hed to recover him thence,
one would lay aside one's own clothing, and put on the guise of the
enemy, and pass into their country and by divers crafts deliver one's
friend from that cruel tyranny. Even so I also, having been made aware
of thine estate, clad myself in this dress, and came to sow the seed of
the divine message in thine heart, and ransom thee from the slavery of
the dread ruler of this world. And now behold by the power of God, as
far as in me lay, I have accomplished my ministry, announcing to thee
the knowledge of him, and making known unto thee the preaching of the
Prophets and Apostles, and teaching thee unerringly and soothly the
vanity of the present life, and the evils with which this world teems,
which cruelly deceiveth them that trust therein, and taketh them in
many a gin. Now must I return thither whence I came, and thereupon
doff this robe belonging to another, and don mine own again."

Ioasaph therefore begged the elder to shew himself in his wonted
apparel. Then did Barlaam strip off the mantle that he wore, and lo, a
terrible sight met Ioasaph's eyes: for all the fashion of his flesh was
wasted away, and his skin blackened by the scorching sun, and drawn
tight over his bones like an hide stretched over thin canes. And he
wore an hair shirt, stiff and rough, from his loins to his knees, and
over his shoulders there hung a coat of like sort.

But Ioasaph, being sore amazed at the hardship of his austere life, and
astonished at his excess of endurance, burst into tears, and said to
the elder, "Since thou art come to deliver me from the slavery of the
devil, crown thy good service to me, and 'bring my soul out of prison,'
and take me with thee, and let us go hence, that I may be fully
ransomed from this deceitful world and then receive the seal of saving
Baptism, and share with thee this thy marvellous philosophy, and this
more than human discipline."

But Barlaam said unto him, "A certain rich man once reared the fawn of
a gazelle; which, when grown up, was impelled by natural desire to long
for the desert. So on a day she went out and found an herd of gazelles
browsing; and, joining them, she would roam through the glades of the
forest, returning at evenfall, but issuing forth at dawn, through the
heedlessness of her keepers, to herd with her wild companions. When
these removed, to graze further afield, she followed them. But the
rich man's servants, when they learned thereof, mounte