re seized
with convulsions, rolled on the ground, writhed, and twisted themselves
into a ball. And--though it is hardly to be believed--the persons
present were in their turn seized with a violent delirium, and imitated
the contortions of the epileptics. Monks and pilgrims, men and women,
wallowed and struggled pell-mell, their limbs twisted, foaming at the
mouth, eating handfuls of earth and prophesying. And Paphnutius at the
top of his pillar felt a thrill of horror pass through him, and cried to
God--

"I am the scapegoat, and I take upon me all the impurities of these
people, and that is why, Lord, my body is filled with evil spirits."

Every time that a sick person went away healed, the people applauded,
carried him in triumph, and ceased not to repeat--

"We behold another well of Siloam!"

Hundreds of crutches already hung round the wonderful column; grateful
women suspended wreaths and votive images there. Some of the Greeks
inscribed distiches, and as every pilgrim carved his name, the stone
was soon covered as high as a man could reach with an infinity of Latin,
Greek, Coptic, Punic, Hebrew, Syrian, and magic characters.

When the feast of Easter came there was such an affluence of people to
this city of miracles that old men thought that the days of the ancient
mysteries had returned. All sorts of people, in all sorts of costumes,
were to be seen there; the striped robes of the Egyptians, the burnoose
of the Arabs, the white drawers of the Nubians, the short cloak of
the Greeks, the long toga of the Romans, the scarlet breeches of the
barbarians, the gold-spangled robes of the courtesans. A veiled woman
would pass on an ass, preceded by black eunuchs, who cleared a passage
for her by the free use of their sticks. Acrobats, having spread a
carpet on the ground, juggled and performed skilful tricks before
a circle of silent spectators. Snake-charmers unrolled their living
girdles. A glittering, dusty, noisy, chattering crowd! The curses of
the camel-drivers beating the animals; the cries of the hawkers who
sold amulets against leprosy and the evil eye; the psalmody of the
monks reciting verses of the Bible; the shrieking of the women who were
prophesying; the shouting of the beggars singing old songs of the harem;
the bleating of sheep; the braying of asses; the sailors calling tardy
passengers; all these confused noises caused a deafening uproar, over
which dominated the strident voices of the little nake