PL 38 · cols. 1406–1409

Augustine, Sermones 305-315 (Classis III, de Sanctis)

Sermons CCCVII–CCCVIII

SERMO CCCVII. In Decollatione beati Joannis Baptistae, I.

Sermon 307. On the Beheading of Blessed John the Baptist, 1.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Joannis Baptistae caedes qua occasione facta. Cum sanctum Evangelium legeretur, crudele spectaculum ante oculos nostros constitutum est, caput sancti Joannis in disco, feralis missus crudelitatis, propter odium veritatis. Puella saltat, et saevit mater: et inter delicias et lascivias convivantium temere juratur, et impie quod juratur, impletur. Factum est Joanni quod ipse praedixerat. De Domino enim Jesu Christo dixerat, Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Joan. III, 30). Iste minutus est in capite, ille crevit in cruce. Odium peperit veritas. Non potuit aequo animo tolerari, quod homo Dei sanctus monebat: qui utique salutem eorum quaerebat, quos sic monebat. Responderunt illi mala pro bonis. Quid enim ille diceret, nisi quo plenus erat? Et quid illi responderent, nisi quo pleni erant? Ille triticum seminavit, sed spinas invenit. Dicebat regi, Non licet tibi habere uxorem fratris tui (Marc. VI, 17-28). Vincebat enim regem libido: tenebat apud se prohibitam uxorem fratris sui. Sed eum tamen sic libebat, ut non saeviret. Honorabat eum a quo verum audiebat. Sed mulier detestabilis odium concipiebat, quod aliquando dato tempore pareret. Quando parturiebat, peperit filiam, filiam saltantem. Et rex ille qui sanctum virum habebat Joannem, qui eum propter Dominum timebat, etsi ei non obediebat, posteaquam ab illo petitum est caput Joannis in disco, contristatus est. Sed propter jurationem et propter conrecumbentes, misit spiculatorem, et implevit quod juravit.

Chapter I. — 1. On what occasion the slaying of John the Baptist took place. When the holy Gospel was being read, a cruel spectacle was set before our eyes: the head of holy John on a dish, a course served up by deadly cruelty, on account of hatred of the truth. A girl dances, and her mother rages; and amid the delights and wantonness of banqueters an oath is rashly sworn, and what is sworn is impiously fulfilled. There happened to John what he himself had foretold. For he had said of the Lord Jesus Christ, He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). This one was decreased in his head, that One increased on the cross. Truth gave birth to hatred. What the holy man of God admonished could not be borne with an even mind; and yet he was surely seeking the salvation of those whom he admonished in this way. They returned him evil for good. For what was he to say, except that with which he was full? And what were they to answer, except that with which they were full? He sowed wheat, but found thorns. He said to the king, It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife (Mark 6:17–28). For lust was overcoming the king: he was keeping with him his brother's wife, who was forbidden to him. Yet he was so disposed towards him that he did not rage [against him]. He honoured the man from whom he heard the truth. But the detestable woman was conceiving a hatred, which she would bring forth at some time when the occasion was given. When she was in labour, she brought forth a daughter, a dancing daughter. And that king, who held John to be a holy man, who feared him for the Lord's sake, even though he did not obey him, after John's head on a dish had been asked of him, was made sorrowful. But because of the oath and because of those reclining at table with him, he sent an executioner, and fulfilled what he had sworn.

CAPUT II. — 2. Juratio omnis prohibita propter periculum falsae jurationis. Admonet nos locus iste, charissimi, ut propter vitam et mores vestros aliquid vobis de juramento tractemus. Falsa juratio non est leve peccatum: imo tam magnum peccatum est, falsum jurare, ut propter reatum falsae jurationis Dominus prohibuerit omnem jurationem. Ait enim: Dictum est, Non perjurabis, reddes autem Domino jusjurandum tuum: ego autem dico vobis, non jurare omnino, neque per coelum, quia thronus Dei est; neque per terram, quia scabellum pedum ejus est; neque aliud quodcumque juramentum; neque per caput tuum juraveris; quia non potes facere capillum album aut nigrum. Sit autem in ore vestro, Est, est; Non, non. Si quid amplius est, a malo est (Matth. V, 33-37).

