Kalila and Dimna

The Prologues

Anthony Alcock

The book known as Kalila and Dimna originated in India. It is a collection of fables illustrating practical
wisdom told by two jackals called Kalila and Dimna, known in the Greek version as Stephanites and
Ichnelates. The Sankrit name for the collection is Pacatantra, which means something like 'five books'. 1
The earliest written form can be dated to around 300 BC, but some of the stories are probably much older.
The earliest translation seems to have been into Middle Persian in the 6th cent. AD, which was translated
into Arabic by a Persian scholar, Ibn al Muqaffa', in the 8th cent. and is one of the earliest prose works in
Arabic. A Greek version was made from that text by Simeon son of Seth, an Antiochene, in 1080. In 1270 a
Latin translation from the Hebrew version of Rabbi Joel was made by John of Capua, a Jew who had
converted to Christianity. It has since between translated into many languages. 2

The Greek and Latin text have three Prologues, in addition to the collection of tales. This translation has
been made from the Latin version of the prologues, the text of which can be found on the website of the
Bibliotheca Augustana: it has been reprinted from the text published in the study by Alfons Hilka in 'Eine
lateinische bersetzung der griechischen Version des Kalila-Buches' Beitrge zur lateinischen
Erzhlungsliteratur des Mittelalters (Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gttingen :
Philol.-Histor. Kl. 21,3), 1928 pp. 67-155, of which the Prologues occupy pp. 69-86. Hilka maintains that this
Latin version is older than the one made in 1270. It is certainly quite different from the Latin version
published as that made by John of Capua. The translation that follows is by no means literal., but I hope it is
readable. This is not a work of scholarship but one that I hope is informative and entertaining.

Prologue One deals with the discovery by the Persian king Chosroes that there is a book in India which is
full of wisdom and which will be of great value to all. Someone who knows Sanskrit is to be sent to get hold
of a copy and for this Pericce, known in the Latin of John of Capua as Berozia, is selected. He is funded by
Chosroes and sent to India, where he befriends an unnamed wise man. who in turn helps him. On his return
a Persian translation of the book is made and read aloud in public.

1 The Sanskrit text was published by Franklin Edgerton in Panchatantra reconstructed. 2 Volumes (1924). For
a translation from the Sanskrit cf. P. Olivelle Pacatantra (2009).
2 The earliest English translation was made by Sir Thomas North, the 16th cent. translator of Plutarch, from an
Italian version. The text can be found in J. Jacobs The earliest English of the Fables of Bidpai (1888). The Greek
and Latin version can be consulted in the publication of Vittorio Spuntoni Directorium Humanae Vitae (1884)
pp. 268-339: the Latin version is considerably longer than the text published by Hilka. I have not attempted to
compare the two, but I consulted the Latin version when the Latin version of Hilka was not easily
understandable.

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Prologue Two begins by praising the versatility of the book as a work for the wise and not so wise. This is
followed by advice to the reader, often prefaced by terms such as oportet (it is necessary) and decet (it is
seemly) and edifying parables, prefaced by dictum est (it is said).

Prologue Three provides a little autobiographical information: he is described as the primus medicus
Persarum, who realizes after long study how inadequate medicine is. In section II he has a long dialogue
with his soul (anima), which longs for the things of the world (temporalia), but he manages to get the better
of the soul. He eventually discovers the studium rerum aeternarum (study of eternal matters), which he
decides to follow. He is confronted by various beliefs and opinions that set people against each other. He
resolves to seek dialogue cum discretioribus ut discam veritatem (those who lived apart that I might learn
the truth). But the pursuit of the truth is not so easy. A life of abstinence from secular delights is the choice
he makes. The final parable is the one of the unicorn as the devil. 3

3 The context in which this story can be better appreciated is mapped out by K. Aavitsland Imagining the
human condition in Medieval Rome (2012) ch. 4

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 Prologue One

I. Chosroes, king of the Persians, known as Ansornanus, son of Caidat, on learning that there
was a book written by intelligent and wise men in India containing stories useful to those
who deal with the great and the lowly, the powerful and the powerless, the Book of Kalila and
Dimna, a book hidden by the ruler, consisting of useful stories, gave instructions that a wise
man who knew the Indian language be found. A wise man full of wisdom was brought before
him, a medical doctor called Pericce. In the presence of the king, after kneeling in adoration he
arose. The emperor said to him: "I have heard of your wisdom and knowledge. Intelligence has
reached me of a book that the Indians have" and told him of his desire to know everything
about it. He instructed Pericce to go and seek out the book: "Be zealous in finding the book
and any others that we do not have." He arranged for enough money to be given to him and
said: "If you spend this money and need more, simply write to us and you will be given what
you wish."

