure rather than for sharing in necessary food properly prepared. (2.49) Again, the necessary seasonings for food are leeks, and vegetables, and many fruits of trees, and cheese, and other things of that sort; and if you wish to include carnivorous men, we must also add fish and meat to these items. (2.50) Would it not, then, have been sufficient to broil these things upon the coals, or to roast them at the fire, and then eat them at once, as those true heroes of old times did? But the epicure is eager for more than such things as these: he takes vain opinion as his ally, and excites the gluttonous passions which are within him, and searches and hunts everywhere for confectioners and pastrycooks of high reputation in their art. (2.51) And they bring forward the different baits for his miserable stomach, invented after long consideration, prepare all kinds of exotic flavours, arrange them in due order, and so tickle, and allure, and subdue the tongue. Then they immediately circumvent that foundation of the outward senses, taste, through which the banquet-hunter is very quickly made a slave instead of a free man. (2.52) For who does not know that clothes were originally made as a defence against the harm the body might suffer from cold and heat? as the poets say somewhere:-- "Taming the wind in the winter." (2.53) Who, then, thinks of costly purple garments? Who cares about transparent and thin summer robes? Who wishes for a garment delicate as a spider's web? Who is eager to have clothing embroidered for him, flowered over with dyes and brocaded figures, by people skilful in sewing and in weaving fine embroidery, whose handwork surpasses the imitative skill of the painter? Who, I say? Who but vain opinion?

(2.54) And indeed we needed houses for the same reasons, and also for protection against the attacks of wild beasts, or of men more savage in their nature than even wild beasts. Why is it, then, that we adorn the pavements and floors with costly stones? And why do we travel over Asia, and Africa, and all Europe, and the islands, searching for pillars and capitals, and architraves, and choosing them for their superior beauty? (2.55) And why are we eager for, and why do we vie with one another over, specimens of Doric, and Ionic, and Corinthian sculpture, and all the refinements that luxurious men have devised beyond the existing customs to adorn the capitals of their pillars? And why do we furnish our chambers for men and for women with golden ornaments? Is it not all because we are influenced by vain opinion? (2.56) And yet, for sound sleep, the mere ground was sufficient (since, even to the present day, the accounts tell us that the gymnosophists, among the Indians, sleep on the ground in accordance with their ancient customs); and if it were not, at any rate a couch made of carefully chosen stones or plain pieces of wood would be a sufficient bed; (2.57) but now the frames of our beds are ornamented with ivory feet, and workmen inlay our beds with costly mother-of-pearl and variegated tortoise-shell, at great expense of labour, and money, and time: and some beds are even made of solid silver or solid gold, and inlaid with precious stones, with all kinds of flowery work, and embossed golden ornaments strewn about them, as if for mere display and magnificence, and not for daily use. The contriver of all this is, again, the same vain opinion. (2.58) Again, why do we need to look for more in the way of ointment than the juice pressed out of the fruit of the olive? For that softens the limbs, and relieves the labour of the body, and produces a good condition of the flesh; and if anything has become relaxed or flabby, it binds it again, and makes it firm and solid, and it fills us with vigour and strength of muscle, no less than any other unguent. (2.59) But the pleasant unguents of vain opinion are set up in opposition to those that are merely useful; the perfumers work on them, and vast regions contribute to them, such as Syria, Babylon, the Indians, and the Scythians, the nations in which the origins of all perfumes are found.

(2.60) Again, as for drinking, what more could a man really need than the cup of nature, made with the perfection of art? Our own hands supply such a cup: if anyone brings them together and forms them into a hollow, applying them closely to his mouth while another pours in the liquid to drink, he gets not only a remedy for his thirst, but also a most indescribable pleasure. (2.61) Still, if someone absolutely needed something else, would not the ivy cup of the agricultural laborer be sufficient? and why should we need to resort to the arts of other eminent artists? And what can be the use of providing a countless multitude of gold and silver goblets, if not to gratify boastful and vain-glorious arrogance, and vain opinion raising itself to an undue height? (2.62) Again, when men wear crowns, they are not content with fragrant garlands of laurel, or ivy, or violets, or lilies, or roses, or of any tree whatever, or of any flower, neglecting all the gifts of God, which he bestows on us in the various seasons of the year, but they put golden crowns on their heads, which are a very heavy weight, wearing them in the middle of the crowded marketplace without any shame. And what can we think of such men except that they are slaves of vain opinion, even though they claim not only to be free, but even to be rulers over many other persons? (2.63) The day would fail me if I were to go through all the varieties of human life; and in any case, why should I dwell on the subject at length? For who has not heard of, or seen, such men as these? Who does not associate with them and know them well? So the sacred scripture has very appropriately named addition the enemy of simplicity and the companion of pride; (2.64) for just as superfluous shoots grow on trees, which are a great injury to the genuine useful branches, and which the cultivators, with prudent foreknowledge of what is necessary, destroy and cut out: so likewise, the life of falsehood and arrogance often grows up by the side of the true life devoid of pride, and to this day no cultivator has been found who has been able to cut away its injurious superfluous growth by the roots. (2.65) Therefore the practitioners of wisdom, knowing this first through the outward sense, and then pursuing it with the mind, cry out loudly and say, A wicked beast has seized and devoured Joseph. (2.66) But does not that most ferocious beast, the various pride which springs up in the life of men living in irregularity and confusion, whose chief workmen are covetousness and unscrupulous cunning, devour everyone who comes within his reach? So grief will be added to them even while they are alive, as though they were dead, since their life is worthy of lamentation and mourning, just as Jacob mourns for Joseph even while he is alive. (2.67) But Moses will not allow the sacred reasonings about Nadab to be mourned; for they have not been carried off by a savage beast, but have been taken up by inextinguishable violence and imperishable light; because, having discarded all fear and hesitation, they had duly consecrated the fervent and fiery zeal, consuming the flesh, and very easily and vehemently excited towards piety,⁠a which is unconnected with creation, but is akin to God, not going up to the altar by the regular steps, for that was forbidden by law, but proceeding rapidly onwards with a favorable gale, and being led up even to the threshold of heaven, becoming dissolved into ethereal beams like a whole burnt-offering.

(2.68) Therefore, soul, you who are obedient to your teacher! you must cut off your hand and your power when it begins to take hold of the parts of generation; that is to say, of things created, or of human pursuits; (2.69) for he often commands us "to cut off the hand which has laid hold of the privy parts," in the first place, because it has gladly received the pleasure which it ought rather to hate; and, secondly, because it has thought that the faculty of propagating seed was in our own power, and also, because it has attributed to the creature that power which belongs to the Creator. (2.70) Do you not see that the earthly mass, Adam, when it lays its hands on the two trees, dies, because it has preferred the number two to the unit, and because it has admired the creature in preference to the Creator? But go out beyond the reach of the smoke and the tempest, and flee from the ridiculous pursuits of mortal life as from a fearful whirlpool, and do not, as the proverb has it, touch them even with the tip of your finger. (2.71) And when you have made yourself ready for the sacred ministrations, having made broad your whole hand and your whole power, then take a firm hold of the speculations of instruction and wisdom; for the command runs like this, "If a soul brings a gift or a sacrifice, the gift shall be of fine wheaten flour." After that the lawgiver adds: "And when he has taken a full handful of the fine wheaten flour, with the oil, and with all the frankincense, he places the memorial on the altar of sacrifice." (2.72) Is it not a very beautiful and appropriate expression of Moses to call the soul that is about to offer sacrifice incorporeal, but not to give any such name to the double mass that consists of mortality and immortality? For what vows the vow--what is full of gratitude--what offers sacrifices that are truly without spot--is one thing only, namely the soul. (2.73) What then is the offering of the incorporeal soul? What is the fine wheaten flour, a symbol of the mind purified by the suggestions of instruction, which is able to make the friend of education free from all disease, and life free from all reproach? (2.74) Taking a handful of it in his whole hand, that is, with the whole grasp of his mind, the priest is commanded to offer up the whole soul itself, full of the most unalloyed and pure doctrines, as the most excellent of sacrifices, fat and in good condition, rejoicing in divine light, and redolent of the exhalations given off by justice, and by the other virtues, so as always to enjoy a most fragrant, and delicious, and happy life; for the oil and the frankincense, of which the priest takes a handful with the wheat flour, express this figuratively.

(2.75) For this reason Moses set apart a special festival for the sheaf; not, however, for every sheaf, but for the sheaf that came from the sacred land. "For when," he says, "you come into the land which I give to you, and when you reap its harvest, you shall bring sheaves as a first fruit of your harvest to the priest." (2.76) And the meaning of this injunction is this: when, mind, you come into the country of virtue, which it is fitting to offer up to God alone, being a land good for pasture, a land of rich soil, a land which bears fruit, and when you reap the fruit (either that afforded by the land spontaneously or that which you have sown), which has been brought to perfection by the God who gives perfection; do not carry it home to your house; that is to say, do not store it up, and do not attribute to yourself the cause of the crop which has arisen for you, before you have offered the first fruits to the Cause of all wealth, and to him who persuaded you to study the operations which confer riches. (2.77) And you are commanded to offer the "first fruits of your own harvest;" not of the harvest of the land, in order that we may reap and gather in the harvest for ourselves; dedicating to God all good, nutritious and beneficial fruits.

