Hilarion. "That he may preserve the equilibrium of the universe, and combat the works of evil. But life exhausts itself; forms wear away; and they must achieve progression in their metamorphoses."
(All upon a sudden appears a Naked Man seated in the midst of the sand, with legs crossed.)
(A large halo vibrates, suspended in air behind him. The little ringlets of his black hair in which blueish tints shift symmetrically surround a protuberance upon the summit of his skull. His arms, which are very long, hang down against his sides. His two hands rest flat upon his thighs, with the palms open. The soles of his feet are like the faces of two blazing suns; and he remains completely motionless—before Anthony and Hilarion—with all the gods around him, rising in tiers above the rocks, as if upon the benches of some vast circus. His lips, half-open; and he speaks in a deep voice):
"I am the Master of great charities, the succor of all creatures; and not less to the profane than to believers, do I expound the law.
"That I might deliver the world, I resolved to be born among men. The gods wept when I departed from them.
"I sought me first a woman worthy to give me birth: a woman of warrior race, the wife of a king, exceedingly good, excessively beautiful, with body firm as adamant;—and at time of the full moon, without the auxiliation of any male, I entered her womb.
"I issued from it by the right side. Stars stopped in their courses."
Hilarion (murmurs between his teeth).
"And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy!"[1]