II. Pericce arrived in India. He attended the emperor, the nobles and wise men each day,
greeting them and telling them of his travels, that he had come for their teaching. He asked
them for help and concealed his own knowledge, like a pupil being taught by them, keeping
the reason for his arrival hidden from them.

III. He spent much time conversing with them and was very generous. In this way he made
many friends among people of every sort, including the titled and untitled. Among them he
found a certain person, who was trustworthy, wise, intelligent and very learned. Certain of his
fidelity and with enough confidence in himself and the the job entrusted to him, he was
accepted and began to eat and drink with this person and to spend lavishly and abundantly.
One day he said to his friend: "Brother, I wish to reveal to you my secret and tell you why I am
here. Do not be angry that I have not told you. But you must have seen it, for a wise and
intelligent man knows from various signs what someone else is thinking."

IV. The Indian heard this and said: "Even though it has taken you so long to reveal your secret

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to me, I knew it, though you said nothing, because of your fervent love of knowledge, your
learning and understanding. Since you have started, I will tell you why you have come here: to
take our honoured treasures back to submit them to your emperor.

V. But when I saw your self-restraint and how well you concealed your secret, I was all the
more eager for your friendship. I have never seen anyone of comparable reliability and
intelligence who hides his secrets so well, especially in a foreign place, where people are
unfamiliar with your intentions, for an intelligent man is known by eight signs of virtue: first,
gentlenesss and patience; second, knowledge of and attention to his own good; third, loyalty
to a ruler and the willingness to obey him; fourth, the ability to keep the secret of his friend;
fifth, the skill of wisely frequenting the emperor's palace and approaching everyone around
the emperor in a friendly way; sixth, the ability to the secrets of oneself and others; seventh, to
be circumspect in one's speech and avoid nonsense; eighth, not to offer a response to what one
has not been asked. He who has these eight virtues will be welcome, will find no opposition
and will properly be assisted in all he wishes to achieve. You have these virtues in ample
measure and I pray God that you will find assistance in what you want and seek. But your
enterprise fills me with dread, for it is dangerous. So let us ask for God's help."

VI. Pericce understood that the Indian knew what he was planning and that his friendship
towards him was not deceitful and that his friend was not angry with him and offered no
criticism but responded benevolently and patiently. He was confident of completing his
mission and said nothing to his friend. The Indian begged him: "My friend, I have made a great
effort to extract these words from you, but I can see that you have more on your mind that is
both obvious and concealed. I like the intelligence and learning that God has given you. When
a wise man wisely gives up a secret, the one to whom it is said has to receive the request and
be like a man who builds his house on a solid rock that is an immovable mountain. For there is
nothing in the world better than pure love. He who has it is worthy to share it with his friend
forever and must conceal nothing from him. The first virtue of learning is to keep secrets. They
remain concealed between two people, but with three they are open to all and nobody can
hide them, like a cloud that has broken up. But I rejoice in and am glad of your friendship.
What you are asking of me need not be said to anyone. For once these things are known, it will
be a source of great harm to me, and neither your power or your wealth will be able to save

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me, because our emperor is fierce, angry and cruel, who punishes people for the smallest
offence, and all the more for it."

VII. Pericce replied: "The wise often warmly praise the one who can keep the secrets of his
friend, even if they are harmful, deceitful and damaging. So I am confident and hope you will
will assist me in my mission, keeping my secret, even if you run the risk of punishment and
danger. But I know that you will suffer no harm from me. But be careful of your fellow citizens,
for I will leave but you will stay. There is no third party between us except God, and when I
leave you will be out of danger." When the Indian heard this, he handed over all that his friend
asked for. Pericce received copies of the book and other famous books. He spent quite a long
time in vigilance and danger because of this great treasure, in fear of the emperor, but he
completed the mission of his master and himself as he had wished. He told Ansornanus how
dangerous his mission had been and how much he had spent in addition to what he had
received and how he had completed his task. When Ansornanus heard this, he rejoiced greatly
and sent him money that he himself had borrowed and wrote to him that he should return
quickly lest he should suffer any mishap on the long journey and so that he might get what he
wanted. He thanked for showing him the benefit of the Indian books, and promised Preicce
him honours and the greatest recompense together with an important office for all his
troubles.

