which bore, instead
of flowers, small heads of pure profile, wearing, like the Egyptian
goddesses, vultures, hawks, or the shining disk of the moon; whilst
in the background, by the side of a fountain, Nicias studied, on an
armillary sphere, the harmonious movements of the stars.

Then a veiled woman approached the monk, holding in her hand a branch of
myrtle. She said to him--

"Look! Some seek eternal beauty, and place their ephemeral life in
the infinite. Others live without much thought. But by that alone they
submit to fair Nature, and they are happy and beautiful in the joy of
living only, and give glory to the supreme artist of all things; for man
is a noble hymn to God. All think that happiness is innocent, and that
pleasure is permitted to man. Paphnutius, if they are right, what a dupe
you have been!"

And the vision vanished.

Thus was Paphnutius tempted unceasingly in body and mind. Satan never
gave him a minute's repose. The solitude of the tomb was more peopled
than the streets of a great city. The devils shouted with laughter, and
millions of imps, evil genii, and phantoms imitated all the ordinary
transactions of life. In the evening, when he went to the spring,
satyrs and nymphs capered round him, and tried to drag him into their
lascivious dances. The demons no longer feared him. They loaded him with
insults, obscene jests, and blows. One day a devil, no longer than his
arm, stole the cord he wore round his waist.

He said to himself--

"Thought, whither hast thou led me?"

And he resolved to work with his hands, in order to give his mind that
rest of which it had need. Near the spring, some banana trees, with
large leaves, grew under the shade of the palms. He cut the stalks, and
carried them to the tomb. He crushed them with a stone, and reduced them
to fibres, as he had seen ropemakers do. For he intended to make a cord,
to replace that which the devil had stolen. The demons were somewhat
displeased at this; they ceased their clamour, and the girl with the
theorbo no longer continued her magic arts, but remained quietly on the
wall. The courage and faith of Paphnutius increased whilst he pounded
the banana stems.

"With Heaven's help," he said to himself, "I shall subdue the flesh. As
to my soul, its confidence is still unshaken. In vain do the devils, and
that accursed woman, try to instil into my mind doubts as to the nature
of God. I will reply to them, by the mouth of the Apostle John,