Reverends (mem. November 19). The lives of these saints, as well as Father I. King Abner, are narrated in a hagiographical work, complete in Greek. the title of which is “A Soulful Tale (῾Ιστορία ψυχωφελής), from the eastern Ethiopian country called India, to the holy city of Jerusalem brought by John the monk, an honest and virtuous man, from the monastery of St. Sava.” This work, known in scientific literature as “The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph,” reached several. versions that differ from each other.

The plot of the "Tale"

The main character is Tsarevich I., the son of Tsar Abner, a pagan and persecutor of Christians. At the birth of the prince, the royal astrologer (in the Georgian version - 55 Chaldeans) predicted that I. would accept Christ, who was persecuted by his father. faith. The king, wanting to prevent the prediction, ordered to build a separate palace and settle the prince there, so that he would not hear a single word about Christ and his teaching. Having become an adult, the young man begged his father to let him leave the palace. During one of his walks, due to an oversight of the servants, he met a blind man and a leper, learned about illnesses and injuries, and was greatly saddened. Another time I. met a very old man and learned about death. The knowledge acquired by the prince led to him losing faith in life and losing its meaning.

At that time, the wise hermit V. (Balavar) was laboring in the distant desert. By God's revelation, he learned about a young man suffering in search of truth. Coming out of the Sanaar desert (in the 2nd Georgian ed. Sarandib - Ceylon; in the 1st Georgian ed. the country of Sholayti), V., under the guise of a merchant, went to India and, arriving in the city where the prince’s palace was located, announced, that he brought with him a precious stone with miraculous properties to heal diseases. Brought to I., V. began to expound Christ to him. doctrine in the form of parables (Indian origin, their number varies in different versions), and then began to teach him “from the Holy Gospel and the Holy Apostles” (this “catechetical” part is missing in the Georgian versions, apparently, it was borrowed from the original works of St. John of Damascus). From V.’s instructions, the young man understood that the precious stone is faith in Christ, believed in Him and wished to accept the saint. Baptism. Having baptized the prince, V. commanded him to fast and pray and went into the desert. The king, having learned that his son had become a Christian, fell into anger and sorrow. On the advice of one of the nobles, the king arranged a debate about faith between Christians and pagans, at which the magician and sorcerer Nahor appeared under the guise of V. He was going to admit defeat, etc. turn the prince away from Christianity. In a subtle dream, I. learned about the deception and threatened Nahor with fierce execution if he was defeated. Then Nahor made such a speech that he not only defeated the pagans, but also believed in Christ. The text of the speech coincides with the “Apology” of Aristides (attributed according to the Syriac version and represents the Greek text of this work of early Christian apologetics, which was considered lost). Nahor, like the biblical Balaam (Numbers 22), unwittingly made a speech in defense of his opponents, repented, received Baptism and retired into the desert.

The king tried to turn his son away from Christianity and other means, in particular with the help of his wives. beauty, but the prince overcame all temptations. On the advice of the nobles, Abner allocated half of the kingdom to his son. In describing the system of government of the kingdom, the author of the Tale uses the acrostic maxims of the deacon Agapit (VI century). Having become king, I. established Christianity in his country, rebuilt churches and, finally, converted his father to Christ. Soon after Baptism, King Abner reposed, I. left the kingdom and went into the desert in search of his elder teacher. For 2 years he wandered through the desert, enduring misfortunes and temptations, until he found the cave of the monk, who was saving himself in silence. The old man and the young man began to struggle together. When the time of V.’s death approached, he served the liturgy, received the Holy Mysteries, gave I. communion and departed to the Lord. The elder labored in the desert for 70 years out of the 100 he lived. I. remained in the same cave, continuing his desert feat. He stayed in the desert for 35 years and departed to the Lord when he was 60 years old.

I.'s successor in the kingdom, Varakhia, at the direction of a certain hermit, found the incorrupt and fragrant relics of both ascetics in a cave, transferred them to his fatherland and buried them in the church erected by I.

Definition of the genre "Stories"

“The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph” belongs to the genre of “hagiographic novels”, by analogy with “The Romance of Julian”, “Agaphangel”, Christ. versions of “Alexandria”, “The Romance of Cambyses” and others. Researchers of the 19th century. (A. N. Pypin, A. N. Veselovsky, I. Franko), paying attention to the fictional features of the “Tale,” called it a “spiritual novel”; A. S. Orlov wrote about it as a “religious novel” with “parables and anecdotes included in its frame.” In modern In scientific literature, definitions of the “Tale” genre emphasize its hagiographic and edifying aspects. O. V. Tvorogov defines the monument as a “moral story.” According to I. N. Lebedeva, it “was perceived both as fiction and as a biography of real-life ascetics, that is, as a work of the hagiographic genre, as a hagiography.” I. V. Silantyev believes that the genre nature of the “Tale” reflected the struggle between hagiographic and novel principles. The hagiographic plot receives its maximum expression in the story of the prince’s temptation of his wives. beauty. I., despite the tricks of the sorcerer Fevda, emerges victorious from this struggle of spirit and temptations. In the further narration, it is the hagiographic plot of the “Tale” that expands and develops. The researcher believes that “The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph” appears to us “not only as a martyrium, a novel, a hagiography, but also as a teacher’s conversation, or a “spiritual conversation,” as this genre is defined in the work itself.”

Authorship of the "Tale"

remains the subject of scientific debate. Tradition attributes its creation to a certain mon. John from the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified in Palestine, in which, based on later additions to the Greek. It was customary to see St. Petersburg in manuscripts. John of Damascus. However, in the present At the time, there are no compelling arguments for such an identification. It is believed that the novel is based on some revised “Buddhist” traditions, in particular, legends about the life of Prince Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni - Buddha (VI century BC; his first complete biography, “Buddhacharita” by Avaghoshi, was created in the 1st century . according to R.H.). According to another hypothesis, “The Tale” arose independently of the ind. legends to the Center. Asia. Another recently formulated hypothesis comes from complex textual analysis and connects the plot of the work with the history of the spread of Christianity in Nubia.

Study of the "Tale" to the middle. XX century reached a dead end: it was not possible to explain all the facts within the framework of a single hypothesis - too heterogeneous material was found in its editions, many others. The compiler took the elements ready-made from other sources. But none of the researchers doubts that as a whole it was created by one author.

The opinion about the Buddhist prototype received almost complete recognition when D. Zhimar proposed the etymology of the names of the main characters: Ind. Bodhisattva via Arabic. Budhasf (Budisatif) and cargo. Yudasif (Yiwasif) due to a mixture of Arabic. b/y [/] and d/w [/] gave the Greek. and glory Joasaph. Arab. Bilawhar (Bilawhar) through cargo. Balahvar (Balavar) gave after. Greek Βαρλαάμ (Varlaam). The name of King Abner (Greek ᾿Αβεννήρ; Georgian Abenes/Abeneser) apparently goes back to Arab. Junaisar (Van Esbroeck. 1992. P. 221). However, Buddhist legends were not the only basis for the prototype of the Tale. The author used a large number of sources of different origins. Diego do Couto, who first noticed the parallelism between the story of V. and I. and Buddhist texts back in 1612, believed that it was the latter that were influenced by Christ. legends.

According to all versions, the legend takes place in "India". Since among the sources used in the “Tale” there are many parables, for which ind. the origin is undeniably established; scientists have identified this “India” with the one located on the Hindustan Peninsula. Later they began to believe that a certain life of the Buddha was ind. the prototype of the "Tale", and individual realities of the "Tale" go back to Buddhist legends. However, the localization of the scene in India, Shakyamuni’s homeland, is not obvious; in antiquity and the Middle Ages, other countries were often called “India,” primarily those located along the banks of the Red Sea. A.P. Kazhdan believed that in “The Tale” “ India" is called Ethiopia, M. van Esbrouck sees in the name of the place of action in both cargo. editions - “the country of Sholayti” - traces of the name of the area where Buddha was born - Kapilavastu (Van Esbroeck. 1992. P. 224). According to V. M. Lurie, localization of Greek. the text is more accurately revealed as Nubia (report at the Pushkin House in December 2001). This concept is based on the interpretation of the news of John of Biklar about the adoption of Orthodoxy. Christianity in the Nubian state of Makuria in the 6th century. (against the background of Monophysite sources about the baptism of neighboring Napata and Alva) and “Lives of the Coptic Patriarchs” ser. VII century, as well as some data on the archeology of Nubia.

Versions and editions of the "Tale"

The division of versions of the “Tale” is presented as follows. Based on a certain complex of materials from the 6th-7th centuries, possibly brought together in the Pahlavi version (D. Lang), in the 7th-8th centuries. The 1st Arab was created. edition of “The Tale” (a separate line - Hebrew adaptation in the collection “Ben Sira”). The hypothetical edition of the monastery goes back to it. John. M. van Esbrouck identifies him with the Palestinian monk, the author of the Word for the Finding of the Relics of St. Stefan (Georgian), and believes that he wrote in Arabic. However, taking into account Kazhdan’s arguments, it can be assumed that John wrote in Greek in the 7th century.

From Arabic The editors carried out the initial brief. version, “The Wisdom of Balavar” (სიბრმნე ბალავარიანი, c. 9th century). Common cargo. version, “Balavariani” (ბალავარიანი), created in late. X century (published in 1957 by I. Abuladze), also goes back to a special (lost) Arabic. to the original.

Greek version (BHG, N 224 = CPG, N 8120) in part of the manuscripts is attributed to St. John of Damascus. Based on the colophons of certain manuscripts, scientists have come to the conclusion that the Greek. the text is a translation from the Georgian, made by Rev. Euthymius Svyatorets († 1028); Moreover, based on the date of the oldest manuscript (found by B. L. Fonkich in Kyiv in 1979), Greek. the version dates back to no later than 1028, when St. Petersburg died. Euthymius. This conclusion is shared by those scientists who suggest the existence of a larger unknown load. version with many different contents (eg van Esbrouck). However, many researchers doubted the reliability of colophons, and E. Metreveli had reason to believe that St. Evfimy transferred only the cargo. hymn in honor of I. With the colophon of the Venetian manuscript of the 11th century, in which the translated character of the Greek was established. text, had to be taken into account until Fonkich discovered that it was inscribed much later and should date back to the 15th century. Since in the case of St. Euphemia, we could obviously only talk about a translation of very high quality, when it becomes almost impossible to recognize the original language, there are indisputable arguments in favor of the translated nature of the Greek. no text. Kazhdan, in a 1988 article in “History of Byzantine Literature,” insists on dating the work no later than the 10th century.

This filiation of Greek seems to be the most natural for researchers. text: early edition of the mon. John (VII century) is modified into Greek. soil, and some intermediate Greek. editions are translated into Arabic, which is where the 2nd load came from. and Ethiopian. versions.

According to another hypothesis, there was an Arab. the original of the 7th century, which was translated into Greek. and regardless of the load. languages. Quotes from St. John of Damascus (because of which the early boundary of the creation of the Greek edition is transferred to the beginning - mid-8th century) can be considered as interpolation, because in cargo. editorial offices do not have them. Arab-Christ. version (BHO, N 143 = CPG, N 8120) remains unreleased and unstudied. This is not the only Arab. editorial: none of the cargo. editorials cannot go back to the same Arab. the original as the Ethiopian. version translated from Arabic. in the end XVI century (published but not studied). Ethiopian. the text is very similar to the Greek, but it completely lacks quotations from St. John of Damascus. However, the possibility of an early translation into Greek cannot be ruled out. from Arabic original.

So far, none of the hypotheses has received convincing textual or linguistic justification. Cases of direct translation from Arabic. in Greek quite rare. In addition, Arabic Christ has not yet been studied or even read. editors, it is hardly possible to talk about building a convincing scheme for the filiation of versions.

From Greek text of “The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph” later. translations were made into Latin and Old Church Slavonic (11th century), French. (XIII century), Bulgarian and Serbian excerpts from Church Slav. (XIV century), Italian. (“Dialogues of Sidrach and Bocchus”, 15th century). In 1649, Orestes Nesturel translated “The Tale” (from the Slavic version of the Bulgarian edition) into Romanian. language. No later than ser. XVIII century from the same edition mon. Agapius made an abbreviated translation into Novobolg. language (Lebedeva. Tale. P. 67). In the 17th century Sebastian Piskorski translated “The Tale” from Lat. in Polish language (ibid., p. 54).

A. V. Muravyov

Slavic versions

The most ancient glory. the translation of “The Tale” was made from Greek, obviously not earlier than the middle. XI century in Rus' (in Kyiv) or in Constantinople with the cooperation of East Slavic and Bulgarian. translators, in the same center where the Chronicle of George Amartol and the Torment of St. were translated. Artemia (see: Pichkhadze A. A. Linguistic features of ancient Russian translations from Greek // Slavic linguistics: XII International Congress of Slavists: Report of the Russian delegation. M., 1998. pp. 475-488; aka. On the origin glorious translation of the Chronicle of George Amartol // Linguistic source studies and history of the Russian language. The text goes back to the list, the title of which reported the bringing of the “Tale” “to the holy city” by Mon. John from the monastery of St. Savva. This translation has been preserved in a relatively small number of lists, only in the Eastern Slavs. origin no earlier than the beginning. XVI century (senior - RNB. Solov. No. 208/513). The antiquity of the translation is determined both by the proximity of the vocabulary of this edition to the translation of the Chronicle of George Amartol, completed no later than the 11th century, and by the presence of individual parts of the text (parables) in this edition as part of Old Russian. lists of the Prologue (Lebedeva. Tale. pp. 70-89). In the 12th century. “The Tale” (lists from the 13th century) was actively used in the formation of Russian. edition of the Prologue: a number of parables included in it were included in the teaching part of the collection (in the 1st edition - 5 or 6; in the 2nd edition - 5 more), for the hagiographic part, based on the “Tale”, short lives of Varlaam, martyr were written. Antioch (November 16), and the story of the 17th Ind. monks tortured by order of King Abner (Nov. 27). Probably, through the Prologue, a number of parables in this translation became part of the “Golden Chain” (senior, list - late 14th century), “Izmaragd” 2nd edition (lists from the 15th century) and a large number of other collections. Prologue versions of the parables “About the life of peasants” and “About those who go to the Mnish rank” in the middle. XII century served as the source of “The Tale of the Belorized Man” by St. Kirill Turovsky. The plot of the “Parable of the Unicorn” (or “About the Sweetness of this World”) goes back to the “Parable of the Rich, from the Bulgarian Books” as part of Izmaragd 2nd edition.

The oldest edition is presented in its entirety only in Eastern Slav. manuscripts (although we cannot exclude the possibility that parables from it, as part of selections from the Prologue, became famous among the South Slavs in the late 15th - 17th centuries). The existing opinion in literature (Franko, Lebedeva) that the Krekhov list (NB NASU (L). Vas. mon. 419) was written by a Serb (“in the south of Russia”) is erroneous - it is East Slav. a codex with a rather strongly Bulgarianized (which is quite common for the 16th century) spelling (see: Zapasko Ya. P. Memoirs of book mystique: Ukrainian manuscript book. Lviv, 1995. P. 395, No. 103).

No later than con. XV century (senior list - GIM. Bars. 713) on the basis of the ancient translation of “The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph” in Rus' the so-called. Afanasievskaya edition, named after the scribe of the text in the VMC. During editing, the text was significantly shortened due to plot repetitions, and then expanded (mainly with addresses in the form of direct speech to various characters and praise for monks and monastic life); all editorial lists go back to the front original. In the middle - 3rd quarter. XV century “The Tale” served as the plot source for a special (legendary) version of the short Life of St. Savva, Archbishop. Serbian, written in Russian. scribes on the basis of oral traditions specifically for the preface to Kormchay (for the text, see: Belyakova E. V. Justification of autocephaly in Russian Kormchikh // Church in the history of Russia. M., 2000. Coll. 4. pp. 154-157; Kormchay book . M., 1650. L. 26 volumes - 27 volumes of the first account, and later editions of the 17th - early 20th centuries.

In the 13th century in Serbia or on Mount Athos, perhaps on the initiative of St. Savva, Archbishop. Serbian, a new edition of the translation was made (using the oldest one), represented by a significant number of copies (over 50), starting from the 14th century. (senior - Bucharest. BAN of Romania. Slav. 158 [Nyamets 93], from the library of the Nyamets Ascension Monastery, mid-14th century). In con. XIII or 1st quarter. XIV century based on it bolg. translator Elder John, who worked on Mount Athos, in the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius, created a new, corrected edition of the translation of “The Tale”, in the title of which, unlike the previous ones, there is the name of St. John of Damascus. Lists of Bulgarian editions have been known since the 3rd quarter. XIV century, a scribe of one of the earliest (Kishinev. Central State Archive of the Republic of Moldova. f. New Neyametsky Monastery. Op. 2. No. 1) is identified by handwriting with Hierarch. Lawrence, who rewrote the collection (RNB. F. I. 376) for Bulgarian in 1348. Tsar John Alexander (SKSRK, XIV. Issue 1. P. 530, No. 365); in the manuscript tradition, this edition is less common than Serbian. (at least 15 lists are known). No later than the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, during the era of the second South Slavic influence, both South Slavs. editions of the translation become more famous and are more widely distributed in Rus' (most copies of the 15th-17th centuries, both editions, are of Eastern Slavic origin) than the oldest edition. To Serbian manuscripts from the 14th century. (GIM. Novospassk. 11) there is a Russian entry. charter of the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. Senior Russian list of Serbian edition of the translation of “The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph” (RNB. Soph. 1365) dates back to the end. XIV(?) - beginning XV century, Bulgarian - early XV century (BAN. Goodwill. No. 37). In the XV-XVII centuries. its lists (regardless of the edition of the translation) were available in every monastery library of any significance: over 100 Russians are known. manuscripts of the XV-XIX centuries. When compiling the Great Mena of the four Metropolitans. Macarius (1539), the lives of Varlaam and Joasaph were included in them in the Afanasyevsky edition of the oldest edition of the translation, in addition, parables from the “Tale” were included in the prologue readings. In the 16th century Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible and monk Zinovy ​​Otensky used the plots in their writings.

