(Augustine, Confesions. part 23)
to the end of the world"[610] -- and this because thou, O Lord,
hast multiplied these things by thy blessing.
27. Am I speaking falsely? Am I mingling and confounding
and not rightly distinguishing between the knowledge of these
things in the firmament of heaven and those corporeal works in the
swelling sea and beneath the firmament of heaven? For there are
those things, the knowledge of which is solid and defined. It
does not increase from generation to generation and thus they
stand, as it were, as lights of wisdom and knowledge. But there
are many and varied physical processes that manifest these
selfsame principles. And thus one thing growing from another is
multiplied by thy blessing, O God, who dost so refresh our easily
wearied mortal senses that in our mental cognition a single thing
may be figured and signified in many different ways by different
bodily motions.
"The waters" have brought forth these mysteries, but only at
thy word. The needs of the people who were alien to the eternity
of thy truth have called them forth, but only in thy gospel, since
it was these "waters" which cast them up -- the waters whose
stagnant bitterness was the reason why they came forth through thy
Word.
28. Now all the things that thou hast made are fair, and
yet, lo, thou who didst make all things art inexpressibly fairer.
And if Adam had not fallen away from thee, that brackish sea --
the human race -- so deeply prying, so boisterously swelling, so
restlessly moving, would never have flowed forth from his belly.
Thus, there would have been no need for thy ministers to use
corporeal and tangible signs in the midst of many "waters" in
order to show forth their mystical deeds and words. For this is
the way I interpret the phrases "creeping creatures" and "flying
fowl." Still, men who have been instructed and initiated and made
dependent on thy corporeal mysteries would not be able to profit
from them if it were not that their soul has a higher life and
unless, after the word of its admission, it did not look beyond
toward its perfection.
CHAPTER XXI
29. And thus, in thy Word, it was not the depth of the sea
but "the earth,"[611] separated from the brackishness of the
water, that brought forth, not "the creeping and the flying
creature that has life," but "the living soul" itself![612]
And now this soul no longer has need of baptism, as the
heathen had, or as it did when it was covered with the waters --
and there can be no other entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven,
since thou hast appointed that baptism should be the entrance.
Nor does it seek great, miraculous works by which to buttress
faith. For such a soul does not refuse to believe unless it sees
signs and marvels, now that "the faithful earth" is separated from
"the waters" of the sea, which have been made bitter by
infidelity. Thus, for them, "tongues are for a sign, not to those
who believe but to those who do not believe."[613]
And the earth which thou hast founded above the waters does
not stand in need of those flying creatures which the waters
brought forth at thy word. Send forth thy word into it by the
agency of thy messengers. For we only tell of their works, but it
is thou who dost the works in them, so that they may bring forth
"a living soul" in the earth.
The earth brings forth "the living soul" because "the earth"
is the cause of such things being done by thy messengers, just as
the sea was the cause of the production of the creeping creatures
having life and the flying fowl under the firmament of heaven.
"The earth" no longer needs them, although it feeds on the Fish
which was taken out of the deep,[614] set out on that table which
thou preparest in the presence of those who believe. To this end
he was raised from the deep: that he might feed "the dry land."
And "the fowl," even though they were bred in the sea, will yet be
multiplied on the earth. The preaching of the first evangelists
was called forth by reason of man's infidelity, but the faithful
also are exhorted and blessed by them in manifold ways, day by
day. "The living soul" has its origin from "the earth," because
only to the faithful is there any profit in restraining themselves
from the love of this world, so that their soul may live to thee.
This soul was dead while it was living in pleasures -- in
pleasures that bear death in them -- whereas thou, O Lord, art the
living delight of the pure heart.
30. Now, therefore, let thy ministers do their work on "the
earth" -- not as they did formerly in "the waters" of infidelity,
when they had to preach and speak by miracles and mysteries and
mystical expressions, in which ignorance -- the mother of wonder
-- gives them an attentive ear because of its fear of occult and
strange things. For this is the entry into faith for the sons of
Adam who are forgetful of thee, who hide themselves from thy face,
and who have become a darkened abyss. Instead, let thy ministers
work even as on "the dry land," safe from the whirlpools of the
abyss. Let them be an example unto the faithful by living before
them and stirring them up to imitation.
For in such a setting, men will heed, not with the mere
intent to hear, but also to act. Seek the Lord and your soul
shall live[615] and "the earth" may bring forth "the living soul."
Be not conformed to this world;[616] separate yourselves from it.