(2.78) But the man who is both initiated in dreams and an interpreter of dreams dares to say that his sheaf rose and stood upright; for in truth, just as spirited horses lift their necks high, so all who are companions of vain opinion place themselves above all things, above all cities, and laws, and national customs, and above all the circumstances that affect each one of them. (2.79) Then, advancing from demagogues to leaders of the people, and overthrowing the things which belong to their neighbours, and setting up and establishing on a solid footing what belongs to themselves, that is to say, all dispositions that are free and by nature impatient of slavery, they try to bring these under their power as well; (2.80) and so the dreamer adds, "And your sheaves turning towards my sheaf made obeisance to it." For the lover of modesty marvels at and fears the stiff-necked, and the cautious person fears the self-willed man, and the one who reveres holiness fears what is impious both for himself and for others. (2.81) And is this not reasonable? For since the good man is a spectator not only of human life but also of all the things that exist in the world, he knows how many things are usually caused by necessity, and chance, and opportunity, and violence, and authority; and that the same causes have shaken and overthrown many propositions, and many great instances of prosperity rising rapidly towards heaven; (2.82) so that he will necessarily take up caution as a shield, to protect himself from suffering any sudden and unexpected evil; for caution, I imagine, is to an individual what a wall is to a city. (2.83) Are these men not talking foolishly, are they not mad, when they want to display their inexperience and freedom of speech to kings and tyrants, sometimes daring to say and do things against their will? Do they not realize that they have not only put their necks under the yoke like brute beasts, but that they have also surrendered and betrayed their whole bodies and souls likewise, and their wives and their children, and their parents, and all the rest of their numerous kin and the whole community of their other relatives? And is the charioteer, or the passenger too, not lawfully free to spur, and to urge forward, and to check, and to hold back, as he wishes to arrange things, so as to make them greater or smaller? (2.84) So, pricked with goads, and flogged, and mutilated, and suffering together all the cruelties that can be inflicted inhumanly and pitilessly before death, they are led away to execution and put to death.

(2.85) These are the rewards of improper freedom of speech: not of what right-thinking judges count as freedom of speech, but of the license that is full of folly, insanity of mind and incurable sickness. What do you mean? Does anyone, when he sees a storm at its height, and a violent gale opposing him, and a hurricane raging tempestuously, and the sea full of vast waves, when he ought to anchor his ship, does anyone, I ask, weigh anchor and put to sea at such a moment? (2.86) What pilot or ship's captain was ever so drunk and intoxicated as to be willing to set sail while all the dangers I have just listed were threatening him, knowing that, if his vessel became water-logged by the sea breaking over it from above, it might be swallowed up with all its crew? For if he had wanted a voyage free from danger, he could have waited for calm weather and a smooth and favourable breeze. (2.87) What would one say if someone saw a bear or a lion charging violently and, when he could pacify and tame it, provoked it and made it savage, so as to give himself up as an unpitied meal and feast to those ravenous monsters? (2.88) Unless, of course, someone will claim that it is of no use to anyone to oppose the asps and serpents of Egypt, and all the other things which, possessing destructive poison, inflict inevitable death on those who are once bitten by them; and that men must be content to use incantations, and so tame those beasts, and by these means avoid suffering any evil from them. (2.89) Moreover, are there not some men more savage and more treacherous than boars, or serpents, or asps? Men whose treacherous and malignant disposition cannot be escaped except by gentleness and caresses? So the wise Abraham will offer adoration to the sons of Cheth, whose name, interpreted, means "admiring," because the occasion persuades him to do so. (2.90) For he has not come to this act of adoration because he honours people who, by nature, and by hereditary qualities, and by their own habits, are enemies to reason, and who miserably waste the coinage of the soul, namely instruction, corrupting, and adulterating, and clipping it, but because he fears their present power and their almost unconquerable strength, and is careful not to provoke them; he takes refuge in that great and powerful possession and weapon of virtue, that most excellent dwelling for wise souls, the double cave, which he could not occupy while warring and fighting, but only by acting as a champion and servant of reason. (2.91) What? Do we not also, when we spend time in the market-place, often wonder at the masters, and also at the beasts of burden? But we wonder at these two classes with different feelings, not the same ones. For we look upon the masters with honour, and upon the beasts of burden with fear, for fear that they may do us some injury. (2.92) And when an opportunity presents itself, it is a good thing to attack our enemies and put down their power; but when we have no such opportunity, it is better to be quiet; but if we wish to be perfectly safe from them, it is advantageous to caress them.

(2.93) So it is right even now to praise those people who do not yield to the one who presides over vain opinion but who withstand him and say, "Will you be a king and rule over us?" For they do not see him actually in possession of kingly power, they do not yet see him kindled like a flame, and shining and blazing in the unlimited fuel, but only smouldering like a spark, dreaming of glory but not visibly having attained it; (2.94) for they also encourage themselves with favourable hopes that he will not be able to overcome them; for which reason they say, "Will you reign over us?" This is the same as saying, Do you expect to be a king over us while we are living, existing, strong, and breathing? Perhaps you may indeed make yourself master of weak people, but we who are strong will look upon you as a subject. (2.95) And indeed this is how things naturally are. For when right reason is powerful in the soul, vain opinion is put down; but when right reason is weak, vain opinion is strong. So as long as the soul still has its own power safe, and is not mutilated in any part, it may well be confident enough to attack and aim its arrows at the pride which resists it, and it may indulge in freedom of speech, saying, "You shall not be a king, you shall not be lord over us, or over others during our lifetime; (2.96) but we, with our body-guards and shield-bearers, the offspring of wisdom, will overthrow your attacks and baffle your threats with a single sally. That is why it is said, "They began to hate him because of his dreams and because of his words." (2.97) But are not all the images that pride sets up and worships mere words and dreams, while only the things that relate to correct life and right reason deserve to be called actions and real energies? And the first class deserves hatred because it is false, and the second deserves friendship because it is full of desirable and lovely truth. (2.98) So let no one venture to bring accusations against the virtues of such men, as if they displayed an inhuman and unbrotherly disposition; but let anyone inclined to do so learn that it is not a man who is now being judged, but the disposition which exists in the soul of each individual, which is mad for glory and arrogant pride; let him embrace these men who have adopted irreconcilable enmity and hatred towards this disposition, and let him never love what is hated by them. (2.99) He should know thoroughly that such judges are never deceived into wandering from a sound opinion, but that, having learnt from the beginning to understand who is the true king, namely, the Lord, they indignantly refuse to worship the one who deprives God of his honour, and seeks to appropriate it to himself, and who invites his fellow servants to serve him.

(2.100) That is why they say confidently, "Will you be a king and reign over us?" Do you not know that we are not independent, but that we are under the government of an immortal king, the only God? And why should you be a lord and lord it over us? for are we not under a ruler, and do we not have now, and shall we not have for ever and ever, the same one Lord? We rejoice in being his servants more than anyone else can rejoice in his liberty; for to be the servant of God is the most excellent of all things that are honoured in creation. (2.101) So I would pray that I too may be able to hold firmly to what these men have decided, men who oversee things, not bodies, and who are just and sober all their lives, so that they are never deceived by any of the things that usually deceive mankind. (2.102) But so far I am still in a state of intoxication, and I am labouring under much uncertainty, and like a blind man I need a staff and a guide; for if I had a staff to support me, then, perhaps, I might neither stumble nor fall. (2.103) But if any people who know that they are only thoughtless and rash pay no attention to, and do not care to follow, those who have investigated all necessary matters with diligence and circumspection, nor, though they do not know the road themselves, submit to the guidance of those who know it, let them know that they have entered a course which is very difficult to travel through, and that they are entangled in it, and will not be able to advance further; (2.104) but I am so bound by treaties to these men, the moment I have recovered a little from my intoxication, that I consider the same person both a friend and an enemy. But for now I will drive that dreamer away and hate him no less than they do; for no one in his right mind could blame me for this, since the majority of opinions and votes always prevails; (2.105) but when he changes to a better course of life, and no longer dreams, and no longer worries himself by entangling himself in the vain imaginations of the slaves of vain opinion, and when he no longer dreams about night, and darkness, and the changes of uncertain matters that cannot be guessed; (2.106) then, having awakened from deep sleep, he stays awake and receives certainty instead of indistinctness, and truth instead of false conceptions, and day instead of night, and light instead of darkness, and rejects an Egyptian wife, that is to say, the pleasure of the body, when she invites him to come in to her, and to enjoy her company, out of an indescribable love of continence and admiration for piety, (2.107) and asserts his right to a share in those kindred and inherited blessings from which he appeared to be alienated, seeking again to recover the portion of virtue that properly belongs to him. For, advancing by small and gradual improvements, as if he were now established on the summit and perfection of his own life, he cries out what he knows for certain from what has happened to him: that he "belongs to God," and that he no longer belongs to any object of external sense that can affect any creature; (2.108) and then his brothers will come to a permanent reconciliation with him, changing their hatred into friendship, and their malignity into good will. But I, the follower of these men (for I have learnt to obey them as a servant obeys his master), will never stop praising him for his change of mind. (2.109) For Moses too, that priest of sacred things, preserves his change of mind from being forgotten, as something worthy of love and of being kept in men's recollection, by the symbol of the bones which he did not think it right to leave buried in Egypt for ever, since he thought it a hard thing, if the soul put forth any beautiful flower, to let it wither away, and to be overwhelmed and destroyed by the torrents sent forth by the Egyptian river of the passions, namely the body, which flows incessantly through all the outward senses.

