Thaïs | Page 9

him--
"Father, if you are now out of the ecstasy in which you were lost, give
me your blessing in our Lord Jesus Christ."
The other replied without turning his head--
"Stranger, I understand you not, and I know not the Lord Jesus Christ."
"What!" cried Paphnutius. "The prophets have announced Him; legions
of martyrs have confessed His name; Caesar himself has worshipped
Him, and, but just now, I made the sphinx of Silsile proclaim His glory.
Is it possible that you do not know Him?"
"Friend," replied the other, "it is possible. It would even be certain, if
anything in this world were certain."

Paphnutius was surprised and saddened by the incredible ignorance of
the man.
"If you know not Jesus Christ," he said, "all your works serve no
purpose, and you will never rise to life immortal."
The old man replied--
"It is useless to act, or to abstain from acting. It matters not whether we
live or die."
"Eh, what?" asked Paphnutius. "Do you not desire to live through all
eternity? But, tell me, do you not live in a hut in the desert as the
hermits do?"
"It seems so."
"Do I not see you naked, and lacking all things?"
"It seems so."
"Do you not feed on roots, and live in chastity?"
"It seems so."
"Have you not renounced all the vanities of this world?"
"I have truly renounced all those vain things for which men commonly
care."
"Then you are like me, poor, chaste, and solitary. And you are not so
--as I am--for the love of God, and with a hope of celestial happiness!
That I cannot understand. Why are you virtuous if you do not believe in
Jesus Christ? Why deprive yourself of the good things of this world if
you do not hope to gain eternal riches in heaven?"
"Stranger, I deprive myself of nothing which is good, and I flatter
myself that I have found a life which is satisfactory enough, though-- to
speak more precisely--there is no such thing as a good or evil life.

Nothing is itself, either virtuous or shameful, just or unjust, pleasant or
painful, good or bad. It is our opinion which gives those qualities to
things, as salt gives savour to meats."
"So then, according to you there is no certainty. You deny the truth
which the idolaters themselves have sought. You lie in ignorance--like
a tired dog sleeping in the mud."
"Stranger, it is equally useless to abuse either dogs or philosophers. We
know not what dogs are or what we are. We know nothing."
"Old man, do you belong, then, to the absurd sect of sceptics? Are you
one of those miserable fools who alike deny movement and rest, and
who know not how to distinguish between the light of the sun and the
shadows of night?"
"Friend, I am truly a sceptic, and of a sect which appears praiseworthy
to me, though it seems ridiculous to you. For the same things often
assume different appearances. The pyramids of Memphis seem at
sunrise to be cones of pink light. At sunset they look like black
triangles against the illuminated sky. But who shall solve the problem
of their true nature? You reproach me with denying appearances, when,
in fact, appearances are the only realities I recognise. The sun seems to
me illuminous, but its nature is unknown to me. I feel that fire
burns--but I know not how or why. My friend, you understand me
badly. Besides, it is indifferent to me whether I am understood one way
or the other."
"Once more. Why do you live on dates and onions in the desert? Why
do you endure great hardships? I endure hardships equally great, and,
like you, I live in abstinence and solitude. But then it is to please God,
and to earn eternal happiness. And that is a reasonable object, for it is
wise to suffer now for a future gain. It is senseless, on the contrary, to
expose yourself voluntarily to useless fatigue and vain sufferings. If I
did not believe--pardon my blasphemy, O uncreated Light!--if I did not
believe in the truth of that which God has taught us by the voice of the
prophets, by the example of His Son, by the acts of the Apostles, by the
authority of councils, and by the testimony of the martyrs,--if I did not

know that the sufferings of the body are necessary for the salvation of
the soul--if I were, like thee, lost in ignorance of sacred mysteries--I
would return at once amongst the men of this day, I would strive to
acquire riches, that I might live in ease, like those who are happy in this
world, and I would say to the votaries of pleasure, 'Come, my daughters,
come, my