The soul lives by avoiding those things which bring death if they
are loved. Restrain yourselves from the unbridled wildness of
pride, from the indolent passions of luxury, and from what is
falsely called knowledge.[617] Thus may the wild beast be tamed,
the cattle subdued, and the serpent made harmless. For, in
allegory, these figures are the motions of our mind: that is to
say, the haughtiness of pride, the delight of lust, and the poison
of curiosity are motions of the dead soul -- not so dead that it
has lost all motion, but dead because it has deserted the fountain
of life, and so has been taken up by this transitory world and
conformed to it.
31. But thy Word, O God, is a fountain of life eternal, and
it does not pass away. Therefore, this desertion is restrained by
thy Word when it says to us, "Be not conformed to this world," to
the end that "the earth" may bring forth a "living soul" in the
fountain of life -- a soul disciplined by thy Word, by thy
evangelists, by the following of the followers of thy Christ. For
this is the meaning of "after his kind." A man tends to follow the
example of his friend. Thus, he [Paul] says, "Become as I am,
because I have become as you are."[618]
Thus, in this "living soul" there shall be good beasts,
acting meekly. For thou hast commanded this, saying: "Do your
work in meekness and you shall be loved by all men."[619] And the
cattle will be good, for if they eat much they shall not suffer
from satiety; and if they do not eat at all they will suffer no
lack. And the serpents will be good, not poisonous to do harm,
but only cunning in their watchfulness -- exploring only as much
of this temporal nature as is necessary in order that the eternal
nature may "be clearly seen, understood through the things that
have been made."[620] For all these animals will obey reason
when, having been restrained from their death-dealing ways, they
live and become good.
CHAPTER XXII
32. Thus, O Lord, our God, our Creator, when our affections
have been turned from the love of the world, in which we died by
living ill; and when we began to be "a living soul" by living
well; and when the word, "Be not conformed to this world," which
thou didst speak through thy apostle, has been fulfilled in us,
then will follow what thou didst immediately add when thou saidst,
"But be transformed by the renewing of your mind."[621] This will
not now be "after their kind," as if we were following the
neighbor who went before us, or as if we were living after the
example of a better man -- for thou didst not say, "Let man be
made after his kind," but rather, "Let us make man in our own
image and our own likeness,"[622] so that then we may be able to
prove what thy will is.
This is why thy minister -- begetting children by the gospel
so that he might not always have them babes whom he would have to
feed with milk and nurse as children -- this is why he said, "Be
transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what
is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God."[623]
Therefore thou didst not say, "Let man be made," but rather, "Let
us make man." And thou didst not say, "After his kind," but after
"our image" and "likeness." Indeed, it is only when man has been
renewed in his mind, and comes to behold and apprehend thy truth,
that he does not need another man as his director, to show him how
to imitate human examples. Instead, by thy guidance, he proves
what is thy good and acceptable and perfect will. And thou dost
teach him, now that he is able to understand, to see the trinity
of the Unity and the unity of the Trinity.
This is why the statement in the plural, "Let us make man,"
is also connected with the statement in the singular, "And God
made man." Thus it is said in the plural, "After our likeness,"
and then in the singular, "After the image of God." Man is thus
transformed in the knowledge of God, according to the image of Him
who created him. And now, having been made spiritual, he judges
all things -- that is, all things that are appropriate to be
judged -- and he himself is judged of no man.[624]
CHAPTER XXIII
33. Now this phrase, "he judges all things," means that man
has dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over all cattle and wild beasts, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And he
does this by the power of reason in his mind by which he perceives
"the things of the Spirit of God."[625] But, when man was put in
this high office, he did not understand what was involved and thus
was reduced to the level of the brute beasts, and made like
them.[626]
Therefore in thy Church, O our God, by the grace thou hast
given us -- since we are thy workmanship, created in good works
(not only those who are in spiritual authority but also those who
are spiritually subject to them) -- thou madest man male and
female. Here all are equal in thy spiritual grace where, as far
as sex is concerned, there is neither male nor female, just as
there is neither Jew nor Greek, nor bond nor free. Spiritual men,
therefore, whether those who are in authority or those who are
subject to authority, judge spiritually. They do not judge by the
light of that spiritual knowledge which shines in the firmament,
for it is inappropriate for them to judge by so sublime an
authority. Nor does it behoove them to judge concerning thy Book
itself, although there are some things in it which are not clear.
Instead, we submit our understanding to it and believe with
certainty that what is hidden from our sight is still rightly and
truly spoken. In this way, even though a man is now spiritual and
renewed by the knowledge of God according to the image of him who
created him, he must be a doer of the law rather than its
judge.[627] Neither does the spiritual man judge concerning that
division between spiritual and carnal men which is known to thy
eyes, O God, and which may not, as yet, be made manifest to us by
their external works, so that we may know them by their fruits;
yet thou, O God, knowest them already and thou hast divided and
called them secretly, before the firmament was made. Nor does a
man, even though he is spiritual, judge the disordered state of
society in this world. For what business of his is it to judge
those who are without, since he cannot know which of them may
later on come into the sweetness of thy grace, and which of them
may continue in the perpetual bitterness of their impiety?