Chapter II. — 2. All swearing forbidden on account of the danger of false swearing. This passage admonishes us, dearly beloved, to treat with you somewhat concerning the oath, for the sake of your life and morals. False swearing is not a light sin; indeed, swearing falsely is so great a sin that, on account of the guilt of false swearing, the Lord forbade all swearing. For He says: It was said, You shall not forswear yourself, but you shall render your oath to the Lord: but I say to you, not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, because it is the footstool of His feet; nor any other oath whatever; nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let there be in your mouth, Yes, yes; No, no. If there is anything more, it is from evil (Matt. 5:33–37).

3. Juratio a Deo adhibita. Invenimus autem in Scripturis

3. Swearing employed by God. But we find in the Scriptures

Editors' notes and page, col. 1406

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCVII› · call in col 1406 Correctus ad duos cb. ad cr. gr. r. t. et ad Par. Lov.

Corrected against the two cb. manuscripts, against cr. gr. r. t., and against the Paris and Louvain editions.

(printed under page 709)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCVII› · call in col 1406

Alias, inter additos a Parisiensibus 10.

Elsewhere, no. 10 among those added by the Paris editors.

(printed under page 709)

(b) ‹anchor: In Decollatione beati Joannis Baptistae, I› · call in col 1406

Cum hoc titulo hic et alter sermo fuit olim a Parisiensibus editus ex antiquis lectionariis. Sed non inde constat ab Augustino habitos in ea festivitate: tametsi haec ipsa festivitas in Carthaginensi calendario celebretur, non quidem 29 augusti, ut in plerisque martyrologiis, sed 27 decembris, his verbis, « vi cal. jan. Sancti Joannis Baptistae, et Jacobi apostoli, quem Herodes occidit. » Joannem Baptistam imminente Pascha occisum observat Beda in Marc. VI. Caedis vero hujus, quemadmodum et apostoli Jacobi, celebritas in aliud tempus translata est.

Under this title this sermon and another were formerly published by the Paris editors from ancient lectionaries. But it does not follow from this that they were preached by Augustine on that feast: although this very feast is celebrated in the Carthaginian calendar, not indeed on 29 August, as in most martyrologies, but on 27 December, in these words: "On the sixth day before the Kalends of January, of Saint John the Baptist and of James the apostle, whom Herod slew." Bede, on Mark 6, observes that John the Baptist was killed as the Pasch drew near. The celebration of his slaying, however, like that of the apostle James, was transferred to another time.

(printed under page 709)

Page

running head: SERMO CCCVII. 1406
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 38:1407

sanctis Dominum jurasse, quando ei usque ad immolationem dilecti filii obedivit Abraham. Locutus est ei angelus de coelo dicens: Per memetipsum juro, dicit Dominus, quia obaudisti vocem meam, et non pepercisti filio tuo dilecto propter me, benedicens benedicam te, et implebo semen tuum, sicut stellas coeli, et sicut arenam maris; et benedicentur in semine tuo omnes gentes (Gen. XXII, 16-18). Quod videtis totum orbem terrarum Christianos implere, exhibet verax juratio Dei. Itemque in Psalmis de Domino Jesu Christo prophetatum est, Juravit Dominus, et non poenitebit eum: Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech (Psal. CIX, 4). Qui noverunt Scripturas, sciunt quid protulerit Melchisedech sacerdos Dei excelsi, quando benedixit Abraham (Gen. XIV, 18-20). Non oportet ut hoc memoremus, propter catechumenos. Fideles tamen agnoscunt, quemadmodum ante prophetatum sit, quod modo videmus impleri. Et unde hoc? Quia juravit Dominus. Et juravit Dominus, et non poenitebit eum: non quomodo Herodem poenituit quia juraverat.

holy that the Lord swore, when Abraham obeyed Him even to the sacrifice of his beloved son. An angel spoke to him from heaven, saying: By My own self I swear, says the Lord, because you have obeyed My voice, and have not spared your beloved son for My sake, blessing I will bless you, and I will fill your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand of the sea; and in your seed shall all nations be blessed (Gen. 22:16–18). That you see Christians filling the whole world, the truthful oath of God shows. And likewise in the Psalms it was prophesied of the Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord has sworn, and it will not repent Him: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 109:4). Those who know the Scriptures know what Melchizedek, the priest of God most high, brought forth when he blessed Abraham (Gen. 14:18–20). It is not fitting that we should mention it, on account of the catechumens. The faithful, however, recognize how what we now see fulfilled was prophesied beforehand. And whence is this? Because the Lord swore. And the Lord swore, and it will not repent Him: not in the way that it repented Herod that he had sworn.