(2.110) We have now, then, sufficiently discussed the vision that appeared to come from the earth, concerning the sheaves, and its interpretation. It is time now to consider the other vision and to examine how the art of explaining dreams interprets it. (2.111) "He saw then," says the scripture, "a second dream, and he related it to his father, and to his brothers, and he said, I saw that the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars worshipped me. And his father rebuked him, and said, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I, and your mother, and your brothers, come forward and advance, and fall down to the earth and worship you? And his brothers were jealous of him; but his father regarded his words." (2.112) Now those who study sublime wisdom say that the zodiac, the greatest of all circles in heaven, is studded with twelve animals (zōdia), from which it takes its name. They say also that the sun and the moon are always revolving around it, and go through each of the animals, not at equal speed but in unequal numbers and periods: the one takes thirty days, and the other as nearly as possible a twelfth part of that time, that is, two and a half days; (2.113) so the one who saw this heaven-sent vision thought that he was being worshipped by eleven stars, ranking himself among them as the twelfth, so as to complete the whole circle of the zodiac. (2.114) And I remember once hearing a man who had applied himself to learning in no careless or indolent spirit say that men were not the only beings that went mad with vain opinions, but that the stars did too. And they also, he said, contend with one another for precedence, and the greater ones claim to be attended by the lesser stars as their guards; (2.115) we may, however, leave these matters to those who study sublime subjects, to investigate and to settle how much truth and how much random assertion they contain. But we say that the lover of indiscriminate study, and unreasonable contention, and vain opinion, being always puffed up by folly, wants to claim precedence not only over men but also over the nature of all existing things; (2.116) and he thinks that all things were created for his sake, and that everything, whether earth or heaven, or water or air, must bring him tribute; and he has gone to such extravagant lengths of folly that he cannot reason about matters that even a young child could understand, and to see that no artist ever makes the whole for the sake of the part, but rather makes the part for the sake of the whole. Now man is a part of the whole, so it is proper to say that he was made for the sake of perfecting the world in which he is rightly classed.

(2.117) But some people are so full of folly that they are indignant if the whole world does not follow their intentions: this is why Xerxes, the king of Persia, wanting to strike terror into his enemies, put on a display of very mighty undertakings, altering the whole face of nature; (2.118) for he changed the nature of the elements of the earth and of the sea, giving land to the sea and sea to the land, by joining the Hellespont with a bridge, and breaking up Mount Athos into deep gulfs, which filled with sea and became so many new, artificially cut seas, entirely changed from the ancient course of nature. (2.119) And having worked wonders on the earth as he wished, he rose to daring conceptions, miserable man that he was, incurring the guilt of impiety, and seeking to soar up to heaven, as if he would move what cannot be moved, and would subjugate the host of heaven, and, as the proverb has it, he began with a sacred thing. (2.120) For he aimed his arrows at the most excellent of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the ruler of the day, as if he himself had not been wounded by the invisible dart of insanity, desiring things that were not only impossible but also most impious, either of which is a great disgrace to the one who attempts them. (2.121) It is also related that the very populous nation of the Germans, whose country has a sea subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, ran down to the reflux, which comes in with great impetuosity there, and, drawing their naked swords, charged and engaged the billowy sea as if it were a phalanx of enemies: (2.122) and these men deserve to be hated because they dare impiously to take up the arms of enemies against the free and invincible parts of nature; but they deserve also to be ridiculed for attempting what is impossible, as if they thought it possible to wound the water as though it were a living animal, or to stab it and kill it. And again, one should grieve at the sight of such men, and fear, and flee out of fear at their attacks, and submit to all the affections of the soul that are concerned with pleasures and pains.

(2.123) Moreover, only a very short time ago I knew a man of very high rank, one who was prefect and governor of Egypt, who, after he had taken it into his head to change our national institutions and customs, and, in an extraordinary way, to abolish that most holy law about the seventh day, guarded by such fearful penalties, and was compelling us to obey him, and to do other things contrary to our established custom, thinking that this would be the beginning of our departure from the other laws, and of our violation of all our national customs, if he were once able to destroy our hereditary and customary observance of the seventh day. (2.124) And when he saw that those he used violence against did not yield to his orders, and that the rest of our people were not inclined to submit quietly, but were indignant and furious at the business, and were mourning and dispirited as if at the enslaving, and overthrow, and utter destruction of their country; he decided to try to persuade them by a speech to transgress, saying: (2.125) "If enemies were to invade you suddenly, or a violent deluge came when the river had flooded and broken down all its barriers, or any terrible fire, or a thunderbolt, or famine, or pestilence, or an earthquake, or any other evil, whether caused by men or inflicted by God, would you still remain quiet and unmoved at home? (2.126) And would you still go on as usual, keeping your right hand back, and holding the other under your garments close to your sides, so that you might not, even unintentionally, do anything toward your own preservation? (2.127) And would you still sit down in your synagogues, holding your ordinary assemblies, and reading your sacred volumes in security, and explaining whatever is not quite clear, and devoting all your time and leisure to long discussions of the philosophy of your ancestors? (2.128) No: you would rather shake off all these ideas and brace yourselves for the preservation of yourselves, and of your parents, and of your children, and, if one must tell the plain truth, of your possessions and treasures, to save them from being utterly destroyed. (2.129) And indeed I myself am," he said, "all the evils I have just listed: I am a whirlwind, I am war, and deluge, and thunderbolt, and the calamity of famine, and the misery of pestilence, and an earthquake which shakes and overthrows what stood firm before, not merely the name of a necessity of fate, but an actual, visible power standing close to you." (2.130) What then can we say a man is who says, or merely thinks, such things as these? Is he not an extraordinary evil? He must surely be some foreign calamity, brought from over the sea, or from some other world, since he, a man in every respect miserable, has dared to compare himself to the all-blessed God. (2.131) We must also add that he dares here to utter blasphemies against the sun, and the moon, and the rest of the stars, whenever something expected according to the seasons of the year either does not happen at all or comes about with difficulty; if, for instance, the summer causes too much heat, or the winter excessive cold, or if the spring or autumn is unseasonable, so that the one becomes barren and unfruitful, and the other prolific only in diseases. (2.132) So, giving every imaginable license to an unbridled mouth and abusive tongue, such a man will reproach the stars for not bringing their customary tribute, all but claiming for the things of earth the reverence and adoration of the heavenly bodies, and for himself above them all, to the extent that he, being a man, regards himself as superior to the other animals.

(2.133) We class such men, then, as the very teachers of vain opinion. Now let us look in turn at their followers on their own. These men are always laying plots against the practitioners of virtue, and when they see them labouring to make their own life pure with guileless truth, and to show it, so to speak, in the light of the moon, or of the sun, as able to stand inspection, they try by deceit, or even by open violence, to hinder them, trying to drive them into the sunless country of impious men, which is occupied by deep night, and endless darkness, and ten thousand tribes of images, and appearances, and dreams, and then, having thrust them down there, they compel them to fall down and worship them as masters. (2.134) For we regard the practitioner of virtue as the sun, since the one gives light to our bodies, and the other to the things which belong to the soul: and we regard the education such a man uses as the moon, for the use of each is most pure and most useful in the night; and the brothers are those virtuous reasonings which are the offspring of instruction, and of a soul devoted to the practice of virtue, all of which make straight the right path of life, and these they therefore seek, by all kinds of wary and cunning wrestlings, to overcome, and to trip up, and overthrow, and break the neck of, because they have determined neither to think nor to say anything sound themselves. (2.135) For this reason his father rebukes this intractable youth (I do not mean Jacob, but right reason, which is older even than he), saying, (2.136) "What is this dream which you have dreamt?" but you have not seen any dream at all; have you imagined that things free by nature must necessarily be slaves to human things, and that rulers are to become subjects? and, what is more paradoxical still, subject not to anything else but to the very things they govern? and to be the slaves of nothing other than the very things that are their own slaves? unless indeed all established things are to be changed into their direct contraries, by the power of God, who is able to effect all things, and to move what is immovable, and to fix what is in a constant state of agitation. (2.137) For on what principle can you be angry with or reproach a man who sees a vision in his sleep? For he will say, I did not see it intentionally, why do you bring accusations against me, for errors I did not commit on purpose? I have related to you what came upon me and impressed itself on my mind suddenly, without my desiring it. (2.138) But the present question is not about dreams, but about things that resemble dreams, and that, to those whose minds are not highly purified, appear great, and beautiful, and desirable things; while they are, in reality, trifling, and obscure, and deserving of ridicule, in the eyes of honest judges of the truth.