34. Man, then, even if he was made after thy own image, did
not receive the power of dominion over the lights of heaven, nor
over the secret heaven, nor over the day and the night which thou
calledst forth before the creation of the heaven, nor over the
gathering together of the waters which is the sea. Instead, he
received dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowls of the
air; and over all cattle, and all the earth; and over all creeping
things which creep on the earth.
Indeed, he judges and approves what he finds right and
disapproves what he finds amiss, whether in the celebration of
those mysteries by which are initiated those whom thy mercy hast
sought out in the midst of many waters; or in that sacrament in
which is exhibited the Fish itself[628] which, being raised from
the depths, the pious "earth"[629] feeds upon; or, in the signs
and symbols of words, which are subject to the authority of thy
Book -- such signs as burst forth and sound from the mouth, as if
it were "flying" under the firmament, interpreting, expounding,
discoursing, disputing, blessing, invoking thee, so that the
people may answer, "Amen."[630] The reason that all these words
have to be pronounced vocally is because of the abyss of this
world and the blindness of our flesh in which thoughts cannot be
seen directly,[631] but have to be spoken aloud in our ears.
Thus, although the flying fowl are multiplied on the earth, they
still take their origins from the waters.
The spiritual man also judges by approving what is right and
reproving what he finds amiss in the works and morals of the
faithful, such as in their almsgiving, which is signified by the
phrase, "The earth bringing forth its fruit." And he judges of the
"living soul," which is then made to live by the disciplining of
her affections in chastity, in fasting, and in holy meditation.
And he also judges concerning all those things which are perceived
by the bodily senses. For it can be said that he should judge in
all matters about which he also has the power of correction.
CHAPTER XXIV
35. But what is this; what kind of mystery is this? Behold,
O Lord, thou dost bless men in order that they may be "fruitful
and multiply, and replenish the earth." In this art thou not
making a sign to us that we may understand something
[allegorically]? Why didst thou not also bless the light, which
thou calledst "the day," nor the firmament of heaven, nor the
lights, nor the stars, nor the earth, nor the sea? I might reply,
O our God, that thou in creating us after thy own image -- I might
reply that thou didst will to bestow this gift of blessing upon
man alone, if thou hadst not similarly blessed the fishes and the
whales, so that they too should be fruitful and multiply and
replenish the waters of the sea; and also the fowls, so that they
should be multiplied on the earth. In like fashion, I might say
that this blessing properly belonged only to such creatures as are
propagated from their own kind, if I could find it given also as a
blessing to trees, and plants, and the beasts of the earth. But
this "increase and multiply" was not said to plants or trees or
beasts or serpents -- although all of these, along with fishes and
birds and men, do actually increase by propagation and so preserve
their species.
36. What, then, shall I say, O Truth, O my Life: that it was
idly and vainly said? Surely not this, O Father of piety; far be
it from a servant of thy Word to say anything like this! But if I
do not understand what thou meanest by that phrase, let those who
are better than I -- that is, those more intelligent than I --
interpret it better, in the degree that thou hast given each of us
the ability to understand.
But let also my confession be pleasing in thy eyes, for I
confess to thee that I believe, O Lord, that thou hast not spoken
thus in vain. Nor will I be silent as to what my reading has
suggested to me. For it is valid, and I do not see anything to
prevent me from thus interpreting the figurative sayings in thy
books. For I know that a thing that is understood in only one way
in the mind may be expressed in many different ways by the body;
and I know that a thing that has only one manner of expression
through the body may be understood in the mind in many different
ways. For consider this single example -- the love of God and of
our neighbor -- by how many different mysteries and countless
languages, and, in each language, by how many different ways of
speaking, this is signified corporeally! In similar fashion, the
"young fish" in "the waters" increase and multiply. On the other
hand, whoever you are who reads this, observe and behold what
Scripture declares, and how the voice pronounces it _in only one
way_, "In the beginning God created heaven and earth."[632] Is
this not understood in many different ways by different kinds of
true interpretations which do not involve the deceit of error?
