Page:King Alfred's Version of the Consolations of Boethius.djvu/200

 they are when they cannot do it, though foolish men may not believe it. 'Tis bad that a man should wish to do evil, but it is far worse that he should be able to do it; for the evil will scatters like smoke before a fire if the deed cannot be accomplished. The wicked have at one time and another three sorts of unhappiness: the first is that they desire evil, the second is that they are capable of it, and the third is that they bring it to pass;  for God hath elected to bestow punishment and misery on wicked men for their deeds of evil.'

'It is even as thou sayest,' I said, 'nevertheless I could wish, if possible, that they had not the unlucky power to do evil.'

'I fancy, however,' said she, 'they lose the power sooner than thou couldst wish or than they themselves expect, for nothing in this present life is lasting, though men may think it long. Very often the mighty power of the wicked fails exceeding suddenly, even as a great tree in the forest falls with a loud crash when least expected; and it is from dread of this that they are always very miserable. If, therefore, it is their wickedness that makes them miserable, is not the evil that lasts long worse than that which is short-lived? Even if the wicked never died I should say that they were the most miserable and unhappy of men. If all those miseries are real which we long ago said the wicked had to undergo in the world here, it is clear that these miseries are endless or eternal.'

'What thou sayest,' I said, 'is wonderful and very