(2.139) Shall I then, he says (I meaning right reason), come to you? And shall the soul, which is both the mother and nurse of the company devoted to learning virtuous instruction, also come to you? (2.140) And are our offspring to come too? And are we all to stand in a row, laying aside all our former dignity, and holding up our hands and praying to you? And are we then to prostrate ourselves on the ground, and try to propitiate and adore you? But may the sun never shine upon such transactions, since deep darkness is suited to evil deeds, and brilliant light to good deeds. And what could be a greater evil than for pride, that deceiver and beguiler, to be praised and admired, instead of sincere and honest simplicity? (2.141) And it is very fitting that the statement is added, "And his father took notice of his words." For it is the occupation of a soul that is not young, nor barren, nor wholly unfruitful, but truly older and able to beget offspring, to cohabit with prudent caution, and to despise and overlook nothing whatever, but to have a reverential fear of the power of God, from which we cannot escape, and which we cannot overcome; and to look all around to see what its final end will be. (2.142) For this reason they say that the sister of Moses too (whom we call Hope when speaking figuratively) was contemplated at a distance by the sacred scriptures, because she kept her eyes fixed on the end of life, hoping that some good fortune might happen to her, sent by the Giver of all good from above, from heaven; (2.143) for it has often happened that many people, after taking long voyages, and having sailed over a great expanse of sea with a fair wind, and without any danger, have suddenly been shipwrecked in the harbour itself, when they were on the very point of casting anchor; (2.144) and many people too, who have come successfully through long and formidable wars, and have come off unwounded, without even a scratch on the surface of the skin, escaping whole and entire as if they had only been at some popular assembly or national festival, having returned home with joy and cheerfulness, have been plotted against in their houses by those who, of all people, should least have done so; being, as the proverb says, like oxen killed in their stall.

(2.145) Just as these unexpected events, which no one could ever have anticipated, often happen in this way and overthrow people, so they also often drive the powers of the soul in the opposite direction to the proper one, and drag it in an opposite way, according to their power, and compel it to change its course: for what man who has ever descended into the arena of life has come off without a fall? (2.146) And who is there who has never been tripped up in that contest? The one who has not often been tripped up is happy. And for whom has fortune not laid snares, blowing upon him at intervals, and collecting its strength, so that it may twine itself around him, and speedily carry him off before its adversary is ready for the contest? (2.147) Do we not know that some people have gone from infancy to old age without ever being aware of any irregularity, whether it be from the happy condition of their nature, or from the care of those who brought them up and educated them, or both? Yet these people, filled with profound peace in themselves, which is real peace and the archetypal model of the peace that exists in cities, and considered happy on that account, because they have never had a notion, not even in a dream, of the intestine war which arises from the violence of the passions, and which is the most piteous of all wars, have at last, at the very close of their lives, run aground and been shipwrecked, either through some intemperance of language or some insatiable gluttony, or some incontinent licentiousness of the parts below the belly. (2.148) For some, while "Still on the threshold of extreme old age," have admired the youthful, unhonoured, detestable, and disgraceful life of debauchees; and others have given in to the cunning, and wicked, and calumnious, and desperate way of life of others, pursuing the first fruits of quarrelsome curiosity, when by now they ought rather to have discarded such habits, even if they had once been familiar with them. (2.149) For this reason one ought to propitiate God and entreat him persistently not to pass by our miserable race, but to let his saving mercy be shown towards us for ever; for it is difficult for those who have tasted unalloyed peace to be prevented from glutting themselves with it.

(2.150) But, come now, this hunger is a lighter evil than thirst, since it has love and desire as its comforters; but when, through the desire to drink, one must satisfy one's self from that other fountain, the water of which is dirty and unwholesome, then the drinkers, filled with a bitter-sweet pleasure, cannot avoid living an unenviable life, turning to pernicious things as though they were advantageous, from ignorance of what is really desirable. (2.151) But the impetuous course of these evils is most grievous when the irrational powers of the soul attack the powers of the reason and get the better of them; (2.152) for as long as the herds of oxen obey their drivers, and the flocks obey their shepherds, and the goats obey the goatherds, the herds and everything belonging to them do well; but when the herdsmen who are appointed to look after the cattle become weaker than the beasts committed to their care, then everything goes wrong, and instead of regularity there arises irregularity, and disorder in the place of order, and confusion instead of steadiness, and disturbance in the place of good arrangement, since there is no longer any lawful supervising power properly established; for if there had been one, it would have been destroyed before now. (2.153) What then? Do we not think that even in ourselves there is a herd of irrational cattle, since the irrational multitude of the soul is deprived of reason, and that the shepherd is the governing mind? But as long as the mind is vigorous and able to act as manager of the herd, everything goes on justly, prosperously and advantageously; (2.154) but when any weakness or lack of power comes upon the king, it necessarily follows that the subjects also suffer from a similar infirmity; and when they seem most fully to enjoy liberty, they are a prize lying wholly ready for anyone who wants to fight for it to seize; for it is natural for anarchy to be treacherous and for government to be beneficial, especially in a state where law and justice are honoured. And such a state is consistent with reason.

(2.155) We have now, then, spoken accurately enough about the dreams of vain opinion. The different kinds of gluttony are concerned with drinking and eating. But the one needs no great variety, while the other requires countless seasonings and sauces. These matters, then, are assigned to two managers. The matters of excessive drinking are assigned to the chief butler, and those of luxurious eating to the chief baker. (2.156) These men are very fittingly recorded to have seen visions in dreams on one night; for each of them labours to gratify the same need of their master, providing not simple food but food accompanied by pleasure and extraordinary gratification; and each of them separately works on half the food, but the two together deal with the whole, and the one part draws on the other; (2.157) for men who have eaten immediately want drink, and men who have drunk immediately want to eat; so it is largely for this reason that a vision is ascribed to both of them at the same time. (2.158) So the chief butler's office is to serve the appetite for wine, and the chief baker's is to serve the craving for food. And each of them sees in his vision what concerns his own work: the one sees wine and the plant that produces wine, the vine; the other sees white bread lying on dishes, and himself serving the dishes. (2.159) Perhaps it is right to begin by examining the first dream. It reads as follows: "In my sleep there was a vine before me; and on the vine were three branches, and it flourished and brought forth shoots, and there were on it ripe bunches of grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the bunch of grapes and pressed it into the cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." (2.160) He speaks admirably here, and the expression, "in my sleep," is quite correct. For in truth the man who pursues not so much the drunkenness that comes from wine as the drunkenness that comes from folly resents standing upright and awake; like people asleep, he is thrown down and goes slack, and shuts the eyes of his soul, unable to see or hear anything worth seeing or hearing. (2.161) And once overthrown, he goes through life on a blind and guideless (I will not say path, but pathless) way, pricked by thorns and briars; and sometimes he also falls down steep places and tumbles onto other people, pitiably hurting both them and himself. (2.162) But the deep and lasting sleep in which every wicked man is held removes all true conceptions and fills the mind with all kinds of false images and insubstantial visions, persuading it to embrace what is shameful as praiseworthy. For at one time it dreams that grief is joy, and does not realize that it is looking at the vine, the plant of folly and error. (2.163) "For," says the chief butler, "the vine was before me," the desired object was before the one who desired it, and wickedness before the wicked man. Foolish as we are, we cultivate this vine without realizing that we do so to our own harm, and we eat and drink its fruit, counting it under both kinds of food; and, it seems, we take it to ourselves not for half of the evils that affect us but for the whole of our complete and entire misfortune.

(2.164) But we should be aware that the intoxication that comes from the vine does not affect everyone who indulges in it in the same way, but very often affects different people in opposite ways, making some better and others worse than they are by nature. (2.165) For in some men it relaxes the sternness and moroseness of their character, and relieves them of their cares, and soothes their anger and their sorrow, and brings their dispositions into a milder mood, and makes their souls easy to appease. But in others it feeds the angry passions, and binds their pain firmly, and excites their feelings of love, and stimulates their rudeness, making the mouth talkative and the tongue unbridled, freeing their external senses from all restraint, and making their passions furious and their whole mind violent and excited towards every object. (2.166) So the condition of the men mentioned first seems like an untroubled calm in fine weather, or a waveless stillness at sea, or a most peaceful and steady state of affairs in a city. But the condition of those I described last is more like a violent and unremitting gale, or a sea whipped by a storm into huge waves, or civil strife, an evil more fearful than even endless and irreconcilable war. (2.167) So, of these two banquet parties, one is filled with laughter, with men promising amusement, and hoping for good fortune, and enjoying cheerfulness, and pleasant talk, and mirth, and joy, and freedom from anxiety; (2.168) but the other is full of melancholy, and seriousness, and downcast looks, and insults, and reproaches, and wounds; of men gnashing their teeth, looking fiercely at one another, barking, strangling one another, fighting one another in every conceivable way, mutilating one another's ears and noses and whatever other parts of the body they can reach, and displaying in this unholy contest, with every kind of improper behaviour, the intoxication of their whole life and their drunkenness.

(2.169) It follows naturally, then, to consider next that the vine is the symbol of two things: folly and mirth. And although each of these two is indicated by many circumstances, we will explain each in a few words, to avoid wordiness. (2.170) When someone leading us along the road that the passions and acts of wickedness have deserted, that is, the rod of philosophy, has led right reason up to a height, placed it like a scout on a watchtower, and commanded it to look around and survey the whole country of virtue, to see whether it is blessed with deep, rich soil that produces grass and fruit (since deep soil is good for making the learning sown in it increase, and for making the doctrines planted in it, once grown into trees, form solid trunks), or whether it is the opposite; and also to examine actions, as one might examine cities, and see whether they are strongly fortified, or defenceless and stripped of all the security that walls around them could give. It also commands it to inquire into the condition of the inhabitants, whether they are strong in numbers and in valour, or whether their courage is weak and their numbers few, the two causes acting on each other. (2.171) Then, because we could not bear the weight of the whole trunk of wisdom, we cut off one branch and one bunch of grapes and carried it with us as the most undeniable proof of our joy, and a burden very easy to carry, wishing to display both the branch and the fruit of excellence at once to those gifted with keen mental sight, that is, to show them the vigorously shooting, grape-bearing vine.