In the 17th century “The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph” was published several times in different versions, in its entirety and in separate parts. Starting from the 1st edition of the Prologue (M., 1641), the parables from the Tale included in it were reprinted many times throughout the 17th-19th centuries. as part of this collection, and under the influence of the printed text they received the widest distribution in the Old Believer handwritten and hectographic tradition (the number of lists of the 18th-19th centuries cannot be counted). In 1637, the printing house of the Kuteinsky Epiphany Monastery near Orsha published an edition of “The Tale” translated into “prosta mov” (“our simple language is Russian”), written by the governor of the Mogilev Brotherhood Monastery, Joasaph Polovk, partly from the Latin. (according to the editorship of Jacques de Billy, from which the breakdown into 40 chapters and the table of contents were borrowed), and partly from glory. language (on the title page it is indicated that the translation was made “from Greek and Slovenian”). The publication is equipped with a preface, “The Song of St. Joasaph, when he went out into the wilderness” and marginal comments. In 1680, in Moscow, in the palace Upper Printing House, “The Tale” was published with a preface, “edge verses in praise of Joasaph” and “a prayer to St. Joasaph, entering the desert" by Simeon of Polotsk and with the service of the venerable one. The Moscow edition contains ancient slavs. the text of the translation of “The Tale”, divided into 40 chapters in accordance with the Kutein edition and provided with a translation of comments borrowed from it. Probably, a poetic preface not included in it, known in a number of copies of the 17th century, was intended for this edition. (BAN. Arkhang. D 527, S 210; RSL. Tikhonr. 380). A special edition of the “Tale”, close to the norms of the hagiographic genre, was created for the 1st volume of his “Book of Lives of Saints” (K., 1689. L. 544 vol. - 562 vol.) by St. Dimitri, Metropolitan Rostovsky. The edition is based on the text from the Great Mena of the Four, abridged mainly due to the lengthy speeches of the characters. The Moscow and Kiev editions became widespread in the handwritten tradition of the book. XVII - XIX centuries (despite the fact that the latter was reprinted many times). “The Prayer of Joasaph the Prince” from ed. 1680 firmly entered the Russian repertoire. spiritual poems, is known in dozens of lists and in folklore records. In the 1st quarter XVIII century (approximately between 1707 and 1721) on the plot of V. and I. (the direct source was probably the edition of St. Demetrius of Rostov) a play was written for the theater of Princess Natalia Alekseevna, from whom recordings of 3 roles have been preserved: educator (“pestun”) I. Zardan, physician and successor to the prince on the throne of Varakhia in the BAN manuscript. Ustyug 29 (Plays of the capital and provincial theaters of the 1st half of the 18th century. M., 1975. P. 185, 621-623, 633). In the 19th century “The Tale” was published in Russian translation. language for popular reading, in 1911 an Old Believer edition was published. Afanasyevsky edition with 10 miniatures in color. The plots of the “Tale” became widespread in spiritual poems (A. P. Kadlubovsky. On the history of Russian spiritual poems about Tsarevich Joasaph // RFV. 1915. T. 80. No. 2. P. 224-248) and in popular prints (Rovinsky. Folk pictures. Book 3. pp. 64-66, 561-564, 689; book 4. pp. 534, 738-748).

A. A. Turilov

Publisher: Greek: John Damascene, St. Barlaam and Joasaph / Ed. G. R. Woodward, H. Mattingly. Camb. (Mass.); L., 1937, 1967r; Georgian: ბალავარიანი / Ed. E. Takaishvili. Tbilisi, 1895; Khakhanashvili A. Balavar and Jodasaph // Tr. in Oriental Studies. 1902. Book. 9; Janashvili M. Description of the manuscripts of the Tbilisi Church. museum. Tbilisi, 1908. T. 3. P. 28-44; Abuladze I. ბალავარიანის ჟართული რედაკციები. Tbilisi, 1957; Arabic: Gimaret D. Le livre de Bilawhar et Bûdâsf selon la version arabe ismaélienne. Gen.; P., 1971; Gimaret D. Bilavhar and Budasf. Beirut, 1972 (in Arabic); Dorn B. Über eine Handschrift der arab. Bearb. des Josaphat und Barlaam // Bull. hist.-philol. de L "Académie de St.-Pb. 1852. T. 9. P. 313-323. (BHO, N 143); Armenian: Ter-Movsesyan M. [ Spiritual history of the life of Joasaph, son of the Indian king], Valarshapat, 1897. (BHO, N 141-142); Ethiopian: Bâralâm and Yewâsef, being the Ethiopic Version of a Christianized recension of the Buddhist legend of the Buddha and the Bodhisatva / Ed. by E. A. Wallis Budge., 1923. Amst., 1976r. vol. research and commentary by I. N. Lebedeva, 1984; 12th century. M., 197-226; -546; Russian: The story of the venerable and God-bearing fathers Barlaam and Joasaph, compiled by St. John of Damascus: translated from ancient parchment manuscripts stored on Mount Athos, I. . Wisdom of Balavar // ZVORAO. 11. pp. 1-48 (republished: Javakhishvili I. A . Cargo history questions. language and literature. Tbilisi, 1956); Balavariani. Wisdom of Balavar / Preface. and ed. I. V. Abuladze. Tbilisi, 1962 [research. and lane both eds.].

Lit.: Liebrecht F. Die Quellen des "Barlaam und Josaphat" // Jb. f. romanische und englische Literatur. 1860. Bd. 2. S. 314-384; Kirpichnikov A. AND . Greek novels in new literature: The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph. H., 1876; Veselovsky A. N. Byzantine stories and Varlaam and Joasaph // ZhMNP. 1877. No. 7. P. 122-154; Zotenberg H. Notice sur le text et les versions orientales du livre de Barlaam et Joasaphat // Notices et extraits des mss de la Bibliothèque Nat. 1887. T. 28/1. P. 1-166; Franko I. Barlaam and Joasaph - an old Christian spiritual novel i yogo lit. history. Lviv, 1895-1897; Rabbow P. Die Legende des Martinian // Wiener St. 1896.Jg. 17. S. 253-293; Marr N. I . Armenian-Georgian materials for the history of the Soulful Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph // ZVORAO. 1899. T. 11. P. 74-76; Wahren S. J. De grieksch-christelijke roman Barlaam en Ioasaf en zijne parabels. Rotterdam, 1899; Peters P. La premiere trad. lat. de "Barlaam et Joasaph" et son original grec // AnBoll. 1931. T. 49. P. 276-312; Wolff R. L. Barlaam and Joasaph // HarvTR. 1939. Vol. 32. P. 131-139; D ö lger F . Der griechische Barlaam-Roman: Ein Werk des H. Johannes von Damaskos. Ettal, 1953; Lang D. M. St. Euthymius the Georgian and the Barlaam and Joasaph Romance // BSOAS. 1955. Vol. 17. P. 306-325; Nutsubidze X. To the origin of the Greek. novel "Barlaam and Joasaph". Tbilisi, 1956; Devos P. Les origines du “Barlaam et Joasaph” grec // AnBoll. 1957. T. 75. P. 83-104; Bolton W. F. Parable, Allegory and Romance in the Legend of Barlaam and Joasaphat // Traditio. 1958. Vol. 14. P. 359-368; Garitte G. Le témoignage de Georges l"Hagiorite sur l"origine du "Barlaam" grec // Le Muséon. 1958. T. 71. P. 57-63; Tarchnishvili M. Les deux recensions du “Barlaam” géorgien // Ibid. P. 65-86; Van Lantschoot A. Deux paraboles syriaques: (Roman de Barlaam et Joasaph) // Le Muséon. 1966. T. 79. P. 133-154; Lang D. M. Oriental Materials on the Georgian “Balavariani” // Bedi Kartlisa. 1971. T. 28. P. 121; Fonki č B. L. Un “Barlaam et Joasaph” grec daté de 1021 // AnBoll. 1973. T. 91. P. 13-20; Fonkich B. L. On the dating of the Venice and Paris lists in Greek. versions of “Barlaam and Joasaph” // Byzantine. essays. M., 1977. S. 210-215; Kuznetsov B. M. The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph: On the question of origin // TODRL. 1979. T. 33. P. 245-248; Khintibidze E. G . The latest works on the origin of the Greek novel “Barlaam and Joasaph” // Caucasus and Byzantium. Yerevan, 1980. Vol. 2. P. 91-97; Metreveli E. Du nouveau sur l "Hymne de Joasaph // Le Muséon. 1987. T. 100. P. 251-258; Kazhdan A. Where, when and by whom was the Greek Barlaam and Joasaph not written // Zu Alexander d. Gr. Festschr. G. Wirth. Amst., 1988. Bd. 2. S. 1187-1209 (то же: idem . Author and Text in Byzantium. Aldershot, 1993. Pt. IX); Κορδόσης Μ . «̀ρδβλθυοτεΑλλη ᾿Ινδική» καί νῆσος “Διβοῦς” τοῦ Θιλοστοργίου // ῾Ιστορικογεωγραφικά. 1988. T. 2. P. 167-178; e M. Barlaam et Joasaph: la conversion du héros et du roman // Le monde du roman grec. P. 259-282; Van Esbroeck M. La sagesse de Balavar à travers la tradition géorgienne // Sagesses de l "orient ancien et chrétien / Éd. R. Lebrun. P., 1992; Aerts W. J. Einige Überlegungen zur Sprache und Zeit der Abfassung des griechischen Romans “Barlaam und Joasaph” // Die Begegnung des Westens mit Osten. Sigmaringen, 1993. S. 364; Volk R. Urtext und Modifikationen des griechischen Barlaam-Romans // BZ. 1993. Bd. 86/87. S. 460; Silantiev I. IN . The story of Barlaam and Joasaph is medieval. encyclopedia of genres // Philol. Sciences. 1995. No. 5/6; Badenas P. La estructura narrativa de la versión bizantina de la historia de Barlaam y Josafat // Augustinianum. 1996. T. 36. P. 213-229; Khintibidze E. New Materials on the Origins of “Barlaam and Ioasaph” // OCP. 1997. Vol. 63. P. 491-501; Kazhdan A. P., Sherry L. F., Angelidi H. History of Byzantium. liters. St. Petersburg, 2002. pp. 132-145.

Hymnography

In Greek the service of V. and I. is not found in liturgical manuscripts (Archbishop Sergius (Spassky) provides evidence of the existence of the canon of V. and I. in the Greek manuscript - Sergius (Spassky). Monthsword. T. 3. pp. 476-477).

The service of V. and I., placed in the modern. rus. printed Menea, was compiled at the end. XVI century Markell (Bezborod) (Spassky F. G. Russian liturgical creativity. P., 1951. P. 44-49). In the old printed Moscow Typicons there are 2 troparions and 2 kontakia (one V., others I.-M., 1610. L. 110 vol.- 111 vol.; M., 1633. L. 263 vol.- 264). In Russian oven The Menaia in the 1645 edition indicates the performance of the polyeleos service. At “Lord I cried” it is determined to sing stichera at 6 (an older practice of performing the polyeleos service); on praises the stichera with “Lord, I cried” are repeated; magnification - only I. (common to the venerable). The same service is given in modern times. oven Minee. In the chants of the service, I. is mainly glorified, and V. is only mentioned as I.’s mentor: perhaps the reason for writing the service was the namesake of Marcellus’s contemporaries - abbot. Joasaph (who participated in the discovery of the relics of St. Nikita of Novgorod in 1558) or Metropolitan. Moscow Joasaph.

In modern Greek Menea is the memory of V. May 30 (he is mentioned after the 6th song of the canon), I. Aug. 26. (mentioned after the 6th song of the canon, there are poems to him).

In the Typicon currently used in the Russian Orthodox Church, the memory of V. and I. is given after the service of the daily saints, the doxology is indicated, the troparion and kontakion are written out, and the following is added: “”. In the Menaion, after V.'s succession, a polyeleos succession is given to the saints. The body of chants includes the troparion of the 4th tone: “”; kontakion of the 8th tone: “” (this is only the troparion and kontakion of I.; in the old printed Typicons, the troparion of V. of the 8th tone was also given: “” (general) and kontakion of the 6th tone: “”; troparion of I.: “ "); canon of the 8th tone with the acrostic "" (i.e.; in the Menaion the acrostic is not written out completely), irmos: " ", start: " "; 4 are self-concordant (of which one is a common stichera by I.: “”, and the other is the same stichera in the plural); 2 groups of similar.

At the liturgy: prokeimenon in the 7th tone (Ps 63.11a), apostolic reading (Col 1.12-18), alleluia in the 5th tone, Gospel Matthew 13.45-54a (the parable of the merchant looking for good beads - rare the reading, the beginning of which (chapter 55 “from the floor”) is no longer noted in the liturgical Gospel, and therefore this reading is usually designated as 13.44-54a), is involved (Ps. 115.6).

The MP also contains one more sequence, in which V. and I. are jointly glorified. The service is polyeleos, without litia, like the 1st; at Matins there are no indications of the prokeimenon, the Gospel and the stichera according to Ps 50 (apparently, it is implied that they must be taken from the 1st service). The corpus of chants has almost no overlap with the 1st service: the troparia are the same as those given in the old printed Typicons, there is only one kontakion, as in the 1st service; canon 8th tone, irmos: “ ", start: " "; 3 samoglas (in the text of one of them - “” - there are clear parallels with the 1st stichera on “Lord, I cried” in the 6th voice in the 1st service); 3 groups of similar ones. “According to the sacramental verse,” the spiritual verse “” is given as a stichera in the 2nd tone, similar to “Ever from the tree.” There are instructions for performing the vigil service (it is supposed to combine chants from both sequences).

A. A. Lukashevich

Iconography

In “Erminia” by Dionysius Furnoagrafiot (beginning of the 18th century), V. and I. are prescribed to be depicted as hermits, in monastic robes (Part 3. § 13. No. 51, 52). V. is an old man with a gray wedge-shaped beard, in the schema, I. is an ind. Tsarevich, young, with a bushy beard, wearing a crown. Single images of V. and I. appear late. In the row of holy monks they are depicted in c. Virgin Mary in the Studenica monastery (1208-1209, Serbia), in the c. Dormition of the Virgin Mary on Volotovo Field (late 14th century), on the pre-altar pillar of the Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok in Zvenigorod (1399-1400), on the altar barrier of the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin (1482), to the east. northern slope arches in the Nativity Cathedral of the Ferapontov Monastery (1502), in the paintings of the Cathedral of St. Archangels Monastery of Dokhiar (1568) and the refectory of the Monastery of Hilandar (1621) on Mount Athos; their images are presented on a tablet icon from the Cathedral of St. Sophia of Novgorod (late 15th century, NGOMZ).

Usually V. and I. are depicted side by side in a slight turn towards each other: Elder V. talks with I. about Christ. faith; This is evidenced by the text on V.’s scroll: “I will tell your child the priceless beads.” This story was written in Russian. icon of the 17th century (CMiAR), where the saints are presented against a fantastic oriental background. architecture. The same scene is depicted in the engravings of 2 Cyrillic editions of the 17th century. (Kuteino, 1637; M., 1680).

Illustrations for “The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph” have an earlier and broader visual tradition. 6 illuminated Greek images have survived. manuscripts, the oldest of which dates back to the 11th century. (Hieros. Patr. Cod. 42). As S. Der-Nersesyan established, there are 2 options for illustrating this text: in the first, only the narrative part is decorated with miniatures, in the other - narrative and theological (Paris. gr. 1128, XIV century (211 miniatures)). The most common is option 1. Some manuscripts of this type contain a large number of illustrations (Canatr. S. Trin. Cod. 338, late XII - early XIII century (93 miniatures); Iver. gr. 463, XIII century (80 miniatures)) .

Particularly popular in the Middle Ages. art used V.'s parables, in which the elder revealed to I. the foundations of Christ. life. These subjects appeared in illustrations for the Tale, in miniatures of the Psalter, in paintings, on icons, and in works of plastic art. The most common “Parable of the Unicorn” (“About the sweetness of this world”): a man, running away from a unicorn (alien), symbolizing death, falls into a ditch, but grabs a tree, the root of which is undermined by white and black mice, at the bottom Snakes and adders lie in wait for its moat, and rare drops of honey fall from the branches of the tree. The ditch represents the whole world, the tree represents human life, the white and black mice represent day and night, the snake and adder represent hell, the drops of honey represent the sweetness of this world; while enjoying this, a person forgets about the transience of earthly life and the eternal torment that threatens him.

From the Orthodox Church glory countries, the practice of illustrating “The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph” (both the entire text and individual plots) became widespread only in Rus', where it has a long and developed tradition. The most popular was "The Parable of the Unicorn", the earliest example being a drawing with tint on the sheet. 38 rev. Western Russian Lavrash Gospel beginning. XIV century (Krakow. Church named after Chertoryski. No. 2097 IV), where, in addition to the plot of the parable, V. is also depicted. Somewhat younger than this image is the mark of the Vasilyevsky Gate (1336; southern portal of the Trinity Cathedral in Alexandrov). In the miniatures of the Kyiv Psalter of 1397 and in the repeating miniatures of the Uglich Psalter of the 15th century. this parable illustrates Ps. 143. On the icon from the Solovetsky Monastery “Reverend Zosima and Savvatiy in the Life” (mid-16th century, GMMC) one of the marks under the middle is written on this subject. Various edifying scenes, drawn from the Prologue and Patericon, in the 16th-17th centuries. often depicted on the doors to the altar. On the left wing of the door to the altar of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod (XVII century) in 2 hallmarks are presented “The Conversation of Barlaam and Joasaph” and “The Parable of the Foreigner.” Evidence of the popularity of the plot can be seen in the penetration of its motifs into decorative and applied art: it is found on tiles of the 17th century. (west gallery of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Tolchkovo, Yaroslavl, 1687).

