THE SLAVONIC JOSIPPON
How Iotapata Was Taken
And Vespasian with his son Titus, while in Ptolemais, experienced warriors and wrote what each of them is. Placid, who was sent to wage war in Galilee, wishing to achieve glory, rushed to Iotapata, the capital city of Galilee, fortified better than others. But he did not achieve what he hoped for. For the townspeople, having learned of their offensive, stood in front of the city, being made ready for battle, and, clutching the Roman regiments, soon defeated them, wounding many and killing seven people. It is not customary for them to turn their backs when they are defeated, but they retreat a little, so that their flight is imperceptible.
Vespasian immediately moved from Ptolemais to Galilee and ordered the soldiers to perform, as is the case with the Romans: ahead arrows and lightly armed, who must conduct surveillance in the event of a sudden approach of the enemy and to investigate whether the detachments are in the forests; followed by patrols, part - riders, part - infantrymen; and after them - the path-walkers, who cut the forest and level the road in close and difficult places, so that the soldiers do not get tired of the difficult path; behind them - a convoy of commander and commanders and riders for his protection; then the general himself with the selected units of cavalry and infantry, and behind him - donkeys and mules, carrying devices with which they took cities; and behind them - the leaders of the spirits and commanders, and with them - select warriors; then - the badges that are called eagle, because it is the king over all the birds - he is stronger than everyone, and a meeting with him presages a victory. And followed by the trumpeters, then - the army, divided into six parts, and further - the centurion supervising the formation, and behind them - a guard detachment of horsemen and infantrymen with weapons guarding the rear rows.
And all the Galileans, seeing them, were horrified, and many began to repent. Those that were under Joseph, before they saw, fled with Joseph to Tiberias.
And all the Tiberians were filled with fear, knowing that Joseph would not have fled if he had not lost hope. And he wondered what would be the end of the Jews, and knew that there was no salvation for them if they did not repent, but hoped for forgiveness from the Romans. But he preferred to die with people, rather than betray the fatherland and the power given to him. And he wrote to the Jerusalem rulers truthfully about everything, so that they either preferred the world or sent him help.
Vespasian also took Gadara and the surrounding villages, did not spare the old or the small, but all betrayed the sword. And then I went to Iotapata. And Joseph heard of it, when he came from Tiberias, and strengthened the strength of the Jews. Someone informed Vespasian of the arrival of Joseph, and immediately, thinking that he would take the whole of Judea if they caught Joseph, hurried to send Placida with a thousand riders around the city so that Joseph could not flee. In a day later, having gathered all the strength, I went to Iotapata until noon and surrounded the city with two regiments of infantry, and put the riders behind them, blocking them all the way.
The Jews went out and stood in front of the gate. Vespasian sent archers to them and installed sling and all throwing guns. Himself with the infantrymen went to a high place, where you could destroy the walls. Frightened, Joseph made a sortie and all the Jews with him, and seized the Romans, and drove them away. And they cut themselves all day, and dispersed toward the night. Then many of the Romans were wounded, three were killed, and the Jews were wounded six hundred, and seventeen fell.
The next morning, going out, attacked the Romans with much greater power. The enemy was stronger than them. For five days they fought, and it was possible to see how the spears were broken, and the swords rang, and the shields were broken, and they carried out their husbands, and the earth was given blood. However, neither the Jews were imbued with fear of the Romans, nor did the Romans lose heart, seeing how firmly the city was fortified.
After all, this city is all over the abyss, so that it is impossible for human eyes to measure the depth; only from the north side a small attack, because the walls ended, coming down to the gorge. Vespasian, on overcoming the stronghold of the city and the power of the Jews, called on his commanders and ordered the soldiers to carry land, firewood and stones, and they at once began to wear them. And, arranging the turtle, so that they were not harmed from the city, filled the abyss. The Jews, however, threw a lot of stones at them, but they did not achieve anything.
Vespasian placed around the city wall-tools - there were sixty of them - and they shed stones with a weight of three kapi; and the arches that were launched from the bow, whistled, and the arrows eclipsed the light. And because of this, the Jews did not dare to go out onto the walls - they were disturbed by the upper defensive bombardment. They, like robbers, ran out of the gate, quickly dragged the tortoise and smashed the ones standing under it.
Then Vespasian ordered to make a cover from one end of the city to the other and a mound above the city. And when Joseph saw this, he gathered the builders together, that they build the walls. And when they could not because of the stones and arrows, he arranged for them a canopy of freshly harvested cowhide skins. And so working, over night and day, they built the walls twenty cubits high, to the great vexation of Vespasian, for he could not figure out what to do against such a height. And he withdrew the soldiers and laid siege to the city, thinking of starving them.
They also had an abundance of all kinds of food, but lacked salt and water, because there was neither a source nor a well inside the city. Vespasian hoped that they would surrender for thirst. But Joseph, wanting to rob him of his hope for this, ordered to wet numerous clothes and hang on the walls, so that they dripped, why the Romans was seized with despondency and horror. The commander, desperate to take the city by famine, again turned to arms and violence, and this was what the Jews wanted: losing the hope to save life and the city, they preferred to die in battle rather than from hunger and thirst. And the Jews, fighting every day, were defeated, and they were few. Joseph, judging that there was no salvation, was thinking of fleeing the city. And when they found out about this, people surrounded him and begged him not to throw them in this trouble, laying his hopes on him alone: If you stay with us, then all without knowing fatigue, we will fight for you; if you leave, we will be captured. He, thinking how to save his head, told them that: For your sake I'm leaving so that, gathering the soldiers, suddenly attack the enemies. After all, as soon as they hear that I have left you, they will leave the city and chase after me. These words were not listened to by people, but also by children, and old people, and women with babies, who, with great love for him, were falling in love with him, fell at his feet, begging him not to leave them. And he, seeing their cry and sobbing, yielded and said: Now is the time, about the others, to gain glory eternal and to create something worthy of husbands in memory of future generations.
And having collected the strongest, he went to the guard detachment and drove him away, and them to the camp, and destroyed their turtle and the canopy and embankment, and set them on fire; and three days and three nights did the same without rest. Vespasian, however, seeing that his soldiers can not resist the attacks of the Jews, ordered not to engage in battle with people who are hungry for death: there is nothing stronger than desperate and fighting because there is no other way out. And he ordered Arab arrows and Syrian slingers to fight with the Jews. And they went and did not spare their heads furiously attacking the Romans, bypassing the shooters.
And again Vespasian made warriors to battle, as before, and set the archers ahead of them, and rebuilt the embankment. And they put a sheep: it is a large thick log, similar to a ship's mast, and at the end of it large horns of iron are planted - that's why it is called a sheep. And the explosion of two logs like a fork and placing it between them and tied with ropes, many people, delaying, struck blows. And at that time the arrows shot arrows, the landlords thrashed the boards, and the slingers threw stones, so that the Jews did not dare to climb the visor. And then they, without fear, beat the walls with a sheep, and when a lot of people were beating in one place, the walls shook. Joseph filled up the sacks, typing sticks, and hung, and where the ram was dragged, bags were dragged to that place, and there was no harm to the walls, because the sheep were obstructed by sacks. But the Romans, tying the sickles to their spears, cut off the bags. And the Jews, desperate, taking a torch, boughs and dry brushwood, tar and sulfur, jumped out in three places, set fire to a mound, and structures, and throwing guns, and a sheep. The Romans, terrified by their insolence, fled; the flame surrounded them, and, unable to escape, they cut themselves.
Then one of the husbands, a Jew, committed an act worthy of remembrance. It was Eleazar, Sami's son, who came from a Galilean village. And he lifted a huge stone and threw it on the sheep and knocked his head off, then jumped off the visor and grabbed his head right among the Romans and, returning, stood over the fortress wall so everyone could see and know, holding the ram's head. And five arrows, flying from the rear shooters, struck him, and, wounded, he fell from the wall along with the ram.
And afterwards, Netir and Philip from the city of Rumania, who attacked the tenth regiment with such a noise, with such force and speed, that they broke up a large regiment, dispersed it and won it: courageously those who could not withstand their courage they rushed. Joseph, after coming out with the people, dispersed the fifth regiment and set fire to all the remaining guns, and spread the foundations of the embankment.
And when the morning came, Vespasian gathered the men who had fled and blamed them for fleeing not before the soldiers, but before the robbers, not ashamed of the military law or glory of the fathers. And all, in unanimous aspiration, built a third mound and rebuilt the sheep, and beat where they had already caused destruction.
And then someone from the city wounded Vespasian's foot, but it was shallow: a great distance weakened the strength of the arrow. And the Romans began a great confusion: those around him saw the blood and informed everyone about the wound of the commander. And great fear fell upon all, and, leaving the battle for the city, they quickly ran to the commander. Titus was frightened first of all for his father. But soon the excitement subsided, and the commander, having tied his foot, galloped through his shelves, so that they could see him, and those who saw him were delighted and, urging each other, rushed to the walls, vengeance for their commander. And it was possible to see how the Jews fell as if they were sheaves, but they did not leave the walls and, seeing death before their eyes, hung and threw stones and iron and fire on the stones below. But nothing was achieved.
But even at nightfall, they did not give themselves a rest, but the fired arrows and slogans killed a lot of people, and especially the throwing guns, which they took out and kicked off the corners and crushed the corners. One of the husbands tore off his head, and his head jumped three miles away. And the pregnant woman who left the house - how she hit her womb and knocked the baby out on the verst! And a terrible scream broke out among the women inside the city, and the crying of those who stood outside, and moaning rose to the sky. Blood from the visors flowed by the river, and it was possible to enter the city by the corpses as on the steps. Many of the iotapatians, then gloriously working, fell, and many were wounded. And the wall, which was beaten all night with a sheep, broke down and collapsed. And the Evren, armed, strengthened the crumbling places.
When the morning came, Vespasian gave soldiers a little rest from the night work, and then went to capture the city. And he ordered the strongest of the horsemen, descending from the horses, to go to the crumbling places, and behind them - the bravest of the infantry, and put the rest of the horsemen on the hill, so that none of the townspeople would escape from the city. Shooters and slingers were put back so that they would not let the townspeople stick out because of the visors. And to the places where the walls were intact, they brought stairs so that, while the townspeople guard the crumbling places, they themselves crept safely. And when he knew this, Joseph ordered to pour on them boiling tin, and they, burned by it, rolled down, and many of them were burned. And again Vespasian ordered three towers of fifty cubits high to be built on the mound, and they bound them with iron so that they would not harm the fire and that they should be strong with their heaviness. And he put on them the best shooters and stuntsmen and light throwing guns, and they shot as if from the sky. The townspeople, being below and not being able to fight with those above, also visible with the invisible, retreated, but continued to resist until they were exhausted.
And then someone ran out of the city and told Vespasian that: The townspeople have already worn out from sleepless nights and endless constant stress. And you can take the city in the morning guard by going secretly, because they are in labor day and night, and at the dawn their sleep is overcome - because at this hour they do not expect an attack and the whole guard is asleep. However, he did not believe the informer, knowing the firmness of the Jews and loyalty to each other. After all, before that, he had already taken one iotapatian and tortured him with all the torture, fire and iron, so that he told something about the affairs in the city. When he did not say anything, he crucified him, and he died laughing. And with this defector - he felt that he was not very far from the truth of his speech, and put him in custody. Himself at the hour indicated by the informer came up with the army to the city in complete silence. And first he climbed the walls of Titus with the tribune Sabin, and behind them - Sextus and Placid with his warriors, killed the guards and entered the city silently, and captured did not hear how they walked in the middle of the city: for all their strength had taken a heavy sleep . If anyone stood up, he could not see because of the fog that was then over the city - until all the soldiers entered the sunrise and, reminding all the evil that they had suffered from them, spared no one, from the old to the babies . And some, seeing death, were killed themselves, and others scattered over the caves. One of the Jews asked Anthony the centurion to give him a hand in a sign that he would not kill him; and when he stretched out his hand without a backward thought and without fear, he pierced his ribs with a spear and, having beaten him, killed him. And on that day, all those who did not hide were killed, sixty thousand, and five thousand captured and the city was destroyed, and the towers burned. So Iotapata was taken in the month of Panama, that is July, in the thirteenth year of Nero's reign.
The Romans were looking for Joseph, angry with him and wanting to please his commander; They searched him among the corpses and in the secret places of the city.
How Joseph Jumped Into the Pit
And when he took the city, with God's help, he hid among the soldiers and jumped into the deep pit, from which the invisible path to the cave came, and discovered that forty best men were hiding in it, and there were all kinds of supplies for the body. There was a guard around the city, and it was impossible to escape. And for two days he was hiding. On the third day, the guards grabbed one woman and tortured her, and she, under torture, pointed to him and those who were with him. And immediately Vespasian sent two stands with haste - Pavlin and Gallikan, to lure Joseph and promise him security. And these two, having gone, asked for him and as a sign of safety they gave his right hand, but he did not listen, afraid of revenge, because he did a lot of evil to them in the war. The commander of the third tribune sent to him, of whom they knew that he was his friend, Nikanor's name. And he appeared and spoke to him of the kindness of the Romans and their mercy to the captives and added that thanks to his courage and intelligence he would not cause them hatred, but rather admiration. The commander is trying to take you not to torture, but to save you. If he wanted to lure you to do evil, he would not have sent me, your friend, and I would not have listened to him if I had to deceive you.
And as Joseph hesitated, the soldiers wanted to set fire to the cave in anger. And he, having learned about this threat, remembered the night dreams, in which God showed him the misfortunes that will fall upon the Jews. He had a good interpretation of dreams and was able to understand what God showed privately, and nothing of the sacred prophetic books was a secret for him - he was a priest and came from a clan of priests. And at that time he was filled with the spirit and interpreted the terrible sleepy visions and offered secret prayers to God, saying: Because the race of the Jews, oh creator, seems to me to be deprived of power before your all-seeing eyes and all the luck you have transferred to the Romans and endowed them with your might, and I saved my soul so that I could announce the future - and now, according to your holy command, I voluntarily give my hand to the Romans and I swear by your holy name that I'm not going to save my life and not wanting to betray my country, but to serve your glory and strength so that make it clear what you showed me.
And when he said this, he held out his hand to Nikanor. And the Jews who were with him, knowing that he wanted to go out, surrounded him, shouting that the paternal law greatly upsets and God is grieved, who created the souls disobedient to Judaism and despising death. Do you love life, Joseph? But will you suffer the light of slavery? You forgot too quickly how many you yourself taught to die for freedom! And the glory of your courage is false, and you were wise in vain, if you hope to be saved from those whose heart has been crushed! But if you have forgotten your mind, then it is fitting for us to take care of the law of the fathers. Here is the sword: if you thrust your will into your womb, you will forever be the leader of the Jews, if you do not want to, you will die from our hands as a traitor. With these words, they drew a sword at him, fearing that he would betray himself to the Romans.
Joseph was afraid that they would act by force, and considering it a disregard for God if he died before God's command, began to fool with them, because the situation was desperate, and he said: Why are we looking for death? Why do we separate our beloved soul and body? Do you think that I have changed? But I have not changed! It is good to die in battle from the hands of the enemy. If I fear the Roman sword and hide myself, then in fact I am worthy to die from my hand and my sword. But if we are spared, taking prisoners, then should not we be pardoned by ourselves? And that it is fine to die for freedom - that to me it is love before the army. And now - where is the army? Who is fighting with us? Equally cowardly is the one who does not die when it's right, and who dies when it's not proper. So why are we afraid that we do not go out to the Romans? Of death? But why is it that we are forcibly bringing ourselves to what we are afraid of, expecting this from the enemies? If someone bears slavery, then now we are very free ?! Or do you think that the one who kills himself is brave? On the contrary, it is the weakest of all people, similar to the helmsman, who, frightened by the waves, sunk the ship before the storm. Suicide is unnatural and not given to any animal - because neither of them kills itself. In all the natural law is strong - to want to live. Therefore, those who take our lives from us, we regard as enemies, and a man becomes angered by God, if his gift is given to scorn, and does iniquity in his eyes. All flesh is mortal and created from perishable nature, the soul is eternally immortal and dwells in the body in the divine likeness. If someone kills a foreign pledge given to him for preservation, he will be called treacherous and treacherous, which no one can be dealt with. If anyone separates God's bail from his body, how can he hide from the one to whom the offense was inflicted? If the slave runs away from the master, even bad, then he is worthy of punishment. But running away from the beautiful and foremost lord - from God, will not we be wicked? Do not you know that from this life go away by natural law, having repaid the debt taken from God when he wants to take it? And so - the glory is eternal and the houses are strong and the descendants do not forget, but their souls, pure and undefiled, stay in a place holy and heavenly and wait for them to return back and settle in their bodies after centuries turn. But those who lay hands on themselves, their dark hell accepts their souls, and the Father and God torment them to their great-grandchildren. Therefore, this is hated before God, and our legislator has established that before sunset the bodies of suicides lay without burial; in other countries, and the right hand of the dead is cut off. We are worthy of others, to walk with the truth, and not add to the human misfortunes of the creator's anger! On this I finish my word. I can not be a traitor to myself. Foreigners call us for salvation - and will I want to throw myself at the sword? Let it not be so! If, after I give them a hand, they will kill me, then I will fall, as if crowned with a victorious crown, preferring their treachery to the kingdom.
Many similar words were spoken to them by Joseph, keeping them from suicide. They, having blocked their ears with despair, surrounded him, intending to kill, vilifying and blaspheming for weakness. And he, calling himself by name, looking at the other with a threat, the third one grabbing his hand, pushed them away from himself with different speeches. And they, still maintaining respect for their commander, as in the ranks, held back shame, and no one raised his hand to him.
And he, having given salvation to his God as a craftsman, said: Because the good will of God is for us to perish, we will die on account: on whom the account will end, let him be killed next. And after saying so, he calculated the numbers with cunning, and thus deceived everyone, and all were killed by each other, except one. And he, trying not to defile his hands with blood, begged of that, and both came out alive. And they led them to Vespasian, and the Romans all rushed to the spectacle, and a disparaging cry rose: some rejoiced that Joseph was taken prisoner, others shouted threats, others demanded to torture and kill the enemy, while others marveled at the vicissitudes of life. Vespasian also ordered him to be taken into custody to send to Nero.
About the City of Jerusalem, and the Temple, and the Veil; What Was the City of Jerusalem
The city was enclosed by three walls where there were not deep chasms, and in these places there was one fence. The city itself was built on two mountains, and between these mountains is a valley in which there were houses crowded together. Of these two mountains, one was taller and longer-on it stood the Upper City, called by the King David Guardian for being fortified; This king was the father of Solomon, who carried out the original construction of the temple. And the second one is called the Summit; on it the Lower city is built on two hills, and in front of it is a deep gorge. Then in the years when the Hasmoneans reigned, this gorge fell asleep to equalize the city with the temple, and another top, carved with iron, was made lower, so that the upper part of the temple seemed higher. A valley of cheese-makers between the two cities, of which we have spoken, reaches Siloam, where there was a sweet and abundant spring. And around the two mountains there were terrible abysses through which there was no attack on any side.
Of the three walls, the first was built by David and Solomon very strong and impregnable; it starts from the Mounted Tower and ends at the Solomon font and Ophela. The second one starts from the Gennaf Gate, goes around to the Antony Fortress and ends there. The third one goes from the Horse Tower to the Mosaic Tower and ends at the tomb of Yelenin and the Royal Caves, where the Dyer's grave is a cloth. Agrippa attached new walls to the fence and called them Vezef, which means New City, but did not finish the construction, because of fear of Claudius, as if he did not suspect that a huge construction was undertaken to prepare the insurrection. This city could not have been taken if Agrippa had finished the walls, as he had begun: for he built out of stones twenty cubits thick and ten wide-they could not be cut with iron or shaken with a ram. After Agrippa stopped building - as we said, out of fear - the Jews completed the walls up to twenty-five cubits in height.
The temple was created on a high mountain, on top, on a level platform, and around it - huge abysses. King Solomon built the walls on the east side and made a mound, and on it - a covered gallery; on the other hand, the church was unfenced. And people, in the subsequent time constantly raising the embankment, leveled the mountain and expanded it, and, cutting through the southern walls, fenced on this side the place around the temple. And, having made a fence around the mountain and working above the forces, completed the famous structure - this took centuries and was spent the sacred treasure sent from the whole universe to the worship of God. And where the places were low, they built on three hundred cubits a stone forty cubits thick. Many means and efforts of people created a structure above the word and mind and completed what the seers could verify and what the hearers could not believe.
And above, they built double covered galleries, and the columns in them were stone, twenty-five cubits in height, made of solid marble, white; The covering was of cedar boards, well-hewn. And the temple was magnificent due to natural beauty, so that the viewer could not soon take his eyes off this spectacle; painting and nothing done with his hands was not in it. There was a wall six versts around, and the yard was not covered, but decorated and paved with various built-in stones. And from there a staircase was built to the second temple, and in front of it was a partition of stones three cubits high, very pleasant in appearance; and behind it there were identical columns with inscriptions Greek, Latin and Hebrew letters, proclaiming the law of keeping purity and prohibiting foreigners from entering. They called it holy; in it passed on 14 steps, and the top was made quadrangular. And above those inscriptions hung the fourth inscription, in the same letters, announcing about Jesus, the king who did not reign, crucified by the Jews, because he predicted the ruin of the city and the desolation of the temple.
And on the east side there were gates and a place reserved for women for service and prayer, because it was not right for women to enter through other doors, as well as to cross the fence through their doors. On the western side there was no gate, but from the edge to the edge was blocked by walls. The covered galleries that were between the gates, facing inwards from the walls in front of the treasury, stood on large marble columns.
From the gate nine were bound with gold and silver, with jambs and lintels, and some, external, bound with Corinthian copper, were even more beautiful and more precious than silver and gilded. In all the gates there were two doors; every door was thirty cubits high, and fifteen breadths wide; from the gate to the gate, thirty cubits. The fence is marble, tower-like, its height is more than forty cubits; and each fence had two marble columns, and the size of all was the same. The eastern gate-Corinthian-was fifty cubits high, and the doors forty cubits, and the thickness of gold and silver was greater. The rest of the nine were occupied by Alexander, the father of Tiberius. The steps were fifteen to the large gate from the place for women.
The very same temple stood in the middle, a sacred sanctuary, which had twenty-two steps, in which it was impossible to enter; Its height is one hundred cubits ahead, and its breadth is the same; the back of his side is forty cubits already. The first gate was seventy cubits tall, and twenty-five cubits wide, and they had no doors-in the likeness of the sky beyond sight. All facial sides were gilded, and, priniknuv to them, you could see the whole inner structure, shining with gold. This temple was blocked twice, and the first temple stood in front, erected to a huge height - ninety cubits, and width - to fifty, and in length - to twenty. Above these gates hung golden vines, and on them - golden clusters, more than human growth. The interior and doors were of pure gold, fifty-five cubits high, and sixteen wide. Before them hung a veil, equal in width and length; It was a Babylonian veil made of blue cloth and fine linen, a scarlet and scarlet dress - a wonderful sight, and its appearance was not without meaning, but it contained the image of all things: for the sword was the image of fire, the fine linen of the earth, the blue fabric of air, and purple is the sea. After all, the manuscript and the blue cloth look like the named elements, the fine linen and purple scarlet by birth are close to the earth, the other to the sea. It was depicted on that veil everything that is visible in the sky, according to science, except for the twelve heavenly belts.