(2.172) They then very fairly compare this vine, of which we could take only a part, to happiness. And one of the ancient prophets testifies in favour of my view of the matter when, speaking under divine inspiration, he says, "The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel." (2.173) Israel is the mind inclined to contemplate God and the world; for the name Israel is interpreted, "seeing God," and the abode of the mind is the whole soul; and this is the most sacred vineyard, bearing as its fruit the divine shoot, virtue: (2.174) thus the word joy (euphrosynē) derives from thinking well (to eu phronein), and joy is so great and brilliant a thing that, Moses says, even God himself does not disdain to show it; and above all when the human race is turning from its sins and leaning and directing its steps towards justice, following of its own accord the laws and institutions of nature. (2.175) "For," says Moses, "the Lord your God will return, so that he may rejoice in you for your good as he rejoiced in your fathers, if you will hear his voice to keep all his commandments and his ordinances and his judgments which are written in the book of this Law." (2.176) Who could implant in man a desire for virtue and excellence more strongly than this passage does? Mind, says the scripture, do you want God to rejoice? Rejoice in virtue yourself, and bring no costly offering, (for what need does God have of anything of yours?) Instead, receive with joy all the good things that he gives you; (2.177) for he rejoices in giving when those who receive are worthy of his grace; unless you think that those who live blameworthy lives can justly be said to make God indignant and rouse his anger, while those who live praiseworthy lives do not make him rejoice. (2.178) But nothing gives fathers and mothers, our mortal parents, as much pleasure as the virtues of their children, even though they may lack many necessary things; and does not the excellence of such people likewise delight the Creator of the universe, who needs nothing whatever? (2.179) So, mind, now that you have learned how mighty a thing the anger of God is, and how great a good the joy of God is, do nothing that deserves to rouse his anger to your own destruction, but devote yourself only to the things by which you may please God. (2.180) And you will find that these actions do not consist in making long and unusual journeys, or crossing unnavigable seas, or wandering without pausing for breath to the furthest boundaries of earth and sea: for good actions do not dwell at a distance and have not been banished beyond the confines of the habitable world, but, as Moses says, the good is near you and is planted with you, united to you in three necessary parts, in the heart, in the mouth, and in the hands: that is to say, in the mind, in the speech, and in the actions; since one must think and say and do good things, which are made perfect by a union of good design, good execution, and good language.

(2.181) So I say to the one whose occupation is to gratify one kind of gluttony, the fondness for drinking, that is, to the chief butler, "Why do you toil so hard, unhappy man? For you think that you are preparing pleasant things to give delight, but in reality you are kindling a flame of folly and intemperance, and adding great and abundant quantities of fuel to it." (2.182) But perhaps he may reply: Do not blame me hastily before you have considered my case; I was appointed to pour wine not for a man endowed with temperance and piety and all the other virtues, but for a violent, intemperate and unjust master, one who was very proud in his impiety and who once dared to say, "I do not know the Lord;" so I quite naturally studied what would gratify him: (2.183) and do not be surprised that God is delighted with one thing, and the mind hostile to God, that is, Pharaoh, with the opposite. Who then is the chief butler of God? The priest who offers libations to him, the truly great high priest, who, having received a draught of everlasting graces, offers himself in return, pouring out an entire libation full of unmixed wine. You see that butlers differ in proportion to the differences between those they wait on; (2.184) for this reason I, the butler of Pharaoh, who directs his stiff-necked and wholly intemperate reason towards indulging his passions, am a eunuch, with all the generative parts of my soul removed, forced to move out of the apartments of the men, and a fugitive also from the women's chambers, since I am neither male nor female; I can neither sow seed nor receive it, being of an ambiguous nature, neither one thing nor the other; a mere counterfeit coin of human currency, lacking the immortality that is kept alive from generation to generation by the constant succession of children and offspring: and I am also excluded from the assembly and sacred meeting of the people, for anyone who has suffered an injury or mutilation like mine is expressly forbidden to enter it.

(2.185) But the high priest we are speaking of is a perfect man, the husband of a virgin (a most extraordinary statement) who has never been made a woman, but who, on the contrary, has ceased to be subject to the customs of women in her union with her Husband. And this man is not only able to sow the seeds of unpolluted and virgin opinions, but is also the father of sacred reasonings, (2.186) some of which are overseers and superintendents of the affairs of nature, such as Eleazar and Ithamar; others are ministers of the worship of God, earnestly engaged in kindling and feeding the flame of heaven; for, as they are always speaking about holiness, they make it shine, striking out the most divine kind of piety like fire from a flint; (2.187) and the being who is both the guide and the father of these men is no insignificant part of the sacred assembly; rather, he is the one without whom the duly convened assembly of the parts of the soul could never be gathered at all; he is its president, its chairman, its creator, who without the help of any other being can by himself alone consider and do everything. (2.188) Taken together with others, he is insignificant in number, but looked at by himself he becomes many; he is a tribunal, an entire council, the whole people, a complete multitude, the entire race of mankind, or rather, to tell the real truth, he is a kind of nature bordering on God, inferior to him indeed, but superior to man; (2.189) "for when," the scripture says, "the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies he will not be a man." What then will he be if he is not a man? Will he be a God? I would not venture to say that (for the chief prophet, Moses, received this name as his inheritance while he was still in Egypt, being called "the god of Pharaoh;"), nor is he a man either, but he touches both these extremities, as if touching both the feet and the head.

(2.190) So we have now explained one kind of vine, the one assigned as the portion of cheerfulness, and the intoxication that comes from it, namely undiluted good counsel, and also the cup-bearer who drew the wine from the divine goblet that God himself has filled to the brim with virtues; (2.191) but the other kind, the vine of folly and grief and drunkenness, has also already been depicted after a fashion, though in a different form, by other expressions used in the greater canticle; "for," says the scripture, "their vine is of the vine of Sodom and their tendrils are of the vine of Gomorrah; their grapes are the grapes of gall; their bunches are full of bitterness itself. Their wine is the madness of dragons and the incurable fury of asps." (2.192) You see here what great effects the drunkenness of folly produces: bitterness, an evil disposition, exceeding gall, excessive anger, implacability, a biting and treacherous disposition. The lawgiver most emphatically asserts that the branch of the vine of folly is in Sodom; and the name Sodom, being interpreted, means "blindness," or "barrenness;" since folly is blind, and also barren of all good things; and yet some people have been so greatly influenced by it that they measure and weigh and count everything by reference to themselves alone. (2.193) Gomorrah, being interpreted, means "measure;" but Moses held that God was the standard of weight and measure and number in the universe, and he did not hold the same opinion of the human mind. And he shows this in the following passage, where he says, "There shall not be in your sack one weight, and another weight, a great and a small; there shall not be in your house one measure, and another measure, a great and a small; (2.194) your weight shall be a true and just one." But the true and just measure is to conceive that the only just God alone measures and weighs everything, and has circumscribed the nature of the universe with numbers and limits and boundaries. But it is unjust and false to imagine that these things are regulated by the human mind. (2.195) But the eunuch and chief butler of Pharaoh, having seen the plant that generates folly, the vine, adds three stocks to his picture as well, to signify the three extremities of error corresponding to the three different times; for a root is the same as an extremity.

(2.196) So when folly has overshadowed and occupied the whole soul, and has left no part of it unoccupied or free, it compels it to commit not only errors that can be remedied but also errors that cannot. (2.197) The errors that admit of a remedy are classed as the easiest and the first; but those that cannot be remedied are altogether terrible and come last of all, and in this respect they resemble roots. (2.198) And just as, in my view, wisdom begins by benefiting a man in small matters and ends at last in the absolute perfection of all well-doing, so in the same way folly, constraining the soul from above and leading it away from instruction little by little, at last sets it at a great distance from right reason, and finally leads it to the extreme point and utterly overthrows it. (2.199) And the dream showed that after the roots appeared the vine flourished and sent out shoots and bore fruit; for, says the chief butler, "It was flourishing and bearing shoots, around which were bunches of grapes." The foolish man usually displays barrenness, never putting out even leaves, and is in fact withered all his life; (2.200) for what could be a greater evil than folly flourishing and bearing fruit? But, he says, "the cup of Pharaoh," the vessel which is the receptacle of folly and drunkenness, and of the ceaseless intoxication of life, "is in my hand;" which amounts to saying that it depends on my management, efforts and powers; for without my contrivances the passion will not make proper progress by its own efforts; (2.201) for just as the reins belong in the hands of the charioteer, and the rudder in the hands of the pilot--for this is the only way in which the course of the chariot and the voyage of the vessel can proceed successfully--so too the filling of the goblet with wine is in the hands, and depends on the power, of the one who by his art perfects one of the two kinds of gluttony, namely, satiety of wine. (2.202) But why has he brought himself to boast about a matter that deserved to be denied rather than confessed? Would it not have been better never to confess that he was a teacher of intemperance, and not to admit that he used wine to heighten the excitement of the passions in the intemperate man, as the inventor and producer of a luxurious, debauched and most disgraceful way of life? (2.203) But that is how it is. Folly boasts of those things which ought to be concealed; and in the present case it prides itself not only on holding in its hands the receptacle of the intemperate soul, that is, the cup of wine, and showing it to everyone, but also on pressing the grapes into it; that is, on making what satisfies the passion and bringing what is concealed to light. (2.204) For just as children who need food, when they are about to receive milk, squeeze and press the breast of the nurse who feeds them, so the workman and cause of intemperance vigorously presses the fountain from which the evil of abundant wine pours out, so that he may draw food most agreeably from the drops squeezed out.