The plot of this parable was widely used in Western Europe. medieval art, for example, the image of a man in the branches of a tree is found among the reliefs of the Baptistery in Parma (c. 1300) and the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice (2nd half of the 14th century).

In con. XVII-XIX centuries parables from the “Tale” are illustrated as part of collections (mainly of Old Believer origin) along with stories from the “Great Mirror”, and their number cannot be counted (for example, GIM. Muz. 72. L. 123 vol. - 135, early XVIII c., - “Parables about three friends and this temporary age” (5 miniatures); No. 4. L. 181 volume - 187, 1766; same. No. 80. L. 371-382, 80s of the 18th century, - “The Parable of the Three Friends” (11 miniatures)). In the XVII - early XX century illustrations for them are widely used in popular prints (Rovinsky. Folk pictures. Book 3. pp. 64-66, 561-564, 689. Book 4. pp. 534, 738-748).

Illustrated (in whole or in part) lists of the text of the story are known in Rus' no later than the 15th century. This is indicated by the cinnabar captions to the unfinished miniatures in the copies of the Afanasyevsky edition of the Tale, dating back to the illustrated protograph, erroneously interpreted by later scribes as headings (at least 29 subjects). The oldest surviving list is the Krekhov list, middle - 2nd half. XVI century (NB NANU (L). Vas. mon. 419), containing 11 pen drawings and 80 places left for miniatures (Zapasko Ya. P. S. 394, 397.). The number of face lists of the “Tale” of the 17th-18th centuries. quite large and distinguished by rich iconography. Among them, the manuscript of 1629, written in Samara and containing 223 miniatures (RNL. Q. XVII (45)), stands out; the names of the scribe, Priest Afanasy, and the artist, Peter, are known. 88 miniatures by the icon painter Theodore Vasilyev Ryabukhin and his son Theodore contain a manuscript written in 1649-1650. in Kazan (State Historical Museum. Music. 332). Contemporary to it (50s of the 17th century) is a richly illustrated Moscow list (BAN. Collection of Peter I. Part I. No. 26) from the library of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (Uspensky V., Pisarev S. The personal life of St. Joasaph, Prince of India, St. Petersburg, 1908). The Old Believer manuscript of the last is decorated with 193 miniatures. third of the 18th century (RNB. Egor. No. 156). Russian iconography lists of the “Tale” (both complete and individual parables) and its relationship to the Greek. traditions remain unexplored.

The veneration of V. and I. as virtuous ascetics led to their appearance in Russian. iconography of the Last Judgment of the XVI-XVII centuries. in the scene of the ascension to the heavenly abodes of monks depicted with wings. This scene is contrasted with the overthrow of the demons of the arch. Michael (for example, Solvychegodsk icon, 16th century (SIHM); Novgorod icon, 16th century (NGOMZ)); frescoes of the Trinity (Pokrovsky) Cathedral in Alexandrov, etc.).

N. V. Kvlividze, A. A. Turilov

BOOKS VARLAM. A SOULIFYING IMAGE FROM THE MORNING ETHIOPIAN COUNTRY, THE VERBAL INDIAN COUNTRY, TO THE HOLY CITY BROUGHT BY JOHN MNICH AND AN HONEST AND VIRTUOUS HUSBAND FROM THE MONASTERY OF SAINT SAV Y

THE BOOKS CALLED BARLAM, A SOULFUL STORY, FROM THE EASTERN ETHIOPIC COUNTRY CALLED INDIA, TO THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM BROUGHT BY JOHN, A MONK, AN HONEST AND VIRTUOUS HUSBAND, FROM THE MONASTERY OF SAINT SAVA

<...>The Indian country is far away from Egypt, it is great in existence and many people.<...>A certain king arose in that country named Abner and led with wealth and power<...>evil about the devilish charms of diligence<...>When he was born as a teenager, he was born red<...>Joasaph will call his name<...>On the same feast of birth, the youths came to the king's choice of men who were up to fifty and five, from the Chaldeans they learned wisdom about the stellar currents<...>One of the astrologers with them, the oldest and wisest of them all, said: “As the stellar currents teach me, O king, haste<...>Now your child, who is born, will not be in your kingdom, but in something better<...>I think you and I are persecuting the peasants in faith to accept him...”

<...>The country called Indian lies far from Egypt, is large and populous.<...>A certain king named Abner, great in wealth and power, ruled in that country.<...>He was very devoted to demonic delusion.<...>He had a wonderful son<...>The king called him Joasaph<...>On the very feast day of the boy’s birth, fifty-five chosen men, taught the Chaldean wisdom of stargazing, came to the king<...>One of these stargazers, the oldest and wisest, said: “As the movements of the stars tell me, O king, prosperity<...>Your son who is now born will not be in your kingdom, but in another, better one.<...>I think that he will accept the Christian faith that you persecute..."

The king, having heard this, turned his sadness into joy. In the city of Domos, the polat created a special red<...>That youth was brought in after the end of his first life, and he was not ordered to be anything less than commanded, but the nurse and the servants made the young people stand up and look red, forbidding them to show him nothing of this life, nor to do sorrowful things.<...>, Yes<...>from any bad word about Christ and his teaching and about the law, let him hear<...>

The king, hearing about this, fell into sadness instead of joy. Having built a secluded beautiful palace in the city of Domos, he placed his son there as soon as he left childhood; and ordered that the prince not go out anywhere, and assigned young and most beautiful people to him as educators and servants, forbidding them to tell him about life, about its sorrows<...>, to<...>he did not hear a single word about Christ, his teaching and law<...>

At that time I was wise about the divine, adorned with life and words<...>Varlam be the name of this old man. Therefore, by revelation to some from God, he was informed about the son of the king. I came to him from the desert,<...>He put on the worldly garments and the whole body, having come to the kingdom of India and becoming a merchant, he came to that city, where the king’s son was named<...>An individual has come, verb<...>: «<...>I am a merchant<...>Imam Kamyk is honest, his likeness cannot be found anywhere,<...>may the blind at heart grant light to the wise and open the ears of the deaf and give a voice to the dumb<...>»

There was at that time a certain monk, wise in divine teaching, adorned with holy life and eloquence<...>Varlaam was the name of that old man. By divine revelation it was given to him to learn about the king's son. Leaving the desert<...>He dressed in worldly clothes and, boarding a ship, arrived in the Indian kingdom, pretended to be a merchant and came to the city where the prince lived in the palace<...>Arriving one day, Varlaam said<...>: “I am a merchant<...>I have a precious stone, the like of which is not found anywhere;<...>He can give the light of wisdom to those who are blind at heart, open the ears of the deaf, give a voice to the dumb<...>»

The verb of Yasaf to the elder: “Show me the valuable Kamyk<...>I am looking for words to hear that are new and good<...>»

Joasaph said to the old man: “Show me the precious stone<...>I want to hear a new and good word<...>»

And Varlam said: “<...>Because a certain king is great and glorious, let him march in a gilded chariot and around his armor, as befits a king; to put two husbands in torn vestments and the creature was covered with nasty clothes, but her face was thin and she had turned very pale. But the king knew this, through bodily weariness and fasting labor and then through his body. As soon as I saw him, he jumped off the chariot and fell to the ground, bowed to him and, getting up, I embraced him with love and kissed him. His nobleman and the prince are indignant about this, as it is unworthy of royal glory to give to those who understand. Do not dare to denounce him in front of his sincere brother, but speak to the Tsarina and not disturb the height and glory of the Tsar’s crown. Therefore, speaking to my brother, indignant at his bad vanity, the king will give him an answer, but his brother does not understand.

And Varlaam answered: “<...>There was a certain great and glorious king, he once rode on a golden chariot and was surrounded by guards, as befits kings; he met two people dressed in torn and dirty clothes, with haggard and pale faces. The king knew them, who had exhausted their flesh through bodily exhaustion, labor and the sweat of fasting. As soon as he saw them, he immediately got off the chariot and, falling to the ground, bowed to them; rising, he embraced them with love and kissed them. His nobles and princes were indignant at this, believing that he did this unworthy of royal greatness. Not daring to denounce him directly, they persuaded his brother to tell the king not to offend the greatness and glory of the royal crown. When the brother told the king about this, indignant at his inappropriate humiliation, the king gave him an answer, which the brother did not understand.

It is customary for that king, when you give a mortal answer to whom, you send preachers to his gates to hear what is said through the trumpet of death, and with the voice of the trumpet I understand everything that is to blame for death. When evening came, the king sent the trumpet of death to sound at the door of his brother's house. It was as if he heard the trumpet of death, wondering about his stomach and thinking about himself all night. When the morning came, he put on thin and tearful clothes, went with his wife and children to the Tsar’s quarters and stood at the door, crying and sobbing.

And that king had a custom: when he pronounced a death sentence on someone, he sent a herald to the door of this person with a trumpet of death to announce the sentence, and by the sound of the trumpet everyone knew that he was condemned to death. And when evening came, the king sent the trumpet of death to sound at the door of his brother's house. When he heard the trumpet of death, he despaired of his salvation and spent the whole night thinking about himself. When morning came, he, dressed in miserable and mourning clothes, went with his wife and children to the royal palace and stood at the door, crying and sobbing.

The king brought him to himself and saw this and sobbed, saying to him: “O foolish and mad man, how you were so afraid of the monk, like-born and like your brother, who sinned against him, knowing what kind of vision you brought on me, in humility who kissed me and the preacher of my God louder than the trumpet, who called me the death and terrible death of my Lord, for I knew many and great sins. Therefore, now, denouncing your foolishness, I have conceived plans in this way, and I will soon denounce them in the same way with you. And having thus pleased his brother and shown him, he let him into his house.

The king brought him to him and, seeing him sobbing, said to him: “O stupid and insane, if you were so afraid of the herald of your half-brother and equal in honor to you, before whom you do not know any of your guilt, then how could you reproach me for that I humbly greeted the heralds of my God, louder than a trumpet, announcing to me death and a terrible appearance before my Master, before whom I recognize many and serious sins in myself. This is how I decided to deal with you, so that now I can expose your foolishness, and also those who, together with you, advised to reproach me, I will soon openly expose.” And having thus admonished his brother, he sent him away to his house.

The king commanded to build four arks from the tree, cover two with gold and put stinking dead bones in them, and use gold nails to nail them. Anoint the other two with resin and ash and fill the kamyk of honest ones and valuable beads, filling all with the fragrant stench. Obliging the hair snakes and calling the nobles, who saw the king with two humble husbands, set four arks before them, and judge whether the colic is worthy of eating gold, or the colic that is tarred. She condemned me with two pieces of gold to a multitude of prices worthy of food, for I am afraid that the crowns and belts of the kingdom are invested in her. Anointed with pitch and ashes of small and thin prices, she is worthy of eating the verb. The king spoke to them: “I have seen, as you say so, with your sensitive eyes you understand a sensitive image, but it is not proper to do such things, but with the morning eyes it is proper to see what lies within, whether it is honor or dishonesty.”

And the king ordered to make four arks of wood, gild two of them and put the stinking bones of the dead in them, hammering them with gold nails; the other two, coated with resin and tar, filled with precious stones, expensive pearls, anointing them with all sorts of incense. Having tied the arks with hair ropes, the king called the nobles who condemned him for the humble greeting of those two men, and placed four arks in front of them so that they could appreciate the merits of the gilded and tarred arks. They valued the two gilded ones as worthy of the highest price, because they believed that royal crowns and belts were embedded in them. About the arks, coated with pitch and tar, they said that they were worthy of a small and insignificant price. Then the king said to them: “I knew that you would say this, for, having superficial vision, you perceive only an external image; but this is not how one should act, but with one’s inner vision one should see what is hidden inside - whether it is valuable or valueless.”

And the king commanded to open the gold of the ark. When the ark was opened, an evil stench wafted out of it, and the appearance was dim. The king said: “Behold, the image is in bright and glorious clothes, proud of much glory and power, and inside are dead, stinking bones and doing evil deeds.” Tache ordered the holes to be tarred and anointed with backing. When she was opened to those who existed, she was all joyful about the lightness that lay within her, and a fragrance emanated from her. The king said to them: “Do you know who this ark is like? It is similar to the nature of the humble and dumb, and in thin vestments, clothed, whose outer image you see, the annoyance of replacing my face with her is my worship to the ground. With reasonable eyes I understood their kindness and spiritual honor, marveling at their touch, better than a crown and better than a king’s honor, the most honest imputation. Thus, by disgracing my nobleman, I taught him not to be offended by the visible, and to pay heed to the intelligent.”<...>

And the king ordered the gilded arks to be opened. As soon as the arks were opened, a terrible stench wafted from there and the ugly was revealed to the eyes. And the king said: “This is the likeness of those who are clothed in sparkling and expensive clothes and are proud of their glory and power, but inside are full of dead and stinking bones and evil deeds.” Then he ordered the arks covered with pitch and tar to be opened. And when they were opened, everyone was amazed at the beautiful sight of what was lying in them, and a fragrance emanated from them. And the king said to the nobles: “Do you know what these arks are like? They are like those two humble and clothed in miserable clothes; But you, seeing their outward appearance, reviled me because I bowed to the ground in front of them. But I, having recognized with rational eyes their nobility and spiritual beauty, considered it an honor for myself to touch them, considering them more valuable than the royal crown and better than the royal clothes.” Thus the king put his nobles to shame and taught them not to be deceived by what is visible, but to listen to what is reasonable.”<...>

Joasaph answered him: “Great and wondrous things you have said about man<...>What should we do to avoid the torments prepared for sinners and be rewarded with joy as a righteous person?”<...>

Joasaph answered him: “You speak great and wondrous words, O man.<...>What should we do to avoid the torment prepared for sinners and to be rewarded with the joy of the righteous?”<...>

Varlam quickly answered: “<...>For to those who exist in the foolishness of God, darkness is also spiritual death or working as an idol for natural destruction<...>To whom I will liken and what kind of image I will present of those who do not understand, and I will add to the parable that some wise men spoke to me. It is said that like the idols of those who bow down to the man who made the mold, they are one of the small birds, like this nightingale. Let us take the knife, slaughter it with poison, and the nightingale’s voice will be heard, and the verb to the sculptor: “Why are you crawling, man, about my slaughter? If you cannot fill your belly with me, if you free me from these bonds, I will give you three commandments. If you keep it, your crawl will be greater than your belly. He wondered at the bird’s words that he would soon free it from its bonds. Having returned, the nightingale said to man: “Never begin to accept anything from those who have not been accepted, begin to eat, and do not repent of things that pass by, and never believe in your word untrue to them. So keep the three commandments and be good.”

Varlaam answered again: “<...>He who does not know God remains in darkness and spiritual death and in enslavement to idols for the destruction of all nature.<...>To compare and express the ignorance of such people, I will tell you a parable told to me by one of the wisest people. He said that those who worship idols are like a bird catcher who, having set a snare, once caught a small bird called a nightingale. Taking a knife, he was about to stab her to eat, when suddenly the nightingale spoke in a human voice and said to the bird-catcher: “What good will it do you, man, if you kill me? After all, you won’t even be able to fill your stomach with me, but if you free me from the snare, then I will give you three commandments. By observing them, you will gain great benefit throughout your life.” The birdcatcher marveled at the nightingale’s speech and promised that he would free him from his bonds. Turning around, the nightingale said to the man: “Never strive to achieve the impossible, do not regret what has passed by, and never believe a dubious word. Keep these three commandments and you will prosper.”

The husband rejoiced at the good vision and the wise speech, having released him from the bonds and let him go. The nightingale, however, although you know, if the husband understands the power of the verbs spoken to him and if I crawl from them, the bird soaring to him on the air: “Sigh about your ignorance, man, what a treasure you will destroy today. There are more internal beads with the majesty of strufocamilia eggs.

The bird catcher was delighted at the successful meeting and reasonable words and, freeing the bird from the snare, released it into the air. The nightingale wanted to check whether the person understood the meaning of the words spoken to him and whether he received any benefit from them, and the bird said to him, soaring in the air: “Regret about your foolishness, man, because what treasure have you missed today. I have pearls inside me that are larger than an ostrich egg.”

As if the sculptor heard this, he was sad, repenting how he had escaped the nightingales from his hand, and although he was abiy, he said: “Come into my house, and I will let go of the friend to the one who did you good with honor.” The nightingale said to him: “Nowadays I really don’t understand. I accept what was spoken to you with love and with the sweetness of obedience, not a single gain creeping from them. Rekokhti - do not repent about things that are passing by, and be sad, as if I escaped from your hand, repenting about things that passed by. Verb: do not begin to receive from those who are not accustomed, and want to take me, who cannot receive my procession. To the same and unfaithful verbs not by them of faith, the verbs of thee, I have no faith, because there are beads inside me greater than my age, and it was thoughtless to understand that all I can’t accept in myself so many great eggs of strufocamilov and how much beads to contain the imam bе " So those who trust in their idols do not understand<...>»

Hearing this, the bird-catcher was saddened, regretting that he had let the nightingale out of his hands, and, wanting to catch him again, he said: “Come to my house, and, having received you as a friend, I will let you go with honor.” And the nightingale answered him: “Now you have turned out to be very unreasonable. After all, having accepted what was said to you with love and listened willingly, you received no benefit from it. I told you - don’t regret what passed by, and you are sad that you let me out of your hands, regretting what you missed. I told you - don’t strive to achieve the impossible, but you want to catch me, not being able to catch up. Besides, I told you - don’t believe the incredible, but you believed that inside me there were pearls larger than myself, and you didn’t realize that all of me could not contain such a large ostrich egg; How can there be pearls of such size inside me?” Such are the foolish people who trust in their idols (...)"

Joasaph said: “<...>Although we want to find a way to keep the commandments of God truly and not deviate from them...”

And Joasaph said: “<...>I would like to find a way to keep God’s commandments pure and not to deviate from them...”

