Pseudo-Victor of Vita

Works 1

Latin original · 15 verses · some words can be tapped for a gloss

1:1

PASSIO BEATISSIMORUM MARTVRUM QVI APUD CAR- THAGINEM PASSI SUNT SUB IMPIO REGE HUNIRICO DIE VI. NON. IUL. (I) Praedicaturus triumphos martyrum beatorum ad enarranda quae gesta sunt auxilium exposco diuinum, ut qui illis praestitit superandi uictoriam, mihi indigno et inmerito quantulacumque uerborum porrigat ornamenta. Tunc etenim ualebo quae desiderata sunt indicare, si ipsi dignentur pro me misero domino supplicare.

THE PASSION OF THE MOST BLESSED MARTYRS WHO SUFFERED AT CARTHAGE UNDER THE IMPIOUS KING HUNERIC ON THE 6TH DAY BEFORE THE NONES OF JULY. (I) About to proclaim the triumphs of the blessed martyrs, I implore divine aid for the recounting of the things that were done, that He who granted them the victory of overcoming may extend to me, unworthy and undeserving, however slight an ornament of words. For then I shall be able to set forth the things that have been desired, if they themselves should deign to make supplication to the Lord for me, a wretched man.

至福的殉道者們在迦太基於不敬虔的胡尼里克王治下，於七月初五前第六日所受的殉難記。（一）我將要宣揚至福殉道者們的得勝凱旋，為敘述所成就的事，我懇求神聖的幫助，使那位賜給他們勝過之凱旋的，也向我這不配且不堪的人，伸出哪怕極微小的言詞之妝飾。因為那時我才能述說那些被渴望的事，只要他們肯為我這可憐人向主代求。

1:2

(II) Septimus namque agebatur annus crudelissimi atque impiissimi regis Hunirici, et ecce antiquus hostis, ueternosus utique anguis, trisulcis linguae uenena uibrans, Cyrila quondam Arriomanitarum episcopo ministro usus est, subuertens et obtinens animum regis cruenti, ut ita suaderet, non posse eum pacatum atque longaeuum obtinere regnum, nisi nomen perderet innocentum. Qui tamen dei iudicio post non multos dies tur- pissima morte praeuentus scatens uermibus exspirauit.

(II) For the seventh year of the most cruel and most impious king Huneric was passing, and behold, the ancient enemy, that sluggish serpent indeed, brandishing the venoms of his triple-forked tongue, made use of Cyrila, once bishop of the Arriomanites, as his minister, subverting and gaining possession of the mind of the bloodthirsty king, so as to persuade him thus, that he could not hold a peaceful and long-lasting kingdom unless he destroyed the name of the innocent. Yet he himself, by the judgment of God, after not many days, forestalled by a most foul death, swarming with worms, breathed his last.

（二）那最殘忍、最不敬虔的胡尼里克王第七年正過去之時，看哪，那古蛇——就是那遲鈍的長蟲——揮舞著牠三叉舌頭的毒液，藉用了曾為阿利安派主教的居里拉作牠的差役，傾覆並佔據了那嗜血之王的心思，如此慫恿他，說他若不滅絕無辜者的名，就不能保有平安且長久的國度。然而他自己照神的審判，過了不多日，被一種最污穢的死所擒，渾身爬滿了蟲，便斷了氣。

1:3

Insectari coepit ere cruento omnem catholicorum multitudinem, quae per totam prouinciam Africanam in modum, sicut praedictum est Abrahae patriarchae, harenae maris fuerat multiplicata, ut eam rebaptizationis sauciaret machera atque stolam illam singularis et puri baptismatis, quam Christus uino carnis suae purificans praelo exprimens crucis fecerat dealbatam, tetrae nigredinis turparet inluuie sordulenta. Accipiens quoque tyrannus, ut erat ducibilis et ferus, serpentinam suggestionem, feralibus edictis uno tempore totam coepit Africam commouere. Primo sacerdotum et ministrorum copiosissimam et maximam turbam in longinquis et extremis regionibus exilio crudeli detrusit:

