IN THE SUBURBS OF ANTIOCH
We were baffled in Antioch
when we learned of Julian’s new exploits.
Apollo explained himself clearly at Dafni!
He wouldn’t pronounce an oracle (who cares!),
he didn’t intend to prophesy, unless
his temple at Dafni was purified first.
He was disturbed, he declared, by the neighboring dead.
There were a lot of tombs at Dafni.—
one of the dead buried there was
the marvelous, glory of our church,
the saint, the victorious martyr Vavylas.
This was the reason, this was the one the phseudo-god feared.
As long as he felt him near he didn’t
dare to give his oracles; he was silent.
(the phseudo-gods tremble before our martyrs).
The profane Julian rolled up his sleeves,
he got vexed and shouted: Exhume this Vavylas
at once. Lift him up, move him away,
do you hear me? Apollo is annoyed.
Lift him up, take him immediately.
Take him wherever you wish. Exhume him,
Dig him up, throw him out. Are we playing now?
Apollo said that we need to purify the temple.
We took him; we moved the holy corpse elsewhere.
We lifted him, we moved him with love and with honor.
And indeed the temple thrived beautifully.
But it wasn’t long before a great fire
broke out: A terrible fire:
and the temple got burnt along with Apollo.
The idol became ashes; to be swept away with the garbage.
Julian burst out in a rage and spread the news—
what else could he do—that we, the Christians,
set the fire. Let him talk.
It was not proven; let him talk.
The most important thing was that he burst with rage.
Libros Libertad 