This veil before our generation was intact, because people were pious, and now - it was a pity to look at it: for it suddenly burst from top to bottom, when the person who did good - and not the person with deeds - was betrayed for murder for bribes. And they tell of many other terrible signs that happened then. It was said that he was killed and was not found in the grave after the burial - some claimed that he was resurrected, and others - that he was stolen by his friends. I do not know which of them is closer to the truth: for the dead can not rise by itself, but only with the help of another righteous's prayer, unless it is an angel or some other of heavenly powers, or God himself will appear in the image of man and will create everything that he wants, and walks among people, and perishes, and rest, and resurrects of his own free will. Others said that it was impossible to steal it, because around the grave a guard was placed: a thousand Romans and a thousand Jews. This is what is being told about this veil, and for this reason it was ripped apart.
Those who went inside fell into the lower tier of the temple, whose height is sixty cubits. The place is sixty cubits divided into two parts: the first - forty cubits, in which were three things, amazing, the glory of which spread everywhere - a lamp, a table and a censer . There were seven lamps on the lamp, in the likeness of the seven stars of heaven, called planets. On the table were twelve loaves, like the number of belts of heaven and the image of the years. On the censer was thirteen thyme, gathered from all seas, and from all the inhabited earth, and from all deserts meaning that everything is from God and to God. The inner place is twenty cubits, invisible behind the other veil, and nothing stood and did not lie, and it was inaccessible to entering and filth and invisible to all, called the holy of holies. And along the side of the lower church there were many buildings with three roofs close to each other, on the high side of the building were not such because of the tightness.
The front side of the temple, facing outward, struck the eyes and souls of those watching: everywhere it was bounded by thick gold plates and, with sunshine, it seemed like a blazing fire. As you can not look at the pure sun, but everyone blinks, and eyes, looking at him, screwed up their eyes. When they looked at him, passing by, he seemed to be a mountain covered with snow: in those places where there was no gold lined, he gleamed brightly with whiteness. At the top, golden points were planted - big, long, frequent and sharp, like arrows, so that no bird, having sat down, would defile the top. The stones from which he was built were forty-five cubits long, five high and six wide. Ahead was an altar fifteen cubits high, and eight cubits wide and as much in length, made quadrangular, protruding from one corner like a horn; They ascend to it from the south. It was made without iron, and iron will never touch it. Around the temple and altar, a beautiful stone fence, an elbow high, separating the people from the priests, passes around, like a crown. Lepers and sick even in the city were not allowed to enter, and women were forbidden to cross that fence that is between clean and unclean. And the men who were not cleansed were not allowed into the courtyard, as were the priests.
Those of the priesthood who could not be served because of blindness, or lameness, or crippled hands, went inside with healthy and unbreakable priests, receiving the same portion as they did, but did not put on sacred robe. On the altar and to the temple included the virgin priests, clothed in fine linen and abstaining in particular from wine, fearing the slightest violation in the service. And the high priest did not go in with them all the days, but on the sabbaths and the first days of the month, and also on the great feasts established by the ancestors. When he served, his garments differed from the priestly ones. For before it it was closed to the shins with a girdle of cloth, and the bottom by a cloth; on top he dressed in a round garment reaching to the feet, made of blue fabric. And around it hang golden bells and apples: the bells serve as a form of thunder, and apples - lightning. And the bandage attached the garment to the chest, around it were five belts of gold, scarlet, scarlet, fine linen and blue cloth, from which the curtain was made, - why, we already said. And above it hung a homophore made of gold, looking like armor. At the bottom of it are two shields, forged from gold, and in the middle of them - large and beautiful sardonyxes, on which the ancestors of the tribes of the Jews were written. On the other side were twelve stones, divided into four parts: in the first carnelian, topaz, emerald, in the second carbuncle, jasper and sapphire, in the third agate, amethyst, liguria, and in the fourth onyx, beryl, chrysolite. He covered his head with a fine-woven armband, on top with a blue cloth, and on top with another golden crown, on which were written the holy letters that make up the quaternary. He did not put on this robe at another time, but only when he served in the sanctuary, where no one could enter, - once a year, when everyone is following the custom of God. On other holidays he dressed in a simpler garment.
About the City, the Temple, the Yard; About the City, the Temple and Customs, We Still Say That They Lowered It
The fortress, called Antonia, was built between two covered galleries of the temple, on a high stone at 50 cubits high. It was the construction of King Herod, who covered this stone with marble slabs from the base to the top - for beauty and for the sake of profit, so that it would be impossible to enter or leave. And before the fortress, he built a wall three cubits high and then built a fortress of 40 cubits in height. Its interior space was the royal palace: beautiful and comfortable houses, covered galleries, large baths and wide courtyards for warriors. Since there was everything necessary, it was like a strong city; because everything in it was beautiful and varied - the royal dwelling. Having the appearance of a tower, it was surrounded by four towers at the four corners, three fifty cubits high, and the fourth on the east side - seventy cubits, so that you could see the temple from it, and there was a Roman guard with weapons, holidays, so that the people did not stir up a riot. Thus, the Kremlin around the temple was in relation to the city as a detaine, and Antony's fortress is even more fortified than the temple Kremlin. The upper city had its own special detached house - the Herod's Chambers. Wesef is separated from the Antony Fortress and from the northern side looks at the temple. About the city and the walls, as much as I could, I told.
On the Assassination of Jerusalem
The rebels, all the days leading the battle with those who made the embankment, made such a cunning in the 26th day of the month: the rear covered gallery between the top crossbar and the roof was filled with brushwood with resin and sulfur, and then pretended to run away. And then many, imprudently rushed, attacked the retreating, put the stairs and climbed up to the gallery. And immediately the Jews set fire to them, and the fire, flaring up, surrounded everyone from everywhere, and they, powerless to do anything, rushed back to the abyss or fell to the adversaries; some were burned, others were killed by the sword. Caesar was angry at the dead for the fact that they climbed without an order, but, however, imbued with pity. And since no one could help them, the consolation for the burning was that they saw Caesar, for which each of them believed the soul; shouting, jumping, begging each other to help, if anyone can, and emitting joyous exclamations, they die with praise and merriment. And some, running to the wide wall of the gallery, were saved from the fire. The Jews who surrounded them fought with them, and they all perished.
One of them, a young man named Login, committed an act worthy of memory. The Jews could not kill him and gave him a hand, begging him to get down to them. But his brother Cornelius, standing in front of him, shouted to him that he would not disgrace his kind and did not bring shame on the Roman soldiers. And he, listening to him, drew his sword in front of everyone and plunged into himself. Only Arthur escaped from the fire by cunning: he called his comrade Lucius and loudly told him: I leave you the heir of your property, if you come and catch me. And when he quickly ran up, he fell on him and remained alive; Lucius was taken down by weight and, having fallen face to face with a stone, died.
This cunning for a while disheartened the Romans, but then they learned to beware of the cunning of the Jews, because they were often harmed by the ignorance of the locality where the city stood and the customs of its inhabitants. And the galleries were burned to the tower of John, which he built, when he fought with Simon. The next morning the Romans burned the northern galleries.
And in a city dying from hunger they fell like leaves and like sand, and their sufferings were indescribable. In all houses, if even a shadow of a crumb appeared, then a massacre began, and loved relatives fought hand-to-hand, squeezing out from the throat a bad eruption of the soul. They did not believe even the dying: the robbers searched the souls who let out their soul, checking whether the person is not pretending to be dying, hiding food in his bosom. And with open mouth, like mad dogs, pushing at the door, they did not fall into them and dodged where they did not like, as if drunk. And, since they could not find anything edible anywhere, they entered the same house three and four times in one hour. And everything that was found needed to be dragged into the mouth. And that is indecent to the nasty dumb animal, then they themselves, choosing it, ate with joy and in the end did not disdain either the belts, nor the boots, nor the skin from the shields, but tearing them, ate with pleasure. If anyone found rotten hay or straw, it was like a meal for them, flavored with fragrant herbs. And some, collecting dry stems, sold half a load of weight for four Attic gold, which is equal to eight gold pieces of gold. But why do I talk so much about hunger? I turn to the story of an incident, similar to which neither the Greeks nor the barbarians have described, which is terrible to tell and, when listening, it is impossible to believe. I ask the descendants not to think that I am lying; I would gladly omit this terrible story, if there were no countless witnesses and eyewitnesses; and even a bad service I will serve my country, if I hide the suffering that the people have undergone.
One woman, who lives on the other side of the Jordan, named Mary, daughter of Eleazar, from the village of Batechor, which means house of hyssop, known for its nobility and wealth, ran among others to Jerusalem. Her property - what she had saved and brought from the other side of the Jordan - plundered the torturers and left nothing of expensive utensils, and all the food that could be obtained was taken away, being every day. And a furious anger seized this woman, and, scolding and cursing the plunderers, she began to incite them so that someone killed her. Then, seeing that no one thinks to kill her out of anger. out of pity, she was tormented in search of food, going to others. And since I could not find anything, and hunger pierced the womb and the brain, taking advisers into need, rushed to its nature. She had a baby baby; and taking him in his arms, she said to him: My dear little one! Around us is war, famine and rebellion. For whom should I keep you? If the Romans take us, there is a grievous and unbearable slavery; if they do not have time, then famine will kill us; and the rebels are more terrible than both. Go, child, to the place where you came from, and be food to me, and the rebels a curse, and the age of the parable about what the Jews' life has come to! And saying this, she killed her son and baked, then divided it into two halves and one ate, and the other, covering, left. And then the rebels, appearing, as usual, and smelling the nasty stench, started threatening to kill her if she did not show what she had brought. And she answered: I left the good part to you! - and she opened to them what was left of the child. When they saw, they were seized by fear, trembling and terror, and they were petrified before this spectacle. She said: This is my child, I was born, and the matter is my own. Eat, because I ate. And do not be softer than a woman and more pitiful than a mother. If you are pious and reject my slaughter, then I have already eaten, and leave the rest to me. After that, they trembled, came out: only that they were afraid and they refused to take this food from their mother. And immediately around the city there was a message about this filth, and everyone personally imagined this terrible act and shuddered, as if he had created it. The hungry wanted to die faster and considered those who died before they saw such evil to be happy.
Soon the Romans received news of this terrible event, and some of them did not believe, others filled with pity for them, and others - deep disgust. And Caesar justified himself in this before God, saying that: I give the Jews peace and a free life and would not remember their disobedience and all the evil that they created. They preferred reconciliation to a mutiny, peace to the world, and satiety and abundance - suffering and hunger. And now they started to set fire to the sanctuary, which I still keep on my hands. That is why they are worthy to take such food and to pay for the abomination of the affliction of the fall of the city, so that they will not remain alive in the universe, let the sun not look at the city in which mothers eat their children. Before mothers, this should be done to the fathers for the fact that, seeing such horror, they still do not lay down their arms. And having said so, he thought about how desperate these people are, that they do not want to repent and do not accept sanity.
And when the two regiments completed the embankment on the eighth day of the month of Loy, that is, August, he ordered to put the sheep from the western side of the inner temple. Before that, the Winner - the biggest ram - within six days without a break struck, but could not break anything. Others, however, dug up the base under the northern gate and, with great difficulty, threw three front stones, but the walls did not collapse, but stood firm. And the Romans, unable to crush them with rams, iron, or anything else, attached the stairs to the galleries. The Jews, however, did not have time to prevent them from climbing up, but then, after running, they grabbed the men who had climbed up and fought hard. And some were dropped down, others were thrown into the abyss, others were stabbed, and those who had just climbed up and had not yet had time to take the shield, were hacked ahead, others were stabbed off the stairs. And the Romans elsewhere raised the Caesar's badges. The Jews, having escaped, committed a fierce battle, trying to take them away. And those believing that to lose them - is to incur an inglorious shame on themselves, they did not give in until they all perished. And the Jews, having taken away the badges and interrupting those who had climbed into the galleries, boasted as if they had killed or captured Caesar himself. Of the Romans, no one died, not avenging, but each was killed, killing himself before. And Titus, seeing that he spared the temple to the detriment of his soldiers, ordered the gates to be set on fire.
And then Anan came running from Emmaus and Arkhelai, the son of Magadat, hoping to receive forgiveness from him, because they ran after the victory of the Jews. But Titus thought that they came with cunning, and, hearing about the inflexibility of the Jews, ordered them to be killed, saying that: You were compelled to come, and not by your own will, and are not worthy of salvation, because they came running, seeing that it was already on fire fatherland. But, however, not wishing to act treacherously, tamed his anger and let them go, but the fate was not for them the same as for others.
And the warriors set fire to the silver gates, and when the silver began to melt, the planks took up the planks, and from there suddenly the flame spread to the galleries. When the Jews saw the flame around them, their bodies and souls became exhausted, and no one moved to extinguish the terror, but they all stood in one place and looked. Then to them, strongly dejected, the mind returned, but not sensible, and they were terribly enraged at the Romans. On that day and night, fire burned down the outbuildings and galleries.
When the morning came, Titus sent to extinguish the fire, to disassemble what had been burned, and to expand the way for the regiments. And he called on the six supreme commanders: Tiberius Alexander, Sextus Cereal, Larcia Lepidus, Titus of Frigia, Fronton Eterninus, Marcus Antonius Julianus, governor of Judea, and advised them about the temple. Some of them said that with him it is necessary to act according to the law of war, because the Jews will not stop the mutiny while there is a temple in which they gather from everywhere. Others said, If the Jews leave the temple and do not take up arms for it, then it should be preserved; if they fight from there, then set fire to it: after all, then it must be called a battle fortress, and not a temple. Lawlessness does not come from us, but from those who compelled us to do it. And Titus said: Even if the Jews fight, being in it, I still will never ruin them inanimate and will not burn such a huge and beautiful art. After all, if the temple perishes, it will harm the Romans, if it continues, it will be an adornment of our power. Fronton and Alexander joined in this opinion. And then he dismissed the council and ordered the commanders to rest together with the soldiers, so that in the morning they could be prepared for battle with new strength.
On that day, the aspiration of the Jews was restrained by fatigue and horror. The next morning, having gathered all the strength and hope, they ran out at the second hour of the day through the eastern gate and attacked the guards outside the temple. They persistently withstood their attack: armed, they began to stand against them like a wall, being built in a tight order, but the furious raids of the Jews prevailed against them. Titus noticed that they were retreating - he saw everything from Antony's fortress - and came with the chosen soldiers to help. The Jews could not stand his coming, but, after the front fell, the others fled. When the Romans began to retreat, they returned and attacked them, when they returned, they fled. So it continued until the fifth hour of the day, when they fled, they did not shut themselves up in the inner temple.
How the Temple Was Set on Fire, and About the Signs Before the Death of Jerusalem, and How Simon and John called Titus To A Conversation, Titus Ordered To Protest Their Speech; They Did Not Obey, and Titus Ordered More of Them To Spare
Titus retreated to Antony's fortress and made warriors, so that by morning they all came to surround the temple. God judged otherwise and long ago he put him to death from the fire. And the judgment day came at the end of the year, on the tenth day of the month of Loy, to which, in ancient times, he was burnt by the Babylonian king. The fire began from its own. For when Titus retreated, the Jews, resting for a bit, rushed back to the Romans, and those who defeated the Jews chased them to the temple and entered for them themselves. And then one of the soldiers, not waiting for the order of Caesar and not afraid of the demon of the inspired undertaking, furiously snatched the fire from the inside and, standing on the shoulder of his companion, took out to the golden window and to the doors through which one could get to the buildings surrounding the temple. The fire began to flare up, and the Jews, with such a shout and howl this terrible thing deserved, ran to prevent the Romans and take revenge, sparing no life, without thinking of salvation and forgetting about caution.
And someone ran to tell Titus. He was resting from the battle in the tent. And immediately, jumping up, he ran to the temple to extinguish the fire. And after him all the military commanders went, and after them the regiments walked in fear, and there was a cry and a great confusion when such a huge force came into motion without order. And Caesar commanded the soldiers to extinguish the fire with his voice and hand. They did not even listen to his screaming, because their ears were not heard because of the military noise, and they did not notice the signs that he made with his hand.
Some looked at the enemy, who kills whom, the anger of others has closed their ears, and when the regiments fled, neither the order, nor the prohibition, nor the request could keep their aspirations, but the wrath presided over all and the anger gripped everyone. And, suffocating in cramped, many were trampled by their own, and many, advancing on burning stones and on ashes and unable to get out, were burnt. And those who stood near the church, pretended that they did not hear Caesar's orders, but each of them ordered a standing nearby to set fire to even more. The rebels floundered, not knowing what to do; and everywhere there was a battle, blood flowed and warriors fled. And the people - people helpless and unarmed - were killed wherever they were overtaken. At the altar a multitude of the dead accumulated, and the blood flowed like a river, and the flow of blood carried away corpses.
Caesar, seeing that he could not keep the aspirations of the soldiers and that the fire was overpowering, entered with the generals inward and saw the sanctuary of the temple that he longed to see, and everything that was in it, about which fame was not only among his people, but and foreigners, - wonderful, worthy of glory and beautiful. Since the flames had not yet penetrated, but spread through the surrounding buildings, Titus, thinking that it was still possible to save the building from the fire, jumped and began to extinguish the fire and forced the soldiers. He ordered the centurion of Liberia to beat the defiant to prevent the fire. But, seized with anger and hatred of the Jews, they no longer respected and feared Caesar, and the zeal of war burned more than the flame. And many, hoping to rob, burned even more, thinking that everything is full of wealth inside, because they saw that there was a golden decoration all around. When Caesar came out to stop the soldiers, someone threw fire at the dark inner doors - and suddenly a flame appeared from inside; then the military commanders retired with Caesar and no longer stopped anybody. So the temple was set on fire, against the will of Caesar.
Creation worthy of great mourning, the most amazing of all, as we have heard and seen, and by structure, and grandeur, and beauty, and decoration, and the glory of our holy places. But one who deeply thinks about the judgment of God, who can not be evaded neither by having a soul, nor by the fact that he has no soul, no matter, no place, will be deeply consoled. And someone will marvel at the circle of times: fate observed the same month, and the same day, which, as we said, in ancient times the Babylonians burned this temple. From the original construction of it, begun by King Solomon, to the present destruction that happened in the two years of the reign of Caesar Vespasian, there are 1130 years, 7 months and 15 days, and from the last building that Haggai undertook in the second year of the reign of Cyrus, before The captivity is 639 years, one month and 15 days.
While the temple was burning, everything that could be found was plundered and plundered; and all those who were overtaken by iron perished, and there was no mercy for any age, nor respect for the virtue, but children, and the elders, and the unclean, and the priests all the same accepted death, for the war had seized all those fighting and praying. And while the flame was blowing out, the cries and groans of those who were dying rang out. Because of the height of the mountain and the huge size of the burning building, a person looking from afar would say that the entire city is burning. And it is impossible to imagine anything more terrible and terrible than the then cry: for the Roman regiments also shouted and fled, and the rebels, surrounded by fire and battle, gave out cries, and those who survived fled in terror, crying and weeping at the sight of the disaster; and to many of the shriveled fire from the famine and the blinking eyes in the temple, the forces returned to cry and cry. And the screams were answered by the surrounding mountains and forests. And everywhere there was confusion and terrible terror, and it seemed that the mountain on which the temple stood jumped out of the ground, because it was all covered with flame. But the blood was more abundant than the fire, and there were more dead than the killing, and the land was not visible, because all of it was covered with corpses. But the warriors chased the fleeing even by trampling the piles of the dead. The rebels, barely breaking through, fled to the outer temple and from there to the city, and the rest of the people ran into the outer gallery. The priests at first threw iron spits into the Romans, breaking their foundations; Then, when the fire came to them, they retreated to a wall 8 cubits wide. And two of the famous citizens jumped into the fire and burned with the temple - Miyir, the son of Velga, and Joseph, the son of Dahlia.
The Romans, believing that nothing to spare the surrounding buildings, when the temple was burned, set fire to galleries, doors and gates, except for two - eastern and southern, and then, regretting it, they also destroyed; burned and the treasury, where the great wealth was stored: there were also garments, and covers, and countless vessels - in short, all the wealth of the Jews was gathered here and all the household possessions of the rich. They also came to the surviving outer gallery, into which wives and children and other people of all kinds fled, numbering 6000. And without waiting for the command of the Caesar or the generals, the soldiers who were filled with anger set fire to them, and all perished, and none of them escaped - some were thrown into the fire, and others were burnt in place.
Signs Before the Perdition of Jerusalem
And the culprit of this death was one false prophet who in those days proclaimed to the townspeople that: God commands you to enter the temple and receive the sign of salvation. These false prophets John and Simon were sent to people with a commandment - to wait for God's help so that they would not run to the Romans. And in trouble - as it usually happens - everyone believes in anyone who will tell him the deliverance from misfortunes. And if someone deceives and says a pleasant lie, then they believe in him and put all hope on him.
That's why this long-suffering people listened to deceivers and lying about God, and those who speak the truth and foretell the coming desolation of signs and phenomena did not listen and did not believe; and as insane, having no eyes, no soul, they did not listen to the Divine warning. And they did not understand when a star appeared like a spear above the city, and stood for a whole year - it's called a comet, because it's all hairy. And besides, before the war began, when the people gathered for the feast of unleavened bread on the 8th day of the month of xanfik, that is April, at the ninth hour of the night such a light shone on the altar and the temple, as if there was a clear day, and this lasted for half an hour . The unwise believed that this was a good sign, but those who were versed in the sacred books judged in accordance with the outcome. On the same holiday someone was brought a cow to the slaughter, and, standing in the middle of the temple, she gave birth to a lamb. And the eastern inner gates, brass and thick, which could hardly be moved by 20 people, with iron hinges and locks and a deep jamb made of long stone, turned out to be themselves by the 6th hour of the night. The guard who came running to the temple informed the chief, who, having appeared with a considerable number of people, could hardly close them. And this sign was considered for good: they thought that God would open to them the doors of the good. But the scribes realized that the fortress of the temple would collapse by itself and open itself to enemies without difficulty, and the sanctuary would become empty. And a few days after the holiday, on the 21st day of the month Artemisia, that is May, there was some incredible demonic vision. Hearing of this would decide that these are fables and sorcery, if many did not see and did not tell, and terrible misfortunes followed the vision. So, before sunset, chariots and regiments with arms appeared through the whole of Judah's land through the air and across the sky, galloping through the clouds and surrounding cities. On the feast, called Pentecost, the priests entered, as usual, into the inner temple at night for service, first felt a concussion and thunder, and then suddenly heard a voice that said: Let's get out of here! And that's what was worse than anything else.
About Jesus, Anan's son, About Six Voices
Someone Jesus, son of Anan, from simple, not a scribe, four years before the war, when the city still had peace and abundance, came to a feast, during which everyone customarily celebrates the establishment of bush, standing in the temple, suddenly started to cry: A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from four winds, a voice to Jerusalem and a temple, a voice to the bride and groom, a voice to all the people. He repeated this, crying all the days and nights, bypassing the stagnants. And some of the notable citizens were angry with him for his bad speeches and, grabbing, they beat and beat a lot. And he, without making a beating in anything, did not ask for himself and did not answer his tormentor, but he only screamed the same as before. But the authorities in Jerusalem, thinking that some higher power is pushing him to this scream, led him to the Roman governor, where he was beaten with rods and whips to the bone, and he, without knowing either pain or tears, even more, through force, shouted at that And in a sorrowful voice: Woe, woe to Jerusalem! And when Albin - he was then a Roman governor - asked him: Who are you? Where from? And why are you shouting like this? - He did not answer anything in his speech and did not cease weaving a wail in the city, until Albin released him, finding it insane. And then he did not come to anyone and did not show up until the war began. And then all the days, as if having learned a prayer, yelled, sobbing: Woe, woe to Jerusalem!, Not answering beating him, not cursing those who defied him, not blessing the people who gave him food. And only this sad answer was to all 7 years and 5 months, and his voice did not stop, and he did not know fatigue until he saw the war that he had predicted, and after that he slept with death. Walking along the visors, he shouted again: Alas, alas, to the city, to people and the temple!, And at the end he added: Alas, alas to me! And then a stone, flown from a vice, struck him to death, and he gave up spirit, still uttering his prediction.