VIII. When he read the letter of Ansornanus and paid back all the money he had borrowed, he
set off and told the Persian emperor he was coming. The emperor summoned him to his
presence and received him graciously: "Rejoice, good and faithful servant., for we will give you
what we promised and more for the dangers you have sustained." He told him to rest for seven
days and after that he summoned all his nobles and people together with Pericce and ordered
the books that had been brought to be read aloud in public. When everyone heard, they
marvelled at the intelligence and wisdom and learning that came from the mouths of
irrational animals and birds. They thanked God for making the emperor and themselves
intelligent and wise and praised the emperor who saw to it that they had such understanding.
They also praised Pericce who had undergone so much difficulty and danger on their behalf.
The emperor also ordered all his wardrobes to be thrown open and Pericce to take as many
jewels and gold and imperial garments on oath as he wanted.

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IX. Pericce kneeled in worship and gave thanks: "Most glorious emperor, God in this life has
granted you the greatest glory and may he do so in the next life. But I your servant care
nothing for the riches of this life. I am satisfied with the honour you bestow upon me. But to
please you, I will take one of your garments so that I may be glorified in my whole generation."
And out of courtesy for his lord he gratefully accepted one of the imperial robes. "May the
emperor live forever ! I have received your most fitting gifts, I poor servant that I am. I ask and
pray with all my heart in great faith to Almighty God that you may be healthy and prosperous
in all your life. I ask for only one thing, and please listen. " The emperor said to him: "Ask what
you wish even up to half my kingdom to compensate you the dangers you have incurred in my
service." So Pericce said to him: "May you live forever ! I beg you to tell Percencencarius, the
son of Pastichimat, a wise philosopher, to make a drawing of me and write down everything
that happened to me and what I experienced abroad and to place my portrait between the
pages of the book of Kalila and Dimna so that I might be famous in my lifetime and that people
might remember me after my death wherever and for as long as the book is read." The
emperor and his court, hearing this, marvelled at his intelligence and prudence, for he was
seeking lasting glory in this life. The emperor said: " Your request is to be fulfilled for you are
worthy of it." He had Percencercari summoned straightaway. The emperor said to him: "You
are familiar with the patience that Pericce has displayed towards us and the dangers and
labours he has undergone in brininging back the books. We wish to reward him with secular
wealth, but he has refused and asks that a visual record be made of his adventures where
Kalila and Dimna are to be portrayed. So we give instruction that at the beginning of this book
that you record all his deeds from start to finish and that he be praised according to his virtue,
and you will partake of his virtue, and you make mention of my majesty. That done we will
arrange for the city and its people to assemble so that it might be read before them and that all
might know your wisdom and our good will that we have entertained towards Pericce."

X. Pericce heard all this and made an act of worship to the emperor and withdrew.
Percencercari started on his portrait and his account of everything that Pericce had done in
his city, the discipline, curiosity and his life up to the time he was sent off to India by the
emperor and all the things that had happened to him in the service of the emperor. Besides his
virtue he praised him like as one who held the mundane present in slight esteem and wished
for the future. When he was finished the told the emperor, who summoned everybody and in
the presence of Pericce all that was written was read out by Percencencari. When everybody
heard and everything had been read out, the emperor and his retinue were delighted,

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marvelling at how skilfully Percencercari had arranged the deeds of Pericce and praising him
greatly. After this the emperor made Percencercari an extremely wealthy man. Pericce made
obeisance to the emperor: "Emperor, generous benefactor, live forever ! You have glorified me
in honouring your name, and because you have instructed my name to be recorded in this
book, may God record yours in his book. May you live joyfully and contentedly in this life and
the next and may he who is eternally living and reules through all the ages consider it worthy
to stand by you. Amen." With these thanks he kissed Percencencari on the hand and the head
and took his leave.

Prologue Two

I. The beginning of the book Kililes et Dimnes, that is of Stephanitis and Ignilatis, written by
Indian sages who also wrote dialogues and stories of wise men and the intelligence and their
pity sayings and how they spoke to each other through the mouths of irrational animals and
birds, arranging the same book according to reason so that the wise might find intelligence
and learning in it and the unlearned amusement and humour, young people and others who
want to study the book and absorb its learning useful learning, against the day when they are
old enough to govern themselves and take care of themselves from harm. It will be an
inexhaustible treasure and more use to them than gold or silver. They will continue to enjoy it,
like one who has found a great treasure that their parents have saved for them so that they are
not lacking. The way and the root of wisdom takes many forms, as it is written about wise and
famous people.

II. It is important that the reader know the virtue of the book and why it was written and not
to glance through it unintelligently, for reading without understanding amounts to neglect.
which is a contemptible, empty and unprofitable exercise. It is said that such negligent
readers are like the man who found a treasure and lost it through greed, for it is gradual
appreciation of a treasure that yields something each day. One day the man hired workmen to
bring the treasure to his home. The workmen dug and found the treasure and divided it
among themselves and took it home with them. On his return the master was unable to find
the treasure or the workmen, and he was like someone who has not profited from his labour
but has only worry and danger.