CAPUT III. — 4. Nobis tamen merito prohibita. Cum ergo Dominus juraverit, quare Dominus Christus suos jurare prohibuit? Dico quare. Non est peccatum, verum jurare. Sed quia grande peccatum est falsum jurare, longe est a peccato falsum jurandi qui omnino non jurat: propinqu⟨a⟩t falsae jurationi, qui vel verum jurat. Dominus ergo, qui prohibuit jurare, supra ripam te noluit ambulare, ne pes tuus in angusto labatur, et cadas. Sed Dominus juravit, inquit. Securus jurat qui mentiri nescit. Non te moveat quia Dominus juravit; quia forte non debet jurare nisi Deus. Tu enim quando juras, quid facis? Testem Deum adhibes. Tu illum, ipse se ipsum. Sed tu homo, quia in multis falleris, plerumque adhibes testem veritatem ad tuam falsitatem. Aliquando et nolens homo perjurat, cum verum putat esse quod jurat. Non est quidem tantum peccatum, quantum ejus qui scit falsum esse, et tamen jurat. Quanto melior, et a peccato isto gravi omnino longe fit, qui audit Dominum Christum, et non jurat?

Chapter III. — 4. Yet to us [swearing] is rightly forbidden. Since, then, the Lord has sworn, why did the Lord Christ forbid His own to swear? I tell you why. It is not a sin to swear what is true. But because it is a great sin to swear falsely, he who does not swear at all is far from the sin of swearing falsely; he who swears even what is true draws near to false swearing. The Lord, therefore, Who forbade swearing, did not want you to walk along the edge of the bank, lest your foot slip in the narrow place and you fall. But the Lord swore, someone says. He swears safely who does not know how to lie. Do not let it trouble you that the Lord swore; for perhaps no one ought to swear except God. For when you swear, what do you do? You call God as witness. You call Him; He calls Himself. But you, a man, because you are deceived in many things, often call the Truth as witness to your falsehood. Sometimes a man perjures himself even unwillingly, when he thinks that what he swears is true. It is not indeed as great a sin as that of the man who knows it to be false and nevertheless swears. How much better is he, and how entirely far he becomes from this grave sin, who listens to the Lord Christ and does not swear!

CAPUT IV. — 5. Consuetudo jurandi ab Augustino victa. Scio grave esse consuetudini vestrae: sed et grave fuit consuetudini nostrae. Timendo Deum abstulimus jurationem de ore nostro. Ecce vobiscum vivimus: quis nos aliquando audivit jurantes? Numquid non consueveram quotidie jurare? At ubi legi, et timui, luctatus sum contra consuetudinem meam, in ipsa luctatione invocavi Dominum adjutorem. Praestitit mihi Dominus adjutorium non jurandi. Nihil mihi facilius est, quam non jurare. Hoc ideo admonui Charitatem vestram, ne dicatis, Quis potest? O si Deus timeatur! o si perjuri expavescant! lingua frenatur, veritas tenetur, juratio tollitur.

Chapter IV. — 5. The habit of swearing overcome by Augustine. I know it is hard for your habit; but it was hard for our habit too. By fearing God we removed swearing from our mouth. See, we live among you: who has ever heard us swearing? Was I not accustomed to swear every day? But when I read [this], and feared, I struggled against my habit; in that very struggle I called upon the Lord as my helper. The Lord granted me the help not to swear. Nothing is easier for me than not to swear. I have admonished your Charity of this so that you may not say, Who can do it? O if only God were feared! O if only perjurers would take fright! The tongue is bridled, truth is held fast, swearing is taken away.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1407

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: juratio tollitur› · call in col 1407

Vide serm. 180.

See sermon 180.

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon heading)› · call in col 1408 Correctus pariter ad duos cb. ad cr. gr. r. t. et ad Par. Lov.