Varlam of the verb: “...Bound by everyday things and their diligence of sorrows and rebellion and living on food... they are like a husband running from the face of a raging foreigner, as if I cannot stand the voice of his cry and his terrible rut, but run away firmly, yes don't be poison to him. The greyhound flowing to him, in the great ditch. The one falling to him, stretching out his hand, firmly grasps the tree, but holding on to him tightly, as if he had established himself on the level of the nose, I think the world is already a stronghold. Having grown up, I see two mice, one is white and the other is black, The root of the tree continually eats where it stands, and the tree that approaches gnaws the tree. Having looked into the depths of the ditch and the serpent, you see a terrible image and breathing fire and looking bitterly, but with a terrible yawning mouth and wanting to devour him. Having matured abiy to the degree, he, where the best was established on his nose, saw the four heads of asps, emanating from the wall, where he was established. As you look into your eyes, you see from the branches of the tree that there is little honey. Leaving him to look at the misfortunes that beset him, as if there was an evil alien out there, raging, seeking him for poison, and the evil serpent yawning and devouring him, the tree, they say, already wants to graze, but it is slipping and unsteadily established, so much so that Forgetting such evil ones, craving for the sweetness of that bitter honey.

Varlaam answered: “...Those who are connected with everyday affairs, and are busy with their worries and worries, and live in pleasures... are like a man running away from an angry unicorn: unable to bear the sound of his roar and his terrible growl, the man ran quickly to avoid being eaten. And since he ran quickly, he fell into a deep ditch. Falling, he stretched out his arms and grabbed the tree, and, holding tightly, resting his feet on the ledge, he considered himself already at peace and safe. Looking down, he saw two mice, one white and the other black, constantly gnawing the root of the tree to which he was holding on, and had almost chewed the root to the end. Looking into the depths of the ditch, he saw a dragon, terrible in appearance and breathing fire, looking fiercely, fearfully opening its mouth and ready to swallow him. Looking at the ledge on which he rested his feet, he saw four snake heads coming out of the wall on which he was leaning. Looking up, the man saw that honey was gradually dripping from the branches of the tree. Forgetting to think about the dangers surrounding him: that outside the unicorn, raging ferociously, is trying to tear him to pieces; below, an evil dragon with an open mouth is ready to swallow him; the tree he is holding on to is ready to fall, and his feet stand on a slippery and unstable foundation - forgetting about these such great misfortunes, he indulged in the pleasure of this bitter honey.

Behold the likeness in the beauty of the beings of this life who created. I will speak this truth to those who are deceived by this world, whose saying is now flowing. For the foreign image is to drive away death from above and to follow Adam’s generation. The whole world is a moat, filled with all the evil and deadly snares. The tree, from two mice, is incessantly gnawed, and there is a path for the creatures, as if the living one is poisoned and perishing, and the hour for the day and night and the radical beheading is approaching. The four asps are about the sinners and the homeless, and the human body is put together; in the image of the raging and restless, the body structure is destroyed. Moreover, he is fiery and an unmerciful serpent, terrible to depict the womb of hell, yawning at the presence of existing beauties more than future plagues. A honey drop of sweetness tastes the whole world of sweets, to which he seduces the evil of his friends and abandons the diligence of working for his salvation<...>

This is the likeness of those people who succumbed to the deception of earthly life. I will tell you this truth about those who adore this world; I will now tell you the meaning of this similarity. For the unicorn is an image of death, forever pursuing the race of Adam and finally devouring it. The moat is the whole world, full of all sorts of evil and deadly networks. A tree continually gnawed by two mice is the journey we take, for while each one lives, is consumed and perishes by the changing hours of day and night, and the cutting of the root draws near. The four snake heads are the insignificant and fragile elements from which the human body is composed; if they become disordered and disordered, then the bodily composition is destroyed. And the fire-breathing and merciless dragon depicts a terrible hellish belly, ready to devour those who prefer the pleasures of today's life to the benefits of the future. A drop of honey depicts the sweetness of the pleasures of this world, with which he evilly seduces those who love him, and they cease to care about their salvation<...>

Abiye, likewise, are those who have loved the beauty and sweetness of the whole world, having enjoyed it, but more than the future and immovable, fleeting and weak, the most honorable will of man, three others who have, in them both honoring with love and zealously accepting love, even to their death, struggling and for the sake of misfortune I endure the verb, but on the third there is a lot of negligence of the name, neither honoring nor worthy of him, when love is honorable and love, little is something and nothing is said about creating friendship.

Those who love the pleasures of this life and enjoy its sweets, those who prefer the fleeting and fragile to the future and reliable, are like a man who had three friends; Of these two, he highly respected and loved very much, said that he was ready to accept death and endure any trials for their sake; the third he greatly neglected, did not respect and never deigned to show him honor and love, showed very little friendship, if not none at all.

In one of these days, more terrible news and the threat of the warrior will come to him, trying to speedily order this to lead to the king, let him give his word, to whom he owes my talent. When he was despondent, looking for an assistant, and to intercede for him, the terrible Tsar’s answer came to his first and sincere friend of all, the verb: “You know, O friend, that I have laid down my soul for your sake. Now I demand help for this day from the one who possesses me for the sake of trouble and need. So confess, will you intercede for me now, and from you will I have hope, O beloved friend.” Having answered, he said: “I am not your friend, man, nor do I know who you are, otherwise the imams are friends, with them you will have fun today and others will do other things.” Behold, I will give you two pieces of cloth, and if you are on the way, even if you are walking, there will be no crawling from it, but there is not a single hope from me.”

One day, terrible and formidable warriors came to this man to immediately take him to the king to answer for a debt of ten thousand talents. Saddened, he began to look for an intercessor to help him answer before the king, and went to his first and closest friend, telling him: “You know, friend, that I was always ready to lay down my soul for you. Now I myself need help in the grief and need that has befallen me. So tell me, will you help me now and what can I hope for from you, dear friend?” The same one said to him in response: “I am not your friend, man, and I don’t know who you are; I have other friends, I will have fun with them today and will make them friends in the future. I will give you two pieces of rags so that you can have them on the path you will go, but they will not do you any good, and don’t expect any help from me.”

He heard this and was perplexed about the answer to this, even hoping for help from him, and flowed to his other friend and said to him: “Remember, O friend, how much honor and good teachings come from me. Today, fall into sadness and great misfortune, I demand help. How can you work with me, and let this be understood.” A friend answered: “Behold, today I will work with you on holiday, I am in sorrow and I have fallen into adversity, I am in sorrow. Either way, I won’t go with you much, or else I won’t crawl, and I’ll soon turn away from you here, bothered by my sorrows.”

Hearing this and despairing of the answer from the one on whose help he hoped, the man went to his second friend and said to him: “Do you remember, friend, how much honor and good advice you saw from me? Now I too am in sorrow and in great adversity and need a helper. I want to know how you can share my difficulties with me.” The friend replied: “I don’t have time today to share the difficulties with you, for I myself am in sadness and misfortunes that have overcome me, and in grief. However, I’ll walk with you a little, and if I can’t help you, I’ll immediately return here from you, having my own worries.”

With the same hand, that person returned from there and was perplexed about everyone, sobbing to himself about the vanity of the hopes of his foolish friends and the thoughtlessness of his suffering, which for the sake of love he endured, even going to his third friend, whom you had never done, nor called, and disgraced to him face and face in vain: “I will not open my mouth to you, the truth is that you do not remember me, I will never do good, even if I showed friendship to you. Then the attack will attack me fiercely. Having received a lot of hope from my friends about my salvation, I came to you, praying, if you can give me some little help, don’t deny it, remembering my foolishness.” He spoke with a quiet face and with joy: “Befitting my sincere friend, I say that you exist and I remember your little virtue, with diligence I repay you today, I will pray for you to the king. Do not be afraid, nor be afraid, for I will go to the king first and will not deliver you into the hands of your enemies. Take heart, beloved friend, and do not be in grief and sorrow.” Then he was touched and said with tears: “Alas for me, how I will cry for love before I cry for the unmemorial and ungrateful and deceitful friendship, whether it is harmful or harmful, I will cry in bewilderment even for this true, sincere show of a friend.”

Having returned from the second friend empty-handed, that man completely despaired, mourning the empty hope of help from his ungrateful friends and the meaningless labors that he had previously endured for the sake of love for them; and he went to his third friend, whom he had never served, did not invite, and turned to him with an embarrassed face and looking down: “I dare not open my lips to you, knowing truly that you will not remember that I will ever did you good or showed you friendship. Now an evil misfortune has befallen me. Having received absolutely no hope of salvation from my friends, I came to you and pray, if you can, help me at least a little, do not refuse me, remembering my folly.” He answered with a gentle and joyful face: “I consider you my closest friend and, remembering your small good deed to me, today I will repay you a hundredfold, I will ask the king for you. Do not be afraid and do not be afraid, for I will go ahead of you to the king and will not deliver you into the hands of your enemies. Take courage, dear friend, and do not be in grief and sadness.” Then, repenting, that man said with tears: “Woe is me, what should I cry about first - whether about the love that I had for that forgetful, ungrateful and deceitful friendship, or will I pay for the maddening despair, which, however, showed this true and close friend?

Joasaph, let us also accept this word, wonderingly seeking the testimonies, and the verb of Barlam: “The first friend is a rich estate, a hedgehog and a gold-loving desire, for the sake of which many people fall into trouble and endure many sufferings. Having come to the last death, there is nothing to take with you from all those, only to see off unsuccessful friends. The second friend will be called wife and children and other people and his own, the same love that I am attached to, it is evil to abandon the very soul and body of their love for the sake of the despised. How can there be any virtue from them in the hour of death, but only when they are escorted to the grave, but they turn to their own in sorrow and misfortune, not having forgotten the memory of the body that was once buried in the grave. The third friend is a fleeting, temporary, inviolable, unavoidable and, as if from victory, the face of good deeds to remain, if there is faith, hope, love, alms, philanthropy and other virtuous regiment that can march before us, even when we come from the body, we are glad to pray to To God and from our enemies to deliver us, from the evil, covetous word-givers, we bitterly eat in the moving world and bitterly tempt us. Behold, he is a prudent and kind friend, who wears our bitter good life in memory, giving us everything with love and with interest.”

Joasaph, having listened to this parable, was surprised and asked for clarification, and Barlaam said: “The first friend is wealth and the desire to accumulate gold, because of which many people fall into trouble and many suffer misfortunes. When death comes, a person will take nothing of all his wealth with him, only to see off his vain friends. The second friend is the wife and children and other relatives and household, to whose love we are committed and for the sake of love for whom we are ready to renounce our own soul and body. There is no benefit from them in the hour of death, but they only take you to the grave, and then immediately return, having their own worries and sorrows, burying the memory in oblivion, just as the body of a once loved one was buried in the grave. The third friend, whom we pass by, consider temporary, neglect him, avoid him and with whom we ultimately achieve victory, is the face of good deeds, namely: faith, hope, love, mercy, philanthropy and the rest of the system of virtues that can go ahead of us at the departure of the soul from the body, to pray for us to God and deliver us from our enemies, from the evil torturers who move in the air, mercilessly demanding an account from us and adamantly striving to take possession of us. This is a prudent and kind friend who, remembering our small acts of kindness, repays us with interest.”

Abiye ubo Joasaph things: “<...>For again, depict with me the image of this vanity of this world, so that someone can come with the peace and strength of this.”

Then Joasaph said: “<…>Show me also the image of this vain world and how to go through this life peacefully and safely.”

Let us take into account the word of Varlam of the verb: “Listen to this parable and its similarity. I heard of a certain great city, whose citizens had the custom of accepting from the ancients a certain man who was a stranger, neither understanding the law of that city nor understanding their customs, and set up this king for himself and took over all the power and held his will inexorably until he died one summer . So suddenly, in those days, the sadness that existed for him, feeding him in abundance incessantly, imagining the kingdom to abide forever, stood up on her and took off the royal clothes from him, desecrated the nakedness throughout the whole city, sending him away to a certain great island for wintering. empty, having neither food nor clothing, an evil guard, but no food or joy for him, and in grief neither aspirations nor hope were sent.

Having listened to him, Varlaam said: “Listen to the example of this parable. I heard about a certain great city, the inhabitants of which had long had the custom of choosing as king some stranger, not familiar with the law of that city, not knowing anything about the customs of the inhabitants, and they made him king, and he accepted all the power and carried out his duties without hindrance. your will before the expiration of one year. Then unexpectedly, in those very days when he lived without sorrow, in constant abundant luxury and thought that his reign would be forever, they attacked him and, tearing off the royal clothes, led him naked in shame throughout the city, expelled him and sent him to exile far away to some large deserted island, on which, having neither food nor clothing, he suffered bitterly, no longer hoping for luxury and fun, but in grief he had neither aspirations nor hope.

Following the custom, the citizens of those were quickly appointed by a certain man to the kingdom, too, we have a lot of reason and industry in ourselves, but also will not be delighted, even if suddenly there was an abundance for him, neither those who reigned before him and were evilly expelled, do not grieve, become jealous of sadness in the name of movement of the soul . So it’s good to correct yourself, but the frequent advice of earnestly learned from some wise adviser the customs of those citizens and the place taken over, as befits him firmly without delusion. As soon as I saw that if he wanted to be on the same island, but the kingdom was alien to him, he opened up his treasures, which were still in the region and there was no choice in demand, we took gold and silver and Kamyk honest and many of them for the demand, to give to his faithful slaves , on the island of the ambassador, where he was sent to be.

And so, according to the custom of those townspeople, a certain man was appointed king, very reasonable and taking care not to be deprived of his kingdom in the same way, so that the wealth that suddenly befell him, like those who reigned before him and were mercilessly expelled, would not be replaced by sadness; and, saddened, he became jealous about it. To protect himself, he often consulted and truly learned from one wise adviser about the custom of those townspeople and about the place of exile, as he should have known without error. And when he learned that he would be on that island when he would be deprived of his kingdom, he opened his treasures, which he had at his disposal without restraint, and, taking as much gold, silver and precious stones as he needed, he ordered a lot of them to be given to his faithful slaves , sending them to the island where he was to go.

Having passed away the said summer, the citizens, like the first king, stood naked for the wintering of the poslash. Others, because of the foolishness of the queen of evil, remained in hunger, but having previously sent the wealth of it in abundance to take out life and food for the inestimable name, they rejected the fear of all the unfaithful citizens of them, praising them with wisdom more than the good saint.

At the end of the year, the townspeople rebelled and, like previous kings, sent him naked into exile. The former foolish kings suffered greatly from hunger; this one, having sent rich supplies in advance, lived in abundance, having endless luxury, casting aside all fear of those treacherous townspeople, and rejoiced at his wise and correct decision.

The city, then, is of this vain world. Citizens are the ruler and power of demons, the world ruler of this dark age, who flatters us with sweet correction, as if he were incorruptible, giving us to reflect on the perishable and fleeting, as for centuries to remain in dreams and immortal to all who are in sweetness. Having thus laid aside for us and nothing about these great and eternal lights, it was in vain that the destruction of death would come upon us. Then, then, then, naked from here, the evil and mountaineers of the darkness will be taken by the citizens of darkness, as they have been all their time, leading “into the land of eternal darkness, where there is no light, neither see the life of man,” nor the light of the good, earnestly showing everyone and teaching salvation undertakings to the wise king, accept my small baseness, for the good path and untempted show you have come in eternal and endless introducing<...>

So, by city you mean this bustling world. The townspeople are the power and dominance of demons, the rulers of the darkness of this world, seducing us with the peace of pleasures and inspiring us to accept the corruptible and transient as eternally abiding with us and believe that all those who are in sweetness are immortal. And so we, living in error and not thinking about this great and eternal thing, suddenly suffer mortal destruction. Then the evil and cruel townspeople of darkness, who have been with us all their time, will take us and take us naked from here “to the land of eternal darkness, where there is no light, no human habitation is visible,” there is no good adviser who revealed everything true and taught salvation to the wise king, - by this advisor you understand my insignificance, for I came to you to show you the true path leading to eternal and endless blessings<...>

A parable about another king and a wretched man. I have heard of a certain former king who looked upon his kingdom very kindly, but the people who exist under him are meek and merciful. Therefore, we are united in the temptation, as if we do not have God-reasonable enlightenment, in favor of the idolatrous temptation. In the name of a certain enlightener of goodness, everyone is adorned with piety towards God and other things with all virtuous wisdom, grieving and grieving over the corruption of the king and even though he should be convicted of this. He will refrain from such things for fear, so as not to harm himself and his squad, and many of them will be beheaded on the crawl, otherwise, looking for a good time, so as to attract it for the good.

A parable about another king and a beggar. I heard about a certain king who wisely ruled his kingdom; He was meek and merciful to his people. He was mistaken in only one thing, for he did not have the light of true knowledge of God, but was obsessed with the delusion of idolatry. He had a good adviser and adorned with all piety towards God and all other virtuous wisdom, who was sad and grieved over the king’s error and wanted to expose him to this. But he hesitated, fearing to harm himself and his loved ones and to lose the benefit he brought to many, and he looked for a favorable time to attract the king to true good.

The only thing the king said to him these days was: “Come and go forth and walk through the city, when we see something crawling.” The name of the one walking through the city saw the bright dawn from the shining window and turned his eyes to that window, seeing a place under the ground, like a den, a dwelling, in which a husband was sitting in the last poverty, alive and wrapped in thin shirts. His wife stands before him and draws the wine for him. I’ll take my husband’s cup sweetly oh singing a song, making him happy, dancing and praising the husband with praises. Around the king, those who were in this hour of greatness heard miracles, as if in such a trial th existing in poverty, as if she had neither a house nor garments, such a joyful life abides.

And one night the king said to him: “Let’s go out and walk around the city, see if we see anything useful.” Walking through the city, they saw a ray of light emanating from a small window, and, looking through this window, they saw a dwelling underground, like a cave, in which sat a man living in extreme poverty and dressed in wretched rags. His wife stood before him, pouring wine into a cup. And when her husband accepted the cup from her, she sang, amusing him, and danced, and pleased her husband with praises. Everyone who was around the king, hearing this, was amazed at those who, in the midst of such severe poverty, having neither home nor clothing, lived in such a cheerful life.