III. It is, however, fitting that those who read the book know the dialogues and hidden
meanings in it. The one who reads and does not understand is like a man who has nuts but

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does not break them open, so he cannot see the fruit in them, or like someone who who wants
to learn to read and goes to a friend with his book and asks him to write Arabic in it, who
writes the Arabic text in it and gives it back to his friend. The latter takes the book home him
and reads it each day without a translation. When sitting with scholars and believing he
knows something of the meaning of the book, but when he speaks, he says nothing. They say
to him: "Friend, you have failed." His reply: "The book I have at home has failed." So, the reader
should read so that he may with some effort understand what he is reading, may understand
what he is being taught and become a person of understanding. He should not race through
the text but consider its arguments, that is, understand and be ready to question it.

IV. It is said that man needs two things in life, namely, awareness and learning, for these purify
the mind. And as oil lights up a lamp, learning raises man and awareness saves him. The one
who knows and does not act in accordance with his learning will be condemned, like the man
whose house was broken into one night by a thief. He roused himself and said: "I will let him
gather everything together and then assault him, and then he will be sorry." He lay in wait in
his bed, and the thief took everything and escaped. When he woke up, he was already
condemned, because he knew that his intelligence had been of no use to him, for he had not
acted in accordance with his awareness.

Understanding is a tree and work is its fruit. In this way he seeks understanding and the one
who does not live in it seeks it in vain, like a man seeing a ruin, walking about in it and dying.
Is this not ridiculous ? He must be the object of universal ridicule, like a man voluntarily
embracing stupidity and ignoring intelligence, an invalid who knows what is harmful food and
what is not, who is overcome by desire and greed and eats the harmful food. A man of this
sort must be the object of universal contempt. Equally, a wise man who knows the difference
between good and evil and neglects the good in favour of the evil, is he not to be censured ?
Like two people, one sighted and the other unsighted, who both fall into a trap and sink to the
bottom, is not the sighted one to be censured than the unsighted one ?

V. Similarly, he who uses his understanding to help others and not himself is like a spring that
helps others and not itself. It is therefore important for one seeking understanding in the first
place to chastise himself before disciplining others. He who loves the world must acquire
three things: understanding, wealth and discretion. It is said that a man who seeks something

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and does not know its use is wasting his time and is called a fool. The one who reads this book
and makes an effort to understand it and does not act in accordance with understanding must
be called blind. It is fitting for the wise man not to seek to harm others for his own benefit, for
he who despises a friend and and thinks he has deceived him will be damned and suffer as
much as the other has suffered.

There is a story about two merchants and their vetch. 4 Each one kept his, that is his grain,
separate from that of the other. One, wishing to steal the vetch of his colleague , covered his
own with a sack so that he might be able to identify it at night. He then went to another friend
of his and said to him: "I wish to steal the vetch of my colleague. Join me and it will be ours."
His colleague arrived late and found his vetch covered with a sack and said to himself: "What a
good turn my colleague has done me ! He has covered my vetch and left his exposed. I must
cover his with his cloth." He removed the cloth from his vetch and covered that of his
colleague. The other colleague came in the night with his friend and entering the granary
began to feel about in the dark until he reached the vetch. He did what had planned to do and
took half of what he found, giving the other half to his friend. In the morning he came in with
his friend and seeing that his own vetch had been stolen became very anxious. In thinking that
he would profit, he lost what was his own and realized that he was unable to recover what he
had given to his friend and he did not want the truth to come out lest he be the worse for it. It
is thus fitting for someone enquiring into a matter to know the end 5 of it. If he enquires into
something that has no end, he will labour much and tire out his brain. Nobody can become
rich without risk and nobody should give up hope about things that might happen, and above
all it is fitting that his mind should be on the eternal and not the temporal.

VI. It is also said that there are two things that adorn a person: wealth and learning. As a lamp
illuminates a house, these two thing also adorn a person. It is said that many unexpectedly
become rich. There is also a story about a poor person who had nothing to cover his body: he
went to his friends and asked for clothing, but there was nobody to give it to him. He returned
home late that evening and went to bed naked. During the night a thief broke into his house
and found nothing but a little food in his pantry and said to himself: "I am not leaving empty-
handed. At least I can take some food." He took off his shirt and filled it with food. The house-
owner awoke and saw him. He jumped on him and seized him. He beat him badly and removed
the shirt and put it on. He put the food back in the pantry. His prize was the shirt.
4 Lat. zizanium, for which there are various words, is probably to be understood here 'vetch', a member of the
legume family associated with beans and lentils.
5 Has the same two meanings, 'purpose' and 'limit', as the Latin finis.

