hild whom I used to meet every
evening, beside the cistern, as she was leading away her cattle. She ran
after me. The rings on her feet glittered in the dust, and her tunic,
open at the hips, fluttered in the wind. The old ascetic who hurried me
from the spot addressed her, as we fled, in loud and menacing tones.
Then our two camels kept galloping continuously, till at length every
familiar object had vanished from my sight.

"At first, I selected for my abode the tomb of one of the Pharaohs. But
some enchantment surrounds those subterranean palaces, amid whose gloom
the air is stifled with the decayed odour of aromatics. From the depths
of the sarcophagi I heard a mournful voice arise, that called me by
name--or rather, as it seemed to me, all the fearful pictures on the
walls started into hideous life. Then I fled to the borders of the Red
Sea into a citadel in ruins. There I had for companions the scorpions
that crawled amongst the stones, and, overhead, the eagles who were
continually whirling across the azure sky. At night, I was torn by
talons, bitten by beaks, or brushed with light wings; and horrible
demons, yelling in my ears, hurled me to the earth. At last, the drivers
of a caravan, which was journeying towards Alexandria, rescued me, and
carried me along with them.

"After this, I became a pupil of the venerable Didymus. Though he was
blind, no one equalled him in knowledge of the Scriptures. When our
lesson was ended, he used to take my arm, and, with my aid, ascend the
Panium, from whose summit could be seen the Pharos and the open sea.
Then we would return home, passing along the quays, where we brushed
against men of every nation, including the Cimmerians, clad in bearskin,
and the Gymnosophists of the Ganges, who smear their bodies with
cow-dung. There were continual conflicts in the streets, some of which
were caused by the Jews' refusal to pay taxes, and others by the
attempts of the seditious to drive out the Romans. Besides, the city is
filled with heretics, the followers of Manes, of Valentinus, of
Basilides, and of Arius, all of them eagerly striving to discuss with
you points of doctrine and to convert you to their views.

"Their discourses sometimes come back to my memory; and, though I try
not to dwell upon them, they haunt my thoughts.

"I next took refuge in Colzin, and, when I had undergone a severe
penance, I no longer feared the wrath of God. Many persons gathered
around me, offering t