Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Pseudo-Clementine Literature/The Clementine Homilies/Homily V/Chapter 3

Chapter III.&#8212;Clement&#8217;s Trick.

&#8220;I knowing this before concerning Appion, as soon as he asked me the cause of my sickness, answered feignedly, that I was suffering and distressed in my mind after the manner of young men.&#160; And to this he said, &#8216;My son, speak freely as to a father:&#160; what is your soul&#8217;s ailment?&#8217;&#160; And when I again groaned feignedly, as being ashamed to speak of love, by means of silence and down-looking I conveyed the impression of what I wished to intimate.&#160; But he, being persuaded that I was in love with a woman, said:&#160; &#8216;There is nothing in life which does not admit of help.&#160; For indeed I myself, when I was young, being in love with a most accomplished woman, not only thought it impossible to obtain her, but did not even hope ever to address her.&#160; And yet, having fallen in with a certain Egyptian who was exceedingly well versed in magic, and having become his friend, I disclosed to him my love, and not only did he assist me in all that I wished, but, honouring me more bountifully, he hesitated not to teach me an incantation by means of which I obtained her; and as soon as I had obtained her, by means of his secret instruction, being persuaded by the liberality of my teacher, I was cured of love.