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VII. So it is not fitting for anyone to feel certain about everything or to enquire into a matter
than is incomprehensible. One should not place one's hope in this story and dismiss danger,
for the one who seeks finds. Even if you see someone find something without enquiry, do not
follow him, for many have found found many things through enquiry. It is also important to
enquire into things and learn to distinguish between them, what is useful and what is harmful
and act on this knowledge so that one does not suffer harm, like the dove that saw its chicks
slaughtered before its eyes and did not withdraw from the place but remained there until it
too was slaughtered. A person has to set a boundary and not go beyond it so that he might
know what everyone does: he who works for the future will live forever and he who works for
now will be condemned and he works for both, will be master and live.

VIII. It is said that everyone must have three things: trustworthiness, the ability to search
justly for what is necessary and to get along with others. It is also said that every lazy,
negligent and credulous person is like someone who believes the words of another or follows
his will, especially where there is doubt. It is not fitting that he should accept what is said,
even if it is the word of truthful person, or comply with his own wishes or disregard true
understanding or be concerned with and investigate the impossible or say anything
spontaneously about anything, otherwise he is like someone who loses his way and is doomed,
like a man whose eye has been stabbed and, when trying to remove the offending object,
blinds himself. It is therefore fitting for an intelligent person to know what true retribution is.
He who does to his friend what he does not like condemns his own soul. It is therefore fitting
for an intelligent man to know true retrbution. He who does to his friend what he himself does
not like will damage his own soul. Those who read this book should not skim through it for
their own convenience but meditate on it and benefit from it intelligently. We Persians, when
we see the translations made from Sanskrit into Persian (and recalling Pericce and those who
were not writing his words, let us remember them), we have translated them from Persian
into Arabic6 and placed them at the beginning of the book so that readers of it may acquire
more understanding.

6 The sentiments presumably of Ibn al Muqaffac, the Arabic translator.

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 Prologue Three

I. Pericce, the leading Persian doctor, the same who translated this book, said: 'My father was
of the great and powerful nations and by the grace of God I was loved and honoured by my
parents above all my brothers and I was entrusted to the care of teachers to study medicine,
which took me seven years. After I had finished my study, I said to myself: "People of this
world pursue four things that I have to learn and better choose: wealth, pleasure, power, and
the ultimate service, the service that is valued through the art of medicine, into which I have
been initiated, for it is the most praiseworthy and honourable of all the human arts. I found in
medical books that he is praiseworthy who seeks this art because of the service of the final
day. For this reason I chose this skill before all others, not for worldly but eternal merit so that
I would not be like some trader who gave a precious stone from which he might have been rich
in exchange for something of no value. And I also found that anyone who is looking for eternal
reward through this skill is not to have a temporal reward, like the farmer who separates his
yield not for the chaff but for the wheat. I began my medical work with the needy for the sake
of eternal reward. I healed some with my own hands and some by spending my own money
for medicines able to heal them. I did not seek praise and reward from my equals or the great
and the good. I did it that I might become good in word and deed.

II. My soul wanted worldly things, but I struggled with it and overcame it, saying: 7 "Do you not
know what is good and what is harmful for you ? Will you not flee from those things which the
possessors of them do not enjoy ? For the love of which they run risks and the loss of which
makes them very anxious ? Which are indeed a perpetual punishment for them ? Are you not
ashamed to be one of the fools and the unintelligent who love this transient world ? For if
anyone has anything. it is not his and he will not keep it, which is why those who pursue and
love such things are fools. Flee from the secular and seek the eternal. Be satisfied with the
necessities of life and perform good works wherever you can. Do not strive for worldly things
and pay no attention to sentimental or bodily matters, but remember that the body is
composed of four elements that sustain and end life, like a statue that has many joints
strengthened by metal and disintegrates when that metal decomposes. Do not be deceived in
the society of friends and do not be at risk in their company, for they offer little joy and much

7 Many of the utterances are prefaced by O anima mea. I have omitted this in the translation. Whatever the
anima is meant to be, it seeem to be a part of the human that actually enjoys physicality. One thinks of the
Egyptian concept of k3 and the offerings made to it after death that life might be sustained. It is the
'counterpart' of another part of the human in Egyptian thought, b3, one of the protagonists in the Middle
Egyptian text usually known as The dispute of a man with his soul