And if one is endowed with good reason, he will see that God is looking for man and in every way reveals to our kind, which is for us salvation; We perish because of irrationality and because we are doing evil according to our will. God shows signs of anger, so that people will understand God's wrath, leave to do evil and thereby propitiate God. But although the Jews had a prophecy that because of the quadrangular form the city and the temple were empty, they themselves began to make crosses for crucifixes - quadrangular, as we said. And after the destruction of the tower of Anthony, a quadrangular temple was built. To war they were inspired by ambiguous predictions, which are in the sacred books; they say that one of the Jewish lands will reign over the whole universe. They were interpreted in different ways: some believed that it was about Herod, others - about the crucified miracle-worker Jesus, and the third - about Vespasian. However, it is impossible for people to escape from fate, even if they foresee the future. The Jews, however, interpreted the signs as they wanted, distorting them for their own good, and blaspheming everyone else until they destroyed themselves and the fatherland, they convicted and disgraced themselves and showed their madness.
And Vespasian with his son Titus, while in Ptolemais, experienced warriors and wrote what each of them is. Placid, who was sent to wage war in Galilee, wishing to achieve glory, rushed to Iotapata, the capital city of Galilee, fortified better than others. But he did not achieve what he hoped for. For the townspeople, having learned of their offensive, stood in front of the city, being made ready for battle, and, clutching the Roman regiments, soon defeated them, wounding many and killing seven people. It is not customary for them to turn their backs when they are defeated, but they retreat a little, so that their flight is imperceptible.
Vespasian immediately moved from Ptolemais to Galilee and ordered the soldiers to perform, as is the case with the Romans: ahead arrows and lightly armed, who must conduct surveillance in the event of a sudden approach of the enemy and to investigate whether the detachments are in the forests; followed by patrols, part - riders, part - infantrymen; and after them - the path-walkers, who cut the forest and level the road in close and difficult places, so that the soldiers do not get tired of the difficult path; behind them - a convoy of commander and commanders and riders for his protection; then the general himself with the selected units of cavalry and infantry, and behind him - donkeys and mules, carrying devices with which they took cities; and behind them - the leaders of the spirits and commanders, and with them - select warriors; then - the badges that are called eagle, because it is the king over all the birds - he is stronger than everyone, and a meeting with him presages a victory. And followed by the trumpeters, then - the army, divided into six parts, and further - the centurion supervising the formation, and behind them - a guard detachment of horsemen and infantrymen with weapons guarding the rear rows.
And all the Galileans, seeing them, were horrified, and many began to repent. Those that were under Joseph, before they saw, fled with Joseph to Tiberias.
And all the Tiberians were filled with fear, knowing that Joseph would not have fled if he had not lost hope. And he wondered what would be the end of the Jews, and knew that there was no salvation for them if they did not repent, but hoped for forgiveness from the Romans. But he preferred to die with people, rather than betray the fatherland and the power given to him. And he wrote to the Jerusalem rulers truthfully about everything, so that they either preferred the world or sent him help.
Vespasian also took Gadara and the surrounding villages, did not spare the old or the small, but all betrayed the sword. And then I went to Iotapata. And Joseph heard of it, when he came from Tiberias, and strengthened the strength of the Jews. Someone informed Vespasian of the arrival of Joseph, and immediately, thinking that he would take the whole of Judea if they caught Joseph, hurried to send Placida with a thousand riders around the city so that Joseph could not flee. In a day later, having gathered all the strength, I went to Iotapata until noon and surrounded the city with two regiments of infantry, and put the riders behind them, blocking them all the way.
The Jews went out and stood in front of the gate. Vespasian sent archers to them and installed sling and all throwing guns. Himself with the infantrymen went to a high place, where you could destroy the walls. Frightened, Joseph made a sortie and all the Jews with him, and seized the Romans, and drove them away. And they cut themselves all day, and dispersed toward the night. Then many of the Romans were wounded, three were killed, and the Jews were wounded six hundred, and seventeen fell.
The next morning, going out, attacked the Romans with much greater power. The enemy was stronger than them. For five days they fought, and it was possible to see how the spears were broken, and the swords rang, and the shields were broken, and they carried out their husbands, and the earth was given blood. However, neither the Jews were imbued with fear of the Romans, nor did the Romans lose heart, seeing how firmly the city was fortified.
After all, this city is all over the abyss, so that it is impossible for human eyes to measure the depth; only from the north side a small attack, because the walls ended, coming down to the gorge. Vespasian, on overcoming the stronghold of the city and the power of the Jews, called on his commanders and ordered the soldiers to carry land, firewood and stones, and they at once began to wear them. And, arranging the turtle, so that they were not harmed from the city, filled the abyss. The Jews, however, threw a lot of stones at them, but they did not achieve anything.
Vespasian placed around the city wall-tools - there were sixty of them - and they shed stones with a weight of three kapi; and the arches that were launched from the bow, whistled, and the arrows eclipsed the light. And because of this, the Jews did not dare to go out onto the walls - they were disturbed by the upper defensive bombardment. They, like robbers, ran out of the gate, quickly dragged the tortoise and smashed the ones standing under it.
Then Vespasian ordered to make a cover from one end of the city to the other and a mound above the city. And when Joseph saw this, he gathered the builders together, that they build the walls. And when they could not because of the stones and arrows, he arranged for them a canopy of freshly harvested cowhide skins. And so working, over night and day, they built the walls twenty cubits high, to the great vexation of Vespasian, for he could not figure out what to do against such a height. And he withdrew the soldiers and laid siege to the city, thinking of starving them.
They also had an abundance of all kinds of food, but lacked salt and water, because there was neither a source nor a well inside the city. Vespasian hoped that they would surrender for thirst. But Joseph, wanting to rob him of his hope for this, ordered to wet numerous clothes and hang on the walls, so that they dripped, why the Romans was seized with despondency and horror. The commander, desperate to take the city by famine, again turned to arms and violence, and this was what the Jews wanted: losing the hope to save life and the city, they preferred to die in battle rather than from hunger and thirst. And the Jews, fighting every day, were defeated, and they were few. Joseph, judging that there was no salvation, was thinking of fleeing the city. And when they found out about this, people surrounded him and begged him not to throw them in this trouble, laying his hopes on him alone: If you stay with us, then all without knowing fatigue, we will fight for you; if you leave, we will be captured. He, thinking how to save his head, told them that: For your sake I'm leaving so that, gathering the soldiers, suddenly attack the enemies. After all, as soon as they hear that I have left you, they will leave the city and chase after me. These words were not listened to by people, but also by children, and old people, and women with babies, who, with great love for him, were falling in love with him, fell at his feet, begging him not to leave them. And he, seeing their cry and sobbing, yielded and said: Now is the time, about the others, to gain glory eternal and to create something worthy of husbands in memory of future generations.
And having collected the strongest, he went to the guard detachment and drove him away, and them to the camp, and destroyed their turtle and the canopy and embankment, and set them on fire; and three days and three nights did the same without rest. Vespasian, however, seeing that his soldiers can not resist the attacks of the Jews, ordered not to engage in battle with people who are hungry for death: there is nothing stronger than desperate and fighting because there is no other way out. And he ordered Arab arrows and Syrian slingers to fight with the Jews. And they went and did not spare their heads furiously attacking the Romans, bypassing the shooters.
And again Vespasian made warriors to battle, as before, and set the archers ahead of them, and rebuilt the embankment. And they put a sheep: it is a large thick log, similar to a ship's mast, and at the end of it large horns of iron are planted - that's why it is called a sheep. And the explosion of two logs like a fork and placing it between them and tied with ropes, many people, delaying, struck blows. And at that time the arrows shot arrows, the landlords thrashed the boards, and the slingers threw stones, so that the Jews did not dare to climb the visor. And then they, without fear, beat the walls with a sheep, and when a lot of people were beating in one place, the walls shook. Joseph filled up the sacks, typing sticks, and hung, and where the ram was dragged, bags were dragged to that place, and there was no harm to the walls, because the sheep were obstructed by sacks. But the Romans, tying the sickles to their spears, cut off the bags. And the Jews, desperate, taking a torch, boughs and dry brushwood, tar and sulfur, jumped out in three places, set fire to a mound, and structures, and throwing guns, and a sheep. The Romans, terrified by their insolence, fled; the flame surrounded them, and, unable to escape, they cut themselves.
Then one of the husbands, a Jew, committed an act worthy of remembrance. It was Eleazar, Sami's son, who came from a Galilean village. And he lifted a huge stone and threw it on the sheep and knocked his head off, then jumped off the visor and grabbed his head right among the Romans and, returning, stood over the fortress wall so everyone could see and know, holding the ram's head. And five arrows, flying from the rear shooters, struck him, and, wounded, he fell from the wall along with the ram.
And afterwards, Netir and Philip from the city of Rumania, who attacked the tenth regiment with such a noise, with such force and speed, that they broke up a large regiment, dispersed it and won it: courageously those who could not withstand their courage they rushed. Joseph, after coming out with the people, dispersed the fifth regiment and set fire to all the remaining guns, and spread the foundations of the embankment.
And when the morning came, Vespasian gathered the men who had fled and blamed them for fleeing not before the soldiers, but before the robbers, not ashamed of the military law or glory of the fathers. And all, in unanimous aspiration, built a third mound and rebuilt the sheep, and beat where they had already caused destruction.
And then someone from the city wounded Vespasian's foot, but it was shallow: a great distance weakened the strength of the arrow. And the Romans began a great confusion: those around him saw the blood and informed everyone about the wound of the commander. And great fear fell upon all, and, leaving the battle for the city, they quickly ran to the commander. Titus was frightened first of all for his father. But soon the excitement subsided, and the commander, having tied his foot, galloped through his shelves, so that they could see him, and those who saw him were delighted and, urging each other, rushed to the walls, vengeance for their commander. And it was possible to see how the Jews fell as if they were sheaves, but they did not leave the walls and, seeing death before their eyes, hung and threw stones and iron and fire on the stones below. But nothing was achieved.
But even at nightfall, they did not give themselves a rest, but the fired arrows and slogans killed a lot of people, and especially the throwing guns, which they took out and kicked off the corners and crushed the corners. One of the husbands tore off his head, and his head jumped three miles away. And the pregnant woman who left the house - how she hit her womb and knocked the baby out on the verst! And a terrible scream broke out among the women inside the city, and the crying of those who stood outside, and moaning rose to the sky. Blood from the visors flowed by the river, and it was possible to enter the city by the corpses as on the steps. Many of the iotapatians, then gloriously working, fell, and many were wounded. And the wall, which was beaten all night with a sheep, broke down and collapsed. And the Evren, armed, strengthened the crumbling places.
When the morning came, Vespasian gave soldiers a little rest from the night work, and then went to capture the city. And he ordered the strongest of the horsemen, descending from the horses, to go to the crumbling places, and behind them - the bravest of the infantry, and put the rest of the horsemen on the hill, so that none of the townspeople would escape from the city. Shooters and slingers were put back so that they would not let the townspeople stick out because of the visors. And to the places where the walls were intact, they brought stairs so that, while the townspeople guard the crumbling places, they themselves crept safely. And when he knew this, Joseph ordered to pour on them boiling tin, and they, burned by it, rolled down, and many of them were burned. And again Vespasian ordered three towers of fifty cubits high to be built on the mound, and they bound them with iron so that they would not harm the fire and that they should be strong with their heaviness. And he put on them the best shooters and stuntsmen and light throwing guns, and they shot as if from the sky. The townspeople, being below and not being able to fight with those above, also visible with the invisible, retreated, but continued to resist until they were exhausted.
And then someone ran out of the city and told Vespasian that: The townspeople have already worn out from sleepless nights and endless constant stress. And you can take the city in the morning guard by going secretly, because they are in labor day and night, and at the dawn their sleep is overcome - because at this hour they do not expect an attack and the whole guard is asleep. However, he did not believe the informer, knowing the firmness of the Jews and loyalty to each other. After all, before that, he had already taken one iotapatian and tortured him with all the torture, fire and iron, so that he told something about the affairs in the city. When he did not say anything, he crucified him, and he died laughing. And with this defector - he felt that he was not very far from the truth of his speech, and put him in custody. Himself at the hour indicated by the informer came up with the army to the city in complete silence. And first he climbed the walls of Titus with the tribune Sabin, and behind them - Sextus and Placid with his warriors, killed the guards and entered the city silently, and captured did not hear how they walked in the middle of the city: for all their strength had taken a heavy sleep . If anyone stood up, he could not see because of the fog that was then over the city - until all the soldiers entered the sunrise and, reminding all the evil that they had suffered from them, spared no one, from the old to the babies . And some, seeing death, were killed themselves, and others scattered over the caves. One of the Jews asked Anthony the centurion to give him a hand in a sign that he would not kill him; and when he stretched out his hand without a backward thought and without fear, he pierced his ribs with a spear and, having beaten him, killed him. And on that day, all those who did not hide were killed, sixty thousand, and five thousand captured and the city was destroyed, and the towers burned. So Iotapata was taken in the month of Panama, that is July, in the thirteenth year of Nero's reign.
The Romans were looking for Joseph, angry with him and wanting to please his commander; They searched him among the corpses and in the secret places of the city.
How Joseph Jumped Into the Pit
And when he took the city, with God's help, he hid among the soldiers and jumped into the deep pit, from which the invisible path to the cave came, and discovered that forty best men were hiding in it, and there were all kinds of supplies for the body. There was a guard around the city, and it was impossible to escape. And for two days he was hiding. On the third day, the guards grabbed one woman and tortured her, and she, under torture, pointed to him and those who were with him. And immediately Vespasian sent two stands with haste - Pavlin and Gallikan, to lure Joseph and promise him security. And these two, having gone, asked for him and as a sign of safety they gave his right hand, but he did not listen, afraid of revenge, because he did a lot of evil to them in the war. The commander of the third tribune sent to him, of whom they knew that he was his friend, Nikanor's name. And he appeared and spoke to him of the kindness of the Romans and their mercy to the captives and added that thanks to his courage and intelligence he would not cause them hatred, but rather admiration. The commander is trying to take you not to torture, but to save you. If he wanted to lure you to do evil, he would not have sent me, your friend, and I would not have listened to him if I had to deceive you.
And as Joseph hesitated, the soldiers wanted to set fire to the cave in anger. And he, having learned about this threat, remembered the night dreams, in which God showed him the misfortunes that will fall upon the Jews. He had a good interpretation of dreams and was able to understand what God showed privately, and nothing of the sacred prophetic books was a secret for him - he was a priest and came from a clan of priests. And at that time he was filled with the spirit and interpreted the terrible sleepy visions and offered secret prayers to God, saying: Because the race of the Jews, oh creator, seems to me to be deprived of power before your all-seeing eyes and all the luck you have transferred to the Romans and endowed them with your might, and I saved my soul so that I could announce the future - and now, according to your holy command, I voluntarily give my hand to the Romans and I swear by your holy name that I'm not going to save my life and not wanting to betray my country, but to serve your glory and strength so that make it clear what you showed me.
And when he said this, he held out his hand to Nikanor. And the Jews who were with him, knowing that he wanted to go out, surrounded him, shouting that the paternal law greatly upsets and God is grieved, who created the souls disobedient to Judaism and despising death. Do you love life, Joseph? But will you suffer the light of slavery? You forgot too quickly how many you yourself taught to die for freedom! And the glory of your courage is false, and you were wise in vain, if you hope to be saved from those whose heart has been crushed! But if you have forgotten your mind, then it is fitting for us to take care of the law of the fathers. Here is the sword: if you thrust your will into your womb, you will forever be the leader of the Jews, if you do not want to, you will die from our hands as a traitor. With these words, they drew a sword at him, fearing that he would betray himself to the Romans.
Joseph was afraid that they would act by force, and considering it a disregard for God if he died before God's command, began to fool with them, because the situation was desperate, and he said: Why are we looking for death? Why do we separate our beloved soul and body? Do you think that I have changed? But I have not changed! It is good to die in battle from the hands of the enemy. If I fear the Roman sword and hide myself, then in fact I am worthy to die from my hand and my sword. But if we are spared, taking prisoners, then should not we be pardoned by ourselves? And that it is fine to die for freedom - that to me it is love before the army. And now - where is the army? Who is fighting with us? Equally cowardly is the one who does not die when it's right, and who dies when it's not proper. So why are we afraid that we do not go out to the Romans? Of death? But why is it that we are forcibly bringing ourselves to what we are afraid of, expecting this from the enemies? If someone bears slavery, then now we are very free ?! Or do you think that the one who kills himself is brave? On the contrary, it is the weakest of all people, similar to the helmsman, who, frightened by the waves, sunk the ship before the storm. Suicide is unnatural and not given to any animal - because neither of them kills itself. In all the natural law is strong - to want to live. Therefore, those who take our lives from us, we regard as enemies, and a man becomes angered by God, if his gift is given to scorn, and does iniquity in his eyes. All flesh is mortal and created from perishable nature, the soul is eternally immortal and dwells in the body in the divine likeness. If someone kills a foreign pledge given to him for preservation, he will be called treacherous and treacherous, which no one can be dealt with. If anyone separates God's bail from his body, how can he hide from the one to whom the offense was inflicted? If the slave runs away from the master, even bad, then he is worthy of punishment. But running away from the beautiful and foremost lord - from God, will not we be wicked? Do not you know that from this life go away by natural law, having repaid the debt taken from God when he wants to take it? And so - the glory is eternal and the houses are strong and the descendants do not forget, but their souls, pure and undefiled, stay in a place holy and heavenly and wait for them to return back and settle in their bodies after centuries turn. But those who lay hands on themselves, their dark hell accepts their souls, and the Father and God torment them to their great-grandchildren. Therefore, this is hated before God, and our legislator has established that before sunset the bodies of suicides lay without burial; in other countries, and the right hand of the dead is cut off. We are worthy of others, to walk with the truth, and not add to the human misfortunes of the creator's anger! On this I finish my word. I can not be a traitor to myself. Foreigners call us for salvation - and will I want to throw myself at the sword? Let it not be so! If, after I give them a hand, they will kill me, then I will fall, as if crowned with a victorious crown, preferring their treachery to the kingdom.
Many similar words were spoken to them by Joseph, keeping them from suicide. They, having blocked their ears with despair, surrounded him, intending to kill, vilifying and blaspheming for weakness. And he, calling himself by name, looking at the other with a threat, the third one grabbing his hand, pushed them away from himself with different speeches. And they, still maintaining respect for their commander, as in the ranks, held back shame, and no one raised his hand to him.
And he, having given salvation to his God as a craftsman, said: Because the good will of God is for us to perish, we will die on account: on whom the account will end, let him be killed next. And after saying so, he calculated the numbers with cunning, and thus deceived everyone, and all were killed by each other, except one. And he, trying not to defile his hands with blood, begged of that, and both came out alive. And they led them to Vespasian, and the Romans all rushed to the spectacle, and a disparaging cry rose: some rejoiced that Joseph was taken prisoner, others shouted threats, others demanded to torture and kill the enemy, while others marveled at the vicissitudes of life. Vespasian also ordered him to be taken into custody to send to Nero.
About the City of Jerusalem, and the Temple, and the Veil; What Was the City of Jerusalem
The city was enclosed by three walls where there were not deep chasms, and in these places there was one fence. The city itself was built on two mountains, and between these mountains is a valley in which there were houses crowded together. Of these two mountains, one was taller and longer-on it stood the Upper City, called by the King David Guardian for being fortified; This king was the father of Solomon, who carried out the original construction of the temple. And the second one is called the Summit; on it the Lower city is built on two hills, and in front of it is a deep gorge. Then in the years when the Hasmoneans reigned, this gorge fell asleep to equalize the city with the temple, and another top, carved with iron, was made lower, so that the upper part of the temple seemed higher. A valley of cheese-makers between the two cities, of which we have spoken, reaches Siloam, where there was a sweet and abundant spring. And around the two mountains there were terrible abysses through which there was no attack on any side.
Of the three walls, the first was built by David and Solomon very strong and impregnable; it starts from the Mounted Tower and ends at the Solomon font and Ophela. The second one starts from the Gennaf Gate, goes around to the Antony Fortress and ends there. The third one goes from the Horse Tower to the Mosaic Tower and ends at the tomb of Yelenin and the Royal Caves, where the Dyer's grave is a cloth. Agrippa attached new walls to the fence and called them Vezef, which means New City, but did not finish the construction, because of fear of Claudius, as if he did not suspect that a huge construction was undertaken to prepare the insurrection. This city could not have been taken if Agrippa had finished the walls, as he had begun: for he built out of stones twenty cubits thick and ten wide-they could not be cut with iron or shaken with a ram. After Agrippa stopped building - as we said, out of fear - the Jews completed the walls up to twenty-five cubits in height.
The temple was created on a high mountain, on top, on a level platform, and around it - huge abysses. King Solomon built the walls on the east side and made a mound, and on it - a covered gallery; on the other hand, the church was unfenced. And people, in the subsequent time constantly raising the embankment, leveled the mountain and expanded it, and, cutting through the southern walls, fenced on this side the place around the temple. And, having made a fence around the mountain and working above the forces, completed the famous structure - this took centuries and was spent the sacred treasure sent from the whole universe to the worship of God. And where the places were low, they built on three hundred cubits a stone forty cubits thick. Many means and efforts of people created a structure above the word and mind and completed what the seers could verify and what the hearers could not believe.
And above, they built double covered galleries, and the columns in them were stone, twenty-five cubits in height, made of solid marble, white; The covering was of cedar boards, well-hewn. And the temple was magnificent due to natural beauty, so that the viewer could not soon take his eyes off this spectacle; painting and nothing done with his hands was not in it. There was a wall six versts around, and the yard was not covered, but decorated and paved with various built-in stones. And from there a staircase was built to the second temple, and in front of it was a partition of stones three cubits high, very pleasant in appearance; and behind it there were identical columns with inscriptions Greek, Latin and Hebrew letters, proclaiming the law of keeping purity and prohibiting foreigners from entering. They called it holy; in it passed on 14 steps, and the top was made quadrangular. And above those inscriptions hung the fourth inscription, in the same letters, announcing about Jesus, the king who did not reign, crucified by the Jews, because he predicted the ruin of the city and the desolation of the temple.
And on the east side there were gates and a place reserved for women for service and prayer, because it was not right for women to enter through other doors, as well as to cross the fence through their doors. On the western side there was no gate, but from the edge to the edge was blocked by walls. The covered galleries that were between the gates, facing inwards from the walls in front of the treasury, stood on large marble columns.
From the gate nine were bound with gold and silver, with jambs and lintels, and some, external, bound with Corinthian copper, were even more beautiful and more precious than silver and gilded. In all the gates there were two doors; every door was thirty cubits high, and fifteen breadths wide; from the gate to the gate, thirty cubits. The fence is marble, tower-like, its height is more than forty cubits; and each fence had two marble columns, and the size of all was the same. The eastern gate-Corinthian-was fifty cubits high, and the doors forty cubits, and the thickness of gold and silver was greater. The rest of the nine were occupied by Alexander, the father of Tiberius. The steps were fifteen to the large gate from the place for women.