(2.205) The description I have given here, then, may be applied to the man who is driven frantic under the influence of unmixed wines: he is a drunken, foolish and irremediable evil. We must now in turn investigate the character of the glutton, who is akin to the drunkard and a sworn companion of every kind of voracity and greed, labouring without any restraint at the artificial gratification of his appetite. (2.206) And yet it takes no great care to discover his true character; for the dream that was seen is a portrait that resembles him very closely; and when we have examined him accurately, let us look at him as we would at a reflection in a mirror; (2.207) for "I thought," said the chief cook, "that I had three baskets of fine wheaten loaves upon my head." Using the word "head" allegorically, we mean by it the dominant part of the soul, that is, the mind, and we say that everything rests or depends on it; for he once exclaimed about it, "All these things were in my charge." (2.208) So when he had finished preparing the things he had devised against the miserable belly, he also put himself on display, and, foolish man that he was, he was not ashamed to be weighed down with so great a burden, the weight of three baskets, that is, three portions of time. (2.209) For those who champion pleasure affirm that it consists of three times: the memory of past delights, the enjoyment of present ones, and the hope of those to come; (2.210) so the three baskets are likened to the three portions of time, and the cakes in the baskets to the circumstances suited to each portion: to the recollection of past joys, to the enjoyment of present pleasures, to the hope of future delights. And he who carries all these things is likened to the lover of pleasure, who has filled his faithless table, a table lacking all the salt of hospitality and friendship, not with one kind of luxury only but with almost every kind and variety of intemperance; (2.211) and king Pharaoh alone enjoys this, as if he were sitting at a public banquet and devoting himself to the dispersion, scattering, defeat and destruction of temperance; for the name Pharaoh, being interpreted, means "dispersion." And it is magnificent and royal conduct on his part not to exult in the splendid advantages of wisdom but to pride himself on profligate pursuits that it is improper to mention, wrecking himself on insatiable appetite and gluttony and an effeminate life. (2.212) So the birds, that is, chance events that no guess could ever have foreseen, coming from outside and hovering around him, will attack and set everything alight like fire and destroy everything with their all-devouring power, so that not a single fragment is left for the bearer of the baskets to enjoy, though he had hoped to go on with his inventions and contrivances, carrying them on for ever and ever in a safe place where they could never be taken from him. (2.213) And thanks be to God, who gives the victory and makes the labours of the man enslaved to his passions, however carefully carried out, unproductive and useless, sending down winged natures invisibly to destroy and overthrow them. So the mind, stripped of the things it had made for itself, will have, as it were, its neck cut through and will be found headless and lifeless, and like those fixed to a cross, nailed as it were to the tree of hopeless and helpless ignorance. (2.214) For as long as none of these sudden and unexpected things come upon a person, the acts aimed at the enjoyment of pleasure seem to succeed; but when such evils descend upon them unexpectedly, they are overthrown, and their maker is destroyed with them.

(2.215) So we have sufficiently explained the dreams of the men who divide the things that produce taste according to every kind of food, whether food or drink, and food that is not necessary but superfluous and sought only by the intemperate. But the dreams of Pharaoh, who appears to rule over these men and over all the powers of the soul, must now be investigated if we are to proceed in order and in keeping with our plan. (2.216) Pharaoh says, "In my dream I thought that I was standing by the bank of a river, and seven oxen came up as it were out of the river, remarkably plump in their flesh, and beautiful to look at, and fed in the green marsh; and look, seven other oxen came up out of the river after them, evil to look at and ugly, and lean in their flesh, leaner than any I ever saw in all Egypt; (2.217) and the lean and ugly oxen devoured the first seven oxen, which were beautiful and choice, and they entered into their stomachs, and still their appearance remained as ugly as I described it at first. (2.218) And when I had woken I fell asleep again; and again I saw in my dream, and as it were seven ears of grain grew up on one stalk, full and beautiful. And seven other ears of grain also came up, lean and wind-beaten, close to them, and these last seven ears swallowed up the seven beautiful and full ears." (2.219) You see now the preface of the lover of self, who, being easily moved and changeable and fickle in both body and soul, says, "I thought that I was standing," and did not consider that unchangeableness and steadiness belong to God alone, and to him who is dear to God. (2.220) And the clearest proof of the unchangeable power that is in him is this world, which is always in the same place and in the same condition. And if the world is immovable, how can its Creator be anything but firm? In the second place, the sacred scriptures are also most infallible witnesses; (2.221) for in them, where the words are put into the mouth of God, it is said, "I stand here and there, before you existed, upon the rock," which amounts to saying, "I am the one who is visible to you and am here: and I am there and everywhere, filling all places, standing and abiding in the same condition, being unchangeable, before you or any one of the objects of creation existed, being seen upon the highest and most ancient authority of power, from which the creation of all existing things was shed forth, and the stream of wisdom flowed;" (2.222) "for I am he who brought the stream of water out of the solid rock," is said in another place. And Moses also bears witness to the immutability of the Deity, where he says, "I saw the place where the God of Israel stood;" hinting in a riddle, by speaking here of his standing and of his being firmly established, that he is not subject to change.

(2.223) But the Deity has such an exceeding degree of stability and firmness that he gave even the most excellent natures a share of his durability, his most excellent possession: and immediately afterwards God, the most ancient author of all things, says that he is about to establish firmly his covenant full of grace (and that means his law and his word) in the soul of the just man as on a solid foundation, which shall be an image in the likeness of God, when he says to Noah, "I will establish my covenant with You." (2.224) And besides this, he also indicates two other things: first, that justice is no different from the covenant of God; second, that other beings give gifts that are distinct from the persons who receive them; but God gives not only the gifts but also the very persons who receive them to themselves, for he has given me to myself, and has given every living being to itself; for the expression, "I will establish my covenant with you," is equivalent to, I will give you to yourself. (2.225) And all those who are truly lovers of God eagerly desire to escape from the storm of manifold affairs and business in which there is always tempestuous weather, and rough sea, and confusion, and to anchor in the calm and safe untroubled haven of virtue. (2.226) Do you not see what is said about the wise Abraham who "is standing before the Lord?" For when would the mind be likely to stand, no longer tipping to one side and the other like the beam of a scale, except when it faces God, seeing him and being seen by him? (2.227) For complete freedom from motion comes to it in two ways: either from seeing the one with whom nothing can be compared, because he is not attracted by anything resembling himself, or from being seen by him, because the ruler has assigned the mind he considers worthy of his sight to himself alone, as the most excellent of beings. And indeed Moses was given a divine admonition in these words: "Stand here with Me," a command that appears to hint at both these things: first, that the good man is not moved, and second, the universal stability of the living God.

(2.228) For in truth, whatever is akin or near to God is claimed by him as his own, becoming steady and stationary because of his unchangeableness; and the mind, being at rest, well knows how great a blessing rest is, and, marvelling at its beauty, it concludes that rest is assigned either to God alone as his, or else to the intermediate nature that lies between the mortal and the immortal race; (2.229) at any rate, it says, "And I stood in the midst between the Lord and You," not meaning by these words that he was standing on his own feet, but wishing to indicate that the mind of the wise man, delivered from all storms and wars and enjoying unruffled calm and deep peace, is indeed superior to man, but inferior to God. (2.230) For the ordinary human mind is influenced by opinion, and is thrown into confusion by any passing circumstances; but the other is blessed and happy, and free from any share in evil. And the good man stands on the border, so one may fittingly say that he is neither God nor man, but touches the extremities of both, being connected with the mortal race by his manhood, and with the immortal race by his virtue. (2.231) And there is something which closely resembles this in the passage of scripture concerning the high priest; "For when," says the scripture, "he goes into the holy of holies, he will not be a man till he has gone out again." But if at that time he is not a man, it is clear that he is not God either, but a minister of God, belonging to creation in his mortal nature, but to the uncreated God in his immortal nature. (2.232) And he is placed in the middle class until he goes out again among the things that belong to the body and the flesh. And this is the order of things according to nature: when the mind, entirely occupied with divine love, turns its course towards the temple of God and approaches it with all possible earnestness and zeal, it becomes inspired, and forgets all other things, and forgets itself as well. It remembers him alone and depends on him alone, the one it attends like a bodyguard, who receives its ministrations and to whom it consecrates and offers up the sacred and untainted virtues. (2.233) But when the inspiration has ceased and the excessive desire has eased, it returns from divine things and becomes a man again, mixing with the human affairs that were waiting for him in the vestibule, so that they might carry him off while he gazes only on what is in them.

(2.234) Moses therefore describes the perfect man as being neither God nor man, but, as I said before, something on the border between the uncreated and the perishable nature. Again, he places the one who is improving and advancing towards perfection in the region between the dead and the living, meaning by the "living" those who live with wisdom, and by "the dead" those who rejoice in folly; (2.235) for it is said of Aaron that "He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed." For the one who is making progress is not counted among those who are dead to the life of virtue, since he desires and admires what is honourable, nor among those who live in extreme and perfect prosperity, for he still lacks something of the end, but he touches both extremes; (2.236) this is why the expression, "the plague was stayed," is very properly used rather than "the plague ceased;" for in the perfect, the things that break and crush and destroy the soul cease; but in those who are advancing towards perfection they are only diminished, as if merely cut short and checked.

