Letter 953

To Beryllus the Monk. Who, then, among those of sound mind would wish to be drenched all over with filth? Who, then, among those who reason rightly would want to breathe in the stench of rotting matter, and to long for the maggots, and to be fond of the foul-smelling, befouled streams? Who could ever endure to sit beside the outlet of the privies, and beside the channels of the city's unclean sewers, and to look continually upon human excrement and loathsome refuse, and to take hold of foul-smelling slops and drains filled with every kind of stench? Who, then, would consent to descend each day into a pit of misery and into mire of destruction, as it is written? [Psalm 39:3 LXX / 40:2] Who, then, among those who hold right belief in the Divine would ever choose to give himself up to the rottenness of Callinice in keeping with your folly?

Τίς ἄρα τῶν εὐφρονούντων βουλήσεται περιαντλεῖ- σθαι βορβόροις; Τίς ἄρα τῶν καλῶς λογιζομένων θελήσει ὀσφραίνεσθαι σήψεως, καὶ ποθεῖν τοὺς σκώ- ληκας, καὶ στέργειν τὰς δυσώδεις τοὺς ῥύακας; Τίς ποτε ἀνέξεται παρακαθῆσθαι τῇ ἐξόδῳ τῶν ἀφεδρώνων, καὶ ταῖς διεξοδαῖς τῶν ἀκαθάρτων τῆς πόλεως ὑπονόμων, καὶ θεᾶσθαι διὰ παντὸς ἀνθρώ- πινα σκύβαλα, καὶ ἀηδῆ φορυτόν, καὶ ἀντιλαμ- βάνεσθαι δυσωδῶν ἀποκλυσμάτων, καὶ ὀχετῶν, παντοίας ὀζωδίας πεπληρωμένων; Τίς ἄρα κα- ταδέξεται καταβαίνειν καθεκάστην ἡμέραν εἰς λάκκον ταλαιπωρίας καὶ ἰλὺν ἀπωλείας, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον; Τίς ἄρα τῶν ὀρθοδούντων τὸ θεῖον αἱρήσεται ποτε τῶν σηπεδόνων τῆς Καλλινίκης ἐπι- διχάζεσθαι κατὰ τὴν σὴν ἀβελτηρίαν;