The very same temple stood in the middle, a sacred sanctuary, which had twenty-two steps, in which it was impossible to enter; Its height is one hundred cubits ahead, and its breadth is the same; the back of his side is forty cubits already. The first gate was seventy cubits tall, and twenty-five cubits wide, and they had no doors-in the likeness of the sky beyond sight. All facial sides were gilded, and, priniknuv to them, you could see the whole inner structure, shining with gold. This temple was blocked twice, and the first temple stood in front, erected to a huge height - ninety cubits, and width - to fifty, and in length - to twenty. Above these gates hung golden vines, and on them - golden clusters, more than human growth. The interior and doors were of pure gold, fifty-five cubits high, and sixteen wide. Before them hung a veil, equal in width and length; It was a Babylonian veil made of blue cloth and fine linen, a scarlet and scarlet dress - a wonderful sight, and its appearance was not without meaning, but it contained the image of all things: for the sword was the image of fire, the fine linen of the earth, the blue fabric of air, and purple is the sea. After all, the manuscript and the blue cloth look like the named elements, the fine linen and purple scarlet by birth are close to the earth, the other to the sea. It was depicted on that veil everything that is visible in the sky, according to science, except for the twelve heavenly belts.
This veil before our generation was intact, because people were pious, and now - it was a pity to look at it: for it suddenly burst from top to bottom, when the person who did good - and not the person with deeds - was betrayed for murder for bribes. And they tell of many other terrible signs that happened then. It was said that he was killed and was not found in the grave after the burial - some claimed that he was resurrected, and others - that he was stolen by his friends. I do not know which of them is closer to the truth: for the dead can not rise by itself, but only with the help of another righteous's prayer, unless it is an angel or some other of heavenly powers, or God himself will appear in the image of man and will create everything that he wants, and walks among people, and perishes, and rest, and resurrects of his own free will. Others said that it was impossible to steal it, because around the grave a guard was placed: a thousand Romans and a thousand Jews. This is what is being told about this veil, and for this reason it was ripped apart.
Those who went inside fell into the lower tier of the temple, whose height is sixty cubits. The place is sixty cubits divided into two parts: the first - forty cubits, in which were three things, amazing, the glory of which spread everywhere - a lamp, a table and a censer . There were seven lamps on the lamp, in the likeness of the seven stars of heaven, called planets. On the table were twelve loaves, like the number of belts of heaven and the image of the years. On the censer was thirteen thyme, gathered from all seas, and from all the inhabited earth, and from all deserts meaning that everything is from God and to God. The inner place is twenty cubits, invisible behind the other veil, and nothing stood and did not lie, and it was inaccessible to entering and filth and invisible to all, called the holy of holies. And along the side of the lower church there were many buildings with three roofs close to each other, on the high side of the building were not such because of the tightness.
The front side of the temple, facing outward, struck the eyes and souls of those watching: everywhere it was bounded by thick gold plates and, with sunshine, it seemed like a blazing fire. As you can not look at the pure sun, but everyone blinks, and eyes, looking at him, screwed up their eyes. When they looked at him, passing by, he seemed to be a mountain covered with snow: in those places where there was no gold lined, he gleamed brightly with whiteness. At the top, golden points were planted - big, long, frequent and sharp, like arrows, so that no bird, having sat down, would defile the top. The stones from which he was built were forty-five cubits long, five high and six wide. Ahead was an altar fifteen cubits high, and eight cubits wide and as much in length, made quadrangular, protruding from one corner like a horn; They ascend to it from the south. It was made without iron, and iron will never touch it. Around the temple and altar, a beautiful stone fence, an elbow high, separating the people from the priests, passes around, like a crown. Lepers and sick even in the city were not allowed to enter, and women were forbidden to cross that fence that is between clean and unclean. And the men who were not cleansed were not allowed into the courtyard, as were the priests.
Those of the priesthood who could not be served because of blindness, or lameness, or crippled hands, went inside with healthy and unbreakable priests, receiving the same portion as they did, but did not put on sacred robe. On the altar and to the temple included the virgin priests, clothed in fine linen and abstaining in particular from wine, fearing the slightest violation in the service. And the high priest did not go in with them all the days, but on the sabbaths and the first days of the month, and also on the great feasts established by the ancestors. When he served, his garments differed from the priestly ones. For before it it was closed to the shins with a girdle of cloth, and the bottom by a cloth; on top he dressed in a round garment reaching to the feet, made of blue fabric. And around it hang golden bells and apples: the bells serve as a form of thunder, and apples - lightning. And the bandage attached the garment to the chest, around it were five belts of gold, scarlet, scarlet, fine linen and blue cloth, from which the curtain was made, - why, we already said. And above it hung a homophore made of gold, looking like armor. At the bottom of it are two shields, forged from gold, and in the middle of them - large and beautiful sardonyxes, on which the ancestors of the tribes of the Jews were written. On the other side were twelve stones, divided into four parts: in the first carnelian, topaz, emerald, in the second carbuncle, jasper and sapphire, in the third agate, amethyst, liguria, and in the fourth onyx, beryl, chrysolite. He covered his head with a fine-woven armband, on top with a blue cloth, and on top with another golden crown, on which were written the holy letters that make up the quaternary. He did not put on this robe at another time, but only when he served in the sanctuary, where no one could enter, - once a year, when everyone is following the custom of God. On other holidays he dressed in a simpler garment.
About the City, the Temple, the Yard; About the City, the Temple and Customs, We Still Say That They Lowered It
The fortress, called Antonia, was built between two covered galleries of the temple, on a high stone at 50 cubits high. It was the construction of King Herod, who covered this stone with marble slabs from the base to the top - for beauty and for the sake of profit, so that it would be impossible to enter or leave. And before the fortress, he built a wall three cubits high and then built a fortress of 40 cubits in height. Its interior space was the royal palace: beautiful and comfortable houses, covered galleries, large baths and wide courtyards for warriors. Since there was everything necessary, it was like a strong city; because everything in it was beautiful and varied - the royal dwelling. Having the appearance of a tower, it was surrounded by four towers at the four corners, three fifty cubits high, and the fourth on the east side - seventy cubits, so that you could see the temple from it, and there was a Roman guard with weapons, holidays, so that the people did not stir up a riot. Thus, the Kremlin around the temple was in relation to the city as a detaine, and Antony's fortress is even more fortified than the temple Kremlin. The upper city had its own special detached house - the Herod's Chambers. Wesef is separated from the Antony Fortress and from the northern side looks at the temple. About the city and the walls, as much as I could, I told.
On the Assassination of Jerusalem
The rebels, all the days leading the battle with those who made the embankment, made such a cunning in the 26th day of the month: the rear covered gallery between the top crossbar and the roof was filled with brushwood with resin and sulfur, and then pretended to run away. And then many, imprudently rushed, attacked the retreating, put the stairs and climbed up to the gallery. And immediately the Jews set fire to them, and the fire, flaring up, surrounded everyone from everywhere, and they, powerless to do anything, rushed back to the abyss or fell to the adversaries; some were burned, others were killed by the sword. Caesar was angry at the dead for the fact that they climbed without an order, but, however, imbued with pity. And since no one could help them, the consolation for the burning was that they saw Caesar, for which each of them believed the soul; shouting, jumping, begging each other to help, if anyone can, and emitting joyous exclamations, they die with praise and merriment. And some, running to the wide wall of the gallery, were saved from the fire. The Jews who surrounded them fought with them, and they all perished.
One of them, a young man named Login, committed an act worthy of memory. The Jews could not kill him and gave him a hand, begging him to get down to them. But his brother Cornelius, standing in front of him, shouted to him that he would not disgrace his kind and did not bring shame on the Roman soldiers. And he, listening to him, drew his sword in front of everyone and plunged into himself. Only Arthur escaped from the fire by cunning: he called his comrade Lucius and loudly told him: I leave you the heir of your property, if you come and catch me. And when he quickly ran up, he fell on him and remained alive; Lucius was taken down by weight and, having fallen face to face with a stone, died.
This cunning for a while disheartened the Romans, but then they learned to beware of the cunning of the Jews, because they were often harmed by the ignorance of the locality where the city stood and the customs of its inhabitants. And the galleries were burned to the tower of John, which he built, when he fought with Simon. The next morning the Romans burned the northern galleries.
And in a city dying from hunger they fell like leaves and like sand, and their sufferings were indescribable. In all houses, if even a shadow of a crumb appeared, then a massacre began, and loved relatives fought hand-to-hand, squeezing out from the throat a bad eruption of the soul. They did not believe even the dying: the robbers searched the souls who let out their soul, checking whether the person is not pretending to be dying, hiding food in his bosom. And with open mouth, like mad dogs, pushing at the door, they did not fall into them and dodged where they did not like, as if drunk. And, since they could not find anything edible anywhere, they entered the same house three and four times in one hour. And everything that was found needed to be dragged into the mouth. And that is indecent to the nasty dumb animal, then they themselves, choosing it, ate with joy and in the end did not disdain either the belts, nor the boots, nor the skin from the shields, but tearing them, ate with pleasure. If anyone found rotten hay or straw, it was like a meal for them, flavored with fragrant herbs. And some, collecting dry stems, sold half a load of weight for four Attic gold, which is equal to eight gold pieces of gold. But why do I talk so much about hunger? I turn to the story of an incident, similar to which neither the Greeks nor the barbarians have described, which is terrible to tell and, when listening, it is impossible to believe. I ask the descendants not to think that I am lying; I would gladly omit this terrible story, if there were no countless witnesses and eyewitnesses; and even a bad service I will serve my country, if I hide the suffering that the people have undergone.
One woman, who lives on the other side of the Jordan, named Mary, daughter of Eleazar, from the village of Batechor, which means house of hyssop, known for its nobility and wealth, ran among others to Jerusalem. Her property - what she had saved and brought from the other side of the Jordan - plundered the torturers and left nothing of expensive utensils, and all the food that could be obtained was taken away, being every day. And a furious anger seized this woman, and, scolding and cursing the plunderers, she began to incite them so that someone killed her. Then, seeing that no one thinks to kill her out of anger. out of pity, she was tormented in search of food, going to others. And since I could not find anything, and hunger pierced the womb and the brain, taking advisers into need, rushed to its nature. She had a baby baby; and taking him in his arms, she said to him: My dear little one! Around us is war, famine and rebellion. For whom should I keep you? If the Romans take us, there is a grievous and unbearable slavery; if they do not have time, then famine will kill us; and the rebels are more terrible than both. Go, child, to the place where you came from, and be food to me, and the rebels a curse, and the age of the parable about what the Jews' life has come to! And saying this, she killed her son and baked, then divided it into two halves and one ate, and the other, covering, left. And then the rebels, appearing, as usual, and smelling the nasty stench, started threatening to kill her if she did not show what she had brought. And she answered: I left the good part to you! - and she opened to them what was left of the child. When they saw, they were seized by fear, trembling and terror, and they were petrified before this spectacle. She said: This is my child, I was born, and the matter is my own. Eat, because I ate. And do not be softer than a woman and more pitiful than a mother. If you are pious and reject my slaughter, then I have already eaten, and leave the rest to me. After that, they trembled, came out: only that they were afraid and they refused to take this food from their mother. And immediately around the city there was a message about this filth, and everyone personally imagined this terrible act and shuddered, as if he had created it. The hungry wanted to die faster and considered those who died before they saw such evil to be happy.
Soon the Romans received news of this terrible event, and some of them did not believe, others filled with pity for them, and others - deep disgust. And Caesar justified himself in this before God, saying that: I give the Jews peace and a free life and would not remember their disobedience and all the evil that they created. They preferred reconciliation to a mutiny, peace to the world, and satiety and abundance - suffering and hunger. And now they started to set fire to the sanctuary, which I still keep on my hands. That is why they are worthy to take such food and to pay for the abomination of the affliction of the fall of the city, so that they will not remain alive in the universe, let the sun not look at the city in which mothers eat their children. Before mothers, this should be done to the fathers for the fact that, seeing such horror, they still do not lay down their arms. And having said so, he thought about how desperate these people are, that they do not want to repent and do not accept sanity.
And when the two regiments completed the embankment on the eighth day of the month of Loy, that is, August, he ordered to put the sheep from the western side of the inner temple. Before that, the Winner - the biggest ram - within six days without a break struck, but could not break anything. Others, however, dug up the base under the northern gate and, with great difficulty, threw three front stones, but the walls did not collapse, but stood firm. And the Romans, unable to crush them with rams, iron, or anything else, attached the stairs to the galleries. The Jews, however, did not have time to prevent them from climbing up, but then, after running, they grabbed the men who had climbed up and fought hard. And some were dropped down, others were thrown into the abyss, others were stabbed, and those who had just climbed up and had not yet had time to take the shield, were hacked ahead, others were stabbed off the stairs. And the Romans elsewhere raised the Caesar's badges. The Jews, having escaped, committed a fierce battle, trying to take them away. And those believing that to lose them - is to incur an inglorious shame on themselves, they did not give in until they all perished. And the Jews, having taken away the badges and interrupting those who had climbed into the galleries, boasted as if they had killed or captured Caesar himself. Of the Romans, no one died, not avenging, but each was killed, killing himself before. And Titus, seeing that he spared the temple to the detriment of his soldiers, ordered the gates to be set on fire.
And then Anan came running from Emmaus and Arkhelai, the son of Magadat, hoping to receive forgiveness from him, because they ran after the victory of the Jews. But Titus thought that they came with cunning, and, hearing about the inflexibility of the Jews, ordered them to be killed, saying that: You were compelled to come, and not by your own will, and are not worthy of salvation, because they came running, seeing that it was already on fire fatherland. But, however, not wishing to act treacherously, tamed his anger and let them go, but the fate was not for them the same as for others.
And the warriors set fire to the silver gates, and when the silver began to melt, the planks took up the planks, and from there suddenly the flame spread to the galleries. When the Jews saw the flame around them, their bodies and souls became exhausted, and no one moved to extinguish the terror, but they all stood in one place and looked. Then to them, strongly dejected, the mind returned, but not sensible, and they were terribly enraged at the Romans. On that day and night, fire burned down the outbuildings and galleries.
When the morning came, Titus sent to extinguish the fire, to disassemble what had been burned, and to expand the way for the regiments. And he called on the six supreme commanders: Tiberius Alexander, Sextus Cereal, Larcia Lepidus, Titus of Frigia, Fronton Eterninus, Marcus Antonius Julianus, governor of Judea, and advised them about the temple. Some of them said that with him it is necessary to act according to the law of war, because the Jews will not stop the mutiny while there is a temple in which they gather from everywhere. Others said, If the Jews leave the temple and do not take up arms for it, then it should be preserved; if they fight from there, then set fire to it: after all, then it must be called a battle fortress, and not a temple. Lawlessness does not come from us, but from those who compelled us to do it. And Titus said: Even if the Jews fight, being in it, I still will never ruin them inanimate and will not burn such a huge and beautiful art. After all, if the temple perishes, it will harm the Romans, if it continues, it will be an adornment of our power. Fronton and Alexander joined in this opinion. And then he dismissed the council and ordered the commanders to rest together with the soldiers, so that in the morning they could be prepared for battle with new strength.
On that day, the aspiration of the Jews was restrained by fatigue and horror. The next morning, having gathered all the strength and hope, they ran out at the second hour of the day through the eastern gate and attacked the guards outside the temple. They persistently withstood their attack: armed, they began to stand against them like a wall, being built in a tight order, but the furious raids of the Jews prevailed against them. Titus noticed that they were retreating - he saw everything from Antony's fortress - and came with the chosen soldiers to help. The Jews could not stand his coming, but, after the front fell, the others fled. When the Romans began to retreat, they returned and attacked them, when they returned, they fled. So it continued until the fifth hour of the day, when they fled, they did not shut themselves up in the inner temple.
How the Temple Was Set on Fire, and About the Signs Before the Death of Jerusalem, and How Simon and John called Titus To A Conversation, Titus Ordered To Protest Their Speech; They Did Not Obey, and Titus Ordered More of Them To Spare
Titus retreated to Antony's fortress and made warriors, so that by morning they all came to surround the temple. God judged otherwise and long ago he put him to death from the fire. And the judgment day came at the end of the year, on the tenth day of the month of Loy, to which, in ancient times, he was burnt by the Babylonian king. The fire began from its own. For when Titus retreated, the Jews, resting for a bit, rushed back to the Romans, and those who defeated the Jews chased them to the temple and entered for them themselves. And then one of the soldiers, not waiting for the order of Caesar and not afraid of the demon of the inspired undertaking, furiously snatched the fire from the inside and, standing on the shoulder of his companion, took out to the golden window and to the doors through which one could get to the buildings surrounding the temple. The fire began to flare up, and the Jews, with such a shout and howl this terrible thing deserved, ran to prevent the Romans and take revenge, sparing no life, without thinking of salvation and forgetting about caution.
And someone ran to tell Titus. He was resting from the battle in the tent. And immediately, jumping up, he ran to the temple to extinguish the fire. And after him all the military commanders went, and after them the regiments walked in fear, and there was a cry and a great confusion when such a huge force came into motion without order. And Caesar commanded the soldiers to extinguish the fire with his voice and hand. They did not even listen to his screaming, because their ears were not heard because of the military noise, and they did not notice the signs that he made with his hand.
Some looked at the enemy, who kills whom, the anger of others has closed their ears, and when the regiments fled, neither the order, nor the prohibition, nor the request could keep their aspirations, but the wrath presided over all and the anger gripped everyone. And, suffocating in cramped, many were trampled by their own, and many, advancing on burning stones and on ashes and unable to get out, were burnt. And those who stood near the church, pretended that they did not hear Caesar's orders, but each of them ordered a standing nearby to set fire to even more. The rebels floundered, not knowing what to do; and everywhere there was a battle, blood flowed and warriors fled. And the people - people helpless and unarmed - were killed wherever they were overtaken. At the altar a multitude of the dead accumulated, and the blood flowed like a river, and the flow of blood carried away corpses.
Caesar, seeing that he could not keep the aspirations of the soldiers and that the fire was overpowering, entered with the generals inward and saw the sanctuary of the temple that he longed to see, and everything that was in it, about which fame was not only among his people, but and foreigners, - wonderful, worthy of glory and beautiful. Since the flames had not yet penetrated, but spread through the surrounding buildings, Titus, thinking that it was still possible to save the building from the fire, jumped and began to extinguish the fire and forced the soldiers. He ordered the centurion of Liberia to beat the defiant to prevent the fire. But, seized with anger and hatred of the Jews, they no longer respected and feared Caesar, and the zeal of war burned more than the flame. And many, hoping to rob, burned even more, thinking that everything is full of wealth inside, because they saw that there was a golden decoration all around. When Caesar came out to stop the soldiers, someone threw fire at the dark inner doors - and suddenly a flame appeared from inside; then the military commanders retired with Caesar and no longer stopped anybody. So the temple was set on fire, against the will of Caesar.
Creation worthy of great mourning, the most amazing of all, as we have heard and seen, and by structure, and grandeur, and beauty, and decoration, and the glory of our holy places. But one who deeply thinks about the judgment of God, who can not be evaded neither by having a soul, nor by the fact that he has no soul, no matter, no place, will be deeply consoled. And someone will marvel at the circle of times: fate observed the same month, and the same day, which, as we said, in ancient times the Babylonians burned this temple. From the original construction of it, begun by King Solomon, to the present destruction that happened in the two years of the reign of Caesar Vespasian, there are 1130 years, 7 months and 15 days, and from the last building that Haggai undertook in the second year of the reign of Cyrus, before The captivity is 639 years, one month and 15 days.
While the temple was burning, everything that could be found was plundered and plundered; and all those who were overtaken by iron perished, and there was no mercy for any age, nor respect for the virtue, but children, and the elders, and the unclean, and the priests all the same accepted death, for the war had seized all those fighting and praying. And while the flame was blowing out, the cries and groans of those who were dying rang out. Because of the height of the mountain and the huge size of the burning building, a person looking from afar would say that the entire city is burning. And it is impossible to imagine anything more terrible and terrible than the then cry: for the Roman regiments also shouted and fled, and the rebels, surrounded by fire and battle, gave out cries, and those who survived fled in terror, crying and weeping at the sight of the disaster; and to many of the shriveled fire from the famine and the blinking eyes in the temple, the forces returned to cry and cry. And the screams were answered by the surrounding mountains and forests. And everywhere there was confusion and terrible terror, and it seemed that the mountain on which the temple stood jumped out of the ground, because it was all covered with flame. But the blood was more abundant than the fire, and there were more dead than the killing, and the land was not visible, because all of it was covered with corpses. But the warriors chased the fleeing even by trampling the piles of the dead. The rebels, barely breaking through, fled to the outer temple and from there to the city, and the rest of the people ran into the outer gallery. The priests at first threw iron spits into the Romans, breaking their foundations; Then, when the fire came to them, they retreated to a wall 8 cubits wide. And two of the famous citizens jumped into the fire and burned with the temple - Miyir, the son of Velga, and Joseph, the son of Dahlia.
The Romans, believing that nothing to spare the surrounding buildings, when the temple was burned, set fire to galleries, doors and gates, except for two - eastern and southern, and then, regretting it, they also destroyed; burned and the treasury, where the great wealth was stored: there were also garments, and covers, and countless vessels - in short, all the wealth of the Jews was gathered here and all the household possessions of the rich. They also came to the surviving outer gallery, into which wives and children and other people of all kinds fled, numbering 6000. And without waiting for the command of the Caesar or the generals, the soldiers who were filled with anger set fire to them, and all perished, and none of them escaped - some were thrown into the fire, and others were burnt in place.
Signs Before the Perdition of Jerusalem
And the culprit of this death was one false prophet who in those days proclaimed to the townspeople that: God commands you to enter the temple and receive the sign of salvation. These false prophets John and Simon were sent to people with a commandment - to wait for God's help so that they would not run to the Romans. And in trouble - as it usually happens - everyone believes in anyone who will tell him the deliverance from misfortunes. And if someone deceives and says a pleasant lie, then they believe in him and put all hope on him.
That's why this long-suffering people listened to deceivers and lying about God, and those who speak the truth and foretell the coming desolation of signs and phenomena did not listen and did not believe; and as insane, having no eyes, no soul, they did not listen to the Divine warning. And they did not understand when a star appeared like a spear above the city, and stood for a whole year - it's called a comet, because it's all hairy. And besides, before the war began, when the people gathered for the feast of unleavened bread on the 8th day of the month of xanfik, that is April, at the ninth hour of the night such a light shone on the altar and the temple, as if there was a clear day, and this lasted for half an hour . The unwise believed that this was a good sign, but those who were versed in the sacred books judged in accordance with the outcome. On the same holiday someone was brought a cow to the slaughter, and, standing in the middle of the temple, she gave birth to a lamb. And the eastern inner gates, brass and thick, which could hardly be moved by 20 people, with iron hinges and locks and a deep jamb made of long stone, turned out to be themselves by the 6th hour of the night. The guard who came running to the temple informed the chief, who, having appeared with a considerable number of people, could hardly close them. And this sign was considered for good: they thought that God would open to them the doors of the good. But the scribes realized that the fortress of the temple would collapse by itself and open itself to enemies without difficulty, and the sanctuary would become empty. And a few days after the holiday, on the 21st day of the month Artemisia, that is May, there was some incredible demonic vision. Hearing of this would decide that these are fables and sorcery, if many did not see and did not tell, and terrible misfortunes followed the vision. So, before sunset, chariots and regiments with arms appeared through the whole of Judah's land through the air and across the sky, galloping through the clouds and surrounding cities. On the feast, called Pentecost, the priests entered, as usual, into the inner temple at night for service, first felt a concussion and thunder, and then suddenly heard a voice that said: Let's get out of here! And that's what was worse than anything else.