He began to persecute with bloody savagery the whole multitude of the catholics, which throughout the entire province of Africa had been multiplied like the sand of the sea, just as was foretold to the patriarch Abraham, so as to wound it with the sword of rebaptism and to defile with the foul filth of black squalor that robe of singular and pure baptism which Christ, purifying with the wine of His flesh and pressing it out in the wine-press of the cross, had made white. The tyrant too, savage and easily led as he was, receiving the serpentine suggestion, began with deadly edicts at one stroke to throw all Africa into commotion. First he thrust into cruel exile in far-off and remote regions a most numerous and great throng of priests and ministers:

他開始以血腥的兇殘逼迫全體大公教會的群眾，這群眾遍布整個非洲行省，正如先前向亞伯拉罕祖宗所預言的，已多如海沙，要以重洗的刀砍傷它，並以黑暗污垢的醜陋穢汙玷污那獨特純潔的洗禮之袍，就是基督以祂肉身的酒洗淨、在十字架的酒醡中榨壓、所使其潔白的。那暴君既殘暴又易受擺佈，領受了那蛇的慫恿，便以致命的諭令一舉攪動全非洲。他先把極大量極眾多的祭司與執事群，殘酷地放逐到遙遠偏僻的地區：

1:4

quibus bis acutum genus frumenti, quod iumentis solis edere concessum est, nequaquam industria molari contritum, sed manente furfuris cortice loricatum, pro miseratione dari praecepit; post uero crescente impietatis insania etiam hoc auferri crudelissimus imperauit. Post modicum quoque temporis uniuersas simul ecclesias praeiudicatis uenerabilibus portis caementis ingentibus claudi mandauit : uniuersa namque monasteria uirorum uel puellarum sanctarum gentilibus id est Mauris cum habitatoribus donare praecepit. Unus fuit omnibus eiulatus, unus pro Christo moriendi integer et plenus affectus.

to whom he ordered to be given, out of mercy, a twice-sharp kind of grain, which is granted to be eaten by beasts of burden alone, by no means crushed fine by the labor of the millstone, but mailed with the husk of the bran remaining; but afterward, as the madness of his impiety grew, the most cruel man commanded even this to be taken away. After a little while too he ordered all the churches alike, their venerable doors first being prejudged, to be closed up with huge masses of cement-work: for he ordered all the monasteries of men or of holy maidens to be given over to the gentiles, that is, to the Moors, together with their inhabitants. There was one wailing for all, one entire and full desire of dying for Christ.

他吩咐出於「憐憫」給他們一種雙重粗硬的穀物，是惟獨准牲畜吃的，完全沒有用磨石的功夫磨細，反倒裹著糠的外殼；但其後，當他不敬虔的瘋狂加增，這最殘忍的人竟命令連這也奪去。又過了不久，他下令把所有教會的可敬之門先行宣判，全都用巨大的水泥工程封閉：因為他命令把所有男修道院與聖潔貞女的修道院，連同其中的居民，都交給外邦人，就是摩爾人。眾人發出一致的哀號，懷著一致、完整且飽滿、為基督而死的渴望。

1:5

Paria currebant flumina lacrimarum, quia permiserat dominus cibari eos panem lacrimarum et potari eos in lacrimis in mensuram aut forsitan sine mensura. Etsi reperta est exiens de arca inhians cadaueribus mortuis pars aliqua pereuntium coruorum, maior est tamen in nomine trinitatis numerus felicium columbarum. Quanti nobiles et optimi uiri, ampli et lati cespitis domini, terram cum caelo commutauerunt et simul corpus cum substantia tradiderunt, atque delicatae et nobilissimae feminae contra uerecundiam naturae spectante uulgo uirgis caesae uariisque tormentis cruciatae uictricia trophea portarunt!

Equal rivers of tears were flowing, because the Lord had permitted them to be fed with the bread of tears and to be given to drink in tears by measure, or perhaps without measure. Even if some part of the perishing ravens, going forth from the ark and gaping after dead carcasses, was found, nevertheless greater in the name of the Trinity is the number of the happy doves. How many noble and excellent men, lords of an ample and broad domain, exchanged earth for heaven and gave up at once their body together with their substance, and how many delicate and most noble women, against the modesty of nature and while the common crowd looked on, beaten with rods and tortured with various torments, bore away victorious trophies!