And the king spoke to his first adviser: “Ol miracle, friend, as you and I never desire our life to be in such glory and shining food, as the bad repentant life of such and the foolish is to delight and amuse the quiet and joyful sharpness of this hated life.” . Let us accept the convenient hour, the first light of the verb: “And to you, king, how does life appear to you?” The king said: “Everything, as soon as I have seen, is absurd and heavy, but misrepresented and wicked.” Then the First Highlighter said to him: “Thus understand well, O king, and our life of teachers is greatly divided into those who see the eternal life of this life and the glory of all superior blessings, and those who glitter in the house with gold and light and clothing and other food of this life, see the hedgehog and the darkenings are the unsightly eyes of those who have seen the unknown goodness of the unmade tabernacles and godly woven clothing and the imperishable crown that are in heaven.”<...>

And the king said to his first adviser: “Oh, it’s a miracle, friend, neither for me nor for you, who live in such glory and luxury, life has ever been as sweet as the insignificant and pitiful life of these foolish people delights them and quietly amuses them, and is joyful.” This seems like an evil and unenviable life.” Taking advantage of the opportunity, the adviser said: “What does the life of these people seem to you, king?” The king answered: “Of all the lives I have seen, this is the most difficult, absurd, desecrated and ugly.” Then the adviser said to him: “So know, king, that our life is much worse than the life of those from whom we should learn, who see the truth of eternal life and the glory of blessings that surpass all; houses sparkling with gold and light, clothing and other luxury of this life are unacceptable, gloomy and ugly for the eyes of those who have seen the indescribable beauties of heavenly dwellings not made by hands, richly woven clothes and imperishable crowns.”<...>

Having heard the word Varlam, to this king she lived piously and faithfully on the rest and walked without a storm and passed on the present life, but did not receive bliss from the future life.”<...>

“I heard,” said Varlaam, “that this king continued to live in true faith and piety, and lived calmly, and ended his life, having achieved the bliss of the future life.”<...>

<...>Joasaph said to the elder: “<...>Take me with you and get out of jail<...>»

<...>Joasaph said to the elder: “<...>Take me with you and let's leave here<...>».

The verb is Varlam to him. “The gray baby is not from the rich. Having grown up, she wanted to see deserts and was drawn by her native custom. Going therefore alone, you find a herd of chamois to shepherd and hold on to them, staying in the pastures of the villages, and in the evening turning to the house where you were raised, and then leaving again in the morning with disdain, serving for her and staying with the wondrous ones in the herd. The herd will come far away, grazing the afterbirth, and she will go with them. Having sensed the rich servant, mounted on a horse, she chased after them, having caught her, she turned back, and from there she did nothing else, but killed the rest of the herd, and scattered others with evil, wounding them. In the same way, I am afraid that it will not be on us, if you follow imashi with me, I will not be spared from your cohabitation and I will be an intercessor for many evils, my friend<...>»

Varlaam answered him: “One rich man fed a young chamois. When she grew up, she yearned for freedom, drawn by her innate desire. Going out one day, she saw a herd of chamois grazing and pestered them; she wandered with them through the fields, and in the evening she returned to the house in which she was fed, leaving again in the morning, due to the servants’ oversight, to again graze with a herd of wild chamois. When one day the herd wandered far away, she followed him. The rich man's servants, seeing this, mounted their horses and chased the herd; Having caught their chamois, they returned it home and locked it so that it could not get out; From the rest of the herd they killed some, dispersed others, and wounded them. I am afraid that the same will not happen to us if you follow me, so as not to deprive me of your cohabitation and not to cause many troubles to my comrades<...>»

<...>After the departure of Varlamov<...>Arachia<...>like the second from the king<...>dignity, thing:<...>“I know the elder of the only hermit, Nahor we call him, like Barlam of all... our faith<...>and my teacher was in the teaching<...>Let us call this one Varlam<...>So, many will flee with controversy and will be defeated. And seeing the king’s son, Varlam quickly fled,<...>seduced him into greed<...>».

<...>After Varlaam left<...>Arachia<...>second after the king<...>rank, said<царю>: «<...>I know one desert elder named Nahor, who is very similar to Barlaam... He is of our faith<...>and my teacher.<...>Let's imagine Nahor for Barlaam.<...>In a competition with our sages about faith, he will be defeated. The prince, seeing this—Varlaam’s defeat, will understand that he has misled him.”

<...>Then the king commanded everyone to gather, idolaters and Christians... Nahor was quickly brought into Varlam as a place to answer<...>

<...>Then the king ordered everyone to gather, both idolaters and Christians... And Nahor, the imaginary Varlaam, was brought in to argue<...>

The king spoke to his elders and wise ones: “<...>Behold the feat of presenting<...>It is fitting for what to be in us today or to establish ours, being seduced by Varlam and others like him. If I reprove, then<...>to be crowned victorious. If you run away,<...>You will die an evil death."

And the king said to the orators and his wise men: “<...>You have a feat ahead of you<...>It is fitting for him today to be ours and to establish our faith, and Barlaam and those who are with him will turn out to be mistaken. If you rebuke him, then<...>you will be crowned with victorious crowns. If you are defeated,<...>You will die a cruel death."

<...>His son...appearing to him from God in a dream...transformation of the mind...verb to Nahor: “<...>Should you be defeated?<...>Having uprooted your heart and your tongue with my own hands, I will give this dog with the rest of your body for this meal, so that all the sons of the king will be afraid of you not to deceive.” Having heard these words, Nahor became very sad and disgraced, seeing that he had fallen into the pit that he had created... Having thought about it, he would rather venerate himself to the king’s son and strengthen his faith.<...>He opened his mouth like Balaml a donkey, even as he uttered the immutable word and the verb to the king:

<...>The king's son... learning about the deception through a dream sent to him from God... said to Nahor: “If you are defeated<...>, then with my own hands I will tear out your heart and tongue and give it to the dogs to be eaten, along with the rest of your body, so that everyone will be afraid of seducing the king’s sons by your example.” Hearing this, Nahor became very sad and ashamed, seeing that he had fallen into a hole that he had dug... After thinking, he decided to take the side of the prince and confirm his faith<...>; He opened his mouth, like Balaam’s donkey once did, deciding to utter the immutable, and said, turning to the king:

“I, O king, by the diligence of God came into the world and saw the sky and the earth and the sea, the sun and the moon and so on, and marveled at the beauty of these. See the whole world and everything that exists in it, as if it is the essence that needs and is moved, I understand that I am God who moves and possesses. Everything that is mobile and strong is movable and possessive is stronger. Therefore I say to him, God is the one who has put in everything and possesses, beginningless and eternal, immortal and not demanding anything, above all sins and transgressions, anger as well as oblivion and perplexity and so on. Every name has been compiled. Do not demand sacrifice, nor treble, nor anything visible, all demand it.

“I, O king, by the providence of God came into the world and, seeing the sky and the earth, and the sea, the sun and the moon, and everything else, I was amazed at their beauty. Seeing that the world and everything in it move out of necessity, I realized that the one who moves and holds everything is God. And everything that moves is stronger than what is moved, and everything that holds is stronger than what is held. Therefore, I affirm that God is the one who created and arranged everything, he is beginningless and eternal, immortal and does not depend on anything, he is above all sins and transgressions, anger and oblivion, what ignorance creates, and everything else. Everything exists only through him. He does not need sacrifices, nor libations, nor anything else external, but everyone needs him.

This is said about God, as if in me it is possible to speak about him, let us come from the human race so that we can see who holds them to the truth and who is a temptation. It is clear to us, O king, that there are three kinds of humanity in the seven worlds, and in them are the worshipers of the spoken God, the Jews, and the Christians. The same The packs, like many who honor the gods, are divided into three genera, the Chaldeans and the Hellenes and the Egyptians, since they were rulers and teachers and other languages, many-named servants of the god. We see, which ones hold true and which are deceitful.

After I have said about God what he deigned to say about him, let us now move on to the human race and see who has the truth and who is in error. We know, king, that there are three kinds of people in the world: worshipers of your so-called gods, Jews and Christians. In turn, those who worship many gods are divided into three families: Chaldeans, Hellenes and Egyptians; these three peoples were the ancestors and teachers of other peoples who worshiped many gods. Let us now see who has comprehended the truth and who is mistaken.

For the Chaldeans, who did not know God, were seduced by following the elements and began to honor the creation more than the one who created them, whose image some created, and the sea, the sun and the moon, and other elements and stars, and in the temples, They bow down, the gods arrogantly, to guard them with firmness, so that they will not be despondent from the robber, and not understanding that the strict one is the strictest and the creator of the created, for if it is impossible for them to know about their salvation, how can they bestow salvation. For the Chaldeans were seduced by great temptation, honoring the idols of the dead, and I did not recognize them. And they want to marvel at us, O king, without understanding the verbiage of their wisdom, for even those elements are gods, like idols, which were created in their honor, they are gods.

The Chaldeans, who did not know the true God, being misled by the existing elements, began to honor the created more than the creator; having made some images, they called them likenesses of the sky and the earth, and the sea, and the sun, and the moon, and the rest of the elements and stars, and, having placed them in temples, they worship them, calling them gods, and guard them reliably so that they would not be stolen robbers; and they did not realize that the guardian is stronger than the guarded and the creator is greater than the created; if their gods are not able to protect themselves, then how can they grant salvation to others? So, the Chaldeans fell into great error by worshiping dead and useless idols. And I marvel, O king, how those who are called wise men among them could not understand that if those corruptible elements are not gods, then how can the idols made in their honor be gods?

Let us therefore, O king, come to these elements, let us show them that they are not gods, but perishable, changeable, created from non-existence into being by the command of the true God, who is incorruptible, unchangeable and invisible, but he himself can see everything and as he wills. name and propose. Why are we talking about the elements?

Let us now move on, O king, to the elements themselves to show that they are not gods, but perishable and changeable, called from non-existence into existence by the command of the true God, who is incorruptible, immutable and invisible, but he himself sees everything and names and changes as he wishes. What can I say about the elements?

I think the sky is a god to tempt. We see that it is proposed and driven by need and set by many, while the beauty of the system is a certain artist, the beginning and the end are arranged. The sky moves according to the need of its luminary, for the stars are rank and lead by crime, they are signs within signs, and for them to set and friends to rise and march throughout the summer and carry out the harvest and winter, as they are commanded by God, and not to transgress their commands according to the destruction of natural need with heavenly beauty. Darkness is manifest, just as heaven is not God, but the work of God.

Those who think that heaven is God are mistaken. For we see that it changes and moves according to necessity and consists of many parts, and beauty is the device of some skilled craftsman; everything created has a beginning and an end. The firmament moves out of necessity with its luminaries; the stars move according to their order and path, from constellation to constellation, some set, others rise, and in all seasons they make their way, changing summer and winter, as God commanded them, and do not exceed their limits, do not violate the natural flow according to the heavenly order. Whence it is clear that heaven is not God, but God’s creation.

Those who think that the earth is a god or goddess, are tempted. We see that people are annoyed and possessed, and disturbed, and dug by them, and cannot be turned off. If it is baked, then it will be dead, for it is nothing to vegetate from poverty. It will become even more wet, both itself and its fruit will smolder. By trampling on people and other livestock, the blood of the slain is desecrated, and the ark is filled with the bodies of the dead. For such a being, it is not appropriate for the earth to be a goddess, but the work of God upon the demand of man.

Those who consider the earth to be a god or goddess are also mistaken. For we see that it is desecrated by people, it is in their possession, they stir and dig at it, and it becomes unusable. If you burn it, it becomes dead; So, nothing grows from tiles. If, in particular, it gets wet, it decays itself and becomes more fruitful. Both people and animals trample it, desecrate it with the blood of the dead, dig it up, and it becomes an ark of dead bodies. And since all this is so, it is impossible for the earth to be God, but it is God’s creation for the benefit of people.

Those who think that the water of God exists are deceived. And so, in response to the demand of man, it becomes and is bestowed upon them, it is defiled and decays, it is changed by cooking and is kneaded, and it is disgusted by jelly, and it is defiled by blood, and it is worn for all uncleanness for washing and for supporting. This makes it impossible for water to be a god.

Those who consider water to be God are mistaken. After all, it also exists for the benefit of people; they dispose of it, it is desecrated and destroyed by them and changed; they boil it and change the color with its dyes, and it hardens from the cold, and is defiled by blood, and is used to wash everything unclean, and it is worn for washing. Therefore, it is impossible for water to be a god.

The fire is quick to respond to human demand and is given away and carried from place to place for cooking and baking with all kinds of meat, as well as dead bodies. There is decay, and we extinguish many images from people. For this reason, it is not appropriate for fire to be a god, but for the work of God.

Fire was also created for the benefit of people; they dispose of it and transport it from place to place for frying and boiling all kinds of meat, as well as for burning dead bodies. It is destroyable, and in many ways people extinguish it. Therefore, it is not appropriate for fire to be a god; it is only a creation of God.

They think that the essence of God is being seduced more than man. We see that he is driven by need and nourishment, and growing old, and he does not want it. And when he rejoices, when will he be sad, demanding food and drink and clothing. But he is angry and careless, careless and has many sins, but many images are destroyed by the elements and by animals, and by the death that lies before him. It is not proper for a man to be a god, but it is a work of God. The Chaldeans were seduced by the great delusion of the former, following their desire. They believe in tlimaa stukhia and the idols of the dead and do not understand how to create gods.

Those who consider man to be God are mistaken. For we see that he too submits to necessity, and eats food and grows old against his will. He is sometimes happy, sometimes sad, in need of food, drink and clothing. At the same time, he can be angry, jealous, neglectful, and has many shortcomings; he can be destroyed in various ways, from the elements and animals and from the death that awaits him. Therefore, man cannot be considered a god, but only a creation of God. So, the Chaldeans fell into great error, following their inventions. After all, they revere the corruptible elements and dead idols and do not understand that they themselves create gods from them.

Let us come to the Elinom, that you are thinking about God. Because the Hellenic wisdom speaks of the existence of the former, worse than the Chaldeans, bringing to God many former males, others and females with all sorts of sins and all sorts of lawless deeds. Those mixed and ugly and wicked verbs were told by Elini, about the king, who did not exist, God called the gods according to his evil desire, and the superniks of this have from evil deeds and about malice, they commit adultery, they despoil, they often commit adultery with murder. For this is how God created them. From such delightful undertakings the key to man is war and frequent sedition, and impaling, and murder, and bitter captivity. And by God alone, you will see their negligence and the filthiness of their deeds, even as they were.

Let us now turn to the Hellenes, what do they think about God. The Hellenes, who consider themselves wise, became even more stupid than the Chaldeans, claiming that there are many gods, some male, others female, who are the creators of all kinds of sins and lawless deeds. Therefore, ridiculous, stupid and impious speeches, O king, are spoken by the Greeks, proclaiming non-existent gods according to their own evil passions, so that, having them as protectors of evil deeds and malice, they could commit adultery, steal, commit adultery along with murder. For their gods did such things. It was from these misconceptions that wars began among people, and frequent rebellions, and murders, and serious captivities. But for each of their gods you will see the meaninglessness and bad deeds that came from them.

First of all, God was Kron to them, and to this end they made a sacrifice for their children, who had many children from Rhea’s wife, and went berserk, eating away their children. To say that you should cut down your truth and lie in the sea is a lie to Aphrodia. Having bound his father, Zeus put him in thyme. Do you see their deceit and temptation, and their vile sight, and fornication, which should be brought against one’s God? Is it fitting for a bound God to be reduced by an istes? Ole foolishness of reason for those who have it is to say.

The first of all their gods is Kronos, and they sacrifice their children to him; he had many sons from his wife Rhea, but, falling into madness, he ate his children. They say that he cut off his reproductive member and threw it into the sea, from where, as they say in fables, Aphrodite appeared. Having bound his father, Zeus plunged him into tartarus. Do you see now how they are mistaken and deceived, attributing debauchery to their gods? Is it fitting for a god to be bound and deprived of his reproductive member? O foolishness, who of those who have understanding can say such a thing?

The second we introduce is Zeus, who, as they say, reigned as their god and was transformed into animals, like to commit adultery with dead wives. To bring this one, transformed into a youth, to Europe, and into gold to Danaina, or as a kostovanik to Antiopia, and into the city to Emelina. There were many children from those wives, Dionysus and Ziphon and Afion, Iraklin and Apolon, and Artemin and Perseian, Caster and Elin, Poledevka and Minoa, and Radamanfin, and Sarpidon, and nine daughters, who were also called the goddess. Seventhly, introduce the same about Ganimidin. O king, to be like all these things as a man and to be an adulterer, and to be possessed by the male sex, and to do other evil deeds in the likeness of their god. How can God allow an adulterer to be and a father-killer to lust after the male sex?

Zeus is revered second among them; he is said to reign over the gods and is transformed into animals in order to commit adultery with mortal women. They say that he turned into a bull for the sake of Europa, into gold for the sake of Danae, into a satyr for the sake of Antiope, and into lightning for the sake of Semele. From these women, Zeus later had many children: Dionysus, Zetus, Amphion, Hercules, Apollo, Artemis, Perseus, Castor and Helen, Polydeuces, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon and nine daughters, who are called goddesses. Then they talk about Ganymede. So, king, people began to imitate all this and fell into debauchery, and into a criminal passion for boys, and into other bad deeds, in the likeness of their gods. How can an adulterer and homosexual or a parricide be God?

With these, Ifeston brings no one to God, holding a hammer and a tong and forging food for joy. After all, does God require what is not proper for God to do by asking a person?

At the same time, they worship as god a certain Hephaestus, who wields a hammer and tongs and engages in blacksmithing for food. Does God really need anything, and is it possible for God to engage in such work and ask people for food?

