deluded by various errors, worship by the name of Fauns, Satyrs, and
Incubi. I come as ambassador from our herd, that thou mayest pray
for us to the common God, who, we know, has come for the salvation
of the world, and his sound is gone out into all lands." As he
spoke thus, the aged wayfarer bedewed his face plenteously with
tears, which the greatness of his joy had poured forth as signs of
his heart. For he rejoiced at the glory of Christ, and the
destruction of Satan; and, wondering at the same time that he could
understand the creature's speech, he smote on the ground with his
staff, and said, "Woe to thee, Alexandria, who worshippest portents
instead of God! Woe to thee, harlot city, into which all the demons
of the world have flowed together! What wilt thou say now? Beasts
talk of Christ, and thou worshippest portents instead of God." He
had hardly finished his words, when the swift beast fled away as
upon wings. Lest this should move a scruple in any one on account
of its incredibility, it was corroborated, in the reign of
Constantine, by the testimony of the whole world. For a man of that
kind, being led alive to Alexandria, afforded a great spectacle to
the people; and afterwards the lifeless carcase, being salted lest
it should decay in the summer heat, was brought to Antioch, to be
seen by the Emperor.

But--to go on with my tale--Antony went on through that region,
seeing only the tracks of wild beasts, and the wide waste of the
desert. What he should do, or whither turn, he knew not. A second
day had now run by. One thing remained, to be confident that he
could not be deserted by Christ. All night through he spent a
second darkness in prayer, and while the light was still dim, he
sees afar a she-wolf, panting with heat and thirst, creeping in at
the foot of the mountain. Following her with his eyes, and drawing