ANTHONY. "Ah! it is thou!... so it is thou! But I know thy crimes!
"Thou wast born at Gittoi near Samaria, Dositheas, thy first master, drove thee from him. Thou didst execrate Saint Paul because he converted one of thy wives; and, vanquished by Saint Peter, in thy rage and terror thou didst cast into the waves the bag which contained thy artifices!"
(_Anthony looks at him, and an interior voice whispers hi his heart:--"Why not?"_)
"He who knows the forces of Nature and the essence of Spirits must be able to perform miracles. It has been the dream of all sages; it is the desire which even now gnaws thee!--confess it!"
"In the sight of the multitude of the Romans, I flew in the air so high that none could behold me move. Nero ordered that I should be decapitated; but it was the head of a sheep which fell upon the ground in lieu of mine. At last they buried me alive; but I rose again upon the third day. The proof is that thou dost behold me before thee!"
(_He presents his hands to Anthony to smell. They have the stench of corpse-flesh. Anthony recoils with loathing._)
"I can make serpents of bronze writhe; I can make marble statues laugh; I can make dogs speak. I will show thee vast quantities of gold; I will reestablish kings; thou shalt see nations prostrate themselves in adoration before me! I can walk upon the clouds and upon the waves, I can pass through mountains, I can make myself appear as a youth, as an old man, as a tiger, or as an ant; I can assume thy features; I can give thee mine; I can make the thunder follow after me. Dost hear it?"
(_The thunder rumbles; flashes of lightning succeed._)
"It is the voice of the Most High; for 'the Lord thy God is a fire;' and all creations are accomplished by sparks from the fire-centre of all things.
Thou shalt even now receive the baptism of it--that second baptism announced by Jesus, which fell upon the apostles on a day of tempest when the windows were open!"
(_And stirring up the flame with his hand, slowly, as though preparing to sprinkle Anthony with it, he continues_:--)
"Mother of mercies, thou who discoverest all secrets, in order that we may find rest in the eighth mansion...."
"Oh! that I had only some holy water!..."