宗教史(敘利亞苦修者傳) 第 1 章 第 4/13 段

For though sufficient to teach not only his own companions but even twice as many, he often ran to the great Eusebius, entreating him to become his fellow-worker, and the trainer and teacher of the training-ground he had established.

He was dwelling twenty-five stades away, shut up in a certain very small dwelling that did not even have windows.

The one who guided him toward this virtue was Marianus, his uncle, and a faithful servant of God.

It suffices to say only this much, since the Lord has also honored the great Moses with this very title.

This Marianus, having tasted the divine love, did not wish to delight in these good things alone, but made many others fellow-lovers as well, and he also captured the great Eusebius and his brother, who was indeed also a brother in the ascetic life.

For he thought it unreasonable to capture for virtue those who were nothing to him, while leaving his own nephews uncaptured.

Having shut up both of them together in a small dwelling, he trained them in the evangelical way of life.

But an illness that befell the brother interrupted that course.

Death followed upon the illness;

for having lived only a few days after his departure from there, he received the end of life.

And after that one's death, he continued to embrace this same way of life, until that admirable Ammianus, having charmed him with many entreaties, persuaded him to change;

"Tell me," he said to him, "O excellent one, whom do you suppose you are pleasing, that you have taken up this laborious and squalid life?" And when the other, as was natural, had said, "God, of course"—the lawgiver and teacher of virtue—

"Well then, since you love him," said Ammianus, "I will show you a way by which you will both kindle your love the more and serve the one you love."

For to turn all one's care entirely upon oneself would not, I think, escape the charge of self-love.

For the divine law commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

But to bring many into a share of one's wealth is the peculiar achievement of love.

This the divinely-inspired Paul called the fulfillment of the law.

"The whole law and the prophets are summed up in this one word"—namely, in:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

And the Lord too, in the holy Gospels, charged Peter—who had confessed that he loved him more than the others—to shepherd his sheep.

And rebuking those who had not done this, he cries out through the prophet:

"O shepherds, do the shepherds feed themselves? Do they not pasture the sheep?" For this reason he also commanded the great Elijah, who was pursuing this way of life, to turn about and move among the impious.

The great John, who loved the desert, he sent to the banks of the Jordan, charging him to baptize and preach there.

Since, then, you too are an ardent lover of the God who made and saved you, help to fashion many other lovers as well.

For this is exceedingly pleasing to our common Lord.

"And he commanded Jonah to run to Nineveh, and when he was unwilling, sent him along as a prisoner." By saying these and similar things, he charmed the godly man, and, breaking open that voluntary prison of his, he led him out and away, and entrusted to him the care of the brotherhood.

But I do not know which I should admire more—this one's moderation, or that one's ready obedience.

For this one fled from leadership, and preferred rather to be one of the subjects, dreading the danger of headship;

and the great Eusebius turned away from life together with a greater number, but nevertheless yielded, and, caught in the nets of love, accepted the care of the flock and led the company, needing not many words for teaching:

for merely appearing was enough to make even the most utterly sluggish person swift for the race of virtue.

Those who beheld him say that he always had a grave countenance, and instilled considerable awe in those who looked upon him.

He himself partook of food every three or four days, but he bade those who dwelt with him partake every other day.

Thus he trained each part of the body in virtue, so that they did only what reason alone permitted.

But that I may make this clear to all, I shall relate one story concerning him.

He and the admirable Ammianus were sitting upon a certain rock, and one of them was reading the narrative of the holy Gospels, while the other was laying bare the meaning of the more obscure passages.

And as certain farmers were breaking fallow ground in the plain below, the great Eusebius was drawn to watch this sight.

When the divinely-inspired Ammianus had read the Gospel passage and was seeking its interpretation, the great Eusebius bade him take up the reading again.

And when he had told him that he had, as was natural, not been listening, because he was delighting in watching the plowmen, Eusebius laid down a law for his own eyes: never again to look upon that plain, nor to feast upon the beauty of the heavens and the chorus of the stars; but, using instead a most narrow path—whose width, they say, was but a single span—leading to the house of prayer, he no longer allowed himself thereafter to walk outside of it.

They say that for more than forty years after this he lived under this same rule.

