Barlaam and Josaphat: A Christian Tale of the Buddha

by Gui de Cambrai

  The next day King Avenir rose early. He knew that Nachor had left and had failed to keep their agreement. He wished to take vengeance on those who had spoken so badly at the disputation, and he had them beaten and tortured. The king was full of anger and did not believe he did them any wrong. He cursed them and had their eyes torn out of their heads.

  The king weighed his own thoughts as he considered the disputation. He recognized that his belief was false according to Nachor’s reasoning, but his heart impaired his understanding and encumbered his will. He thought of God, and then he pulled away from him. He undid what he had done. He saw clearly, then saw nothing, and then feared what he saw. He did not know what part to take, for he believed his life would be worse if he left his gods and began to serve God. He was dismayed by his thoughts and examined them carefully. When he considered both sides, he was doubly confused, but he could not forget all the pleasures he enjoyed. He lived a comfortable and privileged life, but he lost his soul because of it, for whoever serves the devil can expect a very bad reward. King Avenir began to doubt his gods, and he did not go to them or involve himself in their affairs.

  The king’s noble and handsome son was a good young man—sweet, brave, wise, and pious. He offered his body, his heart, and all his understanding to God. He remembered his master, Barlaam, and kept his commandments. His heart and thoughts flourished from charity and dew. The dew was his tears: they confounded the sins of the body and watered his heart. He willingly undertook everything he knew to be right. He set his body to fasting and his heart to prayer, and he served God piously. Wealthy men came willingly to hear him speak about God, as he often did, and Josaphat spoke well. Many were converted and received forgiveness from God. Josaphat was perfected in speech, works, and deeds. He lived with great restraint, for a wise man curbs his body as long as he is lord of it, I tell you truly. The king’s son prayed often that God would permit him to see his master again and, if it pleased him, to dwell with him.

  King Avenir neglects his gods

  A high feast day approached. King Avenir usually organized a great celebration, but he was lost in his own unhappiness and did not make any preparations. The clerics who served false gods gathered together to consider how they might convince the king to celebrate the feast. They could come up with only one idea, and they decided to follow it.

  A sorcerer dwelt nearby. He was a treacherous necromancer called Theonas. The king loved him and trusted him more than any other man in his kingdom because he knew Theonas was very wise. By common agreement, the clerics went to visit him. They flattered him by speaking well of his character and rank. They told him the king wanted to leave their faith, and they described the disputation he had organized as a contest between their religion and Christianity. They told him about Nachor’s betrayal and that he had left the disputation and converted to Christianity. They also told Theonas about Josaphat’s stubborn determination, and claimed he harassed and tormented them with his Christian faith. Then they told him that the king had made no preparations for the feast day. Whereas he usually ordered great festivities, now he did not even mention the feast. He did not plan for it at all, and, more important, he did not seem to care about sacrificing to the gods. “Ah, Theonas, good and cherished lord! Save us from this tragedy! Come with us and ask the king to honor his religion. If you do not consent to come, our religion will suffer.”

  Theonas was greatly distressed to hear the clerics’ complaints; he agreed to go back to court with them. When he entered the palace, he went directly to the king. King Avenir rose when he saw his friend and received him with great respect and pleasure. His worries were calmed by Theonas’s arrival, and he had his friend seated beside him. The king told him about the battle with his son and explained that he had lost the victory he anticipated.

  “Good sire,” said Theonas, “whatever the Christians say is entirely false. They don’t know anything, and their words are like a dog’s bark. Sire, let your courage be as exalted as your station! If you turn against reason and persecute your gods, your kingdom will suffer great harm and misfortune.

  “There is none so bold that he would dare to speak about Christianity within my hearing,” Theonas continued. “I beg you, sire, do not be sad or angry. Celebrate this great occasion with happiness and joy, and I will tell you how you can honor your son and love him again. Go to the festival with this understanding, and trust that I will not disappoint you.”

  “I will gladly do so,” said the king. He became joyful and changed his mind about neglecting the feast day. He called for his messengers and sent them throughout his kingdom. King Avenir dispatched letters, charters, and seals throughout his realm, to call his noble barons and friends to the celebration. He promised that in place of incense they would imbibe the smoke of sacrificial animals. (People who cover their gods in silver deserve such base rewards.) The summons spread throughout the country, and all the people came, each bringing a sacrifice to offer. The king made a great effort to please his gods. His people made sacrifices, as he demanded, and Theonas too made an offering. The king was ashamed because Theonas had reproached him, and he rejoiced at the feast. (Was it really a feast day? No, truly, for it was a celebration based on ignorance and did not acknowledge our Lord. The joy the pagans take in their festivities has no flavor, for those who rejoice without God cannot taste true pleasure.)

  When the celebration had come to an end, the king turned to Theonas. “I have done your will concerning this feast day and now you must give me my reward,” he said. “If you know a good sermon that can draw my son to our side, then go preach it to him, for it is time. If you are successful, I will make a golden statue in your likeness and will worship it as long as I live.”

