Julian.
To the bacchanal, friends
[Gregory of Nazianzus looks at him a moment; then he goes off through the colonnade to the left. A large troop of scholars, with the newcomers among them, rushes into the square, amid shouts and noise.
Basil.
[Coming nearer.] Julian, will you listen to me!
Julian.
See, see! They have taken their new friends to the bath, and anointed their hair. See how they swing their cudgels; how they yell and thump the pavement! What say you, Pericles? Methinks I can hear your wrathful shade
Basil.
Come, come!
Julian.
Ah, look at the man they are driving naked among them. Now come the dancing-girls. Ah, do you see what!
Basil.
Fie! Fie!—turn your eyes away! [Evening has fallen. The whole troop settles down in the square beside the fountain. Wine and fruits are brought. Painted damsels dance by torchlight.
Julian.
[After a short silence.] Tell me, Basil, why was the heathen sin so beautiful?