And so that some compulsion, along with his own resolve, might also draw him down to these observances, he bound his loins with an iron belt, and placed a most heavy collar about his neck, and joined the belt to the collar of his neck with another piece of iron, so that in this way, bent down, he would be continually forced to stoop toward the ground.

Such penalties did he exact from himself for that watching of the farmers.

These things many others also, who have recorded his history and who accurately know the facts about him, have taught me;

This very story was told also by the elder, the great Akakios, whom we have also mentioned before in the other narratives.

...to look at it lying there, nor to walk outside that narrow road;

and he said that he contrived these things against the stratagems of the evil demon.

"For in order that he not make war on me concerning great things," he said, "attempting to steal self-control and righteousness, and arming wrath, and kindling desire, and preparing me to become inflamed with vainglory and swollen with pride, and contriving all the other such things against my soul, I attempt to transfer the war to these small matters;"

"where even if he wins, he does no great harm, and if he is defeated, he becomes more ridiculous, since he was not even able to prevail in small matters."

"Since, then, I know this warfare to be less dangerous—for the one struck in these matters suffers no great loss;"

"for what harm is there in looking at the plain, or in lifting one's eyes to heaven?—I shift him to this form of battle array."

"For here he can neither strike nor destroy me;"

"for these arrows are not death-dealing, being free of those iron points." The great Akakios said that he had heard these things and had admired his wisdom, and had marveled at his martial courage and skill.

For this reason, as being worthy of admiration and worthy of remembrance to those desiring to learn such things, he offered this account as well.

This fame of his, spreading everywhere, drew to him all the lovers of virtue.

There came also the leading rams of the excellent flock of the most divine Julian the Elder, whose story we related before.

For when that divinely-inspired man reached the end of his life and passed over to the better life, James the Persian and Agrippas, the leaders of that flock, ran to the great Eusebius, judging it better to be well led than to lead.

Having already taught the virtue of this James, whom I have also mentioned before, in summary form, I shall now also demonstrate a clear proof of his utmost philosophy.

For when the divine Eusebius, making his departure from there, charged him to take charge of the flock, and though he declined the guardianship he could not persuade those who desired that oversight to release him, he went off to another flock, choosing rather to be pastured than to pasture others, and having lived on for a very long time, thus he ended this life.

For he profited so much from the teaching of the great Eusebius that he spent forty-five years in that ascetic school, and lived through all that time without wrath or anger.

For not even after assuming the leadership did anyone ever see him overcome by this passion, and this though, as is likely, countless things provoked him to it.

For a hundred and fifty men were shepherded by his right hand, some at the summit of virtue, imitating the heavenly way of life, others having only just grown their wings, and being taught to leap and fly above the earth.

But nevertheless, though there were so many being instructed in divine things and even, as is likely, transgressing at times—for it is not easy for one still a novice to succeed in everything—that divine man remained unmoved, as if he were incorporeal, no occasion ever rousing him to wrath.

And this I learned not only by hearsay but also by experience.

I went to see that divine flock, having as companions on my journey others who embraced the same way of life as I.

Having spent, then, a whole week's cycle with this divine man, we observed a countenance admitting no change—neither at one time relaxed, nor at another drawn together with gloom—and likewise the eye, not fierce at one time and bright at another, but the eyes ever remaining in the same composure;

and these are sufficient to attest the calm of his soul.

But it is likely that someone might suppose he was seen to be such because no cause provoked him.

For this reason I am compelled to relate something of this sort that happened while we were present.

That divine man was sitting with us, stirring up discourse concerning philosophy and seeking out the summit of the evangelical way of life.

But he, as though having a soul of adamant, received the words, yet was not pricked by things naturally apt to prick, nor did he change his countenance, nor did he abandon the discourse in hand, but with a gentle voice and words revealing the serenity of his soul, he dismissed that elder, urging him to attend to whatever he wished;

"But I," he said, "am conversing, as you see, with these who have come to us, considering this attentiveness necessary."