Corrected likewise against the two cb. manuscripts, against cr. gr. r. t., and against the Paris and Louvain editions.

(printed under page 710)

Page

running head: 1407 S. AUGUSTINI EPIS[COPI] (cut off at image edge)
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 38:1408

SERMO CCCVIII. In eadem solemnitate, II.

Sermon 308. On the same solemnity, 2.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Herodes in angustiis aut perjurii aut cruenti facinoris admittendi. Propter hunc locum, quem h⟨o⟩die audivimus, cum Evangelium recitaretur, dico Charitati vestrae: videtis miserum istum Herodem, Joannem sanctum virum et Dei hominem dilexisse: sed quoniam temere juravit ebrius laetitia et delectatione saltantis, daturum se pro⟨m⟩isit quidquid illa puella, quae saltando placuerat, poposcisset. At ubi poposcit rem crudelem et nefariam, contristatus est quidem; videbat enim tantum scelus fieri: sed positus inter jurationem suam et puellae petitionem, ubi videbat cruentum facinus, ibi rursus timebat reatum perjurii; ne Deum offenderet perjurando, Deum offendit saeviendo (Marc. VI, 17-28). Dicit mihi aliquis: Quid ergo debuit facere Herodes? Si dixero, Non debuit jurare: quis non videat hoc eum non facere debuisse? Sed non consulor de homine, utrum jurare debeat; sed quid facere debeat qui juravit. Ipsa est magna deliberatio. Temere juravit: quis nesciat? Tamen lapsus est, juravit. Ecce puella petivit caput sancti Joannis: quid facere debuit Herodes? Demus illi consilium. Si dixerimus, Parce Joanni, ne facias scelus; perjurium suademus. Si dixerimus, Noli perjurare; ad scelus implendum provocamus. Mala conditio.

Chapter I. — 1. Herod in the straits of committing either perjury or a bloody crime. On account of this passage, which we heard today when the Gospel was read, I say to your Charity: you see that this wretched Herod loved John, a holy man and a man of God; but because he swore rashly, drunk with gladness and with delight in the girl who danced, he promised that he would give whatever that girl, who had pleased him by dancing, should ask. But when she asked for a cruel and wicked thing, he was indeed saddened; for he saw that so great a crime was being done: but placed between his oath and the girl's request, where he saw a bloody crime, there again he feared the guilt of perjury; lest he offend God by perjuring himself, he offended God by acting savagely (Mark 6:17–28). Someone says to me: What then ought Herod to have done? If I say, He ought not to have sworn: who does not see that he ought not to have done this? But I am not being consulted about a man, whether he ought to swear; but about what one who has sworn ought to do. That is the great question for deliberation. He swore rashly: who does not know it? Nevertheless he slipped, he swore. See, the girl asked for the head of holy John: what ought Herod to have done? Let us give him counsel. If we say, Spare John, do not commit a crime; we are urging perjury. If we say, Do not perjure yourself; we are inciting him to carry out a crime. A bad situation.

CAPUT II. — Antequam veniatis ergo ad istum bicipitem laqueum, tollite de ore vestro temerarias jurationes: antequam veniatis ad istam consuetudinem m⟨a⟩lam, moneo fratres meos, moneo filios meos: quid opus est, ut veniatis ad hunc articulum, ubi non possumus invenire consilium?

Chapter II. — Before you come, then, to this two-headed snare, remove rash oaths from your mouth: before you come to this bad habit, I warn my brothers, I warn my sons: what need is there for you to come to this critical point, where we cannot find counsel?

2. Temeraria juratio non implenda admisso homicidio. Perjurium Davidis magnum peccatum, licet minus quam homicidium. Tamen Scripturis diligentius perscrutatis, occurrit mihi unum exemplum, ubi video pium hominem et sanctum in temerariam jurationem cecidisse, et maluisse non facere quod juraverat, quam jurationem suam fuso hominis sanguine implere. Commemoro ergo Charitatem vestram. Quando Saül sanctum David persequebatur ingratus, ille cum suis ibat quocumque poterat, ne inveniretur a Saüle, et occideretur. Et quodam die ab homine divite, qui vocabatur Nabal, et tondebat oves suas, petivit sustentaculum victus, sibi et eis qui cum illo erant. Immisericors dare noluit, et quod est gravius, contumeliose respondit. Juravit sanctus David, eum occisurum se esse. Erat enim armatus. Et quod facile fuerat, et juste facere ira persuadente videbatur, incautus fudit jurationem; et coepit ire, ut faceret quod juraverat. Occurrit Abigail uxor Nabal, et tulit ei necessaria quae poposcerat. Suppliciter eum rogavit, flexit, et a mariti

