86:1
Quidam qui nunc nobiscum sunt rem quam narro testantor. d Vir vitæ venerabilis, Stephanus nomine, Valeriæ provinciae presbyter fuit, hujus nostri e Bonifacii diaconi atque dispensatoris Ecclesiae agnatione prolimus. Qui quadam die de itinere domum regressus, mancipio suo negligenter loquens præcepit, dicene: Veni, diabole, discalcea me. Ad cujus vocem mot caeperunt se f caligarum corrigiae in summa velocitate dissolvere, ut aperte constaret quod ei ipse qui nominatuR fuerat ad extrahendas diabolus caligas obedisset. Quod mox ut presbyter vidit, vehementer expavit, magnisque vocibus clamare coepit, dicens: Recede, miser, recede; non euim tibi, sea mancipio meo locutus sum.
如今與我們同在的某些人，為我所述之事作證。有一位可敬生活之人，名叫斯德望，是瓦勒里亞省的司鐸，與我們教會的執事兼管家鮑尼法斯有親屬關係。一天，他從旅途回家，隨口對僕人說，吩咐道：「來，魔鬼，替我脫鞋。」他一說這話，他靴子的鞋帶便以極快的速度開始鬆解，以致明顯可見：那被稱呼的魔鬼本身，果真順從去脫下靴子。司鐸一看見這事，就極其驚駭，開始大聲呼喊，說：「退去，可憐蟲，退去；因為我不是對你說話，而是對我的僕人說的。」
Certain men who are now with us bear witness to the thing I relate. A man of venerable life, Stephen by name, was a priest of the province of Valeria, related by kinship to Boniface here, deacon and steward of our Church. One day, returning home from a journey, speaking carelessly to his servant, he commanded, saying: 'Come, devil, take off my shoes.' At his word the laces of his boots began to loosen with the utmost swiftness, so that it was plainly evident that the very one who had been named, the devil, had obeyed to draw off the boots. As soon as the priest saw this, he was greatly terrified, and began to cry out with a loud voice, saying: 'Depart, wretch, depart; for I was not speaking to you, but to my servant.'
86:2
Ad cujus vocem protinus recessit, et ha ut inventæ sunt, magna jam ex pane dissolutæ, corrigiae remanserunt. Qua in re colligi potest, antiquus hostis, qui jnm praesto est factis 328 corporalibus, quam nimiis insidiis nostris cogitationibus insistat. PErn. Laboriosum est valde atque terribile contra i inimici insidias semper intendere, et continue qua8i in acie stare. GREGOR. k Laboriosum non eri, si custodiam nostram non nobis, sed gratiæ supernæ tribuimus; ita tamen, ut et ip i, quantum possumus, sub ejus prolectione vigilemus.
他一說這話，魔鬼便立刻退去，鞋帶便維持被發現時的樣子，已大部分鬆開。從這件事可以推知，那古仇之敵既如此在肉身的行為上隨手可及，又是怎樣以更多的詭計逼近我們的思想。伯多祿：時刻警戒防備仇敵的詭計，並不斷地彷彿站在戰陣中，實在是極勞苦而可畏的事。額我略：只要我們把自己的守護不歸於自己，而歸於上天的恩典，這事便不算勞苦；但仍當如此，即我們自己也盡力在祂的保護之下警醒。
At his word it at once departed, and the laces remained as they had been found, already for the most part loosened. From which matter it can be gathered how the ancient enemy, who is thus ready at hand for bodily deeds, presses upon our thoughts with all the more exceeding snares. PETER: It is a very laborious and terrible thing to be forever intent against the snares of the enemy, and continually to stand as it were in the battle-line. GREGORY: It will not be laborious, if we ascribe our guardianship not to ourselves but to grace from on high; yet in such a way that we too, as far as we are able, keep watch under its protection.
86:3
Si autem antiquus hostis a mente coeperit expelli, ex divina largitate plerumque agitur, ut non solum jam timeri non tlebeat, sed ipse etiam beno viventium virtute terreatur.
但若那古仇之敵開始被逐出心靈，這多半是出於天主的慷慨賜與，以致他如今不僅不再當被懼怕，反而他自己竟因那些善度生活之人的德能而戰慄。
But if the ancient enemy begins to be driven from the mind, it comes to pass for the most part out of the divine bounty, that not only should he now not be feared, but he himself is even terrified by the virtue of those who live well.