  “Good king, do not worry. I know how to advise you. If you wish to recover your son and deliver him from the error of his belief, have all the servants removed from his palace. Find beautiful, noble young women to serve him, and have them dwell with him night and day. Carnal flesh demands its rights, unless it is unnatural. (And the practice of unnatural carnal desire is condemned.) Once desire is freed, it will tolerate no limits, it will know no moderation, and it will follow its course, whether for shame or honor. Your son’s carnal nature will counsel him to do things that will cause him to fall from his high convictions.

  “If you would convert your son, send for the young women. Choose one hundred of the most attractive and most noble, and install them in his palace. He will not be able to resist them, and when they join together, the pleasure of their union will change his thoughts. Tell the beautiful young women about your son and say that whoever can seduce him will wear a rich crown—she will be queen. In this world, a woman is the thing that most draws and confounds a man and that most binds and enflames him.

  “I will prove it to you with a parable,” Theonas continued. “There was once a king who possessed many cities and castles. He was very wealthy, but he had no son. He sorrowed in his heart, for he had no one to whom he could leave his wealth when he died. (He was right to be sad, for whoever has a poor and miserable heir loses his power.) While the king was still lost in his sorrow, a son of great beauty was born to him. The king rejoiced greatly and sent for all the clerics and doctors in his kingdom. When they were assembled, he asked them what they foresaw for his newborn child.

  “They replied, ‘Let us see him before we speak.’ They came to the child’s cradle and studied him. Then they revealed their thoughts. ‘Sire, hear our counsel: if your son sees fire or sunlight before his tenth year, it is certain he will lose his sight in both eyes.’

  “The king was distressed and immediately asked for counsel. Following his clerics’ advice, he built a deep, wide pit that no light could enter, and then, with great sadness, the king enclosed his son and his nurses inside. I tell you, King Avenir, the son lived there for ten years and did not see a single ray of light.

  “After ten years had passed, the king’s son was released from the p
it. My lord, the truth is that he had never seen anything and so he did not recognize anything he saw. His father commanded that he be shown everything in his kingdom: men, women, clothes, and horses; youthful men and young women; silver, gold, wood, and stone; flowers of all kinds; bulls, cows, and sheep; furs and silks. They led the boy from place to place, showing him all these things. The child cleverly asked the name of everything he saw, and they named each thing for him. When he saw women, he asked, ‘What things do I see here?’ One of the men replied jokingly, ‘By your leave, I will tell you: those things you see are the devils that deceive counts and kings. When they embrace and kiss men, they harm and torment them.’

  “When they had taken the child everywhere and shown him all things and taught him their names, the child returned to the king. His father asked, ‘Son, what pleased you most in all that you saw?’

  “The child replied, ‘I will tell you truthfully: nothing pleased me as much as those devils that deceive men.’ And when the king heard him, he marveled that his son loved women more than any other thing he saw; but nature cannot lie.

  “This parable proves that the love of women is a serious thing,” Theonas said, “and it is easy to manipulate a man who is with a woman night and day. There is no stronger love in the world than the love of women, nor is there anything by which men can be so easily bound.”

  When King Avenir heard this advice, he was eager to put it to use. He sent for one hundred of the most noble and beautiful young women in his lands. He had them dressed in rich silks and furs. He thought he could use them to win over the son who had converted to God, and he expected to mount a strong attack. Who would lead the attack? The beautiful women and the devil, who sows evil.1 The devil knows very well how to plant evil in women when he trains them. How does he train them? And in what? In debauchery! Malice, pride, and presumption abide comfortably in women, and so does the devil. When the devil joins forces with a woman’s beauty, there is no man who cannot be turned to evil. When pride enters a woman’s heart, the devil will reign over her and she will not care about a friend’s admonitions or gentle words of warning. (I do not speak of all women—that would be an exaggeration—and I believe there are many good ones who would not wish to do wrong.)

  King Avenir spoke to the women he had assembled. “Hear me, noble ladies: you are the most beautiful and highborn women of my country. I will tell you why I have brought you here and dressed you so richly, and if you will agree to my plan, you will receive good recompense for your beauty. Do you know what I offer you? You will serve my son’s pleasure in everything. He was made a Christian against my will. I wish to crown him king, and whoever has possession of his body will become queen. I say to you openly that whoever can make him sin will be first lady of the empire. Be attentive to him and try to excite and attract him until you can draw him away from his foolish faith. This is my heart’s greatest desire. I am angry and sorrowful that he is so vanquished by foolishness.”

  The king commanded his son’s courtiers to leave his palace, and he sent the young women to join Josaphat. The women went eagerly. They vied with each other to serve the prince, for they all hoped to win the crown. The king’s son would have to be more wary than usual, for the devil had bet against him and he deceives many men. The women in Josaphat’s palace were eager to seduce him. If the young man did not guard against the prick of desire’s needle, he would be taken in by their attractions and fall into sin. May God save him, for he was being attacked by great forces! But I do not fear his fall, because he had a true heart.