Thus the offspring of men are fruitful and do multiply.[633]
37. If, then, we consider the nature of things, in their
strictly literal sense, and not allegorically, the phrase, "Be
fruitful and multiply," applies to all things that are begotten by
seed. But if we treat these words figuratively, as I judge that
the Scripture intended them to be -- since it cannot be for
nothing that this blessing is attributed only to the offspring of
marine life and man -- then we discover that the characteristic of
fecundity belongs also to the spiritual and physical creations
(which are signified by "heaven and earth"), and also in righteous
and unrighteous souls (which are signified by "light and
darkness") and in the sacred writers through whom the law is
uttered (who are signified by "the firmament established between
the waters and the waters"); and in the earthly commonwealth still
steeped in their bitterness (which is signified by "the sea"); and
in the zeal of holy souls (signified by "the dry land"); and the
works of mercy done in this present life (signified by "the seed-
bearing herbs and fruit-bearing trees"); and in spiritual gifts
which shine out for our edification (signified by "the lights of
heaven"); and to human affections ruled by temperance (signified
by "the living soul"). In all these instances we meet with
multiplicity and fertility and increase; but the particular way in
which "Be fruitful and multiply" can be exemplified differs
widely. Thus a single category may include many things, and we
cannot discover them except through their signs displayed
corporeally and by the things being excogitated by the mind.
We thus interpret the phrase, "The generation of the waters,"
as referring to the corporeally expressed signs [of fecundity],
since they are made necessary by the degree of our involvement in
the flesh. But the power of human generation refers to the
process of mental conception; this we see in the fruitfulness of
reason. Therefore, we believe that to both of these two kinds it
has been said by thee, O Lord, "Be fruitful and multiply." In this
blessing, I recognize that thou hast granted us the faculty and
power not only to express what we understand by a single idea in
many different ways but also to understand in many ways what we
find expressed obscurely in a single statement. Thus the waters
of the sea are replenished, and their waves are symbols of diverse
meanings. And thus also the earth is also replenished with human
offspring. Its dryness is the symbol of its thirst for truth, and
of the fact that reason rules over it.
CHAPTER XXV
38. I also desire to say, O my Lord God, what the following
Scripture suggests to me. Indeed, I will speak without fear, for
I will speak the truth, as thou inspirest me to know what thou
dost will that I should say concerning these words. For I do not
believe I can speak the truth by any other inspiration than thine,
since thou art the Truth, and every man a liar.[634] Hence, he
that speaks a lie, speaks out of himself. Therefore, if I am to
speak the truth, I must speak of thy truth.
Behold, thou hast given us for our food every seed-bearing
herb on the face of the earth, and all trees that bear in
themselves seed of their own kind; and not to us only, but to all
the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field and all creeping
things.[635] Still, thou hast not given these things to the
fishes and great whales. We have said that by these fruits of the
earth the works of mercy were signified and figured forth in an
allegory: thus, from the fruitful earth, things are provided for
the necessities of life. Such an "earth" was the godly
Onesiphorus, to whose house thou gavest mercy because he often
refreshed Paul and was not ashamed of his bonds.[636] This was
also the way of the brethren from Macedonia, who bore such fruit
and supplied to him what he lacked. But notice how he grieves for
certain "trees," which did not give him the fruit that was due,
when he said, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all
men forsook me: I pray God, that it be not laid up to their
charge."[637] For we owe "fruits" to those who minister spiritual
doctrine to us through their understanding of the divine
mysteries. We owe these to them as men. We owe these fruits,
also, to "the living souls" since they offer themselves as
examples for us in their own continence. And, finally, we owe
them likewise to "the flying creatures" because of their blessings
which are multiplied on the earth, for "their sound has gone forth
into all the earth."[638]
CHAPTER XXVI
39. Those who find their joy in it are fed by these
"fruits"; but those whose god is their belly find no joy in them.
For in those who offer these fruits, it is not the fruit itself
that matters, but the spirit in which they give them. Therefore,
he who serves God and not his own belly may rejoice in them, and I
plainly see why. I see it, and I rejoice with him greatly. For
he [Paul] had received from the Philippians the things they had
sent by Epaphroditus; yet I see why he rejoiced. He was fed by
what he found his joy in; for, speaking truly, he says, "I rejoice
in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me has
flourished again, in which you were once so careful, but it had
become a weariness to you.[639] These Philippians, in their
extended period of weariness in well-doing, had become weak and
were, so to say, dried up; they were no longer bringing forth the
fruits of good works. And now Paul rejoices in them -- and not
just for himself alone -- because they were flourishing again in
ministering to his needs. Therefore he adds: "I do not speak in
respect of my want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am
therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and how to
abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be
full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can
do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."[640]
40. Where do you find joy in all things, O great Paul? What
is the cause of your joy? On what do you feed, O man, renewed now
in the knowledge of God after the image of him who created you, O
living soul of such great continence -- O tongue like a winged
bird, speaking mysteries? What food is owed such creatures; what
is it that feeds you? It is joy! For hear what follows:
"Nevertheless, you have done well in that you have shared with me
in my affliction."[641] This is what he finds his joy in; this is
what he feeds on. They have done well, not merely because his
need had been relieved -- for he says to them, "You have opened my
heart when I was in distress" -- but because he knew both how to
abound and how to suffer need, in thee who didst strengthen him.