2. A rash oath is not to be fulfilled by committing homicide. David's perjury a great sin, though less than homicide. Nevertheless, when the Scriptures have been searched more carefully, one example occurs to me, where I see that a pious and holy man fell into a rash oath, and preferred not to do what he had sworn rather than fulfil his oath by shedding a man's blood. I remind your Charity, then. When the ungrateful Saul was persecuting holy David, he went with his men wherever he could, so as not to be found by Saul and killed. And one day he asked of a rich man, who was called Nabal and was shearing his sheep, support in food, for himself and for those who were with him. Unmerciful, he refused to give, and, what is more serious, he answered insultingly. Holy David swore that he would kill him. For he was armed. And what had been easy, and seemed, with anger persuading him, just to do, he incautiously poured out as an oath; and he began to go, in order to do what he had sworn. Abigail, Nabal's wife, came to meet him, and brought him the necessities that he had asked for. She besought him humbly, she bent him, and from her husband's

Editors' notes and page, col. 1408

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1408

Codex alter cb.: Temere juravit, quia nescivit. Tamen lapsus est, quia juravit. In eodem codice cb. initium hujus sermonis ita fini alterius cohaeret, ut sermo ex duobus unus efficiatur.

The other cb. manuscript: "He swore rashly, because he did not know. Yet he fell, because he swore." In the same cb. manuscript the beginning of this sermon is so joined to the end of the other that one sermon is made out of two.

(printed under page 710)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon heading)› · call in col 1408

Alias, inter additos a Parisiensibus, 11.

Elsewhere, no. 11 among those added by the Paris editors.

(printed under page 710)

Page

running head: ...UGUSTINI EPISCOPI 1408 (left part cut off at image edge)
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 38:1409

sanguine revocavit (I Reg. XXV). Juravit temere, sed non implevit jurationem majore pietate.

blood she called him back (1 Sam. 25). He swore rashly, but did not fulfil the oath, out of a greater piety.

CAPUT III. — Proinde, charissimi, iterum redeo ad monendos vos. Ecce sanctus David, non quidem iratus sanguinem hominis fudit; sed eum falsum jurasse negare quis poterit? De duobus peccatis elegit minus: sed minus fuit illud in comparatione majoris. Nam per se ipsum appensum, magnum malum est falsa juratio. Prius ergo l⟨a⟩borare debetis, et confligere adversus consuetudinem vestram malam, malam, malam, et valde malam; et tollere jurationem de oribus vestris.

Chapter III. — Therefore, dearly beloved, I return again to admonishing you. See, holy David did not indeed, when angered, shed a man's blood; but who will be able to deny that he swore falsely? Of two sins he chose the lesser: but that was lesser only in comparison with the greater. For weighed by itself, false swearing is a great evil. First, therefore, you ought to labour, and to fight against your bad habit, bad, bad, and very bad; and to take swearing out of your mouths.

3. Jurans ab alio provocatus non sic peccat, quomodo iste alius. Si quis autem provocaverit te ad jurationem, ut forte sic sibi existimet satisfieri posse, si juraveris de illa re quam putat te commisisse aut fecisse, et forsitan non fecisti; ne remaneat in illo mala suspicio, si juraveris tu, non sic peccas quomodo ille qui te provocavit: quia dixit Dominus Jesus, Sit in ore vestro, Est, est; Non, non. Si quid amplius est, a malo est (Matth. V, 37). Loquebatur autem de juratione, ubi nos intelligere voluit ip⟨s⟩am jurationem a malo esse. Si ab alio provocatus fueris, ab ipsius malo erit quod juras, non a tuo. Et hoc est prope a malo communi generis humani, quoniam corda nostra videre non possumus. Nam si corda nostra videremus, cui juraremus? Quando a nobis exigeretur juratio, quando videretur oculis proximi ipsa cogitatio?