About Jesus, Anan's son, About Six Voices
Someone Jesus, son of Anan, from simple, not a scribe, four years before the war, when the city still had peace and abundance, came to a feast, during which everyone customarily celebrates the establishment of bush, standing in the temple, suddenly started to cry: A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from four winds, a voice to Jerusalem and a temple, a voice to the bride and groom, a voice to all the people. He repeated this, crying all the days and nights, bypassing the stagnants. And some of the notable citizens were angry with him for his bad speeches and, grabbing, they beat and beat a lot. And he, without making a beating in anything, did not ask for himself and did not answer his tormentor, but he only screamed the same as before. But the authorities in Jerusalem, thinking that some higher power is pushing him to this scream, led him to the Roman governor, where he was beaten with rods and whips to the bone, and he, without knowing either pain or tears, even more, through force, shouted at that And in a sorrowful voice: Woe, woe to Jerusalem! And when Albin - he was then a Roman governor - asked him: Who are you? Where from? And why are you shouting like this? - He did not answer anything in his speech and did not cease weaving a wail in the city, until Albin released him, finding it insane. And then he did not come to anyone and did not show up until the war began. And then all the days, as if having learned a prayer, yelled, sobbing: Woe, woe to Jerusalem!, Not answering beating him, not cursing those who defied him, not blessing the people who gave him food. And only this sad answer was to all 7 years and 5 months, and his voice did not stop, and he did not know fatigue until he saw the war that he had predicted, and after that he slept with death. Walking along the visors, he shouted again: Alas, alas, to the city, to people and the temple!, And at the end he added: Alas, alas to me! And then a stone, flown from a vice, struck him to death, and he gave up spirit, still uttering his prediction.
And if one is endowed with good reason, he will see that God is looking for man and in every way reveals to our kind, which is for us salvation; We perish because of irrationality and because we are doing evil according to our will. God shows signs of anger, so that people will understand God's wrath, leave to do evil and thereby propitiate God. But although the Jews had a prophecy that because of the quadrangular form the city and the temple were empty, they themselves began to make crosses for crucifixes - quadrangular, as we said. And after the destruction of the tower of Anthony, a quadrangular temple was built. To war they were inspired by ambiguous predictions, which are in the sacred books; they say that one of the Jewish lands will reign over the whole universe. They were interpreted in different ways: some believed that it was about Herod, others - about the crucified miracle-worker Jesus, and the third - about Vespasian. However, it is impossible for people to escape from fate, even if they foresee the future. The Jews, however, interpreted the signs as they wanted, distorting them for their own good, and blaspheming everyone else until they destroyed themselves and the fatherland, they convicted and disgraced themselves and showed their madness.
SLAVONIC STORY OF AHIKAR
At the time of Sinagripus, king of Ador and Nalive land, I, Akir, was his adviser. And it was told to me from God: You will not have a child. I had riches more than any other people, took my wife and set up my house, and lived sixty years, but I did not have a child. And he set up altars, and kindled a fire, and asked: My God, my God! If I die and I do not leave the heir, people will say: Akir was a righteous man and honestly served God. And he will die, and there will not be a son who would stand by his grave or daughter to mourn him, no one who would take his property and become his heir. And now I ask you, Lord God, grant me a child of a male. When I will be delivered, let him dust my eyes. And the LORD hearkened unto my prayer, and a voice came down from heaven from me, and announced: Akir! I will fulfill all your requests, but do not ask for my son. But your nephew Anadan, take it for yourself instead of your son. And as I heard the voice of the Lord, I cried out again: O Lord my God! If I had a son, on the day of my death, my eyes would be covered with dust. If, before the day of his death, he would spend daily, according to the pood of gold, his needs, then even then my wealth would not be wasted. But the voice did not answer me, and I obeyed the words of God, and took my nephew Anadan instead of his son. He was still a child then, and ordered to raise him, and nourished him with honey and wine, and dressed him in silk and brocade, and when he grew up, he taught him all wisdom.
And the king said to me: O Akir, the wise scribe, my counselor! When you grow old and die, who will become my counselor? And I answered: My King, live for ever! I have a son, I myself am like: he is clever, and I taught him all the wisdom and sciences. And the king answered me, Bring your son to me, that I may see him, and if he can please me, then I will let you go to your house, and in peace you will spend the days of your old age. I took my Anadan's son and brought him to the king. And the king saw him, and he answering said to me: Blessed be this day to Akira, for he has presented his son to me in my lifetime. And I bowed to the king: You yourself know how I served your father and you. But now wait, while this child is growing up, and may your mercy be with me all the days of my old age. And when the king heard these words of mine, he promised me, thus saying: No one else will be your heir.
And I, Akir, did not cease to teach my son. When, like bread and water, he satiated him with his instructions, he said to him:
O man, listen to my words, my lord Anadan! Listen with all your attention to every day of your life. If you hear from the king or see what's in his house, let it decay in your heart and you will not tell anyone about it. If you do, your words will become like burning coals, and they will burn you afterwards, and your body will be wound. My son, what you heard, do not tell anyone about this, but what you saw, then hide it. Do not untie the knot, but do not tie it untangled. My son, do not be attracted by the beauty of a woman and do not desire her in your heart. If you give all the riches to her, and then you will not get any good from her, only you will sinned even more before God. My child, do not be callous, like (hard) human bone, but be gentle, like a bean. My son, tilt your eyes and do not raise your voices; if they were building houses with a cry, they would build an ass with their roar for two houses per day. My son, it is better to move with intelligent stones than with a stupid wine to drink. Do not do stupid things with a clever man, and do not open your mind to a fool. If you do not sweat excessively, they will not eat you, but do not be too bitter, so that your friend does not recoil from you. My son, if the boot is on your foot, trample on the thorn and trample the way for your sons and daughters. My son, the rich son of a snake ate, and people said about him: To be healed, he ate it, and the poor man's son ate a snake, and people said about him: I was hungry, here I ate. My son, give your share, and do not touch a stranger. If the husband does not listen to advice, do not go out with such a thing and do not sit with a deceiver feasting. Child, if it turns out to be in disfavor whoever is more knowledgeable than you, do not be too happy and do not talk about him to your friends, but he will not remember you these words when he rises again and does not take revenge on you. My son, when the husband in honor goes, do not envy him, and when adversity comes upon him, do not rejoice. My son, do not come near to a stupid woman, talkative, and proud, and do not desire beauty of a woman: the beauty of a woman in her clever speeches. My son, if your friend hates you, and begins to curse you, and throw stones at you, you will still meet him with bread and salt, and according to your deeds you will be rewarded on the day of Judgment. My son, a stupid husband, expects humiliation, but a righteous man - honor. My son, do not abstain from the punishment of your son, for beating your son like water that irrigates the garden. My son will not die from beatings, but if you neglect his upbringing, then some grief will be brought upon you. My son, from the childhood, humble your son, if you do not tame his temper, he will grow old before his time. My son, do not buy a slave daring or a slave thief, so that they do not steal your riches. A child, if someone begins to slander a friend of yours, do not listen to him, or even tell about your sins to others. A child, if someone, after meeting you, turns to you, then answer him thinking, for a person will hurry to drop a word, and after repenting. A child, a lying person at first loves everyone, and then they laugh at him and reproach him. The speech of a liar is like a bird's twitter, and only fools listen to it. Chado, honor your father, for he leaves all his wealth to you. My son, be afraid that your father and mother will not curse you, or else you will not recognize joy from your children. When in anger you, do not say a rude word, otherwise you will be called a fool. My son, do not go at night without weapons, for who knows with whom you will meet. A child, a tree aggravated with fruits, bows down, even though the mighty trunk is with him, this is his beauty; so be thou, surrounded by relatives and friends. As a lion is frightened by his strength, he is also honored by his husband because of his relatives. Whose kind is scanty, who have few children and loved ones, he is weak in the face of his enemies, and is like a tree growing on the road, which is broken by all who pass by. My son, do not say: My lord is stupid, and I am intelligent. Listen to the advice of your lord and his mercy, you will be rewarded, but do not count on your own mind. How much you can endure - be patient, but do not speak a rude word. My son, do not be talkative, otherwise you will sin before your master. Child, if you send an ambassador, do not hesitate, or else others will be sent for you after you. My son, do not let your master tell you: Get away from me and be in sorrow, but let him better say to you: Stand by me and rejoice. My son, on a festive day, do not pass by the church. A child, if in someone else's house grief, then, leaving them in trouble, do not go to feast to others, but first visit those who mourn, and then go to feast and remember that you are also destined to die. My son, without a horse, do not sit on a stranger, if he drops you, they will laugh at you. If you are not hungry, do not eat too much, or you will become a glutton. With the one who is stronger than you, do not quarrel, you do not know what he will plan against you. My son, if your house is high, let his walls be lower, and into this one enter, and with your mind rise upward. My son, restrain your wrath, and for your self-control, you will receive the grace of God. My son, do not take it from others with a lot of weight and do not give it away with a low weight and do not say this is my profit, this is a bad thing. Who knows: God will see it, be angry with you and destroy your house as an ungodly man. Chado, do not bind a false oath with God's name, so that the number of your days will not be reduced. My son, if you asked anything from God, do not forget about it, do not be inattentive to it, but remember and listen and you will be blessed. Chad, love your eldest son, but do not alienate the younger one. If you do not get anything from God, then no matter how hard you try, you will not get it; and the poor can become rich, and the rich man may become poor, and a noble one may fall into disrepute, and a low one may rise up. Child, come to the mourner with a word of comfort - it's better than a pile of gold. My son, do not slander anybody, having fought for gold and silver, against this God and all people. My son, do not shed innocent blood, for God will avenge it. My son, abstain from his tongue from blasphemy, and his hands from theft: it is equally shameful if anyone steals gold or clothing. My son, avoid the harlots, and especially the married women, so that you do not anger God. My son, if someone listens to the speech of an intelligent person, then, as if languishing with thirst, get drunk with cold water. My son, if sorrow and sorrow fall upon you, do not rebuke God, your efforts are in vain against him, and he will hear your reproaches and give you due tribute. My son, be a fair judge, and be held in high esteem until old age. My son, let your words be pleasant, and open your mouth only for a kind word. A child, to a clever husband, whatever you say, will take it in his heart, and a fool, even though he whips him, will not learn anything. My son, my clever husband, sending me somewhere, do not burden me with advice, but if you sent a fool, follow him yourself, or he will disgrace you. My son, do not tempt your friend with food and wine, otherwise he will desire more. My son, if they call you to a feast, then do not go at the first call, but if they call you again, then know that they respect you there and will adequately accept you. My son, do not take bribes, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the judges. I tried both bitter and sour, but nothing can compare with poverty. My son, it's easier to carry salt or tin than to repay the debt you took. My son, I raised both stone and iron, and it seemed easier to me than to a husband who knows the laws, to conduct a lawsuit with his neighbor. My son, if you are sitting in a circle of friends, do not let them know about your poverty, or they will laugh at you and not listen to your words. Chado, love your wife with all your soul, for she is the mother of your children and the delight of your life. Child, when you begin to educate your son, then most of all, teach him abstinence; how he will be brought up, and his life will hold. My son, if there is no reason for this, do not start a quarrel in your house, or your neighbors will condemn you. My son, it's better to listen to a drunkard than a sober fool. A child is better with blind eyes than with a blind heart: the blind man, walking along the road, will get used to and learn how to find his own way, and the blind person will get out of his way and get lost. My son, it is better for a woman that her son should die than feed someone else, for if she does good to him, he will repay her evil. My son, better faithful slave than unfaithful free. Chad, a better friend, living next to you than a relative living in the distance. My son, a good name and glory is more honorable to a man than the beauty of his face, for glory eternally lives, and the face after death dies. My son, it is better for a man to die a glorious death than a hard life. My son, it's better to have a leg of lamb in your hands than a lamb in the hands of strangers, it's better to have a sheep nearby than a wolf in the distance. Better one sparrow, yes in your hands, than a thousand birds flying under the clouds. Better clothes, but yours, than silk, but which you do not have. My son, when you call your friend to a feast, then meet him with a cheerful face, and then he will return to his home gay. When feasting with a friend, do not sit with a displeased face, but do not let this feast in your disgrace and call you disrespectful. My son, do not praise one and do not blame the other, not knowing the essence of the matter, but, only having found out about everything, talk about them. My son, it's better to lie in fever or in a fever than to live with an evil wife: you will not see the light in your house, but you will not open it to your heart. My son, if you want to say a word to someone, do not rush, but reflect on in your heart and say what you need, it is better to stumble with your foot than with your tongue. My son, when you are among friends, do not laugh: foolishness is born in laughter, and quarrels from foolishness, and from a quarrel - fight, and in a fight - death, and death is a sin. My son, if you want to be wise, then, after drinking wine, do not talk too much, and then you will be cleverly called. My son, if you do not judge fairly, you will be a hypocrite and your days will be shortened. My son, do not laugh at a fool, but get away from him, and do not laugh at the unfortunate, for he is the same person. My son, do not waste your money without a witness, or you will lose them. My son, if you want to listen to the clever, do not call a fool, he does not need you. My son, do not drive away your old friend, if he did not offend you, or else new friends will abandon you. My son, sitting at the feast, do not plot evil to your friend, otherwise they will become bitter in your mouth. My son, honor your lord, do not humiliate the nobles, but do not lift up the ignorant, but what the lord says to you, then do it. My son, do not go to the judge's garden and with a stupid woman do not know and do not consult her. My son, a lying word only at first glance is heavy, like a tin, and then floats up. My son, try your friend: entrust your secret to him, and when a very long time passes, quarrel with him, and if he keeps your secret, then love him with all your heart, for this is a true friend; If he will open your secret, turn away from him and do not return to him. Chado, it's better if someone steals from you than they call you a thief. My son, if you protect the king before your friend, you will be like the one who tore a sheep out of the lion's mouth. My son, when you set off on the road, do not count on someone else's food, but your own, and if you go, without your own, everyone will reproach you. My son, if a friend of yours dies who dislikes you, do not rejoice: it would be better if he remained alive and received punishment from God, and you would forgive him and help him; and for this you would receive the grace of God. My son, when you see an old man, stand in front of him, and if he does not thank you, God will bless you. My son, if you call a friend for a feast, do not approach him with another matter, or you will be deemed to be a deceiver. My son, when the water flows upward or the bird flies by the tail, or the Ethiopian or Saracen lighten, and the bile becomes sweet, like fresh honey, then the fool will grow wiser. My son, if you are called to a neighbor, then, entering his house, do not look at the corners: it does not do you honor. My son, if God sends wealth to anyone, do not envy him, but even more, as much as you can, honor him. My son, when you enter the house where the grief happened, do not talk about food and drink, but if you sit on a merry feast, do not remember the sad. My son, the eyes of man are like lakes: no matter how much gold is thrown at them, they will not be satisfied, but a man will die and he will be full of dust. My son, if you are rich, do not starve yourself and thirst: you will die, everything will get to another, and he will begin to live in clover, and you - will be - worked hard in vain. My son, if a man steals from poverty, then forgive him, for he did not do it, and his poverty forced him to do so. My son, when you come to the feast, do not stay too long, or, without waiting, when you yourself are going to leave, they will drive you away. My son, do not go to your friend too often, or you will not be respected. My son, when you dress up in new clothes and show yourself to everyone, do not envy another smart one; for whom the clothes are good, and the words should be worthy. My son, do you have anything or not, still do not grieve: what is the use of your grief? My son, if the dog, after leaving his master, follows you, then turn around, take a stone and throw it at him, for after leaving you, he will run after others as well. My son, if a neighbor does not love you, then you will love him even more, so that if you become angry with you, you would not suddenly create any kind of filth. My son, if your enemy wants to do you good, do not hurry to trust him, or else he will deceive you and bring all his malice upon you. My son, if a person sins because of his evil temper, then do not say that he is innocently punished, or he himself also sins. My son, let the cleverer beat you better than the fool will petition you with oil, for if the clever man strikes you, he feels as if he is beating himself, and then begins to reflect on how to console you, and the fool, having spent on you a thimble of oil, expects to receive in exchange a pile of gold.
My son, for all that I taught you, give me a hundredfold, connect your wisdom with mine.
And all this I taught, Akir, the nephew of his Anadan. I, Akir, said to myself in my heart: My son Anadan will learn my advice and will be in my stead for the king. I did not think Anadan would listen to my words. I tried to instruct him, and he was thinking about my death. And so he said: My father is old, and already close to death, has already lost his mind. And Anadan [. . .] began to waste my riches thoughtlessly, and cruelly torturing my slaves, and slaves, and my darlings in front of me, and my horses and my donkeys cruelly tormented. When I saw what Anadhan was doing, I became envious and sad, and regretted my riches, and said: My son, do not waste my treasures, it is truly in the Scripture that it is not earned by their own labor, they do not regret it.
I went and told all about Sinagrip, my king, and the king answered me: As long as you live, Akir, no one else will become master in your house. Anadan began to think about his brother, whom I also brought up in my house, and from that time began to envy him, saying: What if Akir, my father, drives me away and leaves that legacy? When I guessed what he was up to, he began to reproach him, saying to him: Why did you despise all my precepts and my wealth? Upon hearing these words of mine, my son Anadan was enraged, went to the royal palace and, choosing a convenient time, wrote two letters. To our enemy, the king of Persia, whose name is Alon, he wrote: King Sinagripa, wise man and counselor, I, Akira, write: the Persian king Alon rejoice! On the day when this letter comes to you, prepare your army. I will give Ador's land into your hands. And you will master it without a fight. And he wrote another letter to the Egyptian king Pharaoh, and it said: When my letter comes to you, be ready to come to the Egyptian field on August 25th on the twenty-fifth day, and I will bring you to Nalive city and master it without a fight.
And at that time the tsar dissolved his governor, and then the tsar was left alone. And he wrote letters in Anadan in my handwriting, and sealed it with my ring, and left them with me, waiting for an hour, when I would present them to the tsar. And he wrote another such letter: From King Sinagrip to Akira, my adviser. On the day when this letter comes to you, gather up my soldiers, and my commander, and the regiments of the regiment. And be ready to appear on the Egyptian field on the twenty-fifth day of August. And when I arrive, build the shelves, as if preparing for battle, since I have Ambassador Pharaoh and I want him to see my army.
And my son Anadan gave the diploma to these two boys, and sent her to me as if in the name of the king. And Anadan himself, my son, appeared before the king and gave those two letters to the tsar who wrote to the kings hostile to us, and said: My king, live for ever! Here is the charter of my father Akira, but I disagreed with his plan and brought you his letters, for I eat your bread and it is not fitting for me to plot against you. Listen to what I say, my lord the king! You raised my father Akira and magnified him more than all his nobles, and now look what he has planned against you and against your kingdom. And, having said this, he handed over the letters to the tsar.
As the tsar heard all this, he was grieved immensely and exclaimed: Lord God! What evil have I done to Akira, if he has planned such an atrocity against me and my kingdom? Anadan answered him: My King! And what if he is slandered? But if you come to the Egyptian field in the month of August, then you will see if all this is true. And the king obeyed my son. The king came to the field of Egypt, and my son Anadan was with the king. And when I saw that the king was approaching, I built shelves, as if preparing for a battle, just as it was ordered to me in that letter. And I did not think that my son Anadan digs a hole under me. As soon as the king saw me with the produced regiments, he was seized by his fear, and he decided that everything Anadan said was true. And Anadan said to him: My lord, the king! So you saw with your own eyes what my father Akir did. And hasten to leave from here, and I will go to my Akir's father, and I will destroy his evil plan, and I will disband the army, and I will bring him myself, having led you, and then you will condemn him for all that he has done.
The king returned, and my son Anadan came to me and, kissing me, said: Be healthy, my father Akir! So my king sent me to you and told me to say this: Bless you, Akir, for he pleased me today and showed me my army, as I commanded you. And I appeared in all glory before the ambassadors of the Pharaohs. You yourself come to me. And on this command I dismissed the soldiers and with his son Anadan went to the king.
Seeing me, the king said: Have you come, Akir, my counselor and my wise man? I exalted and glorified you, but you raised the army against me. And, having said so, he gave me those letters. And I saw that the handwriting is like mine and they are sealed with my ring. When I read them, my feet gave way and my tongue was heavy. And I cried to my wisdom and did not find it, for a great terror seized me. And then my son Anadan, whom I presented to the king, addressed me with the words: The old man is insane! Why do not you answer the king? Now, according to your deeds, you are rewarded! And so my son Anadan said to me: This is what the king ordered: let your hands be tied, your feet - bound, and then you will cut off your head from your body and be carried a hundred cubits from the body yours and be cast into the dust. And when I heard the king's will, I fell, and bowed to him, and said: My lord, the king! Be alive forever! How can you ruin me without hearing my justification? But God sees that I am not guilty before my king. Let your judgment come to pass only to execute me in my house and that my body be buried.
And the king ordered me to hand me over to my husband, whom love had always bound us to, and put his soldiers, and sent me to be executed. I sent to my house to warn my wife: Come out to meet me and take a thousand girls from my slaves who do not know my husband, and put them in silk and brocade to mourn me, for I am condemned to death by the king. And order that they prepare a feast for my household, and let them gather in my house, that I, when I come to my house, eat their food with them and drink wine, and then I would already die. And my wife did everything, as I ordered her. And we came, and met us, and I went into my house, and the food was arranged, and all began to drink and to drink, and after they had drunk, they lay down to sleep.
And then I, Akir, moaned from the depths of my heart and, turning to my friend, whom the king instructed me to execute, said: Look at the sky, beware of God, remember at this hour that friendship has bound us for many years, remember how the tsar, Sinagripov's father, ordered me to execute you, and you were convicted, but I saved you by establishing your innocence, and saved your life until the king remembered you. But now I ask you, since I am betrayed into your hands, and now I pray: do not destroy me, but save me, as I saved you, take pity on me, and do not be afraid of the king. There is a husband in my dungeon named Arpar, in appearance he looks like me and is doomed to death. So take off my clothes from me, and put it on them, and lead him out of the dungeon, and tell your friends, and when they approach, cut off his head and take it by one hundred cubits, as the king commanded you.
And when he heard these words of mine, sorrow fell on his soul and said to me: I fear the judgment of the king, how can I disobey him? But for your love for me I will do as you said. It is said in the Scripture: If he loves one another his own, he will lay down his life for him. And I will save you now. And if the king recognizes, then I will perish with you. And when he had said this, he took my clothes, and put Arpar in them, and brought him forth, and announced to his friends: See, this is his execution. And before they came, he cut off the head and carried it from the body to a hundred cubits. And no one recognized that it was not me, but thought that my head was that.
The news spread throughout the land of Ador and Nalive that Akir the wise man was executed. And then my friend and my wife prepared for me shelter in the earth: four cubits in length, four in breadth, four in depth, and they brought me bread and water there. And my friend went and told Sinagripus the king that Akir was executed as you commanded. And all the people, hearing about this, lamented, and their wives grieved, and all said: Akir the Wise, the sage of our land, was executed, but he was the wall of our cities, and now he is executed like a criminal. From now on, we can not find such a thing anymore.
