第43章 THE EUPHORBIA(5)

"Know, my brothers, that the penance I endure is barely equal to the temptations which are sent me, the number and force of which astound me.A man, viewed externally, is but small, and, from the height of the pillar to which God has called me, I see human beings moving about like ants.But, considered internally, man is immense; he is as large as the world, for he contains it.All that is spread before me--these monasteries, these inns, the boats on the river, the villages, and what I see in the distance of fields, canals, sand, and mountains--is nothing in respect to what is in me.I carry in my heart countless cities and illimitable deserts.And evil--evil and death--spread over this immensity, cover them all, as night covers the earth.I am, in myself alone, a universe of evil thoughts."He spoke thus because the desire for woman was in him.

The seventh month, there came from Alexandria, Bubastis and Sais, women who had long been barren, hoping to obtain children by the intercession of the holy man and the virtues of his pillar.They rubbed their sterile bodies against the stone.There followed a procession, as far as the eye could reach, of chariots, palanquins, and litters, which stopped and pushed and jostled below the man of God.From them came sick people terrible to see.Mothers brought to Paphnutius young boys whose limbs were twisted, their eyes starting, their mouth foaming, their voices hoarse.He laid his hands upon them.

Blind men approached, groping with their hands, and raising towards him a face pierced with two bleeding holes.Paralytics displayed before him the heavy immobility, the deadly emaciation, and the hideous contractions of their limbs; lame men showed him their club feet; women with cancer, holding their bosoms with both hands, uncovered before him their breasts devoured by the invisible vulture.

Dropsical women, swollen like wine skins were placed on the ground before him.He blessed them.Nubians, afflicted with elephantiasis, advanced with heavy steps and looked at him with streaming eyes and expressionless countenances.He made the sign of the cross over them.

A young girl of Aphroditopolis was brought to him on a litter; after having vomited blood, she had slept for three days.She looked like a waxen image, and her parents, who thought she was dead, had placed a palm leaf on her breast.Paphnutius having prayed to God, the young girl raised her head and opened her eyes.

As the people reported everywhere the miracles which the saint had performed, unfortunate persons afflicted with that disease which the Greeks call "the divine malady," came from all parts of Egypt in incalculable legions.As soon as they saw the pillar, they were seized with convulsions, rolled on the ground, writhed, and twisted themselves into a ball.And--though it is hardly to be believed--the persons present were in their turn seized with a violent delirium, and imitated the contortions of the epileptics.Monks and pilgrims, men and women, wallowed and struggled pell-mell, their limbs twisted, foaming at the mouth, eating handfuls of earth and prophesying.And Paphnutius at the top of his pillar felt a thrill of horror pass through him, and cried to God--"I am the scapegoat, and I take upon me all the impurities of these people, and that is why, Lord, my body is filled with evil spirits."Every time that a sick person went away healed, the people applauded, carried him in triumph, and ceased not to repeat--"We behold another well of Siloam!"

Hundreds of crutches already hung round the wonderful column; grateful women suspended wreaths and votive images there.Some of the Greeks inscribed distiches, and as every pilgrim carved his name, the stone was soon covered as high as a man could reach with an infinity of Latin, Greek, Coptic, Punic, Hebrew, Syrian, and magic characters.

When the feast of Easter came there was such an affluence of people to this city of miracles that old men thought that the days of the ancient mysteries had returned.All sorts of people, in all sorts of costumes, were to be seen there; the striped robes of the Egyptians, the burnoose of the Arabs, the white drawers of the Nubians, the short cloak of the Greeks, the long toga of the Romans, the scarlet breeches of the barbarians, the gold-spangled robes of the courtesans.A veiled woman would pass on an ass, preceded by black eunuchs, who cleared a passage for her by the free use of their sticks.Acrobats, having spread a carpet on the ground, juggled and performed skilful tricks before a circle of silent spectators.Snake-charmers unrolled their living girdles.A glittering, dusty, noisy, chattering crowd! The curses of the camel-drivers beating the animals; the cries of the hawkers who sold amulets against leprosy and the evil eye; the psalmody of the monks reciting verses of the Bible; the shrieking of the women who were prophesying; the shouting of the beggars singing old songs of the harem; the bleating of sheep; the braying of asses;the sailors calling tardy passengers; all these confused noises caused a deafening uproar, over which dominated the strident voices of the little naked negro boys, running about everywhere selling fresh dates.

And all these human beings stifled under the white sky, in a heavy atmosphere laden with the perfumes of women, the odour of negroes, the fumes of cooking and the smoke of gums, which the devotees bought of the shepherds to burn before the saint.