How could anyone better display gentleness of soul? For that the man entrusted with that leadership should receive such insolence from the one holding second rank—especially with strangers present and listening to the abuse—and yet undergo no storm or disturbance from wrath, what excess of courage and endurance does this leave to be surpassed? The divine apostle, then, having taken into consideration the weakness of human nature, measures his legislation by that nature;

"Be angry," he says, "and do not sin;"

"let not the sun go down upon your wrath." For knowing that the movements of wrath belong to nature and not to the will, he does not bear to legislate what is exceedingly toilsome, and perhaps even impossible;

but for the movement of nature and the storm of wrath he sets the day as the measure, bidding one to strangle it with reason and to press it down with the bridle, not permitting it to advance beyond these limits.

But this divine man contended beyond the laws laid down and leaped beyond the prescribed limits, not allowing wrath to be stirred even until evening, but not permitting it to be stirred at all.

Such were the benefits this man too derived from association with the great Eusebius.

I have also seen many other lovers and zealots of this philosophy who came to be in that hut, some in the prime of bodily strength, and others even in deep old age;

for men who had lived more than ninety years were unwilling to abandon this laborious life, but excelled still in the sweats of youth, entreating God the whole night and the whole day, and performing those holy liturgies, and partaking of that meager food only once every two days.

This man took up this ascetic way of life at once, under a certain man then dwelling in the desert, the best trainer in such matters—Marosas was his name—

After this, he too, giving up leading others, came, together with Abba, into this flock, and lived on for no small time, and having contended gloriously and become renowned, he quietly departed from this life.

And he has already spent thirty-eight years there;

and though he began to toil long ago, he still longs for toil as eagerly as one who had only just begun.

For up to this very day he has never once covered his feet with sandals;

sitting close by the shade in the frost, he welcomes the sun in its burning heat, and receives its flame from there as if it were a gentle west breeze.

All this time he has not endured to partake of water, not eating those things which it is customary for those practicing abstinence from drink to take—for such men are accustomed to enjoy more moist foods—but partaking of the same foods as others, eating only a little, and only as much as instills a little strength, he considers the use of water superfluous.

Girded about the loins with heavy iron, he sits but rarely; for the greater part of the night and the day he offers to the Lord the service of prayer, either standing or lying upon his knees, and he has utterly renounced any use of lying down to rest;

for no one has ever, even up to this day, seen him lying down; but having also been appointed leader of the choir and having obtained the office of superior, he bears all this labor readily, setting himself forth as a model of the ascetic life to all his subordinates.

Such victorious combatants did the divine Eusebius, the trainer and coach of these contests, present to God;

and having formed very many others such as these, he sent them forth as teachers to other wrestling-schools, who filled that whole holy mountain with these divine and fragrant meadows.

For to the east of the ascetic hut established from the beginning, and to the west and south, one may see the offspring of this philosophy dancing about like stars around the moon, some hymning the Creator in Greek, others in the native tongue.

But indeed I am attempting the impossible, desiring to relate all the things accomplished by that divine soul;

therefore an end must be set to this narrative, and I must turn to another, and add again the benefit that comes from it, having entreated to obtain a share of the blessing of these great men.

PUBLIUS. At the same time there lived a certain Publius, worthy of beholding in outward form, and possessing a soul corresponding to that form—or rather, displaying a soul far more admirable than his body.

This man, springing from a family of the town council, and possessing a city near which that much-talked-of Xerxes, when campaigning against Greece and hastening to cross the river Euphrates with his army, gathered together a multitude of ships and yoked them to one another, and in this way bridged the river, and named the place Zeugma, and gave the city its name from this event—setting out from there, and having sprung from such a lineage, he takes possession of a certain elevated spot, no more than thirty stades distant from the city.

Building there a small hut, he sold everything he had received from his father—I mean house and estates and livestock and clothing, vessels of silver and bronze, and whatever else he happened to have besides these—

...the service of him who had called him, and turning this over continually in his soul, he spent night and day considering and searching out how he might increase it.

For this reason his labor continually increased and received intensification each day, and it was sweet and full of pleasure, and drove satiety far away.

For no one ever saw him partake of rest for even a small portion of the day, but prayer succeeded psalmody, and psalmody succeeded prayer, and the reading of the divine oracles succeeded both;

then came the care of the strangers who arrived, and afterward some other necessary work.

Journeying through life amid these pursuits, and set forth as a model of virtue for those wishing to emulate him, like some sweet-singing bird, he gathered together many of his kinsmen into these saving snares.