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sadness, and ultimately there is a parting. You will be like a crystal vase through which the
quality of dishes is recognizable and, when it is broken, is burned in the fire. Do not work to
accumulate money for the convenience of relatives. If you do, you will be no different from
incense which others can smell but which itself is burned in fire. Do not be deceived by wealth
and fame, with which people can feel pride, but without which they can feel shame. Like the
hairs on a head, when all together they present a repectable show, but when separated they
can be abominable. Buy medicine for the infirm and do not say that it is too expensive and that
many are ignorant of its healing effects. But be like a man who rescues the soul of another
from danger and brings it back to life because he has found eternal reward. If anyone thinks
that he can obtain so much virtue for something that benefits only one person, how much
more virtue will accrue to the one who treats countless numbers of people in danger and
those who are permanently weak and wish to depart from the delights of this world and from
their wives and children, the one who returns to their glory and good will. 8 They expect and
hope to have the greatest reward for their good works. Do not be too much involved with
temporal matters and be distant from eternal ones. Do not place the small before the great and
do not sell what is valuable for very little, like the merchant who had a granary full of plums 9
and said to himself: "If I sell them by weight, I will run a great risk." So he sold them without
weighing them for a small price and just looked foolish.

III. In this way I reproached my soul. It could not escape from me, but submitted to my
demands and gave up temporal things. So I began to care for the sick in search of my eternal
reward. For all this, I am not without worldly glory and imperial favour and honour, and before
I went to India and afterwards I found more than I hoped for and what I was not worthy of, for
I learned the art of medicine. In the course of my studies I found no doctor who could cure the
sick and restore him to full health, so that he or others would never be ill again. Unable to
understand completely why people were sick, I became contemptuous of the art of medicine.
Finding that the study of the eternal freed men from all weakness, I began to want more
temperance. Having embraced it, I was scandalized by the belief of various nations, for in
medicine I found no history of belief with which I was to be instructed. Belief takes many
forms: some acquire it from family, some have it through and some for worldly glory. They
believe that what they believe is true and what others believe is empty and deceitful. This is

8 I do not understand this.

9 I can find no other way to translate this.

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why they doubt the creator and the created, the beginning and the end, and certain dubious
and strong things, each one reproaching, abusing and being hostile to the others. When I saw
this, I wanted to dispute with those who lived apart so that I might learn the truth. I withdrew
from falsehood and followed truth so that I might hold it without embarasssment and not
believe what I did not know, but follow my feelings. I did this and enquired and asked them. I
found that each one confirmed how believing he was and how much he differed from his
fellow. And so I recognized that each followed his own will and that all spoke unjustly and that
nobody truthfully said anything they had learned from an intelligent person.

IV. With this knowledge I refused to follow some of them and kept my distance from them so
that I might not be as deceived as they were. It is said that a certain thief entered a house with
his fellow thieves in order to thieve. The master of the house, who was asleep with his wife,
heard them and woke up his wife, saying: "I think that there are thieves in the house. Look, I
am asleep. Wake me up and say in a loud voice: 'Husband, tell me where you have put all our
worldly goods.' When I do not answer, say it louder" The wife said and did as she was told, and
the thieves heard and paid careful attention. The husband said to his wife: "God has granted us
this wealth. You should eat and drink and be happy and not ask questions about things I
cannot reveal to you. lest someone by chance hear and we find ourselves in great
embarassment." As she kept insisting, the husband said: "Since you force me, I will tell you.
But be careful not to tell any one, brothers and relatives, so that we do not lose our money,
because I have acquired all this from theft." His wife said: "How have you got this from theft,
when everyone trusted you and you gave nobody reason not to trust you ? The husband
replied: "I learned a formula about theft. For that reason nobody knows me or is embarassed
by me." His wife said: "What was it ?" He said: "I was walking out one night by the light of the
moon and my companions and I scaled a portico and entered a house. I said these words
before the entrance three times: 'Selem Selem Selem'. I lowered myself into the house by
means of a moonbeam, and nobody could see me. I recited the verse again, and everything
came out of the house into my presence and I took what I wanted. And again I took hold of the
beams and repeated the formula seven times and left." When the thieves heard this, they
rejoiced and said: "We have learned in this house something more useful to us than in any
other house, and wherever we are, we will be fearless." And thinking that the master of the
house was asleep with his wife and believing his words, the gang leader went to the door
from which he could see the moon shining and said: "Selem Selem Selem". He embraced the

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rays to descend and fell headlong to the ground. The master of the house jumped up with a
staff in his hand and started to beat him vigorously: "Who are you ?" The thief replied: "I am a
poor deluded creature who believed your word, which was not true."

