A MONASTIC LEGEND. 189 



station of Kazbek, into tlie following rhapsody : ' Alternate 

 sensations of awe and rapture quickly succeed each other 

 in this ancient land of enchantment : it was assuredly in 

 these abodes that Medea compounded her love-potions and 

 her poisons ; here it was that Prometheus received the 

 reward of his bold impiety ; this is the very birthplace 

 of magic; and it is from these lofty peaks that the im- 

 mense roc used to take its flight, intercepting the ray^ of 

 the sun.' 



Mons. Khatissian also informed us of the existence of 

 human habitations, now deserted, at a height of 11,000 

 feet, on the eastern flanks of the mountain. These consist 

 of cells, half hewn from the solid rock, half built up of the 

 rough boulders which abound in the neighbourhood, 

 amongst which a cross of white porphyry still remains. 

 Here, according to tradition, once lived a band of monks. 

 The superior was renowned for his austere life and stern 

 piety, and a daily miracle proved his claim to the title of 

 ■ saint. At daybreak a ray of light penetrated through an 

 aperture in the wall, and illumined the darkness of his cell. 

 In the centre of this ray the holy man was accustomed to 

 lay the volume he was studying, which remained suspended 

 in the air without any apparent support. The high claims 

 of their superior to their reverence could not, however, re- 

 concile some of the younger monks to the severe discipline 

 he imposed upon them. By the machinations of these 

 wicked men, the saint was exposed to a temptation similnr 

 to that of St. Anthony, but unhapiDily with a different result. 

 The suspension of the miracle followed ; the heavy volume, 

 when laid in its accustomed place on the sunbeam, fell 

 with a crash to the ground. The Abbot, overcome by 

 the malice of his enemies, retired to a cave still higher on 

 the mountain, to pass the remainder of his life amidst 

 perpetual snows. The monks, freed from all restraint, gave 



