according to the notion of time
which I have in _me_, it is scarcely three _hours_ (or whatever
appellation you may choose to give to the divisions of time), since I
was put to martyrdom by the Emperor Decius. But, leaving this on one
side, can you assert, in opposition to me, that a life of such length
as I say I have lived, is unexampled and contrary to human nature? Have
you cognizance of the precise length of the life of every human being
who has existed in all this wide world, that you can employ the
expression 'unexampled' in this pert and decisive manner? Do you
compare God's omnipotence to the wretched art of the clockmaker, who
can't save his lifeless machinery from destruction? You say this place
where we are is not the Theban desert, but a little woodland district
eight miles from B----, daily frequented by country folk, sportsmen and
others. _Prove_ that to me.'

"Here, I thought I had my man.

"'Come with me,' said I, 'and in a couple of hours we shall be in
B----, and what I assert will be proved.'

"'Poor, blinded fool,' said Serapion. 'What a wide distance lies
between us and B----! But put the case that I went with you to some
town which you call B----; would you be able to convince me that we had
been travelling for two hours only, and the place we had arrived at was
really B----? If I were to assert that you were insane, and suppose the
Theban desert is a little bit of wooded country, and far-away
Alexandria the town of B---- in the south of Germany, what would you
say in reply? Our old discussion would go on for ever. Then there is
another point which you ought seriously to consider. You must, I should
suppose, perceive that I, who am talking with you, am leading the
peaceful and happy life of a man reconciled with God. It is only after
having passed through martyrdom that such a life dawns upon the soul.
And if it has pleased the Almighty to cast a veil over what happened
before my martyrdom, is it not a terrible, and diabolical action to try
to tear that veil away?'

"With all my wisdom, I stood, confounded and silenced in the presence
of this insane man! With the very rationality of his irrationality he
had beaten me completely out of the field, and I saw the folly of my
undertaking in all its fulness. Still more than that, I felt the
reproach contained in what he had last said as deeply as I was
astounded at the dim remembrance of his previous life which shone
through it like some lofty, in