V. This is the result of what was said. Wary that scandal might lead to my downfall, I reflected
and asked myself how about their beliefs and I could get the truth from them. I found no
encouraging reply, so I decided to follow my parents in venerating what they had venerated
before me. And again I reflected and cautioned myself: "Soul, is there not a prophet in this
investigation ?10 For we have found his parents imitating magicians and I have seen his parents
eating to excess." For this reason I could not continue to believe them. And again turning and
asking for belief and asking on their behalf, I approached death and exit from this world and
this world became like a shadow. But I was doing a good thing, commanding in these good
deeds, lest perhaps my conduct in these matters oppose me in good deeds and death confound
me and I suffer what happened to a certain man, of whom it was said that he desired a
married woman. Next to a well she dug a place for her lover to enter and leave. She told him
that he could escape if he were afraid. One day, when the two were together, the husband
came and stood in the doorway. The woman said to her lover: "Run to the well and you will
find the way out." So he went to the well and, seeing how deep it was, returned to the woman
n fear and said: "I could not find it". She said: "Fool, do you not know that the way out is in the
well." He said: "Love of you made me forget the way." She said: "Wretch, save yourself and stop
talking like a fool." The lover said: "Where shall I go ? I am beguiled by you, my love." While he
was still in a state of bewilderment, the husband came in, seized him and beat him shamefully
with his hands tied behind his back and handed him over to the authorities. I thought about all
this apprehensively and, when I had returned to my senses, I chose to do the good thing, to
which all forms of belief testify.

VI. I wanted to flee from fear. I did not want to beat anybody or feel unworthy or cast insults or
deceive anyone. I fled from the desire of women and became chaste. I kept my tongue from
lying and all forms of wickedness and harm. It was my desire to be good to all and I kept
myself away from bad things as I came nearer to the good. I recognized that there is no friend
or companion like goodness. For, God willing, it is easily sought and it is more glorious than

10 I am not sure what nonne quis est propheta effectus in hac inquisitione means.

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parents and friends. When it is distributed, it does not diminish, but rather increases. It does
not swell or grow old but increasingly becomes an adornment. It is fearless, not condemned
by power, is not afraid of fire or wild beast or thieves or anything of the sort. I have found that
one who flees from good and persists in the delights of this world for a little sweetness is like
someone who has lost much money and so becomes a companion of a fool. There is a story
that one day a merchant hired someone for a hundred solidi to make holes in pearls. He
accompanied the merchant to his house and found many clay vessels in his house.The
merchant said: "Do you know how to break them ?" He replied: "Well enough." He was told to
start breaking, so he did with great enthusiasm and in the evening the hireling asked for his
pay. The merchant said: "You have done nothing. What do you want ?" The other replied: "I
have done what you told me to do." Unwillingly he gave the man his pay and so lost all his
vessels. And his pearls were still without holes in them.

VII. When I learned that the sweetness of this life was unreliable, I chose abstinence so that I
would not die, for the ways of rebirth are right. As parents guide their childen through life,
abstinence does the same for its friends. I have seen it shielding people from all evils like a
very strong tower, the door of which is open and eternally overflowing with the delights of
paradise. I have seen the abstainer enjoying his peace and quiet, doing glorious things,
independent, without worries, humble, avoiding all mundane things and above all sadness and
aggression. For this reason I have avoided envy and clung to the love of God. I have rejected
indecision and been made whole in understanding. I know the future and have been made
fearless. I have learned the way of the abstinent and need it. I want to be one of them but I am
afraid that I cannot because of what I have done in the past and I am wounded. I am afraid
that I will leave the world and follow the abstinent and in this way neglect the opportunity to
perform good works which, I hoped, would bring eternal benefits. I am afraid that I will be like
a dog with a piece of meat in his mouth that reaches a certain river, crosses the bridge and
sees a reflection of the same piece of meat in the water. It jumps in to seize it, opens its mouth
and loses the piece of meat it was carrying. In trying to get something he could not have he
ends up empty-handed.

VIII. For this reason I was afraid of abstinence lest I should despair of being strong enough to
bear it. Judging between the abstainer and the lover of the world and all the things that

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happen to them, I saw only a balance: in the world there is no sweetness that does not
harbinger sadness and harm. The world is like salt water: the more one drinks, the thirstier
one becomes. It is also like a bone that has the smell of meat: a dog seeks it out because of its
smell and in the process injures itself. 11 It is also like a kite that seizes a small particle of flesh,
is surrounded and harried by dogs and forced to let the flesh go and has no benefit except
danger and difficulty. It is also like a jar full of honey, at the bottom of which is poison. People
eating from it taste the sweetness and then perish. Like a poor man who dreams that he is rich
and rejoices, but then wakes up and becomes sad. And it is like lightning that appears in the
night and lights up the way for the traveller, but when it stops the traveller is left in the dark. It
is like the silkworm which produces thread from itself: the more thread it produces, the
emptier it becomes. Taught by all these examples I chose abstinence and I said: "I want to be
far from this world." By simply looking at the wells that were in it and of what sort they ought
to be, I recognized how deep was the loss. I felt like an unskilled judge who releases an
accused person and later convicts him.

