"You profess to love the poor, yet you prefer the rich man and his riches, and adore Him who possesses treasures to give away."
And Fra Giovanni answered:
"He I love possesses not the good things of the body, but those of the spirit."
And Satan retorted:
"All good things are of the flesh, and are tasted of through the flesh. This Epicurus taught, and Horace the Satirist said the same in his Verses."
At these words the holy man only sighed and said:
"Sir! I cannot tell what you mean."
Satan shrugged his shoulders and said:
"My words are exact and literal, yet the man cannot tell what I mean. I have disputed with Augustine and Jerome, with Gregory and him of the Golden Mouth, St. Chrysostom. And they comprehended me still less. Miserable men walk groping in the dark, and Error lifts over their head her monstrous canopy. Simple and sage alike are the plaything of eternal falsehood."
And Satan said again to the holy man Giovanni: