XI.] MELANCHOLY HOURS. 377 



sidence in a cell, on the bants of the Athyras, at the dis- 

 tance of about ten miles from the capital. The spot was 

 retired, although so near the great city, and was pro- 

 tected, as well bv woods and precipices, as by the awful 

 reverence with which, at that time, all ranks beheld the 

 character of a recluse. Indeed the poor old man, who 

 tenanted the little hollow, at the summit of a crag, be- 

 neath which the Athyras rolls its impetuous torrent, was 

 not famed for the severity of his penances or the strictness 

 of his mortifications. That he was either studious or pro- 

 tracted his devotions to a late hour, was evident, for his 

 lamp was often seen to stream through the trees which 

 shaded his dwelling, when accident called any of the 

 peasants from their beds at unseasonable hours. Be this 

 as it may, no miracles were imputed to him ; the sick 

 rarely came to petition for the benefit of his prayers, 

 and, though some both loved him and had good reason for 

 loving him, yet many undervalued him for the want of 

 that very austerity which the old man seemed most de- 

 sirous to avoid. 



It was evening, and the long shadows of the Thracian 

 mountains were extending still farther and farther along 

 the plains, when this old man was disturbed in his medi- 

 tations by the approach of a stranger. '• How far is it 

 to Byzantium I" was the question put by the traveller ? 

 " Not far to those who know the country," replied the 

 hermit, '' but a stranger would not easily find his vv^ay 

 through the windings of these woods and the intricacies 

 of the plains beyond them. Do you see that blue mist 

 which stretches along the bounding line of the horizon as 

 far as the trees \vill permit the eye to trace it ? That is 

 the Propontis ; and higher up on the left, the city of Con- 

 stantinople rears it proud head above the waters. But 

 I would dissuade thee, stranger, from pursuing thy jour- 

 ney farther to-night. Thou mayest rest in the village, 

 which is half-w\ay down the hill ; or if thou w^ilt share my 

 supper of roots, and put up with a bed of leaves, ray cell 

 is open to thee." " I thank thee, father," replied the 

 youth, " I am weary with my journey, and will accept 

 thy proifered hospitalit3\" They ascended the rock to- 



