“This is very curious!” he said, puffing and blowing.  “And—­which is a circumstance worthy of being recorded—­this man was my guest.  Yes, this monk supped with me last year, after which he carried off an actress.”

Turning to his secretary—­

“Note that, my son, on my tablets; also the dimensions of the column, not omitting the shape of the top of it.”

Then, wiping his face again—­

“Persons deserving of belief have assured me that this monk has not left his column for a single moment since he mounted it a year ago.  Is that possible, Aristaeus?”

“That which is possible to a lunatic or a sick man,” replied Aristaeus, “would be impossible to a man sound in body and mind.  Do you know, Lucius, that sometimes diseases of the mind or body give to those afflicted by them a strength which healthy men do not possess?  For, as a matter of fact, there is no such thing as good health or bad health.  There are only different conditions of the organs.  Having studied what are called maladies, I have come to consider them as necessary forms of life.  I take pleasure in studying them in order to be able to conquer them.  Some of them are worthy of admiration, and conceal, under apparent disorder, profound harmonies; for instance, a quartan fever is certainly a very pretty thing!  Sometimes certain affections of the body cause a rapid augmentation of the faculties of the mind.  You know Creon?  When he was a child, he stuttered and was stupid.  But, having cracked his skull by tumbling off a ladder, he became an able lawyer, as you are aware.  This monk must be affected in some hidden organ.  Moreover, this kind of existence is not so extraordinary as it appears to you, Lucius.  I may remind you that the gymnosophists of India can remain motionless, not merely for a year, but during twenty, thirty, or forty years.”

“By Jupiter!” cried Cotta, “that is a strange madness.  For man was born to move and act, and idleness is an unpardonable crime, because it is an injury to the State.  I do not know of any religion in which such an objectionable practice is permitted, though it possibly may be in some of the Asiatic creeds.  When I was Governor of Syria, I found phalli erected in the porches at the city of Hera.  A man ascended, twice a year, and remained there for a week.  The people believed that this man talked with the gods, and interceded with them for the prosperity of Syria.  The custom appeared senseless to me; nevertheless I did nothing to put it down.  For I consider that a functionary ought not to interfere with the manners and customs of the people, but on the contrary, to see that they are preserved.  It is not the business of the government to force a religion on a people, but to maintain that which exists, which, whether good or bad, has been regulated by the spirit of the time, the place, and the race.  If it endeavours to put down a religion, it proclaims itself revolutionary in its spirit, and tyrannical in its acts, and is justly detested.  Besides, how are you to raise yourself above the superstitions of the vulgar, except by understanding them and tolerating them?  Aristaeus, I am of opinion that I should leave this nephelo-coccygian(*) in the air, exposed only to the indignities the birds shower on him.  I should not gain anything by having him pulled down, but I should by taking note of his thoughts and beliefs.”