(2.237) Since, then, all steadiness and stability, and remaining for ever in the same place without change or motion, is seen first in the living God, next in the word of the living God, which he has called his covenant, third in the wise man, and fourth in the one who is advancing towards perfection, what could lead the wicked mind, which is liable to every kind of curse, to think it can stand by itself, when in reality it is carried about as if in a deluge and dragged here and there by the incessant eddies of things flowing in through the dead and agitated body? (2.238) "For I thought," says the scripture, "that I was standing on the bank of the river:" and by the word river we say that speech is meant symbolically, since both are carried outward and flow on with vigorous and sustained speed. And at one time the one is filled with a great abundance of water and the other with a mass of verbs and nouns, and at another time both are empty and slack, and at rest; (2.239) again, both are useful, since the one irrigates the fields, and the other fertilizes the souls of those who receive it. And at times they do harm by overflowing, for then the one floods the land along its banks, and the other troubles and confuses the reason of those who do not pay attention to it. (2.240) Therefore speech is compared to a river, and the nature of speech is twofold, one sort better and the other worse: the better kind is the one that does good, and the worse kind is necessarily the one that does harm; (2.241) and Moses has given very clear examples of each kind to those who can see, for he says, "For a river goes out of Eden to water the Paradise, and from there it is divided into four branches:" (2.242) and by the name Eden he means the wisdom of the living God, and the interpretation of the name Eden is "delight," because I imagine wisdom is the delight of God, and God is the delight of wisdom, as it is said also in the Psalms, "Delight in the Lord." And the divine word, like a river, flows forth from wisdom as from a spring, in order to irrigate and fertilize the celestial and heavenly shoots and plants of the souls that love virtue, as though they were a paradise. (2.243) And this sacred word is divided into four beginnings, by which I mean it is portioned out into four virtues, each of which is a princess, for being divided into beginnings is not like a division of place but like a kingdom, so that anyone who has shown the virtues to be boundaries may go straight on to show that the wise man who follows them is king, elected not by men but by the only free nature, which cannot err and cannot be corrupted; (2.244) for those who behold the excellence of Abraham say to him, "You are a king, sent from God among us:" laying down as a maxim for those who study philosophy that the wise man alone is a ruler and a king, and that virtue is the only authority and sovereignty answerable to no one.

(2.245) Accordingly, one of the followers of Moses, comparing this speech to a river, said in the Psalms, "The river of God was filled with water;" and it would be absurd to give such a title to any of the rivers that flow on the earth. But it seems the psalmist is speaking here of the divine word, which is full of streams of wisdom, with no part of itself empty or desolate, or rather, as someone has said, which is spread everywhere over the universe and raised up on high by the continuous and incessant rapidity of that ever-flowing spring. (2.246) There is also another expression like this in the Psalms: "The course of the river makes glad the city of God." What city? For the holy city that exists at present, in which the holy temple also stands, lies a great distance from any sea or river, so it is clear that the writer here means, figuratively, to speak of some city other than the visible city of God. (2.247) In fact, the continual stream of the divine word, carried on incessantly with speed and regularity, spreads over everything everywhere, giving joy to all. (2.248) And in one sense he calls the world the city of God, because it has received the whole cup of the divine draught, feasted on it, and is gladdened by it, so that it has gained from it an imperishable joy of which it can never be deprived. But in another sense he applies this title to the soul of the wise man, in which God is also said to walk, as in a city, "For," says God, "I will walk in you, and I will be your God in You." (2.249) And who can pour the holy goblets of true joy over the happy soul that holds out its own reason as the most sacred cup, except the cup-bearer of God, the master of the feast, the word? He does not differ from the draught itself, but is himself, unmixed, the pure delight and sweetness, the outpouring, the joy, and the ambrosial medicine of pleasure and happiness, if we too may borrow the language of the poets for a moment.

(2.250) But what the Hebrews call the city of God is Jerusalem, a name that, interpreted, means "the sight of peace." So they do not look for the city of the living God in the region of the earth, for it is not made of wood or of stone, but seek it in the soul which is free from war, and which sets a contemplative and peaceful life before those who have keen sight; (2.251) since where among all existing things could anyone find a more venerable and holy abode for God than the mind that loves contemplation, which is eager to behold everything and does not, even in a dream, wish for sedition or disturbance? (2.252) And again, the invisible spirit that usually speaks with me unseen prompts me with a suggestion and says, my friend, you seem not to know an important and most desirable matter, which I will explain to you fully; for I have also explained many other things to you at just the right time. (2.253) Know, then, excellent man, that God alone is the truest, most real and genuine peace, and that every created and perishable essence is continual war. For God is something voluntary, and mortal essence is necessity. Whoever, therefore, is able to forsake war, and necessity, and creation, and destruction, and to pass over to the uncreated being, to the immortal God, to the voluntary principle, and to peace, may justly be called the abode and city of God. (2.254) So do not think it makes any difference whether you speak of the sight of peace or the sight of God, for they are the same thing; because peace is not only the companion but also the chief of the powers of the living God, which are distinguished by many names.

(2.255) Moreover, he says to the wise Abraham, "that he will give him an inheritance of land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates," meaning not so much a portion of land as a better portion, one that concerns our own selves. For our own body, and the passions that exist in it and are engendered by it, are likened to the river of Egypt, but the soul and the passions dear to it are likened to the river Euphrates. (2.256) And here a doctrine is laid down that is both most profitable to life and of the highest importance: that the good man has received for his inheritance the soul and the virtues of the soul: just as, conversely, the wicked man has received as his share the body and the vices of the body, and those engendered by the body. (2.257) And the expression "from" has two senses. In one, the starting point from which it begins is included; in the other, it is excluded. For when we say that from morning to evening there are twelve hours, or from the new moon to the end of the month there are thirty days, we are including in our enumeration both the first hour and the day of the new moon. And when someone says that such and such a field is three or four furlongs from the city, he clearly means to leave the city itself out of the measurement. (2.258) So here, too, we must take the expression, "from the river of Egypt," to include that river; for the writer intends to move us far away from the things of the body, which are seen to exist in a constant flow and course, being destroyed and destroying, so that we may receive the inheritance of the soul with the imperishable virtues, which also deserve immortality. (2.259) So, by tracing it out diligently, we have found that praiseworthy speech is likened to a river; but speech which is deserving of blame is the very river of Egypt itself, intractable, unwilling to learn, in a word, lifeless speech; which is why it is also changed into blood, since it cannot provide sustenance. For the speech of ignorance is not wholesome, and it produces bloodless and lifeless frogs, which make only a strange and harsh sound, a noise painful to the ear. (2.260) And it is also said that all the fish in that river were destroyed. And the fish here stand figuratively for the conceptions; for these things float about and exist in speech as in a river, resembling living things and filling the river with life. But in uninstructed speech all conceptions die; for nothing intelligent can be found in it, only, as someone has said, the disorderly and unmusical voices of jackdaws.

(2.261) We have now said enough on these subjects. But he admits that in his dream he saw not only a standing and a river but also the banks of a river, in these words: "I thought that I was standing by the bank (cheilos) of the river." So it is worth saying a few timely things about the bank as well. (2.262) There appear to be two most necessary purposes for which nature has fitted all animals, and especially men, with lips (cheilē); one for the sake of tranquillity, for they are the strongest bulwark and fortification of the voice; the other for the sake of distinctness, for it is through them that the stream of words issues forth. For when they are closed, speech is checked, since it cannot be carried outward unless they are parted. (2.263) And in this way nature prepares and trains man for both purposes, speech and silence, watching for the right time for each. For instance, is something being said that is worth listening to? Then pay attention, raising no obstacle, in perfect quiet, according to the injunction of Moses, "Be silent and hear." (2.264) For of those who get mixed up in contentious discussions, not one can properly be considered either to speak or to listen; but this is only advantageous to the one who is about to do so. (2.265) Again, when you see, amid the wars and disasters of life, the merciful hand of God and his favourable power held over you and standing in your defence, be silent yourself; for that champion needs no help at all. And there are proofs of this recorded in the sacred writings, for instance the verse, "The Lord will fight for us, and you shall be silent." (2.266) And if you see the genuine offspring and the firstborn of Egypt destroyed, namely desire, and pleasures, and pain, and fear, and iniquity, and mirth, and intemperance, and all the other qualities that are similar and akin to these, then marvel and be silent, dreading the terrible power of God; (2.267) for, as the scriptures say, "Not a dog shall move his tongue, nor shall anything, man or beast, utter a sound;" which is equivalent to saying, It is not fitting for the impudent tongue to bark and curse--nor for the man that is within us, that is to say, our dominant mind; nor for the cattle-like beast that is within us, that is to say, the outward sense--to boast, when all the evil that was in us has been utterly destroyed, and when an ally from outside comes of his own accord to hold his shield over us.