But at first he did not allow himself to have any fellow-dweller;

instead, building small huts with adjoining doors, he ordered each of those who came together with him to live by himself, frequently inspecting them and searching the huts to see whether they had anything stored up beyond what was needed.

They say that he would even bring scales and scrutinize precisely the weight of the loaves of bread, and if he ever found more than the appointed amount, he would be displeased and call those who did this gluttons.

For he commanded that neither in eating nor in drinking should they wait for satiety, but should partake only of so much as suffices to provide life to the body.

And if he ever saw flour separated from the bran, he would revile those who had done this as men enjoying Sybaritic food;

and coming suddenly by night to each one's door, if he found someone awake and hymning God, he would withdraw again in silence;

but if he perceived that someone was held fast by sleep, he would strike the door with his hand, and assail with his tongue the one lying there, as one giving more attention to the body than was necessary.

Some of those who shared his views, seeing this labor of his, proposed that a single lodging be built for all.

For they said that those now scattered would live more strictly, and that he himself would be relieved of the greater care.

The most wise man accepted the advice, and having gathered everyone together and pulled down those small huts, he built one dwelling for those thus assembled, and ordered them to live in common and to sharpen one another, this one imitating that one's gentleness, and that one tempering his gentleness with this one's zeal, and another, while imparting wakefulness, receiving in turn the lesson of fasting.

"For thus," he said, "receiving from one another what is lacking, we shall attain the most perfect virtue."

"For just as in the markets of cities one man sells bread, another vegetables, another is a merchant of garments, and another a maker of shoes, and by gathering their needs from one another they live more agreeably—for the one giving a garment receives in exchange a shoe, and the one buying a vegetable gives in return bread—"

Thus it is fitting for us to give back to one another the most precious portions of virtue. So too, while those of the same tongue trained and contended and hymned God in the Greek language, a longing for this same way of life seized also those who used the local tongue.

And some came running together, beseeching both to become part of his flock and to share in his sacred teaching.

He accepted the request, being mindful of the Lord's ordinance which he had given to the holy apostles:

'Go,' he said, 'and make disciples of all nations.'

and each using his own tongue, they sent up the hymn in succession.

And neither did time, which contends to alter these and other such things, nor did those who succeeded to his stewardship, allow themselves to be persuaded to overturn any of the boundaries he had established — and this though not two or three, but many more, obtained this leadership in succession.

For as soon as he had completed his contest and departed this life, passing over into that painless life, Theoteknos succeeded to the leadership of the Greek-speaking company, and Aphthonios to that of the Syriac-speaking one, both becoming, as it were, living pillars and images of his virtue.

For they allowed neither those who dwelt with them nor those who came from outside to perceive any sense of his death, showing themselves to be impressions of his way of life.

But the divine Theoteknos, not surviving him by much time, handed over the leadership to Theodotos.

Aphthonios, however, remained for a very long time caring for the flock and guiding it according to the established rules.

This Theodotos, originally from Armenia, having beheld that ascetic company, was at first ranked among its subordinate members, obeying the great Theoteknos who governed them.

But when, as I said, the one departed and he himself took up the leadership, he abounded in so many good qualities as almost to eclipse in fame those who came before him.

For divine longing so worked upon him and pierced him with so many and such arrows that, night and day, he poured forth tears of compunction.

He was so filled with spiritual grace that, when he prayed, all who were present kept silent and merely listened to those sacred words, regarding the hearing of them as an earnest prayer in itself.

For who was so hard as adamant that his soul was not enchanted by words offered with such genuineness, its hardness and disobedience softened, and led over to divine service? Thus, increasing his wealth day by day and rendering his inviolable treasuries full of such goods, having shepherded the flock for twenty-five years, he was gathered to his fathers, according to the divine Scripture, having attained to a good old age, and handed over the reins to Theoteknos, who was by lineage his nephew, but by character his brother.

And that divine Aphthonios, having presided over the choir for more than forty years, received the presidency of the high priesthood, without exchanging his ascetic goat-hair cloak, nor the tunic made of goat's hair.

And he partook of the same food he had partaken of before his presidency.