  The young man was in great torment, and he fought against nature. He needed wisdom and restraint to prevail in such a difficult contest. Each of the women came to speak sweetly to him, and if nature were not defeated, he would eventually have to sin. He fought back with fasting, vigils, and prayers. He took God as a shield and a lance to use in his defense. The women who came to besiege him did not care about his prayers. They showered him with sweet words and courtly greetings, as was appropriate to their task. They teased him and laughed.

  “Young sire, what are you thinking?” they asked frequently. “You are not at all jealous and you do not care about pleasure! Should a king’s son act like this? You are handsome and highborn, a prince from a distinguished lineage, but your heart is not noble. Since you will become a lord and king, you should become more courtly, and you will know nothing of courtliness if you do not learn to love.2

  “It is good to take a lover as long as she is worthy,” the women encouraged the prince. “Love, good sire! Love! Love! Do not worry so much! Thoughts are only good when they serve love. You know well that valor and worth can be earned through love, and a young lord should always think about acquiring worth.”

  “Yes, I do want love,” said Josaphat, “and I already have a love that I will cherish as long as I live. My love is complete, for it possesses my whole heart. I think night and day of my true love. The thought of my love is sweet and good, for now it is fresh and new to me. I would never have any pleasure if I did not think about this love more than any other. This love holds me and binds me, and no other love can take my heart. The more I think of it, the sweeter it becomes. If others knew what I know, they would envy me for having such a rich love.”

  One of the women responded, “Reveal her to us, by your leave! There is no shame in revealing her identity. Is she a king’s daughter or the daughter of a count?”

  “She truly is a king’s daughter. Her nobility is beyond compare, and it is far higher than your lineage. No one could describe it without naming wonders. My friend is brave and wise, and my love for her is well repaid. She esteems me and takes me for her friend. I give myself entirely to her in everything. I devote myself to her. I surrender myself to her.”

  “Tell us her name!”

  “Her name? By God, I cannot tell you her name because I do not see in you any understanding of the kind of love I describe.” At these words he rose and went to pray to God. He addressed his plea to the one who had claimed his love. But he prayed to him about a different love, one that it is not right to claim. Josaphat did not wish for this other love, and he asked God for mercy and forgiveness, and weeping, he thanked God for protecting him from such great adversity. Still weeping, he asked that he protect him even more strongly in the future.

  A beautiful princess tempts Josaphat

  The young women were filled with wonder. They told each other that the young man had lost his mind. One of them was more knowledgeable than the others. She was from an old and noble lineage, the daughter of a king who had lost his throne. She had been exiled from Sidon, where her father, as I understand, had been lord and king. She was a relative of King Apollonius, who fled his lands (I believe you have heard much about this King Apollonius’s life, and about his victories and his defeats).1 This lady was beautiful and noble, and, aided by the devil, she devoted herself to seducing the king’s son. The young woman had a dark and evil heart, and she wanted Josaphat to give into pleasure. She was not afraid to seduce him, and she went to his bedside, entering his room boldly (for women have a brash courage when they set their minds to something).

  The devil came to confound Josaphat. He observed the young man and inspired the lady’s words. “Sire,” she said, “I was the daughter of a rich king who ruled a great country, but now I have been disinherited. If you do not take pity on me, you will commit a great sin. I am a wretched orphan, I have neither father nor mother, and I am willing to become a Christian for your sake. If you will help me, I will leave my foolish belief.”

  “Beautiful lady,” the young man responded, “if you wish to do as you say, that would be a good thing. No one who is not a good Christian will ever see God, who died on the cross. It is right and good that everyone should seek the Christian faith, for in this world there is no pleasure, joy, or happiness that does not eventually turn to sadness. Beautiful lady, think carefully on this! Because you speak so well and because you are fro
m such a distinguished lineage, you would be very wrong to allow yourself to be lost. If you follow your good intention, you will enter the right path.”

  Good Lord God! No one can appreciate the value of an honest man! An honest man does not devise tricks. Others may contemplate evil, but he thinks only of good. Eve came forward here, with deception in her heart. But she did not find Adam, for this young man’s heart was strengthened by sanctity and knowledge. Josaphat believed the lady spoke the truth, but she lied from a false heart. Adam met Eve again here, but Adam acted more wisely than he did before. Eve wronged Adam, but this Adam protected himself better against the Eve who tried to trick him. This Eve was a bad wife to Adam, but this Adam did not return her enmity. If she had wished it, Adam would have been good to her, had she intended good for him. But the lady did not want to understand his intentions, she wanted to deceive him, and if the young man did not beware, he would fall into the trap set by this beautiful trickster.

  “Good sweet lord and friend,” said the lady with the beautiful face, “if you want to save my soul, you should consider an exchange. If you will grant me one wish, I will not hesitate to do whatever you ask.”

  “Sweet friend, tell me what you want.”

  “With pleasure, my lord.” Lust transformed her heart, and then her eyes, her mouth, and her entire appearance. She spoke to Josaphat with ardor and passion, and she was never more joyful: “Upon my honor, if you will marry me and take my virginity, then I will do as you wish, and I will follow your instructions without fail.”