True, true; undeniably true!
The Philosopher.
And what gifts has this Hekebolius in comparison with the gifts which declared themselves so marvellously in that princely boy, who, it is said, in Cappadocia, upon the graves of the slain Galileans, proclaimed a doctrine which I hold to be erroneous, and by so much the more difficult to instil, but which he nevertheless proclaimed with such fervour of spirit that—if I may believe a very widespread rumour—a multitude of children of his own age were carried away by him, and followed him as his disciples! Ah, Hekebolius is like the rest of you—more jealous than zealous; that is why Libanius has waited in vain.
Julian.
[Seizes him by the arm.] What has Libanius said? Tell me, I conjure you, in the name of God?
The Philosopher.
He has said all that you have just heard. And he has said still more. He has said: “Behold yon princely Galilean; he is an Achilles of the spirit.”
Julian.
Achilles! [Softly.] My mother’s dream!
The Philosopher.