IX. Again, after informing myself of the danger abstinence can bring and the short-term
indigence of it as well as the delights that go with it and the eternal feeling of relief it brings, I
chose it. Looking at the avidity my soul has in this life, I said: "What bitterness there is in the
sweetness of this life! You will be handed over to eternal punishment for it. How short-lived
are delights and charms and who does not prefer eternal sweetness to transient bitterness ?
Even if I spend a hundred years with someone in misery and sadness and fulfil my duty with
wholehearted devotion, will I not withdraw graciously from that life ? So the one who lives in
poverty and straitened circumstances is wealthy indeed, for he believes in eternal repose.
Soul, how full of danger, pain and difficulties this life is ! The life of someone who lives long
and what he does is melancholy and full of anxiety from beginning to end: at the beginning, as
we know from the doctors, he is sperm, the seed that falls into a woman's vulva and becomes
mixed with her blood and grows with limbs, in a dark and narrow space, not eating or
drinking. When the time comes, the being leaves her body with great violence. When it does
so, it is subject to the perils of infancy, such as hunger, thirst and cold, finally suffering the
harshness of having its milk taken from it, and then subjected to the discipline of learning,
accompanied by hard work and difficulties. It also suffers many illnesses. When it is of a

11 I was not able to make sense of the Latin text, so I consulted the Latin version in V. Puntoni, and the above is
the gist of the text given there (p. 331)

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certain age, it works to earn money for marriage, children, and for more money, danger and
difficulties. In all of this it has four enemies: blood, phlegm, anger and melancholy. 12 It is afraid
of deadly potions and the wild beasts of the forest, such as lions and leopards and other
creatures, reptiles and poisonous animals and in particular cold and heat, rain, air and other
punishments of this world. If it should happen that he lives a long time and becomes frail, he is
not afraid, though he ought to be, of approaching death and the departure from this world and
separation from family and relatives, brothers and friends in whom he placed his hopes. He
who is not afraid and devotes himself to the pursuit of the abundant delights of this world is
called a fool, for so far, even if he is an emperor and very strong and above all forms of harm
and difficulty and has all the virtues, he nevertheless consumes this age and hankers after it.

X. While I was thinking of all this, I saw someone honoured by all and wicked, who thought
only of the pleasure of his five senses. In my astonishment I thought he was like the man who
was running away in great fear from a unicorn, fell into a lake with a large tree on its bank,
seized two branches and planted his feet on a third branch, hoping to steady himself. Around
the lake were four serpents that kept rearing their heads as they continued to circle the water.
He then looked towards the bottom of the lake and saw a dragon with its mouth open. Again
he saw two mice, one white and the other black, eating the roots of the tree on which he was
standing. He began to wonder how he could extricate himself from such a difficult situation.
He looked and saw honey dripping from the top of the tree. He tasted the honey and was
pleasantly overcome by its sweetness so that he forgot about his safety and the unicorn and
the four serpents aound the lake and the two mice gnawing at the roots of the tree, which they
eventually consumed, with the result that the tree fell into the water and he into the jaws of
the dragon, and to all of this he was indifferent because he was lost in the sweetness of the
honey.

So the unicorn can be likened to the devil: the lake to the world full of wickedness, malignity,
bad company and perdition; the four serpents to the four dilemmas that control us, for as one
dilemma moves against another, it is like the serpent that bites and kills people; the tree of
life, the two mice, black and white, which consume the life of man night and day, the dragon
like death that none can escape; and the little bit of honey like the sweetness of this world, by

12 More or less the 'four humours' theory of medieval medicine, according to which the 'humours' of black bile,
phlegm, blood and and yellow bile corresponded to the 'tempers' known as melancholic, phlegmatic. sanguine
and choleric, terms still used today.

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which the senses of man are sweetened and he is separated from his salvation.

After all these lessons I decided to lead a good life and worked much towards this end so that I
might find the right way of my salvation. Strong in my resolve I returned to Persia, with many
books written by me, of which this is called Kililes et Dimnes, also known as Stephanitis et
Ignilatis.

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