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For three whole nights and days the Lord of Vengeance was strong in us. But at last the weak flesh could no longer keep pace with the willing spirit, and we desisted from the pursuit

I lay upon my bed; I could neither wake nor sleep. I felt, as it were, an inward hollowness, as though the spirit had departed out of me. I lay in burning heat; I tore my hair, I wept, I prayed, I sang;—I cannot tell what came over me

Then, on a sudden, I saw before me by the wall a white and shining light, and in the radiance stood a man in a long cloak. A glory encircled his head; he held a reed in his hand, and fixed his gaze mildly upon me.

You saw that!

I saw it. And then he spoke and said: "Agathon; arise, seek him out who shall inherit the empire; bid him enter the lion's den and do battle with the lions."

Do battle with the lions! Oh, strange, strange!—Ah, if it were! The meeting with that philosopher—A revelation; a message to me—; am I the chosen one?

Assuredly you are!

Do battle with the lions!—Yes, I see it;—so it