And then the king said to my son Anadan: Go into the house, weep for your father, and when the days of mourning are few, you will return and come to me. And my son Anadan came to my house, but he did not mourn and did not remember my death, but, on the contrary, gathered musicians and song-writers in my house and began to feast with pomp and joy. And tortured my servants-he began to execute them with terrible executions and torment me with cruel torments. And this was not enough for him, but he began to pester my wife, demanding that she give herself to him. And I, Akir, lay in darkness and grave darkness, I heard what my son Anadan does in my house, and sighed from heartache, and could not help it. My whole body is withered from the mischief that I have seen. And then my friend came to visit me. And he climbed up to me, sat down beside me and began to console me. And I said to my friend: When you get out of here, then pray for God to me. And I said thus: You, LORD, are holy and just and true. And now think of your servant, and bring out of this prison, he put his trust in you. When I had a dignity, I gave you bulls and rams, sacrificed you, Vladyka. And now, like a dead man, buried in the earth and can not see your light. Now, O Lord God, remember me, lead me out of this ditch, hear this prayer with which I address you.
When the Egyptian king Pharaoh recognized that Akir was killed, he rejoiced with great joy. And Pharaoh sent a letter to King Sinagrip, writing in it thus: From the Egyptian king Pharaoh to Adoris and Nalive king, rejoice! I want to build a house between heaven and earth. So come to me a skilled builder, let them do and arrange everything as I please. And let me answer other wiser questions. If you send me such a master, who can do everything, that he will not say anything to him, then I'll send you my three-year tribute. If you do not find such a wise husband or he can not answer my questions, then you will send me three-year incomes of his land. And when they read this letter before the king, Sinagrip, he summoned the wise men of his land and read before them the letter sent by Pharaoh. And the king said to them, Which of you will go to the land of Egypt to King Pharaoh and be able to answer him with dignity? And the wise men of his land answered him: You yourself, the king, know: in the days of your reign and in the days of your father in all the difficult affairs were helped by the wise Akir. And now his son Anadan, taught them all the wisdom of the book, let him go. As Anadhan heard this, he cried out loud: My lord, king! What the Pharaoh asks of, some gods can accomplish, but how can people?
Hearing this, the king was very saddened, and descended from his golden throne, and dressed in coarse clothes, and began to groan in sorrow: Oh, how did Akira, the wise scribe of my land, listen to you! In one hour I ruined you! And now I can not find an equal to you, whom to send to Pharaoh. Where will I find you now, O Akir! And when I heard this my friend said these words of the Tsar, fell prostrate, bowed to the king and said to him: If anyone does not fulfill his master's orders, he is guilty of death. I, your king, have violated your command, and now order me to be executed: for you commanded me to destroy Akira, and I saved him, and he is alive. And the king cried in response: Speak, say, my savior! If you say the truth and introduce Akira to me alive, then I will give you - I'll give you a hundred kentinarians of gold, a thousand for silver, and I'll give you five vestments embroidered with gold. And my friend answered the king in reply: Swear to me, King, that you will not punish him for the fault in which he is accused today! If, however, he is guilty of something else, then let him answer for his deeds. And the king swore to him, and at the same time he sent for Akir and ordered him to be brought.
And I, Akir, appeared before the king, and fell prostrate before the king. And the hair on my head was thinner than my hips, and my beard fell below my breast. And my body is withered in the earth. My nails are like the claws of an eagle. As the king saw me, I wept with great mourning, and the king of my kind was ashamed, for he had greatly honored me before. And then the king addressed me with the words: O Akir! It's not my fault, but all your son Anadan is he slandered you. And I answered the king in reply: My lord, the king! Once I see your face, I no longer remember any grief. And the king answered me: Go now to your house, and stay there for forty days, and then come again to me.
And I, Akir, went to my house and stayed there for forty days. And my body changed its form, and again I became what I was before, and I came to the king. And the king said to me, Have you heard, Akir, what the Egyptian king wrote to us, to Ador and Nalive land, and that all people, hearing about this, were frightened and left their homes? And I said in reply: My lord, king! In the days of your kingdom I did this: if a man was guilty of anything, then he came to you and justified it. And when people heard of my execution and that there is no longer such an intercessor, then all fled. And now, O king, let them tell the people that Akir is alive and is again before the king, and when they hear of me, they will all return. And of the message that Pharaoh wrote to you, do not grieve, for I will go and answer him, and I will receive three-year tribute from his land and I will bring it to you. As the king heard all this, he came to great joy, and called the wise men of his land, and brought me the rich gifts, and set my friend who saved me from death, above all his nobles.
Then I, Akir, sent to my household and punished them: Find me two eagles and lift them up. And tell my falconer to teach them to fly up. And make a cage, and find among my family's my smart boy, and put him in a cage worn by eagles. And teach them to take off with a cage, and teach the boy to shout: Bring lime and stones, the builders are ready. And tie the rope to the feet of the eagles.
And my servants did everything as I commanded. And after that the inhabitants of Ador and Nalive land returned to their homes. I said: Now send me, king, I will go to the Egyptian king Pharaoh. The king sent me, and I took my soldiers with me, and when I came to the land of Pharaoh, before I reached his city, I ordered to bring the eagles and saw that everything had been done as I wished. And he went into the city, and sent to Pharaoh, and said: Tell King Pharaoh: You once wrote to King Sinagripus, demanding: Send to me a man who would answer my every word, no matter what I asked , and here he sent me. And the king ordered me to point out a place where I could stop. And he ordered me to come to me, and I greeted the Tsar. And the king addressed me and asked: What is your name? And he did not give his name, but said: My name is Obek, I am one of the king's grooms. When Pharaoh heard my words, he went into a rage and said thus: Am I worse than your king, that he sends his grooms to me? Yes, I do not have anything to say to you about. And the king sent me away in my refuge, and he said to me: You will come tomorrow and then you will answer my question. If you do not guess my riddles, then I will give your body to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth.
And the next morning the king commanded me to appear before him. He himself sat on his throne in gold, dressed in a garment scarlet, and his nobles dressed in colorful clothes. And when I appeared before him, the king said to me: Obek! Tell me now: who do I look like and to whom do my nobles look like? And I answered the king: You, the king, are like the sun, and your nobles likened the sun to the sun. My king heard my words and, after a pause, said to me: Obeks! Truly your king is wise, that he has sent you, for you have guessed. And he also offered other riddles to me: he likened himself to the moon, and his nobles to the stars, then he became like a tree, and his grandees-flowering grass. And he offered many of these riddles to me, and I guessed them.
Finally the king said to me: Obeks! I wrote to your king to build a palace between heaven and earth. Then I commanded, and brought to me the trained eagles. And before the eyes of the tsar and all his entourage I let out the eagles to the skies and the boy with them. When the eagles took off, the boy shouted, as he was taught: The builders are ready! Carry the same stones and lime. And then I said to the tsar: Command the king, let them bring stones and lime, so that the masters will not hesitate! But the king retorted: Who can raise this height? And I answered the tsar: I sent the masters, and if You do not serve stones and lime, it's not our fault. And the king could not answer me. A boy shouted: Now the builders are ready, so carry the same stones, and slabs, and clay. They could not lift any stones, slabs or clay. And I, Akir, taking a stick, began to beat them, and fled the squad of Pharaoh and his boyars. And when he saw this, Pharaoh angered me, and said to me this: You are spicing yourself, and you are beating my people without any reason. Who can raise stones and clay? And he said to him: I do not magician, but you yourself instructed me to do such an unprecedented thing. If Tsar Sinagrip wanted, then in one day two palaces would be built, and then he does not marvel: what he wants, he will do. And Pharaoh said unto me, Let us leave this matter with the building of the palace. And he added: Go to your haven and come early in the morning.
And I came early in the morning and went in to Pharaoh, and he said to me: Akir, solve this task for me: when the horses of your lord roar in Adora and Naliva, our mare's foals give birth in our land. And as soon as I heard these words, I went out from Pharaoh and told my boys: Catch the living ferret, bring it to me. And the young men, having gone, caught a live ferret and brought it to me. And I commanded them: Kill him until all the Egyptian land hears it. And my little children began to beat him. And when the people heard of this, they said to Pharaoh, The Akir is wild before our very eyes: he offends our gods, and commits disgrace to our altars. As Pharaoh heard about this, he called me to him and told me: Why are you mocking our gods before our eyes? And he answered Pharaoh: Be alive forever! But the ferret caused this great evil, and not small. My King Sinagrip gave me a rooster, and for that he gave it to me, that it pained him to sing a lot. When I want, at that hour and sings, and I wake up, and go before the eyes of my lord. And for all the time I've never been late. And that night your ferret reached Nalive and Ador, ground my cock and returned to it. And Pharaoh said to me: I see that you have grown old, Akir, and you have lost your mind: from Egypt to the Adorian land, a thousand and eighty versts, since the same ferret could walk there in one night, bite off your cock's head and go back the same night ? And I answered him this way: And I heard so that when horses are neighing in the Adorian land, your mare's foals give birth here. But you say that from Egypt to the Ador land one thousand and eighty versts. Pharaoh heard my words and was surprised.
And Pharaoh said to me, Find out my riddle. There is one oak log, and on that log there are twelve pines with thirty wheels, and on each wheel there are two mice, one black and one white. And I answered him this way: What you ask me about, in the land of Nalive and in Adorsk, even grooms know. And so he said to him: What you call a log is a year, and then you say that there are twelve pines on it, so it's twelve months a year. And what do you say about thirty wheels, then thirty days in a month, and what do you call two mice - one white, and the other black - so it's day and night.
And so Pharaoh told me: Akir! Scribe me two ropes of sand, five cubits long, and a thick finger. And I said to him: Tell your housekeepers, let them carry me the same rope from home, then I will follow her example with a scoop. And Pharaoh said to me: I do not listen to your objections, and you do not sow such a rope to me, then you will not bear the tribute to the Egyptian king. Then I, Akir, struck my mind, went to the temple of the pharaohs and turned the hole on the sunny side in the wall, so that his finger would enter it. And then I called everyone and told Pharaoh: Send your young men to lay this rope, and I will help the other by the same time. As Pharaoh saw this, he laughed and said to me: Today, come to me, Akir, you took everything to God, and I'm glad that I saw you alive, that you guided me with your wise words. And then Pharaoh made me a great feast, and gave me a tribute of three years from Egypt, and honored me, and sent me to my king Sinagrip.
And I returned to the king, and when he heard of my coming, he went out to meet me, and made a great feast, and put me above all his nobles, and said to me: Akir! All you want, I'll give you. Ask me! And I said to him: My king, I ask you to give your treasure, which you want to reward me, to Nabuginail, my friend: he saved my life. And give me my son Anadan, I taught him his wisdom and told him my knowledge, but now I see that he forgot my words and all the wisdom.
And then the king ordered, and brought him to me. And the king said to me: This is your nephew Anadan, given into your hands, whatever you like, then do with it, for no one will dare to take it from your hands.
And then I, Akir, took a son of a son, and brought him to his house, and laid on him a chain of iron nine kentinars weighing, and put his hands in the pads, and tied a wooden hoop around his neck, and struck him a thousand blows on the back and a thousand on the stomach. And he put him under his porch, and gave him as much bread and water as he needed, and entrusted him to guard his boy, named Anabugil. And he ordered him this way: If I say anything to Anadan when you leave the house or enter it, then you write it all down. And then I started talking to Anadan, my son:
He who does not hear with his ears, let him listen with his neck. And Anadan answered me so: So why did I take a nephew instead of a son? I answered: I put you on the throne of honor, and you threw me to the ground from my throne. And only after that my innocence saved me from the evil that you planned. There was you for me, son, like a snake, who saw the needle, stung it, and the needle said to her: I was pressed, but I'm sharper than you. There was you for me, son, like a goat, who began to eat red grass, and told her the grass: Why do you eat me? When you die, what will your hair color? The goat answered the grass: That's why I eat you during my lifetime, for when I die, then, digging up your roots, they will begin to paint my hair with them. There was you for me, son, like the man who shot into the sky, and that arrow did not reach the sky, and only sinned before God. There was you for me, son, like the one who, after seeing his friend freezing, brought and poured a jug of cold water onto him. So know: if there is a pork tail that is seven cubits long, then even then it will not be able to match the horse's tail. If pork bristles are softer than paper, they can not sew clothes from her anyway. My son, I thought, that you will take my place, and I will inherit my house, and my riches, and my property, but God did not want your evil intent to come true, and did not listen to your evil intentions. Like, my son, you are to that predatory beast who met the donkey and said to him: Are you well who came here? And the donkey replied: To this I wish health, who did not confound my feet so that I could get you more and not see. My son, somehow lay in the sand, and a rabbit came up to him and said: What are you doing here? And the silok replied: I bow to God. And the hare said to him: And what do you hold in your mouth? And the silock answered him: I keep a loaf of bread. And then the hare approached, he wanted to take a hunk, and his leg got entangled in a snare. And the hare said: If this hunk is so cunning, then your prayers will never be listened to by God. My son, you are like a deer, who, hurting the rock, broke his horn. My son, you were with me, like a cauldron with chained gold rings, and his bottom will not get rid of blackness. My son, you were like a plowman who plowed the field and sowed twelve measures on it. And the plowman said to his field: I have not obtained more from you, but what I sowed, I collected. You were for me, son, like a dog that went into a warm house to warm up, and when warmed, he began to bark at his master. You, my son, were a pig who went with the boyars to bathe in the bath, but when I reached the puddle, I lay down in it, and said to the boyars: You go to the bathhouse to wash, and here I want to wash myself. There was you for me, son, like a tree to which they said: I want to cut you down. It answered: If it were not for me in your hands, you would never have come to me. My son, you were like a chick that fell from the nest to the ground, and ran to him a ferret, and said to him: If it were not for me, it would be bad for you. And the chick answered him: If it was not for me, what would you eat? You were to me, son, like a thief who was told: Throw your theft. And he answered them: If I had eyes of gold, and hands of silver, then even then I would not have left my trade. My son, I saw how they will lead a sheep out of the herd to cut, and if there is not yet a period of slaughter, then they let go back to see her lambs. Son, I have not seen a colt that would have killed his mother. My son, to all that is sweet in the world, so I fed you, and you arranged for me that I ate my bread in the dungeon; and I gave you old wine, and you did not give me water to drink in full; and I rubbed you with expensive oils, and you dried my body in the dungeon; I grew you, as if I would pine, and you longed to see the coffin with my bones. My son, I saw your fortress in you and said to myself: If the enemies come, I will enter it and there I will gain my strength. But when you saw the enemies, you threw me into their hands. There was you, my son, like a mole who lay down in the sun, and the eagle came and seized it.
And my son Anandan answered me, and said thus: It is not worthy of you, Akir, my lord, to continue to say such words, but spare me! When a person sins before God, God will forgive him. And you also forgive me: the manure will be removed after your horses, or I will feed your pigs. And he said to him: You were, my son, like a tree sycamore, it grew over the river, and the berry that ripened on it all fell into the river. And his master came to the tree and said: I want to cut you down: And the tree answered: Next year the cherries on me will grow. And so the master said to him: You can not grow your berries, can you grow another's berries on your own? My son, said to the wolf: What do you follow after the sheep herd, and the dust from it flies into your eyes? He answered They are like this: The dust from the flock of sheep in health to my eyes. My son, a wolf cub was given to study reading and was told to him: Say - az, beeches. He answered: Lambs, kids. Son, from what I taught you, you turned everything against me. And God is against this, and if anyone does good, it will be good for him, I will stay right, and he will ruin you for your evil intentions. The donkey's head was laid on a golden platter, and it fell to the ground, into dust. And they said to her: You do not see where the good is for you, if from a place of honor you fall into dust. My son, as they say in parables: Whom he gave birth to, the son to call, and whom he bought for money, that servant call him. The God who brought me back to life will be the judge between us.
And then Anadan pouted, like a jug, and broke in half.
Anyone who does good will benefit him, and whoever digs his pit digs, he himself will fall into it.
At the time of Sinagripus, king of Ador and Nalive land, I, Akir, was his adviser. And it was told to me from God: You will not have a child. I had riches more than any other people, took my wife and set up my house, and lived sixty years, but I did not have a child. And he set up altars, and kindled a fire, and asked: My God, my God! If I die and I do not leave the heir, people will say: Akir was a righteous man and honestly served God. And he will die, and there will not be a son who would stand by his grave or daughter to mourn him, no one who would take his property and become his heir. And now I ask you, Lord God, grant me a child of a male. When I will be delivered, let him dust my eyes. And the LORD hearkened unto my prayer, and a voice came down from heaven from me, and announced: Akir! I will fulfill all your requests, but do not ask for my son. But your nephew Anadan, take it for yourself instead of your son. And as I heard the voice of the Lord, I cried out again: O Lord my God! If I had a son, on the day of my death, my eyes would be covered with dust. If, before the day of his death, he would spend daily, according to the pood of gold, his needs, then even then my wealth would not be wasted. But the voice did not answer me, and I obeyed the words of God, and took my nephew Anadan instead of his son. He was still a child then, and ordered to raise him, and nourished him with honey and wine, and dressed him in silk and brocade, and when he grew up, he taught him all wisdom.
And the king said to me: O Akir, the wise scribe, my counselor! When you grow old and die, who will become my counselor? And I answered: My King, live for ever! I have a son, I myself am like: he is clever, and I taught him all the wisdom and sciences. And the king answered me, Bring your son to me, that I may see him, and if he can please me, then I will let you go to your house, and in peace you will spend the days of your old age. I took my Anadan's son and brought him to the king. And the king saw him, and he answering said to me: Blessed be this day to Akira, for he has presented his son to me in my lifetime. And I bowed to the king: You yourself know how I served your father and you. But now wait, while this child is growing up, and may your mercy be with me all the days of my old age. And when the king heard these words of mine, he promised me, thus saying: No one else will be your heir.
And I, Akir, did not cease to teach my son. When, like bread and water, he satiated him with his instructions, he said to him:
O man, listen to my words, my lord Anadan! Listen with all your attention to every day of your life. If you hear from the king or see what's in his house, let it decay in your heart and you will not tell anyone about it. If you do, your words will become like burning coals, and they will burn you afterwards, and your body will be wound. My son, what you heard, do not tell anyone about this, but what you saw, then hide it. Do not untie the knot, but do not tie it untangled. My son, do not be attracted by the beauty of a woman and do not desire her in your heart. If you give all the riches to her, and then you will not get any good from her, only you will sinned even more before God. My child, do not be callous, like (hard) human bone, but be gentle, like a bean. My son, tilt your eyes and do not raise your voices; if they were building houses with a cry, they would build an ass with their roar for two houses per day. My son, it is better to move with intelligent stones than with a stupid wine to drink. Do not do stupid things with a clever man, and do not open your mind to a fool. If you do not sweat excessively, they will not eat you, but do not be too bitter, so that your friend does not recoil from you. My son, if the boot is on your foot, trample on the thorn and trample the way for your sons and daughters. My son, the rich son of a snake ate, and people said about him: To be healed, he ate it, and the poor man's son ate a snake, and people said about him: I was hungry, here I ate. My son, give your share, and do not touch a stranger. If the husband does not listen to advice, do not go out with such a thing and do not sit with a deceiver feasting. Child, if it turns out to be in disfavor whoever is more knowledgeable than you, do not be too happy and do not talk about him to your friends, but he will not remember you these words when he rises again and does not take revenge on you. My son, when the husband in honor goes, do not envy him, and when adversity comes upon him, do not rejoice. My son, do not come near to a stupid woman, talkative, and proud, and do not desire beauty of a woman: the beauty of a woman in her clever speeches. My son, if your friend hates you, and begins to curse you, and throw stones at you, you will still meet him with bread and salt, and according to your deeds you will be rewarded on the day of Judgment. My son, a stupid husband, expects humiliation, but a righteous man - honor. My son, do not abstain from the punishment of your son, for beating your son like water that irrigates the garden. My son will not die from beatings, but if you neglect his upbringing, then some grief will be brought upon you. My son, from the childhood, humble your son, if you do not tame his temper, he will grow old before his time. My son, do not buy a slave daring or a slave thief, so that they do not steal your riches. A child, if someone begins to slander a friend of yours, do not listen to him, or even tell about your sins to others. A child, if someone, after meeting you, turns to you, then answer him thinking, for a person will hurry to drop a word, and after repenting. A child, a lying person at first loves everyone, and then they laugh at him and reproach him. The speech of a liar is like a bird's twitter, and only fools listen to it. Chado, honor your father, for he leaves all his wealth to you. My son, be afraid that your father and mother will not curse you, or else you will not recognize joy from your children. When in anger you, do not say a rude word, otherwise you will be called a fool. My son, do not go at night without weapons, for who knows with whom you will meet. A child, a tree aggravated with fruits, bows down, even though the mighty trunk is with him, this is his beauty; so be thou, surrounded by relatives and friends. As a lion is frightened by his strength, he is also honored by his husband because of his relatives. Whose kind is scanty, who have few children and loved ones, he is weak in the face of his enemies, and is like a tree growing on the road, which is broken by all who pass by. My son, do not say: My lord is stupid, and I am intelligent. Listen to the advice of your lord and his mercy, you will be rewarded, but do not count on your own mind. How much you can endure - be patient, but do not speak a rude word. My son, do not be talkative, otherwise you will sin before your master. Child, if you send an ambassador, do not hesitate, or else others will be sent for you after you. My son, do not let your master tell you: Get away from me and be in sorrow, but let him better say to you: Stand by me and rejoice. My son, on a festive day, do not pass by the church. A child, if in someone else's house grief, then, leaving them in trouble, do not go to feast to others, but first visit those who mourn, and then go to feast and remember that you are also destined to die. My son, without a horse, do not sit on a stranger, if he drops you, they will laugh at you. If you are not hungry, do not eat too much, or you will become a glutton. With the one who is stronger than you, do not quarrel, you do not know what he will plan against you. My son, if your house is high, let his walls be lower, and into this one enter, and with your mind rise upward. My son, restrain your wrath, and for your self-control, you will receive the grace of God. My son, do not take it from others with a lot of weight and do not give it away with a low weight and do not say this is my profit, this is a bad thing. Who knows: God will see it, be angry with you and destroy your house as an ungodly man. Chado, do not bind a false oath with God's name, so that the number of your days will not be reduced. My son, if you asked anything from God, do not forget about it, do not be inattentive to it, but remember and listen and you will be blessed. Chad, love your eldest son, but do not alienate the younger one. If you do not get anything from God, then no matter how hard you try, you will not get it; and the poor can become rich, and the rich man may become poor, and a noble one may fall into disrepute, and a low one may rise up. Child, come to the mourner with a word of comfort - it's better than a pile of gold. My son, do not slander anybody, having fought for gold and silver, against this God and all people. My son, do not shed innocent blood, for God will avenge it. My son, abstain from his tongue from blasphemy, and his hands from theft: it is equally shameful if anyone steals gold or clothing. My son, avoid the harlots, and especially the married women, so that you do not anger God. My son, if someone listens to the speech of an intelligent person, then, as if languishing with thirst, get drunk with cold water. My son, if sorrow and sorrow fall upon you, do not rebuke God, your efforts are in vain against him, and he will hear your reproaches and give you due tribute. My son, be a fair judge, and be held in high esteem until old age. My son, let your words be pleasant, and open your mouth only for a kind word. A child, to a clever husband, whatever you say, will take it in his heart, and a fool, even though he whips him, will not learn anything. My son, my clever husband, sending me somewhere, do not burden me with advice, but if you sent a fool, follow him yourself, or he will disgrace you. My son, do not tempt your friend with food and wine, otherwise he will desire more. My son, if they call you to a feast, then do not go at the first call, but if they call you again, then know that they respect you there and will adequately accept you. My son, do not take bribes, for the bribe blinds the eyes of the judges. I tried both bitter and sour, but nothing can compare with poverty. My son, it's easier to carry salt or tin than to repay the debt you took. My son, I raised both stone and iron, and it seemed easier to me than to a husband who knows the laws, to conduct a lawsuit with his neighbor. My son, if you are sitting in a circle of friends, do not let them know about your poverty, or they will laugh at you and not listen to your words. Chado, love your wife with all your soul, for she is the mother of your children and the delight of your life. Child, when you begin to educate your son, then most of all, teach him abstinence; how he will be brought up, and his life will hold. My son, if there is no reason for this, do not start a quarrel in your house, or your neighbors will condemn you. My son, it's better to listen to a drunkard than a sober fool. A child is better with blind eyes than with a blind heart: the blind man, walking along the road, will get used to and learn how to find his own way, and the blind person will get out of his way and get lost. My son, it is better for a woman that her son should die than feed someone else, for if she does good to him, he will repay her evil. My son, better faithful slave than unfaithful free. Chad, a better friend, living next to you than a relative living in the distance. My son, a good name and glory is more honorable to a man than the beauty of his face, for glory eternally lives, and the face after death dies. My son, it is better for a man to die a glorious death than a hard life. My son, it's better to have a leg of lamb in your hands than a lamb in the hands of strangers, it's better to have a sheep nearby than a wolf in the distance. Better one sparrow, yes in your hands, than a thousand birds flying under the clouds. Better clothes, but yours, than silk, but which you do not have. My son, when you call your friend to a feast, then meet him with a cheerful face, and then he will return to his home gay. When feasting with a friend, do not sit with a displeased face, but do not let this feast in your disgrace and call you disrespectful. My son, do not praise one and do not blame the other, not knowing the essence of the matter, but, only having found out about everything, talk about them. My son, it's better to lie in fever or in a fever than to live with an evil wife: you will not see the light in your house, but you will not open it to your heart. My son, if you want to say a word to someone, do not rush, but reflect on in your heart and say what you need, it is better to stumble with your foot than with your tongue. My son, when you are among friends, do not laugh: foolishness is born in laughter, and quarrels from foolishness, and from a quarrel - fight, and in a fight - death, and death is a sin. My son, if you want to be wise, then, after drinking wine, do not talk too much, and then you will be cleverly called. My son, if you do not judge fairly, you will be a hypocrite and your days will be shortened. My son, do not laugh at a fool, but get away from him, and do not laugh at the unfortunate, for he is the same person. My son, do not waste your money without a witness, or you will lose them. My son, if you want to listen to the clever, do not call a fool, he does not need you. My son, do not drive away your old friend, if he did not offend you, or else new friends will abandon you. My son, sitting at the feast, do not plot evil to your friend, otherwise they will become bitter in your mouth. My son, honor your lord, do not humiliate the nobles, but do not lift up the ignorant, but what the lord says to you, then do it. My son, do not go to the judge's garden and with a stupid woman do not know and do not consult her. My son, a lying word only at first glance is heavy, like a tin, and then floats up. My son, try your friend: entrust your secret to him, and when a very long time passes, quarrel with him, and if he keeps your secret, then love him with all your heart, for this is a true friend; If he will open your secret, turn away from him and do not return to him. Chado, it's better if someone steals from you than they call you a thief. My son, if you protect the king before your friend, you will be like the one who tore a sheep out of the lion's mouth. My son, when you set off on the road, do not count on someone else's food, but your own, and if you go, without your own, everyone will reproach you. My son, if a friend of yours dies who dislikes you, do not rejoice: it would be better if he remained alive and received punishment from God, and you would forgive him and help him; and for this you would receive the grace of God. My son, when you see an old man, stand in front of him, and if he does not thank you, God will bless you. My son, if you call a friend for a feast, do not approach him with another matter, or you will be deemed to be a deceiver. My son, when the water flows upward or the bird flies by the tail, or the Ethiopian or Saracen lighten, and the bile becomes sweet, like fresh honey, then the fool will grow wiser. My son, if you are called to a neighbor, then, entering his house, do not look at the corners: it does not do you honor. My son, if God sends wealth to anyone, do not envy him, but even more, as much as you can, honor him. My son, when you enter the house where the grief happened, do not talk about food and drink, but if you sit on a merry feast, do not remember the sad. My son, the eyes of man are like lakes: no matter how much gold is thrown at them, they will not be satisfied, but a man will die and he will be full of dust. My son, if you are rich, do not starve yourself and thirst: you will die, everything will get to another, and he will begin to live in clover, and you - will be - worked hard in vain. My son, if a man steals from poverty, then forgive him, for he did not do it, and his poverty forced him to do so. My son, when you come to the feast, do not stay too long, or, without waiting, when you yourself are going to leave, they will drive you away. My son, do not go to your friend too often, or you will not be respected. My son, when you dress up in new clothes and show yourself to everyone, do not envy another smart one; for whom the clothes are good, and the words should be worthy. My son, do you have anything or not, still do not grieve: what is the use of your grief? My son, if the dog, after leaving his master, follows you, then turn around, take a stone and throw it at him, for after leaving you, he will run after others as well. My son, if a neighbor does not love you, then you will love him even more, so that if you become angry with you, you would not suddenly create any kind of filth. My son, if your enemy wants to do you good, do not hurry to trust him, or else he will deceive you and bring all his malice upon you. My son, if a person sins because of his evil temper, then do not say that he is innocently punished, or he himself also sins. My son, let the cleverer beat you better than the fool will petition you with oil, for if the clever man strikes you, he feels as if he is beating himself, and then begins to reflect on how to console you, and the fool, having spent on you a thimble of oil, expects to receive in exchange a pile of gold.