淚河一同奔流，因為主曾容許他們以眼淚為食、按量被淚水所飲，或許是無量的。縱然那些將亡的烏鴉，出了方舟，垂涎於死屍，被尋見有一部分，然而奉三位一體之名的，仍是那些有福鴿子更多的數目。多少尊貴卓越的人，廣闊豐厚田產的主人，以地換取了天，一舉交出了他們的身體連同產業；又有多少嬌弱至尊的婦女，違反天性的羞恥，在眾人觀看之下，被棍杖鞭打、受各樣酷刑折磨，竟奪得了得勝的凱旋戰利！

1:6

quanti infantuli inridentes edicta feralia ante mundum contempserunt, priusquam inlecebrosam eius semitam introirent! (III) Tunc adprehensi sunt et septem fratres, quantum continet ad concordiam dominicae seruitutis in monasterio habitantes in unum, quia bonum est et iucundum habitare fratres in unum, id est Bonifatius diaconus, Seruus subdiaconus, Rusticus subdiaconus, Liberatus abba, Rogatus monachus, Septimus monachus et Maximus monachus, in numero scilicet Macchabeorum germanorum, quos una mater ecclesia catholica genuerat et per uiscera fontis aeterni salubriter pepererat, de territorio Capsensis ciuitatis, cui praefuit sanctus Uindemialis sacerdos egregius et Christi fidelis antistes.

How many little infants, mocking the deadly edicts, despised the world before they had entered its alluring path! (III) Then there were seized also seven brothers, dwelling together as one in a monastery, so far as pertains to the concord of the Lord's service, since it is good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity—that is, Bonifatius the deacon, Servus the subdeacon, Rusticus the subdeacon, Liberatus the abbot, Rogatus the monk, Septimus the monk, and Maximus the monk—in the number, indeed, of the Maccabee brothers, whom one mother, the catholic Church, had begotten and through the womb of the eternal font had wholesomely brought forth, from the territory of the city of Capsa, over which presided the holy Vindemialis, an excellent priest and a faithful bishop of Christ.

多少小嬰孩，譏笑那致命的諭令，在踏進世界誘人的路徑之前，就已藐視了世界！（三）那時也有七位弟兄被擒，他們在一所修道院中同住，合而為一，正合乎主之事奉的和睦，因為弟兄和睦同居是何等的善、何等的美——他們就是執事玻尼法修、副執事色爾物、副執事路斯提古、院長利貝拉圖、修士羅迦圖、修士色普提母、修士馬克西母——確實正合馬加比弟兄的數目，他們是一位母親，就是大公教會所生的，藉著永恆泉源的腹中救恩地誕生，出於卡撒城的境內，那城由聖潔的溫德米阿利所監管，他是卓越的祭司，是基督忠信的主教。

1:7

Qni adtracti ad urbem Carthaginiensem, primo eis inlecebrosis blandimentis serpens uoluit sibilare, promittens honores caducos et diuitias ingentium uoluptatum nec non et regis amicitias uel alia multa, quae solent insipientium animas aucupante diabolo uisco mundiali captare. Sed haec omnia milites dei acsi contagia respuerunt, clamantes uno ore: \'unus dominus, una fides, unum baptisma. Nec poterit in nobis adiuuante domino iterari, quod in sancto euangelio semel praeceptum est dari; quia qui semel lotus est, non habet necesse iterum lauari, quia mundus est totus. Facite quod uultis, inferte poenas corporibus nostris:

When they had been dragged to the city of Carthage, the serpent first wished to hiss at them with alluring blandishments, promising fleeting honors and the riches of immense pleasures, and also the friendships of the king, or many other things, which are wont to ensnare the souls of the foolish, the devil fowling them with worldly birdlime. But the soldiers of God spurned all these as if they were contagions, crying out with one voice: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Nor can that be repeated in us, with the Lord helping, which in the holy Gospel was commanded to be given once; for he who has once been washed has no need to be washed again, since he is wholly clean. Do what you will, inflict punishments upon our bodies:

他們被拖到迦太基城後，那蛇先要以誘人的諂媚向他們嘶嘶作聲，應許虛浮的尊榮和極大歡樂的財富，又應許王的友誼，或許多別的，就是魔鬼慣常用世界的鳥膠捕捉愚昧人靈魂的東西。但神的精兵把這一切當作瘟疫一般唾棄，異口同聲喊著說：「一主、一信、一洗。靠著主的幫助，那在聖福音中所命定只施一次的，斷不能在我們身上重施；因為凡一次受洗的，就不需要再洗，因他全身潔淨了。你們儘管隨意而行，向我們的身體施加刑罰：

1:8

melius est temporalia ad modicum sufferre supplicia, quam aeterna pendere et subire tormenta. Habete quae promittitis, cum ipsis diuitiis post paululum perituri. Nobis uero nullus de postibus frontium ualebit euellere, quod in uno baptismate artifex trinitatis dignatus est titulare'. (IV) Quid multa? Dum tali constantia diuinitus munirentur, iussi sunt carcerali custodiae mancipari, et ita crudelius onerati ferri ponderibus tenebrosis deputati sunt locis, ubi nulla miseratio adrideret lenitatis.

it is better to suffer temporal torments for a little while than to pay eternal penalties and undergo everlasting torments. Keep what you promise, since you yourselves, together with those very riches, will perish after a little while. But no one will be able to pluck from the posts of our foreheads what the Artificer of the Trinity deigned to inscribe in the one baptism." (IV) Why say more? While they were divinely fortified with such constancy, they were ordered to be handed over to prison custody, and thus, more cruelly burdened with the weights of iron, they were assigned to dark places, where no mercy of leniency might smile upon them.

「暫時受片刻的刑罰，總勝過償付永遠的刑罰、受那永恆的折磨。把你們所應許的留著吧，因為你們自己連同那些財富，過不多時都要滅亡。但沒有人能從我們額頭的標誌上拔去那三位一體的工匠在這一次洗禮中所樂意題寫的。」（四）何必多言？當他們如此被神聖地以堅貞所堅固時，便被命令交付監牢看守，於是更殘酷地被鐵的重擔所壓，被分派到黑暗之處，那裡沒有半點寬仁的憐憫向他們展露。

1:9

Sed populus ille memoratae urbis, in domino semper fidelis, dato munere carcerariis die ac nocte Christi martyres frequentabat et ita ab eis doctrina et uirtute fidei roborabatur, ut talia etiam ipsi pro Christi nomine plena delectatione perferre cuperent et capulo persequentis facilia subponerent colla. Hoc autem tyrannicas peruenit ad aures; qui ebrietate furoris accensus iubet eos adhuc inauditis suppliciis adigi et maioribus uinculis onerari, nauemque imperat lignorum aridorum manipulis adimpleri atque in eadem omnibus alligatis in medium pelagus igne supposito concremari.

But that people of the aforesaid city, ever faithful in the Lord, having given a bribe to the jailers, frequented the martyrs of Christ day and night, and were so strengthened by their teaching and by the virtue of faith, that they themselves also desired with full delight to endure such things for the name of Christ, and readily to submit their necks to the hilt of the persecutor. But this reached the tyrant's ears; and he, kindled with the drunkenness of fury, orders them to be driven to still-unheard-of punishments and to be burdened with greater chains, and commands a ship to be filled with bundles of dry wood, and that, with all bound in it, in the midst of the open sea, with fire set beneath, they be burned together.

但那前述城邑的百姓，向來在主裡忠信，賄賂了獄卒，日夜往來探望基督的殉道者，並如此被他們的教訓與信德之能所堅固，以致他們自己也滿心歡喜，渴望為基督的名忍受這樣的事，甘願將頸項伏在逼迫者的劍柄下。但這事傳到了暴君的耳中；他被狂怒之醉所激動，下令把他們驅入更聞所未聞的刑罰，並用更重的鎖鏈加給他們，又命令把一艘船裝滿成捆的乾柴，把眾人都綁在其中，在大海中央底下點火，將他們一同焚燒。