(2.268) But there are many occasions not well suited to silence: and if we turn to the language of ordinary prose, of which again we may see memorials laid up, how did anyone ever come to share in good unexpectedly? It is good, then, to give thanks and to sing hymns in honour of the one who bestowed it. (2.269) What, then, is the good? The passion that is attacking us is dead, and has been thrown out on its face without burial. Let us not delay, but standing still, let us sing that most sacred and fitting hymn, feeling that we are commanded to say to all men, "Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea." (2.270) The rout and destruction of the passions is indeed a good, but not a perfect good, whereas the discovery of wisdom is a surpassing good, and when that is found all the people will sing harmonies and melodies, not with one kind of music only, but with every sort; (2.271) for then, says the scripture, "Israel sang this song at the well;" that is, in triumph because knowledge, which had long been hidden but was sought, had at last been found by all men, though it lies deep by nature; its task was to irrigate the rational fields that exist in the souls of men who love contemplation. (2.272) What, then, shall we say? When we bring home the legitimate fruit of the mind, does the sacred scripture not command us to display in our reason, as in a sacred basket, the first fruits of our fertility; a specimen of the glorious flowers, and shoots, and fruits which the soul has brought forth, telling us to speak out distinctly and to deliver panegyrics on the God who brings things to perfection, and to say, "I have cleared away the things which were holy out of my house, and I have arranged them in the house of God:" appointing men chosen for their superior merit as stewards and guardians of them, and putting them in charge of these sacred things; (2.273) and these are Levites, proselytes, orphans and widows. But some are suppliants, some are emigrants and fugitives, some are widowed and stripped of all created things, but enrolled as belonging to God, the genuine husband and father of the soul which is inclined to worship.

(2.274) In this way, then, it is most proper both to speak and to be silent. But the wicked take exactly the opposite course; for they admire a blameworthy kind of silence and a kind of interpretation open to reproach, practising both lines of conduct to their own destruction and that of others. (2.275) But most of their activity consists in saying what they ought not to say; for having opened their mouths and left them unbridled, like an unrestrained torrent, they allow their speech to run on indiscriminately, as the poet says, dragging on thousands of profitless sayings; (2.276) therefore those who have devoted themselves to advocating pleasure and appetite, and every sort of excessive desire, building up irrational passion as a fortification against dominant reason, and preparing themselves for a contentious sort of discussion, have finally come to an outright dispute, hoping to be able to blind the race which is endowed with the faculty of sight, and to throw it down precipices, and into depths from which it will never be able to emerge. (2.277) But some have not only set themselves up as rivals to human virtue, but have gone so far in folly as to oppose divine virtue as well. Therefore Pharaoh, the king of the land of Egypt, is spoken of as the leader of the company devoted to the passions; for it is said to the prophet, "Look, he is going forth to the river, and you shall stand in the way to meet him, on the bank of the river;" (2.278) for it is the distinctive mark of the wise man to go out to meet the rapid and continual outpouring of irrational passion; and it is also characteristic of the wise man to oppose with great vigour the arguments for pleasure and desire, not with his feet, but with his mind, firmly and immoveably, standing on the bank of the river; that is to say, on the mouth and on the tongue, which are the organs of speech. For standing firmly on these, he will be able to overturn and defeat the plausible, specious arguments that plead the cause of passion. (2.279) But the enemy of the race that has the power of sight is the people of Pharaoh, which never stopped attacking, persecuting and enslaving virtue, until it paid the penalty for the evils which it inflicted on others, being overwhelmed in the sea of its own iniquities and in the mighty waves which its frenzy had stirred up. So that period displayed an extraordinary sight: a victory beyond doubt, and a joy greater than anyone could have hoped for. (2.280) This is why it is said, "And Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-Shore." Great indeed was the hand that fought for them, forcing those who had sharpened these organs against the truth to fall by mouth and lips and speech, so that those who had taken up these weapons against others would perish by their own arms and not by anyone else's. (2.281) And this announces three most glorious things to the soul; first, the destruction of the passions of Egypt; second, that this took place nowhere else than near the salt and bitter springs, as if on the seashore, from which sophistical reason, that enemy of virtue, pours forth; and lastly, the sight of the disaster. (2.282) For nothing glorious can be invisible; it should be brought into the light and brilliance of the sun. So too its opposite, evil, should be thrust into deep darkness and judged to deserve night. And someone may indeed happen by chance to behold this: but what is really good should always be seen by more piercing eyes. And what is as good as for the good to live and the evil to die?

(2.283) So there were three persons who uttered atrocious words that would reach even to heaven; these men devoted themselves to studies against nature, or rather against their own souls, saying that this universe was the only thing perceptible to the outward senses and visible, that it had never been created and was never destined to be destroyed, but was uncreated and imperishable, needing no superintendence, care, regulation or management. (2.284) Then, piling up fresh attempts one on another, they built up a doctrine that was not approved, and raised it to a height like a tower; for it is said, "And the whole earth spoke one language," an inharmonious agreement of all the parts of the soul, aimed at overthrowing the most comprehensive of all existing principles, namely authority. (2.285) So a great and irresistible hand overthrew them when they hoped to climb even to heaven by their devices in order to destroy the everlasting kingdom; and it also dashed down the doctrine which they had built up; and the place is called confusion: (2.286) a very appropriate name for such an audacious and wicked attempt; for what produces more confusion than anarchy? Is a house with no manager not full of offences and disturbances? (2.287) And are cities left without a king not destroyed by the domination of the mob, the opposite evil to kingly power, and at the same time the greatest of all evils? And have not countries, and nations, and regions of the earth, whose governments have been overthrown, lost all their ancient and great prosperity? (2.288) And why do I need to speak of matters of human history? For even the other species of animals, flocks of birds, and herds of terrestrial beasts, and shoals of aquatic creatures, never exist without some leader of their company; they always want and always heed their own leader as the sole cause of the advantages they receive, and in his absence they are scattered and destroyed. (2.289) Do we suppose, then, that in the case of earthly creatures, which are the most insignificant portion of the universe, authority is the cause of good things and anarchy the cause of evils, but that the world itself is not filled with extreme happiness through the administration of God its king? (2.290) So they have suffered punishment matching their iniquities: having polluted the sacred doctrine, they saw themselves polluted in the same way, with all authority taken away from among them, and they were themselves thrown into confusion without really having caused any. But as long as they went unpunished, puffed up with insane pride, they sought to overthrow the authority of the universe by unholy speeches; and they set themselves up as rulers and kings, attributing the irresistible power of God to creatures that are perpetually coming to an end and being destroyed.

(2.291) So these ridiculous men, putting on tragic airs and using inflated language, usually talk like this: we are the leaders; we are kings; On us all things depend. Who but ourselves is the cause of good and of its opposite? To whom but us can doing well or ill truly be attributed? They also talk nonsense in another way, saying that all things depend on an invisible power, which they imagine presides over all human and divine affairs in the whole world. (2.292) Though they utter such insolent falsehoods as these, if after their intoxication they have become sober and come to themselves again, and feel ashamed of the intoxication to which they gave way when they came under the dominion of the external senses, and if they reproach themselves for the evil actions that folly led them to commit, listening to their new counsellor, repentance, which never flatters and cannot be corrupted, and propitiating the merciful power of the living God with sacred hymns of repentance instead of profane songs, they will find complete forgiveness. (2.293) But if they remain restive and obstinate for ever, and indulge in wanton behavior, as if they were independent and free and the rulers of others, then through a necessity that is implacable and deaf to all entreaties they will learn to feel their own nothingness in all things, small and great; (2.294) for the driver who mounts them, bridling this world as though it were a winged chariot, pulling back with all his strength on the reins that were loose before and pressing hard on the bits, will remind them with whip and spur of his authority as master, which they, like wicked servants, have forgotten because of the gentle and merciful temper of their manager; (2.295) for bad servants, regarding the gentleness of masters as anarchy, imagine themselves entirely free from the power of any master at all, until their owner checks their great and increasing disease by applying punishment as a remedy. (2.296) This is why the expression is used of "a lawless soul, which with its lips distinguishes well-doing and evil-doing, and then will subsequently announce its own sin." What are you saying, soul full of insolence? For do you know what real good or real evil, real justice or real holiness, are? Or what suits what? (2.297) The knowledge of those things and the power of regulating them belongs to God alone, and to whoever is dear to him. And the scripture bears witness to this assertion where it says, "I will kill and I will cause to live; I will strike and I will heal." (2.298) But the mind that was wise in its own conceit had not even a superficial, dreamlike intimation of the things placed above it; wretched as it was, it was so completely carried away by the wind of vain opinion that it swore the things it had wrongly imagined stood firm and solid. (2.299) So if the violence and convulsion of the disease begin to ease, the sparks of returning health, gradually rekindled, will compel it first to confess its error, that is, to reproach itself, and then to become a suppliant at the altar, pleading with prayers, supplications and sacrifices only to obtain pardon.

(2.300) After this, who could fairly ask why the historian of the scriptures speaks only of the river of Egypt as having banks, and makes no such mention of the Euphrates or of any other of the sacred rivers; for here he says, "You shall stand in the way to meet him by the bank of the river." (2.301) And yet perhaps some will say mockingly that it is not right to bring such matters forward for investigation, since doing so shows a spirit of cavilling rather than doing any good. But I imagine that such things, like delicacies, are prepared in the sacred scriptures for the improvement of those who read them, and that we ought not to condemn the curiosity of those who investigate such matters, but should rather blame their indolence if they did not investigate them. (2.302) For our present discussion is not about the history of rivers but about ways of life, which are compared to the streams of rivers, running in opposite directions to one another. For the life of the good man consists in actions; but the life of the wicked man is seen to consist only in words. And speech belongs to the tongue, mouth, and lips [text missing].