My son, for all that I taught you, give me a hundredfold, connect your wisdom with mine.
And all this I taught, Akir, the nephew of his Anadan. I, Akir, said to myself in my heart: My son Anadan will learn my advice and will be in my stead for the king. I did not think Anadan would listen to my words. I tried to instruct him, and he was thinking about my death. And so he said: My father is old, and already close to death, has already lost his mind. And Anadan [. . .] began to waste my riches thoughtlessly, and cruelly torturing my slaves, and slaves, and my darlings in front of me, and my horses and my donkeys cruelly tormented. When I saw what Anadhan was doing, I became envious and sad, and regretted my riches, and said: My son, do not waste my treasures, it is truly in the Scripture that it is not earned by their own labor, they do not regret it.
I went and told all about Sinagrip, my king, and the king answered me: As long as you live, Akir, no one else will become master in your house. Anadan began to think about his brother, whom I also brought up in my house, and from that time began to envy him, saying: What if Akir, my father, drives me away and leaves that legacy? When I guessed what he was up to, he began to reproach him, saying to him: Why did you despise all my precepts and my wealth? Upon hearing these words of mine, my son Anadan was enraged, went to the royal palace and, choosing a convenient time, wrote two letters. To our enemy, the king of Persia, whose name is Alon, he wrote: King Sinagripa, wise man and counselor, I, Akira, write: the Persian king Alon rejoice! On the day when this letter comes to you, prepare your army. I will give Ador's land into your hands. And you will master it without a fight. And he wrote another letter to the Egyptian king Pharaoh, and it said: When my letter comes to you, be ready to come to the Egyptian field on August 25th on the twenty-fifth day, and I will bring you to Nalive city and master it without a fight.
And at that time the tsar dissolved his governor, and then the tsar was left alone. And he wrote letters in Anadan in my handwriting, and sealed it with my ring, and left them with me, waiting for an hour, when I would present them to the tsar. And he wrote another such letter: From King Sinagrip to Akira, my adviser. On the day when this letter comes to you, gather up my soldiers, and my commander, and the regiments of the regiment. And be ready to appear on the Egyptian field on the twenty-fifth day of August. And when I arrive, build the shelves, as if preparing for battle, since I have Ambassador Pharaoh and I want him to see my army.
And my son Anadan gave the diploma to these two boys, and sent her to me as if in the name of the king. And Anadan himself, my son, appeared before the king and gave those two letters to the tsar who wrote to the kings hostile to us, and said: My king, live for ever! Here is the charter of my father Akira, but I disagreed with his plan and brought you his letters, for I eat your bread and it is not fitting for me to plot against you. Listen to what I say, my lord the king! You raised my father Akira and magnified him more than all his nobles, and now look what he has planned against you and against your kingdom. And, having said this, he handed over the letters to the tsar.
As the tsar heard all this, he was grieved immensely and exclaimed: Lord God! What evil have I done to Akira, if he has planned such an atrocity against me and my kingdom? Anadan answered him: My King! And what if he is slandered? But if you come to the Egyptian field in the month of August, then you will see if all this is true. And the king obeyed my son. The king came to the field of Egypt, and my son Anadan was with the king. And when I saw that the king was approaching, I built shelves, as if preparing for a battle, just as it was ordered to me in that letter. And I did not think that my son Anadan digs a hole under me. As soon as the king saw me with the produced regiments, he was seized by his fear, and he decided that everything Anadan said was true. And Anadan said to him: My lord, the king! So you saw with your own eyes what my father Akir did. And hasten to leave from here, and I will go to my Akir's father, and I will destroy his evil plan, and I will disband the army, and I will bring him myself, having led you, and then you will condemn him for all that he has done.
The king returned, and my son Anadan came to me and, kissing me, said: Be healthy, my father Akir! So my king sent me to you and told me to say this: Bless you, Akir, for he pleased me today and showed me my army, as I commanded you. And I appeared in all glory before the ambassadors of the Pharaohs. You yourself come to me. And on this command I dismissed the soldiers and with his son Anadan went to the king.
Seeing me, the king said: Have you come, Akir, my counselor and my wise man? I exalted and glorified you, but you raised the army against me. And, having said so, he gave me those letters. And I saw that the handwriting is like mine and they are sealed with my ring. When I read them, my feet gave way and my tongue was heavy. And I cried to my wisdom and did not find it, for a great terror seized me. And then my son Anadan, whom I presented to the king, addressed me with the words: The old man is insane! Why do not you answer the king? Now, according to your deeds, you are rewarded! And so my son Anadan said to me: This is what the king ordered: let your hands be tied, your feet - bound, and then you will cut off your head from your body and be carried a hundred cubits from the body yours and be cast into the dust. And when I heard the king's will, I fell, and bowed to him, and said: My lord, the king! Be alive forever! How can you ruin me without hearing my justification? But God sees that I am not guilty before my king. Let your judgment come to pass only to execute me in my house and that my body be buried.
And the king ordered me to hand me over to my husband, whom love had always bound us to, and put his soldiers, and sent me to be executed. I sent to my house to warn my wife: Come out to meet me and take a thousand girls from my slaves who do not know my husband, and put them in silk and brocade to mourn me, for I am condemned to death by the king. And order that they prepare a feast for my household, and let them gather in my house, that I, when I come to my house, eat their food with them and drink wine, and then I would already die. And my wife did everything, as I ordered her. And we came, and met us, and I went into my house, and the food was arranged, and all began to drink and to drink, and after they had drunk, they lay down to sleep.
And then I, Akir, moaned from the depths of my heart and, turning to my friend, whom the king instructed me to execute, said: Look at the sky, beware of God, remember at this hour that friendship has bound us for many years, remember how the tsar, Sinagripov's father, ordered me to execute you, and you were convicted, but I saved you by establishing your innocence, and saved your life until the king remembered you. But now I ask you, since I am betrayed into your hands, and now I pray: do not destroy me, but save me, as I saved you, take pity on me, and do not be afraid of the king. There is a husband in my dungeon named Arpar, in appearance he looks like me and is doomed to death. So take off my clothes from me, and put it on them, and lead him out of the dungeon, and tell your friends, and when they approach, cut off his head and take it by one hundred cubits, as the king commanded you.
And when he heard these words of mine, sorrow fell on his soul and said to me: I fear the judgment of the king, how can I disobey him? But for your love for me I will do as you said. It is said in the Scripture: If he loves one another his own, he will lay down his life for him. And I will save you now. And if the king recognizes, then I will perish with you. And when he had said this, he took my clothes, and put Arpar in them, and brought him forth, and announced to his friends: See, this is his execution. And before they came, he cut off the head and carried it from the body to a hundred cubits. And no one recognized that it was not me, but thought that my head was that.
The news spread throughout the land of Ador and Nalive that Akir the wise man was executed. And then my friend and my wife prepared for me shelter in the earth: four cubits in length, four in breadth, four in depth, and they brought me bread and water there. And my friend went and told Sinagripus the king that Akir was executed as you commanded. And all the people, hearing about this, lamented, and their wives grieved, and all said: Akir the Wise, the sage of our land, was executed, but he was the wall of our cities, and now he is executed like a criminal. From now on, we can not find such a thing anymore.
And then the king said to my son Anadan: Go into the house, weep for your father, and when the days of mourning are few, you will return and come to me. And my son Anadan came to my house, but he did not mourn and did not remember my death, but, on the contrary, gathered musicians and song-writers in my house and began to feast with pomp and joy. And tortured my servants-he began to execute them with terrible executions and torment me with cruel torments. And this was not enough for him, but he began to pester my wife, demanding that she give herself to him. And I, Akir, lay in darkness and grave darkness, I heard what my son Anadan does in my house, and sighed from heartache, and could not help it. My whole body is withered from the mischief that I have seen. And then my friend came to visit me. And he climbed up to me, sat down beside me and began to console me. And I said to my friend: When you get out of here, then pray for God to me. And I said thus: You, LORD, are holy and just and true. And now think of your servant, and bring out of this prison, he put his trust in you. When I had a dignity, I gave you bulls and rams, sacrificed you, Vladyka. And now, like a dead man, buried in the earth and can not see your light. Now, O Lord God, remember me, lead me out of this ditch, hear this prayer with which I address you.
When the Egyptian king Pharaoh recognized that Akir was killed, he rejoiced with great joy. And Pharaoh sent a letter to King Sinagrip, writing in it thus: From the Egyptian king Pharaoh to Adoris and Nalive king, rejoice! I want to build a house between heaven and earth. So come to me a skilled builder, let them do and arrange everything as I please. And let me answer other wiser questions. If you send me such a master, who can do everything, that he will not say anything to him, then I'll send you my three-year tribute. If you do not find such a wise husband or he can not answer my questions, then you will send me three-year incomes of his land. And when they read this letter before the king, Sinagrip, he summoned the wise men of his land and read before them the letter sent by Pharaoh. And the king said to them, Which of you will go to the land of Egypt to King Pharaoh and be able to answer him with dignity? And the wise men of his land answered him: You yourself, the king, know: in the days of your reign and in the days of your father in all the difficult affairs were helped by the wise Akir. And now his son Anadan, taught them all the wisdom of the book, let him go. As Anadhan heard this, he cried out loud: My lord, king! What the Pharaoh asks of, some gods can accomplish, but how can people?
Hearing this, the king was very saddened, and descended from his golden throne, and dressed in coarse clothes, and began to groan in sorrow: Oh, how did Akira, the wise scribe of my land, listen to you! In one hour I ruined you! And now I can not find an equal to you, whom to send to Pharaoh. Where will I find you now, O Akir! And when I heard this my friend said these words of the Tsar, fell prostrate, bowed to the king and said to him: If anyone does not fulfill his master's orders, he is guilty of death. I, your king, have violated your command, and now order me to be executed: for you commanded me to destroy Akira, and I saved him, and he is alive. And the king cried in response: Speak, say, my savior! If you say the truth and introduce Akira to me alive, then I will give you - I'll give you a hundred kentinarians of gold, a thousand for silver, and I'll give you five vestments embroidered with gold. And my friend answered the king in reply: Swear to me, King, that you will not punish him for the fault in which he is accused today! If, however, he is guilty of something else, then let him answer for his deeds. And the king swore to him, and at the same time he sent for Akir and ordered him to be brought.
And I, Akir, appeared before the king, and fell prostrate before the king. And the hair on my head was thinner than my hips, and my beard fell below my breast. And my body is withered in the earth. My nails are like the claws of an eagle. As the king saw me, I wept with great mourning, and the king of my kind was ashamed, for he had greatly honored me before. And then the king addressed me with the words: O Akir! It's not my fault, but all your son Anadan is he slandered you. And I answered the king in reply: My lord, the king! Once I see your face, I no longer remember any grief. And the king answered me: Go now to your house, and stay there for forty days, and then come again to me.
And I, Akir, went to my house and stayed there for forty days. And my body changed its form, and again I became what I was before, and I came to the king. And the king said to me, Have you heard, Akir, what the Egyptian king wrote to us, to Ador and Nalive land, and that all people, hearing about this, were frightened and left their homes? And I said in reply: My lord, king! In the days of your kingdom I did this: if a man was guilty of anything, then he came to you and justified it. And when people heard of my execution and that there is no longer such an intercessor, then all fled. And now, O king, let them tell the people that Akir is alive and is again before the king, and when they hear of me, they will all return. And of the message that Pharaoh wrote to you, do not grieve, for I will go and answer him, and I will receive three-year tribute from his land and I will bring it to you. As the king heard all this, he came to great joy, and called the wise men of his land, and brought me the rich gifts, and set my friend who saved me from death, above all his nobles.
Then I, Akir, sent to my household and punished them: Find me two eagles and lift them up. And tell my falconer to teach them to fly up. And make a cage, and find among my family's my smart boy, and put him in a cage worn by eagles. And teach them to take off with a cage, and teach the boy to shout: Bring lime and stones, the builders are ready. And tie the rope to the feet of the eagles.
And my servants did everything as I commanded. And after that the inhabitants of Ador and Nalive land returned to their homes. I said: Now send me, king, I will go to the Egyptian king Pharaoh. The king sent me, and I took my soldiers with me, and when I came to the land of Pharaoh, before I reached his city, I ordered to bring the eagles and saw that everything had been done as I wished. And he went into the city, and sent to Pharaoh, and said: Tell King Pharaoh: You once wrote to King Sinagripus, demanding: Send to me a man who would answer my every word, no matter what I asked , and here he sent me. And the king ordered me to point out a place where I could stop. And he ordered me to come to me, and I greeted the Tsar. And the king addressed me and asked: What is your name? And he did not give his name, but said: My name is Obek, I am one of the king's grooms. When Pharaoh heard my words, he went into a rage and said thus: Am I worse than your king, that he sends his grooms to me? Yes, I do not have anything to say to you about. And the king sent me away in my refuge, and he said to me: You will come tomorrow and then you will answer my question. If you do not guess my riddles, then I will give your body to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth.
And the next morning the king commanded me to appear before him. He himself sat on his throne in gold, dressed in a garment scarlet, and his nobles dressed in colorful clothes. And when I appeared before him, the king said to me: Obek! Tell me now: who do I look like and to whom do my nobles look like? And I answered the king: You, the king, are like the sun, and your nobles likened the sun to the sun. My king heard my words and, after a pause, said to me: Obeks! Truly your king is wise, that he has sent you, for you have guessed. And he also offered other riddles to me: he likened himself to the moon, and his nobles to the stars, then he became like a tree, and his grandees-flowering grass. And he offered many of these riddles to me, and I guessed them.
Finally the king said to me: Obeks! I wrote to your king to build a palace between heaven and earth. Then I commanded, and brought to me the trained eagles. And before the eyes of the tsar and all his entourage I let out the eagles to the skies and the boy with them. When the eagles took off, the boy shouted, as he was taught: The builders are ready! Carry the same stones and lime. And then I said to the tsar: Command the king, let them bring stones and lime, so that the masters will not hesitate! But the king retorted: Who can raise this height? And I answered the tsar: I sent the masters, and if You do not serve stones and lime, it's not our fault. And the king could not answer me. A boy shouted: Now the builders are ready, so carry the same stones, and slabs, and clay. They could not lift any stones, slabs or clay. And I, Akir, taking a stick, began to beat them, and fled the squad of Pharaoh and his boyars. And when he saw this, Pharaoh angered me, and said to me this: You are spicing yourself, and you are beating my people without any reason. Who can raise stones and clay? And he said to him: I do not magician, but you yourself instructed me to do such an unprecedented thing. If Tsar Sinagrip wanted, then in one day two palaces would be built, and then he does not marvel: what he wants, he will do. And Pharaoh said unto me, Let us leave this matter with the building of the palace. And he added: Go to your haven and come early in the morning.
And I came early in the morning and went in to Pharaoh, and he said to me: Akir, solve this task for me: when the horses of your lord roar in Adora and Naliva, our mare's foals give birth in our land. And as soon as I heard these words, I went out from Pharaoh and told my boys: Catch the living ferret, bring it to me. And the young men, having gone, caught a live ferret and brought it to me. And I commanded them: Kill him until all the Egyptian land hears it. And my little children began to beat him. And when the people heard of this, they said to Pharaoh, The Akir is wild before our very eyes: he offends our gods, and commits disgrace to our altars. As Pharaoh heard about this, he called me to him and told me: Why are you mocking our gods before our eyes? And he answered Pharaoh: Be alive forever! But the ferret caused this great evil, and not small. My King Sinagrip gave me a rooster, and for that he gave it to me, that it pained him to sing a lot. When I want, at that hour and sings, and I wake up, and go before the eyes of my lord. And for all the time I've never been late. And that night your ferret reached Nalive and Ador, ground my cock and returned to it. And Pharaoh said to me: I see that you have grown old, Akir, and you have lost your mind: from Egypt to the Adorian land, a thousand and eighty versts, since the same ferret could walk there in one night, bite off your cock's head and go back the same night ? And I answered him this way: And I heard so that when horses are neighing in the Adorian land, your mare's foals give birth here. But you say that from Egypt to the Ador land one thousand and eighty versts. Pharaoh heard my words and was surprised.
And Pharaoh said to me, Find out my riddle. There is one oak log, and on that log there are twelve pines with thirty wheels, and on each wheel there are two mice, one black and one white. And I answered him this way: What you ask me about, in the land of Nalive and in Adorsk, even grooms know. And so he said to him: What you call a log is a year, and then you say that there are twelve pines on it, so it's twelve months a year. And what do you say about thirty wheels, then thirty days in a month, and what do you call two mice - one white, and the other black - so it's day and night.
And so Pharaoh told me: Akir! Scribe me two ropes of sand, five cubits long, and a thick finger. And I said to him: Tell your housekeepers, let them carry me the same rope from home, then I will follow her example with a scoop. And Pharaoh said to me: I do not listen to your objections, and you do not sow such a rope to me, then you will not bear the tribute to the Egyptian king. Then I, Akir, struck my mind, went to the temple of the pharaohs and turned the hole on the sunny side in the wall, so that his finger would enter it. And then I called everyone and told Pharaoh: Send your young men to lay this rope, and I will help the other by the same time. As Pharaoh saw this, he laughed and said to me: Today, come to me, Akir, you took everything to God, and I'm glad that I saw you alive, that you guided me with your wise words. And then Pharaoh made me a great feast, and gave me a tribute of three years from Egypt, and honored me, and sent me to my king Sinagrip.
And I returned to the king, and when he heard of my coming, he went out to meet me, and made a great feast, and put me above all his nobles, and said to me: Akir! All you want, I'll give you. Ask me! And I said to him: My king, I ask you to give your treasure, which you want to reward me, to Nabuginail, my friend: he saved my life. And give me my son Anadan, I taught him his wisdom and told him my knowledge, but now I see that he forgot my words and all the wisdom.
And then the king ordered, and brought him to me. And the king said to me: This is your nephew Anadan, given into your hands, whatever you like, then do with it, for no one will dare to take it from your hands.