Then Hermias introduces the existing god, the desirer and the thief, and the predator, and the sorcerer, and the withered hand, interpreting the seven words that it is not enough for God to be such.

Asclepius brought in the existing god and the physician, and the builder of things, and the anointer of food for the sake of the petitioner, but after that he was struck down to be Diem Dara for the sake of Lacodemon's son and die. If the god Asclepius is struck by the impossibility of helping himself, how can he help himself?

They worship the god Asclepius, a physician who prepares medicine and administers food for the sake of food, for he too is in need, and then Zeus struck him to death because of Tyndareus the Lacedaemonian, and he died. If Asclepius, being a god, could not help himself when struck by thunder, how could he help others?

Arius is introduced as a warrior and zealot god, and a desirer of cattle and other captivity, after which he committed adultery with Aphrodite, and was bound to him by his offspring Erotom and Iphaestos. How could God be a desirer and a warrior, bound and an adulteress?

Ares is revered by them as a god, a warrior, an envious person, greedy for herds and other property; then he, having committed adultery with Aphrodite, was bound by Eros and Hephaestus. How can a greedy warrior, imprisoned in chains, and a libertine be a god?

Deonysus leads the existing god, leading the teacher to drink on nightly holidays, and depleting his sincere wives, and raging, and running. Then I was killed by the titans. Even if Dionysus could not help from killing himself, he was a pianist and a runner, how could he be a god?

They worship the god Dionysus, the organizer of nightly celebrations, who taught drunkenness, who carried away other people's wives, who fell into madness and who ran away. He was later killed by the titans. If Dionysus could not save himself from murder and was a madman, a drunkard, and a fugitive, then how can he be a god?

Irakleia leads the existing god. If he gets drunk, he will go berserk and kill his own child, so that he will be and die by fire. Because God was a drunkard and a child murderer and burned, how could he want help when he couldn’t help himself?

And they honor Hercules as a god. He, drunk, goes berserk and kills his children, and then burns in the fire and dies. How can a drunkard and child killer, burned in a fire, be a god? How can one who could not defend himself help others?

Apollo brings in the existing god, a zealot who is also an archer and holds a tool, even making a noise and a songwriter, and conjuring a man for bribes. For there is a supplicant, as it is not proper for a god to be a supplicant and a zealot and a thief.

They consider the god Apollo, an envious man, holding a bow and quiver, sometimes playing and composing songs, and telling fortunes to people for a fee. Therefore, he is in need, but it is not fitting for one who is in need, and envious, and playful, to be God.

Lead Artemia, his sister, who catches and has a bow with a body, and this climbs through the mountains alone with a dog, as if to catch a foreign tree. How can a goddess have such a wife and catcher, snaring with dogs?

They honor Artemis, sister of Apolloias, a hunter, owner of a bow and quiver, rushing through the mountains with a pack of dogs to track down a doe or a boar. How can such a woman and huntress, running with a pack of dogs, be a goddess?

Aphrodite and these goddesses of existence, an adulteress, say, even in the name of the adulterer Arin, even in the name of Anchisinas, and in the case of Adanin, whom he sought, the death of her weeping healer, who also say, “I will go to hell, so as to redeem Adonon from Persephone.” Have you seen, O king, the essence of this madness, the goddesses bringing in murderers, adulterers, weeping and weeping?

They say about Aphrodite that she is both a goddess and an adulteress, for she commits adultery first with Ares, then with Anchises, then with Adonis, whose death she mourns in search of her lover; they say that she also went down to hell to ransom Adonis from Persephone. Have you seen, O king, greater madness, because they introduce as a goddess a murderer, an adulteress, a weeping and weeping one?

Adona led the existing god, the hunter, and died an evil death, wounded by her son and unable to help her repentance. What kind of diligence can an adulterer and a fisher and an evil-dealer do to a person?

They consider the god Adonis, a hunter who died a heavy death, killed by his son, and could not help his misfortune. How can an adulterer and a hunter who died a violent death take care of people?

All this and many of them, many of them, the most profane and the most evil, were brought to the attention of the Hellenes, the king, from their gods, which they are truly not worthy to speak of, nor to bring into memory. Therefore, people have accepted such guilt from their gods, creating all kinds of iniquity and desecration and dishonor, desecrating the earth and air with their evil deeds.

All this and many similar things and a great many terrible and evil things were invented by the Hellenes, O king, about their gods; It is truly sinful to both talk about them and keep them in mind. And people, taking such examples from their gods, commit all sorts of lawlessness, nasty and evil deeds, and dishonor, desecrating the earth and air with their evil deeds.

The Egyptians are the craziest and most unreasonable of these, the ugliest language of all has deceived them, for they are not satisfied with the arrogance and unity of faith and worship, and also with the foolish beasts they brought in, the gods of the earth, and the waters, and the trees potions, all sorts of demons and evil visions worse than any language that exists on earth. From the beginning I believed in Isona, having a husband and brother named Oserne, she was killed by her brother Tufon, and for this reason Isis ran with her son Or, seeing the surstya, looking for Osiride and weeping bitterly until Or grew up and killed Tufon. Yes, Isiah was unable to help his brother, neither his husband, nor Osir was killed by Tufon, but Tufon, the fratricide, was destroyed by Orom and Isis, and could not save himself from death. Therefore, by such a being, the gods of existence introduced the gods of existence from the foolish Egyptians, and not about these hedgehogs, or other faiths of the pagan and unreasonable cattle, the gods of existence introduced them, and not from them to the sheep, or the goat, or the heather, the calf. and the corcodile, the snake, and the dog, and the lure, and the hen, and the rag, and the adder, and the onion, and the plaim, and the garlic, and I was crazy about all these things, as if they could do nothing.

The Egyptians are even more stupid and unreasonable, they fell into error worse than all other peoples, for they, not content with the Chaldean and Hellenic faith and worship, began to worship also animals devoid of reason, earthly and aquatic, calling them gods, and trees, and herbs; with all their madness and bad deeds, they are worse than all the nations that exist on earth. At first they believed in Isis, who had a brother and a husband named Osiris, who was killed by her brother Typhon, and therefore Isis runs with her son Or through the Syrian land, looking for Osiris and weeping bitterly, until Or grew up and killed Typhon. And neither Isis could help her brother and husband, nor Osiris, killed by Typhon, could resist him; neither Typhon the fratricide could save himself from death, being destroyed by Orus and Isis. And being in such misfortunes, they were recognized as gods by the foolish Egyptians; and the Egyptians, not content with these or other objects of worship of the pagans, also introduced animals without reason as gods, for some of them worship the sheep, others the goat, others the calf, others the crocodile, the snake, and the dog, and the wolf, and the hen, and the monkey, and the asp, and the onion, and the thorn, and the garlic, and the accursed ones did not understand that they could not do anything.

Let us then, O king, come to the Jews, so that we can see what to think about God. For Abram's search for Isaac and Jacob, the essence of the coming to Egypt, from there I brought God “with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm,” Moses, their lawgiver, and with many miracles and a sign showed them his power, but without understanding he appeared and was not praised, and served many times Isha pagan worship and faith, and killed the prophets and righteous men who were sent to them. Thus, as if the Son of God deigned to come to earth, indignant at her, he handed her over to Pilate, the hegemon of Rome, and condemned him, crucified him, and, not being ashamed of his goodness and countless miracles, performed them in them. And having perished through their lawlessness, they still believe in God the only Almighty, but not with reason, for Christ is rejected, the Son of God, and they are lawlessness. This is why it is always possible to approach the truth, remembering that it has moved away from it. About the Jews, there is such a thing.

Let us now move on, O king, to the Jews and see what they think about God. For they - the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, came to Egypt, from where God brought them out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm through Moses, their lawgiver, showed them his power with many wonders and signs, but they turned out to be foolish and ungrateful and often served pagan worship and faith, and the prophets and righteous people sent to them were killed. After the Son of God deigned to come to earth, they, rejecting him, handed him over to Pilate, the Roman ruler, and, having condemned him, crucified him, not being ashamed of his good deeds and the countless miracles that he performed for them. And they perished through their iniquity, although they now believe in the one God Almighty, but not with reason, for they reject Christ, the Son of God, being lawless. For how do they think that they are close to the truth, when in fact they are moving away from it? This is about the Jews.

The peasants have more genealogy from the Lord Jesus Christ. We confess that the Son of God on high is, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven from heaven for the sake of man’s salvation, from the Holy Virgin was born without seed and without corruption, flesh and appeared as a man, as if he would bring people back from polytheistic delusion, and having ended his wondrous vision and the crucifixion, taste death by will with his great vision. After three days I rose and looked up to heaven. His glory of his coming from the Christians themselves is the so-called Gospel Scripture, it is fitting for you to understand, O king, if you want to understand the conversation. Behold, Christ 12 was called a disciple, and after his ascension into heaven, he went forth to rule the whole universe and taught his majesty. Only from them did the command to preach the truth come to our country. Moreover, the peasants are called to the service of justification by preaching them, more than all others having acquired the truth. They know that God is the creator and creator of all things, who was the One Son and the Holy Spirit. They do not honor any other god than this, nor do they bow down, but have the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ written in their hearts, keeping them to look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next age. Do not commit adultery or fornication, do not bear false witness, do not covet the things of others, honor your father and mother and sincere friends, judging righteously, unless you want to be one, and do not do things that offend others, and encourage them to do good things for themselves as well. to be; are gentle and merciful; abstain from all unlawful counting and from all uncleanness; do not despise widows, do not cause grief to orphans; having to give to those who have not without envy. It’s strange to see them lead under the blood and rejoice over him as if about a true brother, for it is not according to flesh that they call their brethren, but in heart and soul. I am ready to offer the essence of Christ for my soul’s sake; they firmly keep his commands, living reverently and righteously, as the Lord God commanded them, giving thanks to him at all hours for all food and drink and other blessings. Truly, it is true, if they walk along it, they will be guided into the eternal kingdom, the future life promised by Christ.

Christians descend from the Lord Jesus Christ. We confess him as the son of the Most High God, who through the Holy Spirit came down from heaven for the salvation of people, was born of a holy Virgin without conception and without corruption, took on flesh and became a man in order to return people from polytheistic error to the truth, and, having accomplished his wondrous providence, accepted death through crucifixion according to one's own will, according to great predestination. After three days he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. It is appropriate for you to know the glory of his coming, O king, from the books that Christians themselves call the Gospel Scripture, if you want to talk about it. Christ had twelve disciples, who, after his ascension into heaven, dispersed throughout the regions of the entire universe to teach about his greatness. One of them came to our country, preaching the doctrine of truth. This is where it came from that those who serve the teachings of their preaching are called Christians; they have found the truth more than all other peoples. After all, we came to know God, the creator and creator of everything, through the only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit. They do not worship any other god and do not worship anyone else; The commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ are written in their hearts and, keeping them, they await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. They do not commit adultery, do not indulge in fornication, do not bear false witness, do not covet the things of others, honor father and mother and close friends, judge with justice: what they do not desire for themselves, they do not do to others; they call on those who offend them, comforting them, and make them their friends, try to do good; meek and merciful, abstaining from all lawless cohabitation and all uncleanness; widows are not despised, orphans are not offended; the haves give to the have-nots without regret. If they see a stranger, they take him under their roof and rejoice at him as if they were their own brother, for they do not call people their brothers according to the flesh, but with their heart and soul. They are ready to lay down their souls for Christ, firmly keep his commandments, living piously and righteously, as the Lord God commanded them, thanking him at all times for food and drink and other benefits. Truly this is the right path; Christ leads everyone who follows them into the eternal kingdom, into the future life he promised.

And let the Tsar know that I am not saying these things about myself, having bowed down to the books of the Christians, I have found nothing but the truth that I am speaking. Your son also understands well, truly teach me to serve the true God and be saved in the next age by following him. How great and wonderful is what Christians say and do, for they do not speak human verbs, but God’s. Other tongues are seduced and seduce themselves and those who listen to them, so that they themselves will fall in the dark, like pianos. Until now, my word to you, O king.

And know, king, that I am not saying this on my own behalf, but when you look into Christian books, you will not find anything there except the truth I have said. Therefore, your son understood correctly and correctly learned to honor the true God in order to be saved in the future life. For what Christians say and do is great and wonderful, for they speak not human words, but God’s. The rest of the nations are mistaken and deceive both themselves and those who listen to them, for they walk in darkness and will fall like drunken people. Here is my word to you, king.

Even though my mind has truly spoken, for this sake, let your foolish wisdom be silenced, so as not to speak against the Lord in the wilderness. It is fitting for God the Creator to be reverently worshiped and instilled with his incorruptible verb, so that the heirs will appear, having escaped judgment and torment, to an enduring life.”

Before what is spoken by the truth through my mind, let your foolish sages be silent, for they talk idle talk when they talk about God. After all, it is appropriate, while honoring the Creator God and worshiping him, to listen to his immortal words, so that, having avoided the Last Judgment and eternal torment, you would become heirs of undying life.”

...from the morning Ethiopian country, the verb Indian country...— In the Greek text of the “Tale...” there was a confusion of the toponyms of Ethiopia and India. Greek cosmography did not know internal Ethiopia, but already in Ptolemy’s “Geography” there is a division of India into internal and external. Christian authors, for example Cosmas Indikoplov, called Ethiopia and South Arabia inner India.

...holy city...- This means Jerusalem.

...devilish charms...- idolatry.

...from the Chaldeans...— In ancient Greece, Chaldeans were the name given to Babylonian priests who had knowledge of philosophy, medicine, and especially astronomy and astrology.

In the city of Domos...— Translator’s error: in the Greek text ἐν πόλει δὲ ὅμως ἰδιαξούση (in a special city), he took two words δὲ ὅμως (same) as the name of the city of Domos.

...Reverend...- Scribe error. The protograph apparently contained a “preacher” (Greek κήρυξ - herald).

The four asps are dead about the sinners and the homeless...— In ancient Greek natural philosophy, there are four elements, or elements (στοιχεῖον) - the primary substances of nature, of which the human body also consists: water, fire, air and earth.

From the image... - An inaccurate translation of the Greek word ἐκτυπώματα, which was perceived by the translator as two words: the preposition ἐκ (from, from) and the noun τυπώματα (images, imprints).

...name...- Scribe error. In the Greek text: “changes” (ἀλλοιοῖ).

... ypezati istesa own...- Inaccurate translation. In the Greek text: “Zeus cut off his reproductive member...” (τὸν Δία κόψαι αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀνάγκαια). The translator, apparently, took the name of Zeus (Δία) as an adjective “own”.

...time...- dirt. - This is how the translator understood the Greek. the word Τάρταρος - abyss, underground kingdom.

...with the dead...- Scribe error. In the protograph, in accordance with the Greek text, it was “mortals” (θνητάς).

...Europe...— Starting with Europa, the daughter of the Phoenician king, abducted by Zeus, the names of characters from Greek and Egyptian mythologies are then listed. In translation, these names are given in modern transcription.

...goddess...- In the Greek text - muses.

Dara— The translator misread the Greek name Tyndareus (Τυνδάρεον): he took the first part of the name Τυν as an article, and the second as a proper name.

From my son... - Translator error. In the Greek text: “from the boar” (ὑπὸ τοῦ ὑός). The translator confused two words: “boar” (ὕς) and “son” (υἱός).

...seeing...— Translator error. In the Greek text: “to Byblos” (εἰς Βύβλον). The translator took these two Greek words as one, the verb εἰσβλέπω (to look).

Si bo Abramov ischadia and Isakov and Yakovlya...— Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the biblical patriarchs, the ancestors of the Jewish people.

THE TALE OF BARLAAM AND JOASAPH

BOOKS CALLED BARLAM. A SOUL TALE FROM THE EASTERN ETHIOPIAN COUNTRY CALLED INDIA. BROUGHT TO THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM BY JOHN, A MONK, AN HONEST AND VIRTUOUS HUSBAND, FROM THE MONASTERY OF SAINT SAVA

The country called Indian lies far from Egypt, is large and populous.<...>A certain king named Abner, great in wealth and power, ruled in that country.<...>He was very devoted to demonic delusion.<...>He had a wonderful son.<...>The king called him Joasaph.<...>On the very feast day of the boy’s birth, fifty-five chosen men, taught the Chaldean wisdom of stargazing, came to the king.<...>One of these stargazers, the oldest and wisest, said: “As the movements of the stars tell me, O king, the success of your son who is now born will not be in your kingdom, but in another, better one. I think that he will accept the Christian faith that you persecute.”<...>

The king, hearing about this, fell into sadness instead of joy. Having built a secluded beautiful palace in the city of Domos, he placed his son there as soon as he left childhood; and he ordered that the prince not go out anywhere, and assigned young and most beautiful people to him as educators and servants, forbidding them to tell him about life, about its sorrows, so that he would not hear a single word about Christ, his teachings and the law.<...>

There was at that time a certain monk, wise in divine teaching, adorned with holy life and eloquence.<...>Varlaam was the name of that old man. By divine revelation it was given to him to learn about the king's son. Leaving the desert<...>He dressed in worldly clothes and, boarding a ship, arrived in the Indian kingdom, pretended to be a merchant and came to the city where the prince lived in the palace.<...>Arriving one day, Varlaam said: “I am a merchant,<...>I have a precious stone, the like of which is not found anywhere; He can give the light of wisdom to those who are blind in heart, open the ears of the deaf, give a voice to the dumb.”<...>

Joasaph said to the old man: “Show me the precious stone<...>I want to hear a new and good word.”<...>

And Varlaam answered:<...>There was a certain great and glorious king, he once rode on a golden chariot and was surrounded by guards, as befits kings; he met two people dressed in torn and dirty clothes, with haggard and pale faces. The king knew them, who had exhausted their flesh through bodily exhaustion, labor and the sweat of fasting. As soon as he saw them, he immediately got off the chariot and, falling to the ground, bowed to them; rising, he embraced them with love and kissed them. His nobles and princes were indignant at this, believing that he did this unworthy of royal greatness. Not daring to denounce him directly, they persuaded his brother to tell the king not to offend the greatness and glory of the royal crown. When the brother told the king about this, indignant at his inappropriate humiliation, the king gave him an answer, which the brother did not understand.

