overed that these
be the contrivances and bug-bears of thy malice, I have now no more
anxiety concerning thee. The Lord is on my side, and I shall see my
desire upon mine enemies. I shall go upon the adder and basilisk, the
which thou dost resemble; thee, the lion and dragon I shall tread under
my feet; for I am strengthened with the might of Christ. Let mine
enemies be ashamed and turned backward: let them be driven and put to
shame suddenly."

Thus speaking, and girding on that invincible weapon, the sign of the
Cross, he made vain the devil's shows. For straightway all the beasts
and creeping things disappeared, like as the smoke vanisheth, and like
as wax melteth at the fire. And he, strong in the might of Christ,
went on his way rejoicing and giving thanks unto the Lord. But there
dwelt in that desert many divers beasts, and all kinds of serpents, and
dragon-shaped monsters, and these met him, not now as apparitions but
in sober sooth, so that his path was beset by fear and toil. But he
overcame both, for love, as saith the scripture, cast out fear, and
longing made toil light. Thus he wrestled with many sundry misfortunes
and hardships until, after many days, he arrived at that desert of the
land of Senaar, wherein Barlaam dwelt. There also he found water and
quenched the burning of his thirst.

XXXVIII.

Now two full years spent Ioasaph wandering about the ocean of that
desert, without finding Barlaam; for here also God was proving the
steadfastness of his purpose, and the nobility of his soul. He lived
thus in the open air, scorched with heat or frozen with cold, and, as
one in search of precious treasure, continually looking everywhere for
his treasured friend, the aged Barlaam. Frequent were the temptations
and assaults of the evil spirits that he encountered, and many the
hardships that he endured through the lack of herbs that he needed for
meat, because the desert, being dry, yielded even these in but scant
supply. But, being kindled by love of her Master, this adamantine and
indomitable soul bore these annoyances more easily than other men bear
their pleasures. Wherefore he failed not of the succour that is from
above, but, many as were the sorrows and toils Chat he endured, comfort
came to him from Christ, and, asleep or awake, refreshed his soul. By
the space of those two years Ioasaph went about continually, seeking
him for whom he yearned, and rivers of waters ran from his eyes, as