And then I, Akir, took a son of a son, and brought him to his house, and laid on him a chain of iron nine kentinars weighing, and put his hands in the pads, and tied a wooden hoop around his neck, and struck him a thousand blows on the back and a thousand on the stomach. And he put him under his porch, and gave him as much bread and water as he needed, and entrusted him to guard his boy, named Anabugil. And he ordered him this way: If I say anything to Anadan when you leave the house or enter it, then you write it all down. And then I started talking to Anadan, my son:
He who does not hear with his ears, let him listen with his neck. And Anadan answered me so: So why did I take a nephew instead of a son? I answered: I put you on the throne of honor, and you threw me to the ground from my throne. And only after that my innocence saved me from the evil that you planned. There was you for me, son, like a snake, who saw the needle, stung it, and the needle said to her: I was pressed, but I'm sharper than you. There was you for me, son, like a goat, who began to eat red grass, and told her the grass: Why do you eat me? When you die, what will your hair color? The goat answered the grass: That's why I eat you during my lifetime, for when I die, then, digging up your roots, they will begin to paint my hair with them. There was you for me, son, like the man who shot into the sky, and that arrow did not reach the sky, and only sinned before God. There was you for me, son, like the one who, after seeing his friend freezing, brought and poured a jug of cold water onto him. So know: if there is a pork tail that is seven cubits long, then even then it will not be able to match the horse's tail. If pork bristles are softer than paper, they can not sew clothes from her anyway. My son, I thought, that you will take my place, and I will inherit my house, and my riches, and my property, but God did not want your evil intent to come true, and did not listen to your evil intentions. Like, my son, you are to that predatory beast who met the donkey and said to him: Are you well who came here? And the donkey replied: To this I wish health, who did not confound my feet so that I could get you more and not see. My son, somehow lay in the sand, and a rabbit came up to him and said: What are you doing here? And the silok replied: I bow to God. And the hare said to him: And what do you hold in your mouth? And the silock answered him: I keep a loaf of bread. And then the hare approached, he wanted to take a hunk, and his leg got entangled in a snare. And the hare said: If this hunk is so cunning, then your prayers will never be listened to by God. My son, you are like a deer, who, hurting the rock, broke his horn. My son, you were with me, like a cauldron with chained gold rings, and his bottom will not get rid of blackness. My son, you were like a plowman who plowed the field and sowed twelve measures on it. And the plowman said to his field: I have not obtained more from you, but what I sowed, I collected. You were for me, son, like a dog that went into a warm house to warm up, and when warmed, he began to bark at his master. You, my son, were a pig who went with the boyars to bathe in the bath, but when I reached the puddle, I lay down in it, and said to the boyars: You go to the bathhouse to wash, and here I want to wash myself. There was you for me, son, like a tree to which they said: I want to cut you down. It answered: If it were not for me in your hands, you would never have come to me. My son, you were like a chick that fell from the nest to the ground, and ran to him a ferret, and said to him: If it were not for me, it would be bad for you. And the chick answered him: If it was not for me, what would you eat? You were to me, son, like a thief who was told: Throw your theft. And he answered them: If I had eyes of gold, and hands of silver, then even then I would not have left my trade. My son, I saw how they will lead a sheep out of the herd to cut, and if there is not yet a period of slaughter, then they let go back to see her lambs. Son, I have not seen a colt that would have killed his mother. My son, to all that is sweet in the world, so I fed you, and you arranged for me that I ate my bread in the dungeon; and I gave you old wine, and you did not give me water to drink in full; and I rubbed you with expensive oils, and you dried my body in the dungeon; I grew you, as if I would pine, and you longed to see the coffin with my bones. My son, I saw your fortress in you and said to myself: If the enemies come, I will enter it and there I will gain my strength. But when you saw the enemies, you threw me into their hands. There was you, my son, like a mole who lay down in the sun, and the eagle came and seized it.
And my son Anandan answered me, and said thus: It is not worthy of you, Akir, my lord, to continue to say such words, but spare me! When a person sins before God, God will forgive him. And you also forgive me: the manure will be removed after your horses, or I will feed your pigs. And he said to him: You were, my son, like a tree sycamore, it grew over the river, and the berry that ripened on it all fell into the river. And his master came to the tree and said: I want to cut you down: And the tree answered: Next year the cherries on me will grow. And so the master said to him: You can not grow your berries, can you grow another's berries on your own? My son, said to the wolf: What do you follow after the sheep herd, and the dust from it flies into your eyes? He answered They are like this: The dust from the flock of sheep in health to my eyes. My son, a wolf cub was given to study reading and was told to him: Say - az, beeches. He answered: Lambs, kids. Son, from what I taught you, you turned everything against me. And God is against this, and if anyone does good, it will be good for him, I will stay right, and he will ruin you for your evil intentions. The donkey's head was laid on a golden platter, and it fell to the ground, into dust. And they said to her: You do not see where the good is for you, if from a place of honor you fall into dust. My son, as they say in parables: Whom he gave birth to, the son to call, and whom he bought for money, that servant call him. The God who brought me back to life will be the judge between us.
And then Anadan pouted, like a jug, and broke in half.
Anyone who does good will benefit him, and whoever digs his pit digs, he himself will fall into it.
LITERAL TRANSLATION OF THE SLAVONIC LIFE OF ADAM AND EVE
About ADAM
Adam in Paradise before the fall had everything in his power, everyone under his rule lived. And when the Lord drove him from Paradise and sat in Eden before the doors of heaven, he dreamed that Cain and Abel would be born, and at what time Cain Abel would be killed. And the angel forbade him to tell Eve this. And he lived like this for 70 and 9 years and got sick in the back, and did not know what kind of illness he had. And they all gathered from small to large, and were amazed, and they said to Eve: O our mother, you know all his secrets, tell us how our father is so sick? And there were 6000 men around Adam.
Confession of Eve
Eve then said: From the beginning I will tell you, my children. When God created Paradise in the east and the whole universe, and created your father and me, and entrusted us with Paradise and all the animals, and reptiles, and all birds of the birds. Adam kept the eastern part and the northern part, I kept the western part and the southern part. And then the Lord gave us the commandment, saying: You can all eat what is in Paradise, only do not eat the fruit of one tree, and showed us the tree. And our Lord ascended to heaven. And we both owned everything in Paradise, and without the command of Adam and mine all animals and cattle and reptiles did not dare walk or lap or eat anything until we let them.
And then the Devil came to us, as bright as an angel, and said to us: What did God allow you to eat and what He did not have to eat in Paradise? Adam said: All of us were allowed to eat, only the fruit of one tree forbade us to eat and ordered us beware of him. The devil said: I am very sorry for you, because you do not know that if the fruit were eaten from it, then you would be gods. So he said and left us. And he found a snake and taught it. The snake, thinking that he was an angel, came to me and showed me the fruit from that tree. And I saw that the God loves the serpent more than all the beasts, and took from it the fruit and ate it. And my heart became embarrassed in me all of a sudden, and in my part of Paradise the trees dropped their foliage.
I disappeared under the tree, the fruit of which I ate, and called Adam and said: Come here, Adam, and you will see a great miracle. Only I opened my mouth, and my tongue spoke by itself, so that Adam ate. Adam also took the fruit from this tree that I ate. And our eyes were opened, and we saw our nakedness, and our hearts burned with lust. And it happened. And all the trees have dropped their foliage, only the fig tree has not thrown off its leaves. Adam burst into tears and told me: O wife, what have we done! But my heart did not turn away from Adam, and we disappeared under that tree, which did not discard the foliage, and sewed the fig leaves, and made the clothes themselves.
And then they heard a voice coming from heaven, the angel called out to the angels: Come all, says the Lord, and go to Heaven, for Adam has sinned. And the LORD went down with all his angels. And there was a throne in the middle of Paradise, and the Lord cried with a loud voice: Adam, Adam, where are you? A strong voice said. Adam disappeared. And angels seized us, and furiously beat us, and drove us from Paradise. Adam also wept and prayed, saying: Have mercy on us, may the Lord have mercy on us! But the Lord did not pardon us. Archangel Michael incessantly prayed for us before the throne. And so they banished us from Paradise and rejected us.
We were sitting, deprived of Eden. Adam fell face down and sobbed. And it was so 15 days ago, and I was exhausted from hunger, and I said to Adam: Sir, get up and seek refuge, my heart is already defeated by hunger and my strengths have diminished. And Adam, exclaiming, said: O Eve, there arises in my heart the desire to turn away from your face, but there is no one to stay with and fear God. And my heart does not reject you. And we arose, and went around the whole earth, and found nothing edible, only the wolf and the grass of the field. And again they came to Paradise and cried, grieving. And Adam said: Lord, send me incense to burn incense. Then the LORD sent him incense, and Lebanon, and incense. And Adam took and made a prayer to the Lord. And then the Lord was merciful, and the archangel Joel separated the 7th part of Paradise and gave it to us. And at first they ate flesh for thorns for 17 days, and then they took wheat, honey, and butter and ate and were satisfied. And God cast out all the beasts and beasts from Paradise and gave it to Adam. Adam separated them and made them wild and domestic, and gave them all names and everything that feeds them. And the Lord said: Thorns and thistles shall grow from your labors.
And Adam took the oxen and plowed the land. And the Devil came and stood before the oxen, not to give Adam the land to plow. Because, said the Devil, my land, God's heaven and Paradise. And if you want to be mine, then land pasha. If you want to be God, go to Paradise. And Adam said: God's heaven and earth with all that it inhabits. The devil did not let him plow and said: Write me with your hand that you are mine, and you will work on the ground. Adam said: Whose earth is one, and I, and my children. But Adam knew that the Lord must come down to earth and be born of a virgin. The devil was very happy and said: Lay down for me. And Adam took a stone board and wrote a handwriting, and said: Whose earth is the one and I, and my children. The devil took the handwriting and concealed it from himself.
I said to Adam: Sir, let's repent, the Lord will deliver us from the Devil. Adam said, We fast for forty days. I said: You, my lord, fast for forty days, and I will fast for forty and four days. And he said to me: Come into the Tigris river and put a stone on your head, and the other under your feet, and stand on your neck in the water, but do not listen to anyone, so that you will not be deceived again. And he showed me a secret sign, and said to me: Do not go out of the river until I come. And Adam arose, and went to the Jordan to repent, and there all the beasts and birds came together, and many angels mourned and mourned for Adam. Adam also plunged the whole river into the Jordan River and spent 40 days like this.
The devil came to Eve, as an angel shone, tears fell on the ground, and he said to me: Eve, the Lord heard your prayer and our angels praying for you, God sent me, so that you would lead out of the river Adam. I did not believe him, and again after 3 days I came in accepting the image of Adam, and he tempted me for a long time. I did not agree to go out until I saw the sign that Adam had shown me. And when Adam had finished his 40-day penance, he came from the Jordan and found the footprint of the Devil coming to me, and was very frightened if I had not been deceived again. And when he saw me in the water, he was very happy. But when he came to me, I did not believe that it was my lord. He showed me the sign. Then I believed and left the river. Thus the Lord freed us from the Devil.
And we settled in Midian, and here we gave birth to Cain and Abel. And all the days they both grazed cattle. Once Adam got up from his bed and told me: O wife, it's been fourteen years, the blood of Abel, killed by Cain, must be shed. Give me the ass, I'll go and find it. When I heard, my heart was troubled. And Adam sat upon the ass, and went and found Abel the slain and said nothing, for so the angel commanded him. And he brought Abel to a place called Rheon, and buried him there. And when I gave birth to Seth, I said to Adam: Master, do not tear your heart, for again she gave birth to a son instead of Abel and gave him the name of Seth.
And then Adam interrupted Eve, exclaiming: Oh Eve, shut up, I have already weakened my spirit. And Seth said: My father, I will go to Heaven and bring something from Paradise, and you will see, and you will be comforted. Adam said, Son, how to enter your Paradise? But you nevertheless come closer to Paradise with weeping, the Lord will allow you to take a branch from the tree of the olive and, who knows, this illness can let me go. Seth asked: Father, where is your illness from? Adam said: Oh son, the sickness is my disease. When I sinned and your mother, then the Lord said: I will multiply your sorrow, you will always be in sorrow. And I will give you 72 illnesses: the first disease to the womb, the second to the eye, then I will add one at a time. And your mother said: Your husband will always rule over you, when you will give birth, death will threaten you.
Heard this Seth, and went to Paradise with his mother, and saw Eve a fierce beast named crocodile, chasing after her son Seth. And stopping, she said to him: O beast, do not you remember how I cherished you with my hands? How dare you open your mouth to the image of God, how dare you snap your son's teeth! And then the beast answered Eve and said: O Eva, evil has gone from you. And how dare you encroach upon the food that the Lord did not allow you to eat? That's why I want to devour your child. And then Eve burst into tears, and she could hear her crying from the east to the west, and she said: O woe to me, my God, from now on I will be cursed all the people forever. Then Seth said: I adjure you, the beast, in your den, until the Day of Judgment, if you encroach on the hope of man. So he remains forever.
Seth said, and went with his mother, and wept before the Heaven, and sprinkled his ashes upon the dust. And the archangel appeared before them and asked them: What are you calling? And Seth said: Lord, my father became ill and wants a paradise, wants to see a branch from the tree of the olive tree, then his illness may subside. And then the angel said to Seth: There is no remedy for Adam, for his days are near to death, and his life is finished. And he broke off from the tree, because of which Adam was banished from Paradise, and gave Sifu three branches. And Seth brought them to where Adam, his father, lay.
And Adam saw them then, and took them, and sighing heavily, he made a crown and laid it on his head, and saw the hand of the Lord that received his soul. And Eve saw the censer with incense burning flesh of Adam's body, and the three angels holding burning candles. And Seth looked up to heaven and saw the soul of Adam, his father, standing far from the Lord standing, and many angels praying for Adam. When the Archangel Michael stood, then all the angels fell silent. And then the Lord relented, stretched forth his hand and received the soul of Adam. And the Lord sent an angel to bury his body. And he taught Seth, and took the body and carried it to a place called the Gerusi swamp. And when they buried the grave, the archangel sealed the coffin, and a voice from heaven called out, Adam, Adam! He answered: Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said: I predicted to you that you are a land and you will go to the land. And the Lord said to the earth: Your from you all you bring. And so Adam was buried with the crown that was on his head. Eve, in a mournful voice praying, asked: Lord, Lord, receive my soul. And so after Adam, after six days, bowing her head, she betrayed her soul to God. And here they buried Eve and her son Abel. And on that place a tree of a crown grew that was on the head of Adam.
About ADAM
Adam in Paradise before the fall had everything in his power, everyone under his rule lived. And when the Lord drove him from Paradise and sat in Eden before the doors of heaven, he dreamed that Cain and Abel would be born, and at what time Cain Abel would be killed. And the angel forbade him to tell Eve this. And he lived like this for 70 and 9 years and got sick in the back, and did not know what kind of illness he had. And they all gathered from small to large, and were amazed, and they said to Eve: O our mother, you know all his secrets, tell us how our father is so sick? And there were 6000 men around Adam.
Confession of Eve
Eve then said: From the beginning I will tell you, my children. When God created Paradise in the east and the whole universe, and created your father and me, and entrusted us with Paradise and all the animals, and reptiles, and all birds of the birds. Adam kept the eastern part and the northern part, I kept the western part and the southern part. And then the Lord gave us the commandment, saying: You can all eat what is in Paradise, only do not eat the fruit of one tree, and showed us the tree. And our Lord ascended to heaven. And we both owned everything in Paradise, and without the command of Adam and mine all animals and cattle and reptiles did not dare walk or lap or eat anything until we let them.
And then the Devil came to us, as bright as an angel, and said to us: What did God allow you to eat and what He did not have to eat in Paradise? Adam said: All of us were allowed to eat, only the fruit of one tree forbade us to eat and ordered us beware of him. The devil said: I am very sorry for you, because you do not know that if the fruit were eaten from it, then you would be gods. So he said and left us. And he found a snake and taught it. The snake, thinking that he was an angel, came to me and showed me the fruit from that tree. And I saw that the God loves the serpent more than all the beasts, and took from it the fruit and ate it. And my heart became embarrassed in me all of a sudden, and in my part of Paradise the trees dropped their foliage.
I disappeared under the tree, the fruit of which I ate, and called Adam and said: Come here, Adam, and you will see a great miracle. Only I opened my mouth, and my tongue spoke by itself, so that Adam ate. Adam also took the fruit from this tree that I ate. And our eyes were opened, and we saw our nakedness, and our hearts burned with lust. And it happened. And all the trees have dropped their foliage, only the fig tree has not thrown off its leaves. Adam burst into tears and told me: O wife, what have we done! But my heart did not turn away from Adam, and we disappeared under that tree, which did not discard the foliage, and sewed the fig leaves, and made the clothes themselves.
And then they heard a voice coming from heaven, the angel called out to the angels: Come all, says the Lord, and go to Heaven, for Adam has sinned. And the LORD went down with all his angels. And there was a throne in the middle of Paradise, and the Lord cried with a loud voice: Adam, Adam, where are you? A strong voice said. Adam disappeared. And angels seized us, and furiously beat us, and drove us from Paradise. Adam also wept and prayed, saying: Have mercy on us, may the Lord have mercy on us! But the Lord did not pardon us. Archangel Michael incessantly prayed for us before the throne. And so they banished us from Paradise and rejected us.
We were sitting, deprived of Eden. Adam fell face down and sobbed. And it was so 15 days ago, and I was exhausted from hunger, and I said to Adam: Sir, get up and seek refuge, my heart is already defeated by hunger and my strengths have diminished. And Adam, exclaiming, said: O Eve, there arises in my heart the desire to turn away from your face, but there is no one to stay with and fear God. And my heart does not reject you. And we arose, and went around the whole earth, and found nothing edible, only the wolf and the grass of the field. And again they came to Paradise and cried, grieving. And Adam said: Lord, send me incense to burn incense. Then the LORD sent him incense, and Lebanon, and incense. And Adam took and made a prayer to the Lord. And then the Lord was merciful, and the archangel Joel separated the 7th part of Paradise and gave it to us. And at first they ate flesh for thorns for 17 days, and then they took wheat, honey, and butter and ate and were satisfied. And God cast out all the beasts and beasts from Paradise and gave it to Adam. Adam separated them and made them wild and domestic, and gave them all names and everything that feeds them. And the Lord said: Thorns and thistles shall grow from your labors.
And Adam took the oxen and plowed the land. And the Devil came and stood before the oxen, not to give Adam the land to plow. Because, said the Devil, my land, God's heaven and Paradise. And if you want to be mine, then land pasha. If you want to be God, go to Paradise. And Adam said: God's heaven and earth with all that it inhabits. The devil did not let him plow and said: Write me with your hand that you are mine, and you will work on the ground. Adam said: Whose earth is one, and I, and my children. But Adam knew that the Lord must come down to earth and be born of a virgin. The devil was very happy and said: Lay down for me. And Adam took a stone board and wrote a handwriting, and said: Whose earth is the one and I, and my children. The devil took the handwriting and concealed it from himself.
I said to Adam: Sir, let's repent, the Lord will deliver us from the Devil. Adam said, We fast for forty days. I said: You, my lord, fast for forty days, and I will fast for forty and four days. And he said to me: Come into the Tigris river and put a stone on your head, and the other under your feet, and stand on your neck in the water, but do not listen to anyone, so that you will not be deceived again. And he showed me a secret sign, and said to me: Do not go out of the river until I come. And Adam arose, and went to the Jordan to repent, and there all the beasts and birds came together, and many angels mourned and mourned for Adam. Adam also plunged the whole river into the Jordan River and spent 40 days like this.
The devil came to Eve, as an angel shone, tears fell on the ground, and he said to me: Eve, the Lord heard your prayer and our angels praying for you, God sent me, so that you would lead out of the river Adam. I did not believe him, and again after 3 days I came in accepting the image of Adam, and he tempted me for a long time. I did not agree to go out until I saw the sign that Adam had shown me. And when Adam had finished his 40-day penance, he came from the Jordan and found the footprint of the Devil coming to me, and was very frightened if I had not been deceived again. And when he saw me in the water, he was very happy. But when he came to me, I did not believe that it was my lord. He showed me the sign. Then I believed and left the river. Thus the Lord freed us from the Devil.
And we settled in Midian, and here we gave birth to Cain and Abel. And all the days they both grazed cattle. Once Adam got up from his bed and told me: O wife, it's been fourteen years, the blood of Abel, killed by Cain, must be shed. Give me the ass, I'll go and find it. When I heard, my heart was troubled. And Adam sat upon the ass, and went and found Abel the slain and said nothing, for so the angel commanded him. And he brought Abel to a place called Rheon, and buried him there. And when I gave birth to Seth, I said to Adam: Master, do not tear your heart, for again she gave birth to a son instead of Abel and gave him the name of Seth.
And then Adam interrupted Eve, exclaiming: Oh Eve, shut up, I have already weakened my spirit. And Seth said: My father, I will go to Heaven and bring something from Paradise, and you will see, and you will be comforted. Adam said, Son, how to enter your Paradise? But you nevertheless come closer to Paradise with weeping, the Lord will allow you to take a branch from the tree of the olive and, who knows, this illness can let me go. Seth asked: Father, where is your illness from? Adam said: Oh son, the sickness is my disease. When I sinned and your mother, then the Lord said: I will multiply your sorrow, you will always be in sorrow. And I will give you 72 illnesses: the first disease to the womb, the second to the eye, then I will add one at a time. And your mother said: Your husband will always rule over you, when you will give birth, death will threaten you.
Heard this Seth, and went to Paradise with his mother, and saw Eve a fierce beast named crocodile, chasing after her son Seth. And stopping, she said to him: O beast, do not you remember how I cherished you with my hands? How dare you open your mouth to the image of God, how dare you snap your son's teeth! And then the beast answered Eve and said: O Eva, evil has gone from you. And how dare you encroach upon the food that the Lord did not allow you to eat? That's why I want to devour your child. And then Eve burst into tears, and she could hear her crying from the east to the west, and she said: O woe to me, my God, from now on I will be cursed all the people forever. Then Seth said: I adjure you, the beast, in your den, until the Day of Judgment, if you encroach on the hope of man. So he remains forever.
Seth said, and went with his mother, and wept before the Heaven, and sprinkled his ashes upon the dust. And the archangel appeared before them and asked them: What are you calling? And Seth said: Lord, my father became ill and wants a paradise, wants to see a branch from the tree of the olive tree, then his illness may subside. And then the angel said to Seth: There is no remedy for Adam, for his days are near to death, and his life is finished. And he broke off from the tree, because of which Adam was banished from Paradise, and gave Sifu three branches. And Seth brought them to where Adam, his father, lay.
And Adam saw them then, and took them, and sighing heavily, he made a crown and laid it on his head, and saw the hand of the Lord that received his soul. And Eve saw the censer with incense burning flesh of Adam's body, and the three angels holding burning candles. And Seth looked up to heaven and saw the soul of Adam, his father, standing far from the Lord standing, and many angels praying for Adam. When the Archangel Michael stood, then all the angels fell silent. And then the Lord relented, stretched forth his hand and received the soul of Adam. And the Lord sent an angel to bury his body. And he taught Seth, and took the body and carried it to a place called the Gerusi swamp. And when they buried the grave, the archangel sealed the coffin, and a voice from heaven called out, Adam, Adam! He answered: Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said: I predicted to you that you are a land and you will go to the land. And the Lord said to the earth: Your from you all you bring. And so Adam was buried with the crown that was on his head. Eve, in a mournful voice praying, asked: Lord, Lord, receive my soul. And so after Adam, after six days, bowing her head, she betrayed her soul to God. And here they buried Eve and her son Abel. And on that place a tree of a crown grew that was on the head of Adam.