And having also taken up this stewardship, he cared no less for that former flock, spending most of his days there — now dissolving the quarrels of those at strife, now taking thought for those wronged by anyone whatsoever, and at other times offering divine exhortation to the brethren.

And he did each of these things while at the same time sewing up the rags of those who shared his tent, or cleaning lentils, or washing wheat, or handling some other such task.

Thus, having both adorned his presidency and increased his virtue, he reached the divine harbor laden with its freight.

And what need is there to speak of Theoteknos, and of Gregory who succeeded him — the one, in his youth, having attained every kind of philosophy and having departed together with his ancestral renown; the other, even to this day, laboring in body in deep old age as though in his prime?

For thus the great Publius ordained that they should live.

though partaking of what was necessary, they would again refuse to partake of it further.

Such things I too have learned concerning the great Publius, receiving some by report, and others by having beheld his disciples, discerning the teacher in his disciples, and coming to know the trainer through his athletes.

Considering it, then, unjust and grudging to consign so great a benefit to silence for those who are ignorant of it, I have set forth this narrative, thereby procuring benefit for them, and for myself securing the profit that comes from remembrance.

For I have heard the Lord saying:

'Whoever confesses me before men, I too will confess him before my Father who is in heaven.' And I know clearly that, by bringing to men the remembrance of these men, I shall in turn enjoy from them the remembrance before the God of all.

SYMEON THE ELDER. But if anyone should willingly pass over Symeon the Elder, and consign the memory of his philosophy to oblivion, he would justly not escape an indictment of injustice and malice, as one unwilling either to praise what deserves praise, or to set before those who wish to profit, for their imitation, what deserves to be loved.

But I shall compose this narrative not out of fear of such an accusation, but out of desire to praise this man's way of life.

For this man, for as long a time as possible, persevered in embracing the eremitic life, dwelling in a small cave.

He enjoyed no human consolation whatsoever — for he had chosen to live alone — but conversed unceasingly with the God of all.

He made the edible plants his food.

This labor also bestowed on him such rich grace from above that he could even command the strongest and fiercest of wild beasts.

And this became evident not only to the pious, but also to the unbelieving Jews.

For on account of some need, they were traveling to one of the fortresses situated beyond our inhabited world;

and when a violent rain arose and a storm struck, they lost their way, being unable to see ahead.

So they wandered through the desert, finding neither village, nor cave, nor traveler;

tossed about in the midst of dry land as sailors are tossed at sea, they came upon, as it were, a harbor: the cave of the divine Symeon, and beheld a man, unkempt and squalid, wearing on his shoulders a small ragged garment of hair-cloth.

He, upon seeing them, at once greeted them — for he was affable — and asked the reason for their arrival.

When they had related what had happened, and earnestly besought to learn the road leading to the fortress, [he replied]:

'Stay,' he said, 'and I will presently give you guides to show you the road you seek.'

So they obeyed and rested.

While they were sitting there, two lions arrived, not glaring fiercely, but fawning as upon a master and signifying their servitude.

He, nodding, commanded them to guide the men as hosts and to lead them back to that road from which, having left it, they had gone astray.

But let no one suppose this account to be a fable, since it has as witnesses to the truth even the common enemies of the truth.

For those who had received this benefit themselves continued to proclaim it.

And this the great James related to me, saying that he was present when they related the wonder to the inspired Maron.

...will they not believe the enemies who bear witness to the power of grace? And through such wonders, that divine man became renowned, drawing to himself many of the neighboring barbarians — for those who take pride in Ishmael as their forefather inhabit that desert — but, being a lover of stillness, he was compelled to leave the cave, and having traveled a long road, reached the mountain called Amanus; and this mountain, once long ago filled with much polytheistic madness, he cultivated with many and varied wonders, planting in it the piety that is now practiced there.

But to narrate everything would be exceedingly laborious, and for me perhaps even impossible.

Having recalled, then, but one instance, and having set it forth as a kind of token of his apostolic and prophetic wonder-working, I leave it to my readers to understand from it the strength of the grace he received.

It was summer, the time of harvest, and the sheaves were being carried to the threshing floors.

And a certain man, not content with just labors, but coveting the goods of others, stole some of his neighbor's sheaves and tried, by means of them, to increase his own stack.