And that king had a custom: when he pronounced a death sentence on someone, he sent a herald to the door of this person with a trumpet of death to announce the sentence, and by the sound of the trumpet everyone knew that he was condemned to death. And when evening came, the king sent the trumpet of death to sound at the door of his brother's house. When he heard the trumpet of death, he despaired of his salvation and spent the whole night thinking about himself. When morning came, he, dressed in miserable and mourning clothes, went with his wife and children to the royal palace and stood at the door, crying and sobbing.

The king brought him to him and, seeing him sobbing, said to him: “O stupid and insane, if you were so afraid of the herald of your half-brother and equal in honor to you, before whom you do not know any of your guilt, then how could you reproach me for that I humbly greeted the heralds of my God, louder than a trumpet, announcing to me death and a terrible appearance before my lord, before whom I recognize many and serious sins in myself. This is how I decided to deal with you, in order to now expose your foolishness, and also those who, together with you, advised to reproach me, I will soon openly expose.” And having thus admonished his brother, he sent him away to his house.

And the king ordered to make four arks of wood, gild two of them and put the stinking bones of the dead in them, hammering them with gold nails; the other two, coated with resin and tar, filled with precious stones, expensive pearls, anointing them with all sorts of incense. Having tied the arks with hair ropes, the king called the nobles who condemned him for the humble greeting of those two men, and placed four arks in front of them so that they could appreciate the merits of the gilded and tarred arks. They valued the two gilded ones as worthy of the highest price, because they believed that royal crowns and belts were embedded in them. About the arks, coated with pitch and tar, they said that they were worthy of a small and insignificant price. Then the king said to them: “I knew that you would say this, for, having superficial vision, you perceive only an external image; but this is not how one should act, but with one’s inner vision one should see what is hidden inside - whether it is valuable or valueless.”

And the king ordered the gilded arks to be opened. As soon as the arks were opened, a terrible stench wafted from there and the ugly was revealed to the eyes. And the king said: “This is the likeness of those who are clothed in sparkling and expensive clothes and are proud of their glory and power, but inside are full of dead and stinking bones and evil deeds.” Then he ordered the arks covered with pitch and tar to be opened. And when they were opened, everyone was amazed at the beautiful sight of what was lying in them, and a fragrance emanated from them. And the king said to the nobles: “Do you know what these arks are like? They are like those two humble and clothed in miserable clothes; But you, seeing their outward appearance, reviled me because I bowed to the ground in front of them. But I, having recognized with rational eyes their nobility and spiritual beauty, considered it an honor for myself to touch them, considering them more valuable than the royal crown and better than the royal clothes.” Thus the king put his nobles to shame and taught them not to be deceived by what is visible, but to listen to what is reasonable.”

Joasaph answered him: “You speak great and wondrous words, O man.<...>What should we do to avoid the torment prepared for sinners and to be rewarded with the joy of the righteous?”<...>

Varlaam answered again: “<...>He who does not know God remains in darkness and spiritual death and in enslavement to idols for the destruction of all nature.<...>To compare and express the ignorance of such people, I will tell you a parable told to me by one of the wisest people. He said that those who worship idols are like a bird catcher who, having set a snare, once caught a small bird called a nightingale. Taking a knife, he was about to stab her to eat, when suddenly the nightingale spoke in a human voice and said to the bird-catcher: “What good will it do you, man, if you kill me? After all, you won’t even be able to fill your stomach with me, but if you free me from the snare, then I will give you three commandments. By observing them, you will gain great benefit throughout your life.” The birdcatcher marveled at the nightingale’s speech and promised that he would free him from his bonds. Turning around, the nightingale said to the man: “Never strive to achieve the impossible, do not regret what has passed by, and never believe a dubious word. Keep these three commandments and you will prosper.”

The bird catcher was delighted at the successful meeting and reasonable words and, freeing the bird from the snare, released it into the air. The nightingale wanted to check whether the person understood the meaning of the words spoken to him and whether he received any benefit from them, and the bird told him, soaring in the air. “Regret your foolishness, man, because what a treasure you have missed today. I have pearls inside me that are larger than an ostrich egg.”

Hearing this, the bird-catcher was saddened, regretting that he had let the nightingale out of his hands, and, wanting to catch him again, he said: “Come to my house, and, having received you as a friend, I will let you go with honor.” And the nightingale answered him: “Now you have turned out to be very unreasonable. After all, having accepted what was said to you with love and listened willingly, you received no benefit from it. I told you - don’t regret what passed by, and you are sad that you let me out of your hands, regretting what you missed. Told you - don’t strive to achieve the impossible, but you want to catch me without being able to catch up. Besides, I told you - don’t believe the incredible, but you believed that inside me there were pearls larger than myself, and you didn’t realize that all of me could not contain such a large ostrich egg; How can there be pearls of such size inside me?” Such are the foolish people who trust in their idols.”<...>

And Joasaph said: “I would like to find a way to keep God’s commandments pure and not to deviate from them.”<...>

Varlaam answered: “<...>Those who are connected with everyday affairs, and are busy with their worries and worries, and live in pleasures<...>They were like a man running away from an angry unicorn: unable to bear the sound of his roar and his terrible growl, the man quickly ran away so as not to be eaten. And since he ran quickly, he fell into a deep ditch. Falling, he stretched out his arms and grabbed the tree, and, holding tightly, resting his feet on the ledge, he considered himself already at peace and safe. Looking down, he saw two mice, one white and the other black, constantly gnawing the root of the tree to which he was holding on, and had almost chewed the root to the end. Looking into the depths of the ditch, he saw a dragon, terrible in appearance and breathing fire, looking fiercely, fearfully opening its mouth and ready to swallow him. Looking at the ledge on which he rested his feet, he saw four snake heads coming out of the wall on which he was leaning. Looking up, the man saw that honey was gradually dripping from the branches of the tree. Forgetting to think about the dangers surrounding him: that outside the unicorn, raging ferociously, is trying to tear him to pieces; below, an evil dragon with an open mouth is ready to swallow him; the tree he is holding on to is ready to fall, and his feet stand on a slippery and unstable foundation - forgetting about these such great misfortunes, he indulged in the pleasure of this bitter honey.

This is the likeness of those people who succumbed to the deception of earthly life. I will tell you this truth about those who are deceived by this world; I will now tell you the meaning of this similarity. For the unicorn is an image of death, forever pursuing the race of Adam and finally devouring it. The moat is the whole world, full of all sorts of evil and deadly networks. A tree constantly being gnawed by two mice is the path we take, for while each one lives, is consumed and perishes by the changing hours of day and night, and the beheading of the root draws near. The four snake heads are the insignificant and fragile elements from which the human body is composed; if they become disordered and disordered, then the bodily composition is destroyed. And the fire-breathing and merciless dragon depicts a terrible hellish belly, ready to devour those who prefer the pleasures of today's life to the benefits of the future. A drop of honey depicts the sweetness of the pleasures of this world, with which it evilly seduces those who love it, and they cease to care about their salvation.<...>

Those who love the pleasures of this life and enjoy its sweets, those who prefer the fleeting and fragile to the future and reliable, are like a man who had three friends; Of these two, he highly respected and loved very much, said that he was ready to accept death and endure any trials for their sake; the third he greatly neglected, did not respect and never deigned to show him honor and love, showed very little friendship, if not - none at all.

One day, terrible and formidable warriors came to this man to immediately take him to the king to answer for a debt of ten thousand talents. Saddened, he began to look for an intercessor to help him answer before the king, and went to his first and closest friend, telling him. “You know, friend, that I was always ready to lay down my soul for you. Now I myself need help in the grief and need that has befallen me. So tell me, will you help me now and what can I hope for from you, dear friend?” The same one said to him in response: “I am not your friend, man, and I don’t know who you are; I have other friends, I will have fun with them today and will make them friends in the future. I will give you two pieces of rags so that you can have them on the path you will go, but they will not be of any use to you, and otherwise, do not expect any help from me.”

Hearing this and despairing of the answer from the one on whose help he hoped, the man went to his second friend and said to him: “Do you remember, friend, how much honor and good advice you saw from me? Now I too am in sorrow and in great adversity and need a helper. How can you share my difficulties with me, I want to know.” The friend replied: “I don’t have time today to share the difficulties with you, for I myself am in sadness and misfortunes that have overcome me, and in grief. However, I’ll walk with you a little, and if I can’t help you, I’ll immediately return here from you, having my own worries.”

Having returned from the second friend empty-handed, that man completely despaired, mourning the empty hope of help from his ungrateful friends and the meaningless labors that he had previously endured for the sake of love for them; and he went to his third friend, whom he had never served, did not invite, and turned to him with an embarrassed face and looking down: “I don’t dare to open my mouth to you, knowing truly that you will not remember that I will ever did you good or showed you friendship. Now an evil misfortune has befallen me. Having received absolutely no hope of salvation from my friends, I came to you and pray, if you can, help me at least a little, do not refuse me, remembering my folly.” He answered with a gentle and joyful face: “I consider you my closest friend and, remembering your small good deed to me, today I will repay you a hundredfold, I will ask the king for you. Do not be afraid and do not be afraid, for I will go ahead of you to the king and will not deliver you into the hands of your enemies. Take courage, dear friend, and do not be in grief and sadness.” Then, repenting, that man said with tears: “Woe is me, what should I cry about first - whether about the love that I had for that forgetful, ungrateful and deceitful friendship, or will I pay for the maddening despair, which, however, showed this true and close friend?

Joasaph, having listened to this parable, was surprised and asked for clarification, and Barlaam said: “The first friend is wealth and the desire to accumulate gold, because of which many people fall into trouble and many suffer misfortunes. When death comes, a person will take nothing of all his wealth with him, only to see off his vain friends. The second friend is the wife and children and other relatives and household, to whose love we are committed and for the sake of love for whom we are ready to renounce our own soul and body. There is no benefit from them in the hour of death, but they only take you to the grave, and then immediately return, having their own worries and sorrows, burying the memory in oblivion, just as the body of a once loved one was buried in the grave. The third friend, whom we pass by, consider temporary, neglect him, avoid him and with whom we ultimately achieve victory, is the face of good deeds, namely: faith, hope, love, mercy, philanthropy and the rest of the system of virtues that can go ahead of us at the departure of the soul from the body, to pray for us to God and deliver us from our enemies, from the evil torturers who move in the air, mercilessly demanding an account from us and adamantly striving to take possession of us. This is a prudent and kind friend who, remembering our small acts of kindness, repays us with interest.”

Then Joasaph said: “<...>Show me also the image of this vain world and how to go through this life peacefully and safely.”

Having listened to him, Varlaam said: “Listen to the example of this parable. I heard about a certain great city, the inhabitants of which had long had the custom of choosing as king some stranger, not familiar with the law of that city, not knowing anything about the customs of the inhabitants, and they made him king, and he accepted all the power and carried out his duties without hindrance. your will before the expiration of one year. Then unexpectedly, in those very days when he lived without sorrow, in constant abundant luxury and thought that his reign would be forever, they attacked him and, tearing off the royal clothes, led him naked in shame throughout the city, expelled him and sent him to exile far away to some large deserted island, on which, having neither food nor clothing, he suffered bitterly, no longer hoping for luxury and fun, but in grief he had neither aspirations nor hope.

And so, according to the custom of those townspeople, a certain man was appointed king, very reasonable and taking care not to be deprived of his kingdom in the same way, so that the wealth that suddenly befell him, like those who reigned before him and were mercilessly expelled, would not be replaced by sadness; and, saddened, he became jealous about it. To protect himself, he often consulted and truly learned from one wise adviser about the custom of those townspeople and about the place of exile, as he should have known without error. And when he learned that he would be on that island when he would be deprived of his kingdom, he opened his treasures, which he had at his disposal without restraint, and, taking as much gold, silver and precious stones as he needed, he ordered a lot of them to be given to his faithful slaves , sending them to the island where he was to go.

At the end of the year, the townspeople rebelled and, like previous kings, sent him naked into exile. The former foolish kings suffered greatly from hunger; this one, having sent rich supplies in advance, lived in abundance, having endless luxury, casting aside all fear of those treacherous townspeople, and rejoiced at his wise and correct decision.

So, by city you mean this bustling world. The townspeople are the power and domination of demons, the rulers of the darkness of this world, seducing us with the peace of pleasures and inspiring us to accept the corruptible and transient as eternally abiding with us and to believe that all those who are in sweetness are immortal. And so we, living in error and not thinking about this great and eternal thing, suddenly suffer mortal destruction. Then the evil and cruel townspeople of darkness, who have been with us all their time, having taken us, will take us naked from here to the land of eternal darkness, where there is no light, no human habitation is visible, there is no good adviser who revealed everything true and taught salvation to the wise king, - by this advisor you understand my insignificance, for I came to you to show you the true path leading to eternal and infinite benefits.<...>

A parable about another king and a beggar. I heard about a certain king who wisely ruled his kingdom; He was meek and merciful to his people. He was mistaken in only one thing, for he did not have the light of true knowledge of God, but was obsessed with the delusion of idolatry. He had a good adviser and adorned with all piety towards God and all other virtuous wisdom, who was sad and grieved over the king’s error and wanted to expose him to this. But he hesitated, fearing to harm himself and his loved ones and to lose the benefit he brought to many, and he looked for a favorable time to attract the king to true good.

And one night the king said to him: “Let’s go out and walk around the city, see if we see anything useful.” Walking through the city, they saw a ray of light emanating from a small window, and, looking through this window, they saw a dwelling underground, like a cave, in which sat a man living in extreme poverty and dressed in wretched rags. His wife stood before him, pouring wine into a cup. And when her husband accepted the cup from her, she sang, amusing him, and danced, and pleased her husband with praises. Everyone who was around the king, hearing this, was amazed at those who, in the midst of such severe poverty, having neither home nor clothing, lived in such a cheerful life.

And the king said to his first adviser: “Oh, it’s a miracle, friend, neither for me nor for you, who live in such glory and luxury, life has ever been as sweet as the insignificant and pitiful life of these foolish people delights them and quietly amuses them, and is joyful.” This seems like an evil and unenviable life.” Taking advantage of the opportunity, the adviser said: “What does the life of these people seem to you, king?” The king answered: “Of all the lives I have seen, this is the most difficult, absurd, desecrated and ugly.” Then the adviser said to him: “So know, king, that our life is much worse than the life of those from whom we should learn, who see the truth of eternal life and the glory of blessings that surpass all; houses sparkling with gold and light, clothing and other luxury of this life are unacceptable, gloomy and ugly for the eyes of those who have seen the indescribable beauties of heavenly dwellings not made by hands, richly woven clothes and imperishable crowns.<...>

“I heard,” said Varlaam, “that this king continued to live in true faith and piety, and lived calmly, and ended his life, having achieved the bliss of the future life.”<...>

Joasaph said to the elder: “<...>Take me with you and let’s leave here.”<...>

Varlaam answered him: “One rich man fed a young chamois. When she grew up, she yearned for freedom, drawn by her innate desire. Going out one day, she saw a herd of chamois grazing and pestered them; she wandered with them through the fields, and in the evening she returned to the house in which she was fed, leaving again in the morning, due to the servants’ oversight, to again graze with a herd of wild chamois. When one day the herd wandered far away, she followed him. The rich man's servants, seeing this, mounted their horses and chased the herd; Having caught their chamois, they returned it home and locked it so that it could not get out; From the rest of the herd they killed some, dispersed others, and wounded them. I’m afraid that it won’t be the same with us if you follow me, so that I don’t lose your cohabitation and cause many troubles to my comrades.”<...>

After Varlaam left, Arakhiya, second in rank after the king, said to the king: “I know one desert elder named Nahor, who is very similar to Varlaam.<...>He is our faith and my teacher.<...>Let's imagine Nahor for Barlaam.<...>In a competition with our sages about faith, he will be defeated. The prince, seeing this, will understand that Varlaam has misled him.”

<...>Then the king ordered everyone to gather, both idolaters and Christians.<...>And Nahor, the imaginary Barlaam, was brought in to argue. And the king said to his orators and wise men: “You have a feat ahead of you... it is fitting that today he should be ours and establish our faith, and Barlaam and those who are with him will turn out to be mistaken. If you expose him, you will be crowned with victorious crowns. If you are defeated, you will die a cruel death.”

The king’s son, having learned about the deception through a dream sent to him from God, said to Nahor: “If you are defeated<...>, then with my own hands I will tear out your heart and tongue and give it to the dogs to be eaten, along with the rest of your body, so that everyone will be afraid of seducing the king’s sons by your example.” Hearing this, Nahor became very sad and ashamed, seeing that he had fallen into a hole that he had dug.<...>. After reflection, he decided to take the side of the prince and affirm his faith<...>; He opened his mouth, like Balaam’s donkey once did, deciding to utter the immutable, and said, turning to the king:

“I, O king, by the providence of God came into the world and, seeing the sky and the earth, and the sea, the sun and the moon, and everything else, I was amazed at their beauty. Seeing that the world and everything in it move out of necessity, I realized that the one who moves and holds everything is God. And everything that moves is stronger than what is moved, and everything that holds is stronger than what is held. Therefore, I affirm that God is the one who created and arranged everything, he is beginningless and eternal, immortal and does not depend on anything, he is above all sins and transgressions, anger and oblivion, what ignorance creates, and everything else. Everything exists only through him. He does not need sacrifices, nor libations, nor anything else external, but everyone needs him.

After I have said about God what he deigned to say about him, let us now move on to the human race and see who has the truth and who is in error. We know, king, that there are three kinds of people in the world: worshipers of your so-called gods, Jews and Christians. In turn, those who worship many gods are divided into three families: Chaldeans, Hellenes and Egyptians; these three peoples were the ancestors and teachers of other peoples who worshiped many gods. Let us now see who has comprehended the truth and who is mistaken.