3. One who swears when challenged by another does not sin in the same way as that other. But if someone challenges you to an oath, so that he perhaps thinks he can be satisfied in this way, if you swear about that matter which he thinks you have committed or done, and perhaps you have not done it; so that no evil suspicion may remain in him, if you swear, you do not sin in the same way as he who challenged you: for the Lord Jesus said, Let there be in your mouth, Yes, yes; No, no. Whatever is more than this is from evil (Matt. 5:37). Now He was speaking about swearing, where He wished us to understand that swearing itself is from evil. If you have been challenged by another, what you swear will come from his evil, not from yours. And this comes close to the evil common to the human race, since we cannot see one another's hearts. For if we saw one another's hearts, to whom would we swear? When would an oath be demanded of us, when the very thought would be seen by the eyes of our neighbour?

CAPUT IV. — 4. Jurare compellens eum quem falsum juraturum credit, pejor est homicida. S⟨c⟩ribite in cordibus vestris quod dico: Ille autem qui hominem provocavit ad jurationem, et scit eum falsum esse juraturum, vincit homicidam. Quia homicida corpus occisurus est, ille animam; imo duas animas, et ejus quem jurare provocavit, et suam. Scis verum esse quod dicis, et falsum e⟨s⟩se quod ille dicit, et jurare compellis? Ecce jurat, ecce pejerat, ecce perit: tu quid invenisti? Imo et tu peristi, qui de illius morte te satiare voluisti.

Chapter IV. — 4. One who compels to swear a man whom he believes will swear falsely is worse than a murderer. Write in your hearts what I say: he who has challenged a man to an oath, and knows that he will swear falsely, surpasses a murderer. For the murderer is going to kill a body, he a soul; nay rather two souls, both that of the man whom he challenged to swear, and his own. You know that what you say is true, and that what he says is false, and you compel him to swear? See, he swears, see, he perjures himself, see, he perishes: what have you gained? Nay rather, you too have perished, who wished to sate yourself with his death.

CAPUT V. — 5. Tutuslymeni ob hoc peccatum divina correptione flagellatus. Aliquid dicam, quod nunquam dixi Charitati vestrae, in hoc populo, quod contigit in hac ecclesia. Fuit hic homo quidam simplex, innocens, bene fidelis, a multis vestris, id est, Hipponensibus, imo ab omnibus cognitus, Tutuslymeni vocatus. Tutumlymeni quis vestrum non novit, qui cives estis? Ab illo audivi quod dico. Nescio quis negavit ei, vel quod commendaverat, vel quod ei debebatur; et hominis fidei se commisit. Commotus provocavit eum ad jusjurandum. Juravit ille, iste perdidit: sed isto perdente, ille penitus periit. Dicebat ergo iste Tutuslymeni homo gravis et fidelis, ipsa nocte exhibitum se fuisse ad judicem, et cum magno impetu atque terrore se pervenisse ad praesidentem excelsum quemdam et admirabilem virum, cui parebat officium similiter excelsorum, jussum fuisse perturbatum retro revocari, et interrogatum fuisse his verbis: Quare provocasti hominem ad jurationem, quem sciebas falsum esse juraturum? Respondit ille:

Chapter V. — 5. Tutuslymeni scourged by divine correction on account of this sin. I will tell something which I have never told your Charity, among this people, which happened in this church. There was here a certain simple man, innocent, truly faithful, known to many of you, that is, of the people of Hippo, nay rather to all, called Tutuslymeni. Which of you who are citizens did not know Tutumlymeni? From him I heard what I am telling. Someone or other denied to him either what he had entrusted to him or what was owed to him; and he committed himself to the man's good faith. Being provoked, he challenged him to an oath. That man swore, this one lost: but while this one lost, that one utterly perished. This Tutuslymeni, then, a serious and faithful man, used to say that that very night he had been brought before a judge, and with great force and terror had come before a certain lofty and wonderful man presiding, whom a retinue of similarly lofty men obeyed; that he, being troubled, was ordered to be called back, and was questioned in these words: "Why did you challenge to an oath a man whom you knew would swear falsely?" He answered:

Editors' notes and page, col. 1409