Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

540
THE HISTORY OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
"this world thou mayest consider as a single talent
"of brass, but the joy which is there is as ten
Alexander 'thousand times ten thousands of thousands of
K6ms4t. "talents of gold; such is the joy of the righteous.
"And, moreover, bear [with me] and take another
"demonstration of [my] words. Supposing thou
"wert to lend a dinar of lead in the evenins^ and
"on the morrow [the borrower] paid thee back
"with one hundred times ten thousand times ten
"thousand \o{ dinanir\ made of pure, and refined,
"and tried silver which had been' cleansed from
"dross seven times; even so to a man who hath
"endured but a very little shall be given the
"strength of the strong man for a length of days.
"Now the lead typifieth the folly which [is soft and]
"cannot endure patiently, and its weight is like
"unto the works of sin, which also resemble lead
"in their appearance; but silver is hard and re-
"sembleth patient endurance. Do thou, then, O
"my brother Komsat, reject the dinar of lead
"which is [p. 342] the folly of the lust of the
"world— for the nature of lead is soft and in a
"very small fire it melteth—and take to thyself
"the dinanir of silver; in return for thy patient
"endurance thou shalt have joy, and in return for
"thy brass farthing thou shalt receive thousands of
"talents of gold. Such is the similitude of thy
"abstinence from the lust of the world. The water
"is foetid and turbid, restrain' thyself then, and
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