Eighth Scroll
THE WEDDING AT CANA
17 1And it happened that a wedding took place at Cana in the Galilee, 2and the mother of Jesus was there, 3and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
4And after Jesus had reclined, and all had eaten dinner, and sung to God and done the other customary things, they turned to drinking. 5And they danced and they drank and they sang all night.
6At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him!” 7And Jesus called the groom aside and said, “Everyone usually brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests are all drunk; but you have saved the best till now!”
8And Jesus laughed. And he was drunk and sang to the crowd:
‘Go eat thy bread with mirth, and drink thy wine with a joyful heart! Let thy garments be always white; and oil not wanting upon thy head. 9See life with the woman thou lovest all of the days of thy life, for that is thy portion in life, wherein thou laborest under the sun!’
10And Jesus sat out in the courtyard under the stars. 11And he approached Simon Peter, and he said to him:
“Now, see, when the mind of a fool is relaxed, he goes astray and causes trouble; but the mind of the wise is relaxed to enjoy freedom from care, and cheerfulness, and lightness of heart. 12For the wise man, when he is intoxicated, becomes more good-humored than when he is sober; so that in this respect we should not be at all wrong in saying that he may get drunk. 13And besides all this, we must likewise add, that we are not speaking of a stern-looking and sordid kind of wisdom, contracted by profound thought and ill-humor; but, on the contrary, of that wisdom which wears a tranquil and cheerful appearance, being full of joy and happiness, 14by which men have often been led on to playfulness and divert themselves in no inelegant manner, indulging in amusements suitable to their dignified and earnest character, just as in a well-tuned lyre one may have a combination uniting, by means of opposite sounds, in one melodious harmony.
15In any event, according to the most holy Moses, the end of all wisdom is play and mirth—not such mirth as is pursued by foolish people, uncombined with any prudence, but such as is admitted even by those who are already gray, not only through old age alone, but also through deep thinking.”
16Then, having bundled some dry sticks together and tossed them on the fire, Jesus took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and went to sleep there under the stars.
THE WEDDING AT CANA
17 1Καὶ γάμος ἐγένετο ἐν Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, 2καὶ ἦν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐκεῖ· 3ἐκλήθη δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν γάμον. 4κατακλινέντος τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ δειπνήσαντος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ ᾄσαντας τὸν θεὸν καὶ τἆλλα τὰ νομιζόμενα, τρέπεσθαι πρὸς τὸν πότον· 5καὶ ἐχόρευον καὶ ἔπινον καὶ ᾖδον τὴν νύκτα πᾶσαν.
6Μέσης δὲ νυκτὸς κραυγὴ γέγονεν· Ἰδοὺ ὁ νυμφίος, ἐξέρχεσθε εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτοῦ. 7φωνεῖ τὸν νυμφίον ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Πᾶς ἄνθρωπος πρῶτον τὸν καλὸν οἶνον τίθησιν καὶ ὅταν μεθυσθῶσιν τὸν ἐλάσσω· σὺ τετήρηκας τὸν καλὸν οἶνον ἕως ἄρτι.
8Καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐξεγέλασεν καὶ ἐμεθύε καὶ ᾖδεν τοῖς ὄχλοις·
Δεῦρο φάγε ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ ἄρτον σου
καὶ πίε ἐν καρδίᾳ ἀγαθῇ οἶνόν σου.
ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἔστωσαν ἱμάτιά σου λευκά,
καὶ ἔλαιον ἐπὶ κεφαλήν σου μὴ ὑστερησάτω.
9ἰδὲ ζωὴν μετὰ γυναικός, ἧς ἠγάπησας,
πάσας ἡμέρας ζωῆς σου,
ὅτι αὐτὸ μερίς σου ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου,
ᾧ σὺ μοχθεῖς ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον.
10Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἐκάθητο ἔξω ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ κάτω τῶν ἀστέρων· 11ἔρχεται οὖν πρὸς Σίμωνα Πέτρον· λέγει αὐτῷ·
Μεθίεται δὲ ὁ μὲν τῶν ἀφρόνων λογισμὸς εἰς πλειόνων χύσιν ἁμαρτημάτων, ὁ δὲ τῶν ἐμφρόνων εἰς ἀνέσεως καὶ εὐθυμίας καὶ ἱλαρότητος ἀπόλαυσιν· 12ἡδίων γὰρ αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ νήφοντος οἰνωθεὶς ὁ σοφὸς γίγνεται, ὥστε οὐδ’ ἂν ταύτῃ διαμαρτάνοιμεν. φάσκοντες ὅτι μεθυσθήσεται. 13πρὸς δὲ τούτοις κἀκεῖνο λεκτέον, ὅτι οὐ σκυθρωπὸν καὶ αὐστηρὸν τὸ τῆς σοφίας εἶδος, ὑπὸ συννοίας καὶ κατηφείας ἐσταλμένον, ἀλλ’ ἔμπαλιν ἱλαρὸν καὶ γαληνίζον, μεστὸν γηθοσύνης καὶ χαρᾶς· 14ὑφ’ ὧν πολλάκις προήχθη τις οὐκ ἀμούσως παῖξαί τι καὶ χαριεντίσασθαι, παιδιὰν μέντοι τῇ σεμνότητι καὶ σπουδῇ καθάπερ ἐν ἡρμοσμένῃ λύρᾳ φθόγγοις ἀντιφώνοις εἰς ἑνὸς μέλους κρᾶσιν συνηχοῦσαν. 15κατὰ γοῦν τὸν ἱερώτατον Μωυσῆν τέλος ἐστὶ σοφίας παιδιὰ, παιδιὰ καὶ γέλως, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ἃ τοῖς νηπίοις ἄνευ φρονήσεως πᾶσι μελετᾶται, ἀλλ’ ἃ τοῖς ἤδη πολιοῖς οὐ χρόνῳ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ βουλαῖς ἀγαθαῖς γεγονόσιν.
16Συστρέψαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ φρυγάνων τι πλῆθος καὶ ἐπιθέντος ἐπὶ τὴν πυράν, ἔλαβεν ἀπὸ τῶν λίθων τοῦ τόπου καὶ ἔθηκεν πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ κάτω τῶν ἀστέρων.
Yes!!! Wisdom is mirth. Awakening is play. To embody the full human drama without being attached or entrapped by anything.