The Chaldeans, who did not know the true God, being misled by the existing elements, began to honor the created more than the creator; having made some images, they called them likenesses of the sky and the earth, and the sea, and the sun, and the moon, and the rest of the elements and stars, and, having placed them in temples, they worship them, calling them gods, and guard them reliably so that they would not be stolen robbers; and they did not realize that the guardian is stronger than the guarded and the creator is greater than the created;

if their gods are not able to protect themselves, then how can they grant salvation to others? So, the Chaldeans fell into great error by worshiping dead and useless idols. And I marvel, O king, how those who are called wise men among them could not understand that if those corruptible elements are not gods, then how can the idols made in their honor be gods?

Let us now move on, O king, to the elements themselves to show that they are not gods, but perishable and changeable, called from non-existence into existence by the command of the true God, who is incorruptible, immutable and invisible, but he himself sees everything and names and changes as he wants. What can I say about the elements?

Those who think that heaven is God are mistaken. For we see that it changes and moves according to necessity and consists of many parts, and beauty is the device of some skilled craftsman; everything created has a beginning and an end. The firmament moves out of necessity with its luminaries; the stars move according to their order and path, from constellation to constellation, some set, others rise, and in all seasons they make their way, changing summer and winter, as God commanded them, and do not exceed their limits, do not violate the natural flow according to the heavenly order. Whence it is clear that heaven is not God, but God’s creation.

Those who consider the earth to be a god or goddess are also mistaken. For we see that it is desecrated by people, it is in their possession, they stir and dig at it, and it becomes unusable. If you burn it, it becomes dead; So, nothing grows from tiles. If, in particular, it gets wet, it itself and its fruit decays. Both people and animals trample it, desecrate it with the blood of the dead, dig it up, and it becomes an ark of dead bodies. And since all this is so, it is impossible for the earth to be God, but it is God’s creation for the benefit of people.

Those who consider water to be God are mistaken. After all, it also exists for the benefit of people; they dispose of it, it is desecrated and destroyed by them and changed; they boil it and change the color with its dyes, and it hardens from the cold, and is defiled by blood, and is used to wash everything unclean, and it is worn for washing. Therefore, it is impossible for water to be a god.

Fire was also created for the benefit of people; they dispose of it and transport it from place to place for frying and boiling all kinds of meat, as well as for burning dead bodies. It is destroyed, and in many ways people repay it. Therefore, it is not appropriate for fire to be a god; it is only a creation of God.

Those who consider man to be God are mistaken. For we see that he too submits to necessity, and eats food and grows old against his will. He is sometimes happy, sometimes sad, in need of food, drink and clothing. At the same time, he can be angry, jealous, neglectful, and has many shortcomings;

he can be destroyed in various ways, from the elements and animals and from the death that awaits him. Therefore, man cannot be considered a god, but only a creation of God. So, the Chaldeans fell into great error, following their inventions. After all, they revere the corruptible elements and dead idols and do not understand that they themselves create gods from them.

Let us now turn to the Hellenes, what do they think about God. The Hellenes, who consider themselves wise, became even more stupid than the Chaldeans, claiming that there are many gods, some male, others female, who are the creators of all kinds of sins and lawless deeds. Therefore, ridiculous, stupid and impious speeches, O king, are spoken by the Greeks, proclaiming non-existent gods according to their own evil passions, so that, having them as protectors of evil deeds and malice, they could commit adultery, steal, commit adultery along with murder. For their gods did such things. It was from these misconceptions that wars began among people, and frequent rebellions, and murders, and serious captivities. But for each of their gods you will see the meaninglessness and bad deeds that came from them.

The first of all their gods is Kronos, and they sacrifice their children to him; he had many sons from his wife Rhea, but, falling into madness, he ate his children. They say that he cut off his reproductive member and threw it into the sea, from where, as the fables tell, Aphrodite appeared. Having tied up his father, Zeus plunged him into tartarus. Do you see now how they are mistaken and deceived, attributing debauchery to their gods? Is it fitting for a god to be bound and deprived of his reproductive member? O foolishness, who of those who have understanding can say such a thing?

Zeus is revered second among them; he is said to reign over the gods and is transformed into animals in order to commit adultery with mortal women. They say that he turned into a bull for the sake of Europa, into gold for the sake of Danae, into a satyr for the sake of Antiope, and into lightning for the sake of Semele. From these women, Zeus later had many children: Dionysus, Zetus, Amphion, Hercules, Apollo, Artemis, Perseus, Castor and Helen, Polydeuces, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon and nine daughters, who are called muses. Then they talk about Ganymede. So, king, people began to imitate all this and fell into debauchery and a criminal passion for boys and other evil deeds, in the likeness of their gods. How can an adulterer and homosexual or a parricide be God?

At the same time, they worship as god a certain Hephaestus, who wields a hammer and tongs and engages in blacksmithing for food. Does God really need anything, and is it possible for God to engage in such work and ask people for food?

They worship the god Asclepius, a physician who prepares medicine and administers food for the sake of food, for he too is in need, and then Zeus struck him to death because of Tyndareus the Lacedaemonian, and he died. If Asclepius, being a god, could not help himself when struck by thunder, how could he help others?

Ares is revered by them as a god, a warrior, an envious person, greedy for herds and other property; then he, having committed adultery with Aphrodite, was bound by Eros and Hephaestus. How can a greedy warrior, imprisoned in chains, and a libertine be a god?

They worship the god Dionysus, the organizer of nightly celebrations, who taught drunkenness, who carried away other people's wives, who fell into madness and who ran away. He was later killed by the titans. If Dionysus could not save himself from murder and was a madman, a drunkard, and a fugitive, then how can he be a god?

And they honor Hercules as a god. He, drunk, goes berserk and kills his children, and then burns in the fire and dies. How can a drunkard and child killer, burned in a fire, be a god? How can one who could not defend himself help others?

They consider the god Apollo, an envious man, holding a bow and quiver, sometimes playing and composing songs, and telling fortunes to people for a fee. Therefore, he is in need, but it is not fitting for one who is in need, and envious, and playful, to be God.

They honor Artemis, the sister of Apollo, a hunter, owner of a bow and quiver, rushing through the mountains with a pack of dogs to track down a doe or a boar. How can such a woman and huntress, running with a pack of dogs, be a goddess?

They say about Aphrodite that she is both a goddess and an adulteress, for she commits adultery first with Ares, then with Anchises, then with Adonis, whose death she mourns in search of her lover; they say that she also went down to hell to ransom Adonis from Persephone. Have you seen, O king, greater madness, because they introduce as a goddess a murderer, an adulteress, a weeping and weeping one?

They consider the god Adonis, a hunter who died a heavy death, killed by his son, and could not help his misfortune. How can an adulterer and a hunter who died a violent death take care of people?

All this and many similar things and a great many terrible and evil things were invented by the Hellenes, O king, about their gods; It is truly sinful to both talk about them and keep them in mind. And people, taking such examples from their gods, commit all sorts of lawlessness, nasty and evil deeds, and dishonor, desecrating the earth and air with their evil deeds.

The Egyptians are even more stupid and unreasonable, they fell into error worse than all other peoples, for they, not content with the Chaldean and Hellenic faith and worship, began to worship also animals devoid of reason, earthly and aquatic, calling them gods, and trees, and herbs; with all their madness and bad deeds, they are worse than all the nations that exist on earth. At first they believed in Isis, who had a brother and a husband named Osiris, who was killed by her brother Typhon, and therefore Isis runs with her son Or through the Syrian land, looking for Osiris and weeping bitterly, until Or grew up and killed Typhon. And neither Isis could help her brother and husband, nor Osiris, killed by Typhon, could resist him; neither Typhon the fratricide could save himself from death, being destroyed by Orus and Isis. And being in such misfortunes, they were recognized as gods by the foolish Egyptians; and the Egyptians, not content with these or other objects of worship of the pagans, also introduced animals without reason as gods, for some of them worship the sheep, others the goat, others the calf, others the crocodile, the snake, and the dog, and the wolf, and the hen, and the monkey, and the asp, and the onion, and the thorn, and the garlic, and the accursed ones did not understand that they could not do anything.

Let us now move on, O king, to the Jews and see what they think about God. For they - the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, came to Egypt, from where God brought them out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm through Moses, their lawgiver, showed them his power with many wonders and signs, but they turned out to be foolish and ungrateful and often served pagan worship and faith, and the prophets and righteous people sent to them were killed. After the son of God deigned to come to earth, they, rejecting him, handed him over to Pilate, the Roman ruler, and, having condemned him, crucified him, not being ashamed of his good deeds and the countless miracles that he performed for them. And they perished through their lawlessness, although they now believe in one Almighty God, but not with reason, for they reject Christ, the son of God, being lawless. For how do they think that they are close to the truth, when in fact they are moving away from it? This is about the Jews.

Christians descend from the Lord Jesus Christ. We confess him as the son of the Most High God, who through the holy spirit came down from heaven for the salvation of people, was born of a holy virgin without conception and without incorruptibility, took on flesh and became a man in order to return people from polytheistic error to the truth, and, having accomplished his wondrous providence, accepted death through crucifixion according to one's own will, according to great predestination. After three days he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. It is appropriate for you to know the glory of his coming, O king, from the books that Christians themselves call the Gospel Scripture, if you want to talk about it. Christ had twelve disciples, who, after his ascension into heaven, dispersed throughout the regions of the entire universe to teach about his greatness. One of them came to our country, preaching the doctrine of truth. This is where it came from that those who serve the teachings of preaching them are called Christians; more than all other peoples, they have found the truth, they have come to know God, the creator and creator of everything, through the only begotten son and the holy spirit. They do not worship any other god and do not worship anyone else; The commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ are written in their hearts and, keeping them, they await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. They do not commit adultery, do not indulge in fornication, do not bear false witness, do not covet the things of others, honor father and mother and close friends, judge with justice: what they do not desire for themselves, they do not do to others; they call on those who offend them, comforting them, and make them their friends, try to do good; meek and merciful, abstaining from all lawless cohabitation and all uncleanness; widows are not despised, orphans are not offended; the haves give to the have-nots without regret. If they see a stranger, they take him under their roof and rejoice at him as if they were their own brother, for they do not call people their brothers according to the flesh, but with their heart and soul. They are ready to lay down their souls for Christ, firmly keep his commandments, living piously and righteously, as the Lord God commanded them, thanking him at all times for food and drink and other benefits. Truly this is the right path; Christ leads everyone who follows them into the eternal kingdom, into the future life he promised.

And so that you know, king, that I am not saying this on my own behalf, when you look into Christian books, you will not find anything there except the truth I have said. Therefore, your son understood correctly and correctly learned to honor the true God in order to be saved in the future life. For what Christians say and do is great and wonderful, for they speak not human words, but God’s words. The rest of the nations are mistaken and deceive both themselves and those who listen to them, for they walk in darkness and will fall like drunken people. Here is my word to you, king.

Before what is spoken by the truth through my mind, let your foolish sages be silent, for they talk idle talk about God. After all, it is appropriate, while honoring and worshiping the Creator God, to listen to his immortal words so that, having avoided the Last Judgment and eternal torment, you would become heirs of undying life.”

Venerable John of Damascus

The story of the life of our venerable and God-bearing fathers Barlaam and Joasaph

Published according to the edition: The Legend of the Life of Our Reverend and God-Bearing Fathers Barlaam and Joasaph, compiled by St. John of Damascus. Sergiev Posad, 1910.

A heartfelt story about the life of Barlaam and Joasaph, brought from the country of inner Ethiopia, called India, to the Holy City [Jerusalem] by John of Damascus, an honest and virtuous husband, a monk of the monastery of St. Savva.

Preface

All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, says the holy Apostle (Rom. 8:14). To be awarded the Holy Spirit, to become a son of God is the highest goal of every person. He who has acquired the Holy Spirit knows everything, as the Holy Scripture says. The saints of this world were honored to achieve such extreme bliss and the highest of aspirations through asceticism in virtues. Some achieved perfection through the martyrdom they waged against sin until the last drop of blood; others, leading an ascetic life, embarked on this difficult path and voluntarily became martyrs. The deeds and successes of both those who achieved bliss through suffering, and those who [put in a lot of] labor in order to be like Angels in their actions, the divine apostles and blessed fathers ordered Christian society to record as a model of virtue for subsequent generations, commanding them to do this for salvation of our human race. For the path to virtue is difficult and thorny, especially for those who Having not yet purified their souls before God, being overwhelmed by passions, they consider themselves perfect. We need many things to encourage us to virtue: partly in reminders, partly in the lives of descriptions of people who deserve trust in this regard. Reading such biographies helps us endure trials and forces us not to neglect preparing ourselves to meet the thorns along the way. Thus, if someone began to persuade and encourage even those inclined to take this road full of difficulties, then with one exhortation he would achieve less than if he also presented examples of many who had already walked this path and in the end valiantly overcame its difficulties. This way he would be more likely to convince everyone to try it for themselves. As a result, I, adhering to this rule, believe that one should act differently than the slave who, having taken a talent from his master, buried it in the ground and thus did not use it for trading, but hid it (Matthew 25:18) , - and I will in no case keep silent about the soulful message that God-fearing people conveyed to me about the inhabitants of inland Ethiopia, known as Hindus, having learned this from reliable sources.

The country of the Hindus in question is vast and populous, surrounded by oceans and seas convenient for ships in the part facing Egypt, while on the mainland it borders on the Persian state. From ancient times the darkness of idolatry dominated in it; it was a country in the highest degree barbaric; her iniquities stood out among others. When the Only Begotten Son of God, who exists in the bosom of the Father, not enduring the enslavement by sin of beings of the same image with Him, appeared to us, alien to sin, and, without leaving the throne of His Father, became incarnate for us from the Virgin, so that we would become partakers of heaven and depart from our ancestral sin and, having been freed from it, would have regained the former sonship; when He, having completed His work of incarnation, accepted suffering and death on the cross and so united the earthly with the heavenly, then rose from the dead, ascended into heaven in glory and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty of the Father in heaven, then He sent to those who saw Him and accepted His teaching, as promised, into the comforters of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire and then sent them [the disciples] to all nations to enlighten with the light of the Gospel those immersed in the darkness of ignorance and to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And when some of them received the eastern countries as their inheritance, others - the western countries, some went to the south, others to the north, then Saint Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Christ, was sent to the country of the Hindus to proclaim to them the saving teaching. With the assistance of the Almighty, who confirmed his words with signs, the darkness of idolatry was dispelled, and the inhabitants of that country, abandoning sacrifices to idols and similar abominations, accepted the immutable faith. Enlightened by the holy apostle, they found Christ through baptism. The number of believers constantly increased in the country, its inhabitants prospered in the true faith, building churches everywhere.

When monasteries began to emerge in Egypt and societies of monks began to gather, the fame of their life in imitation of the Angels spread beyond the borders of the land they inhabited, reached the country of the Hindus and caused a similar competition here. Many of them, leaving everything, settled in the deserts and, being in a corruptible body, adopted the way of life of the disembodied. When, therefore, Christianity prospered and, as they say, many ascended to heaven on golden wings, then in the same country there was one king named Abner. Rich and powerful for his victories over his opponents, terrible in wars, famous for his enormous height and beauty of face and proud of these worldly, perishable advantages, he at the same time possessed extremely meager spiritual strength, was subject to many vices, being carried away by pagan superstitions. Abner lived in bliss, luxury and enjoyment of life's pleasures, not knowing any obstacles to the fulfillment of his desires and whims, and only one thing interfered with his fun and plunged his soul into worries: he was childless. His dream was to be called the father of children, which for many is the object of their main desires. Such was the king, such were his thoughts.

The glorious Christian family and monastic communities, not considering the king’s threat, continued their service to Christ, succeeding more than can be expressed in words. They sought only that which could contribute to their pleasing God, so that many of those who accepted the monastic order equally despised all earthly pleasures, and only one thing was important to them: religion and the thirst to die for Christ in order to achieve eternal bliss. Christians preached the saving name of God without fear or cowardice. Christ Himself spoke through their lips. They clearly represented to everyone the fragility and short-term nature of the present, the strength and eternity of the future life. Many, having tasted all the sweetness of this teaching, began to emerge from the darkness of deception and join the light of truth, so that even some of the noble people and senators moved away from the bustle of life and became monks. King Abner, of whom we are talking, heard about this, became terribly angry and, in an excess of anger, immediately issued a decree to force Christians to renounce their faith. He invented various kinds of torture for them, applied them in practice, threatened new types of executions, sent instructions to his nobles and regional rulers to punish devout Christians and, being bitter, ordered the unjust execution of all elected monks. Thus, without declaring war on Christians, he irreconcilably waged it against them. Then many of the believers wavered. Some, unable to bear the torment, obeyed his lawless command. Some representatives of monastic communities accepted martyrdom and achieved eternal bliss. Others hid in deserts and mountains, not out of fear of threats of torture, but at the inspiration of God.

At a time when believers were expelled from everywhere from the land of the Hindus, the defenders of paganism grew stronger and the very air was constantly polluted by the smell of blood and the fat of constantly burning sacrificial animals, one royal satrap, distinguished from others by the nobility of his soul, greatness and piety, was generally more perfect than others in his nobility soul, and because of the beauty of his body, having heard about this wicked command, he renounced vain earthly glory and luxury and joined the monastics. Having retired to deserted places, through fasting, vigil and study of the Holy Scriptures, he freed his soul from passions, sanctified it by their absence.

Hearing about this, the king, who loved and respected him very much, was very upset by the loss of his friend and was inflamed with even greater hatred of monasticism. He sent people in all directions to look for him, ordering, as they say, not a single stone to be left in place. After a long time, those sent to search for him, learning that he lived in the desert, found him, captured him and placed him before the throne of the king. Seeing him, once dressed in rich clothes, and now in poor and coarse rags, him, having abandoned former luxury and comforts, now poor, exhausted by the harsh ascetic life, with obvious signs of this desert life, Abner at the same time filled with both sadness and anger.