And so he said, "You [Philippians] know also that in the beginning
of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared
with me in regard to giving and receiving, except you only. For
even in Thessalonica you sent time and time again, according to my
need."[642] He now finds his joy in the fact that they have
returned once again to these good works, and he is made glad that
they are flourishing again, as a fruitful field when it recovers
its fertility.
41. Was it on account of his own needs alone that he said,
"You have sent me gifts according to my needs?" Does he find joy
in that? Certainly not for that alone. But how do we know this?
We know it because he himself adds, "Not because I desire a gift,
but because I desire fruit."[643]
Now I have learned from thee, O my God, how to distinguish
between the terms "gift" and "fruit." A "gift" is the thing
itself, given by one who bestows life's necessities on another --
such as money, food, drink, clothing, shelter, and aid. But "the
fruit" is the good and right will of the giver. For the good
Teacher not only said, "He that receives a prophet," but he added,
"In the name of a prophet." And he did not say only, "He who
receives a righteous man," but added, "In the name of a righteous
man."[644] Thus, surely, the former shall receive the reward of a
prophet; the latter, that of a righteous man. Nor did he say
only, "Whoever shall give a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones to drink," but added, "In the name of a disciple"; and
concluded, "Truly I tell you he shall not lose his reward." The
"gift" involves receiving a prophet, receiving a righteous man,
handing a cup of cold water to a disciple: but the "fruit" is to
do all this in the name of a prophet, in the name of a righteous
man, in the name of a disciple. Elijah was fed by the widow with
"fruit," for she knew that she was feeding a man of God and this
is why she fed him. But he was fed by the raven with a "gift."
The inner man of Elijah was not fed by this "gift," but only the
outer man, which otherwise might have perished from the lack of
such food.
CHAPTER XXVII
42. Therefore I will speak before thee, O Lord, what is
true, in order that the uninstructed[645] and the infidels, who
require the mysteries of initiation and great works of miracles --
which we believe are signified by the phrase, "Fishes and great
whales" -- may be helped in being gained [for the Church] when
they endeavor to provide that thy servants are refreshed in body,
or otherwise aided in this present life. For they do not really
know why this should be done, and to what end. Thus the former do
not feed the latter, and the latter do not feed the former; for
neither do the former offer their "gifts" through a holy and right
intent, nor do the others rejoice in the gifts of those who do not
as yet see the "fruit." For it is on the "fruit" that the mind is
fed, and by which it is gladdened. And, therefore, fishes and
whales are not fed on such food as the earth alone brings forth
when they have been separated and divided from the bitterness of
"the waters" of the sea.
CHAPTER XXVIII
43. And thou, O God, didst see everything that thou hadst
made and, behold, it was very good.[646] We also see the whole
creation and, behold, it is all very good. In each separate kind
of thy work, when thou didst say, "Let them be made," and they
were made, thou didst see that it was good. I have counted seven
times where it is written that thou didst see what thou hadst made
was "good." And there is the eighth time when thou didst see _all_
things that thou hadst made and, behold, they were not only good
but also _very_ good; for they were now seen as a totality.
Individually they were only good; but taken as a totality they
were both good and very good. Beautiful bodies express this
truth; for a body which consists of several parts, each of which
is beautiful, is itself far more beautiful than any of its
individual parts separately, by whose well-ordered union the whole
is completed even though these parts are separately beautiful.
CHAPTER XXIX
44. And I looked attentively to find whether it was seven or
eight times that thou didst see thy works were good, when they
were pleasing to thee, but I found that there was no "time" in thy
seeing which would help me to understand in what sense thou hadst
looked so many "times" at what thou hadst made. And I said: "O
Lord, is not this thy Scripture true, since thou art true, and thy
truth doth set it forth? Why, then, dost thou say to me that in
thy seeing there are no times, while this Scripture tells me that
what thou madest each day thou didst see to be good; and when I
counted them I found how many 'times'?" To these things, thou
didst reply to me, for thou art my God, and thou dost speak to thy
servant with a strong voice in his inner ear, my deafness, and
crying: "O man, what my Scripture says, I say. But it speaks in
terms of time, whereas time does not affect my Word -- my Word
which exists coeternally with myself. Thus the things you see
through my Spirit, I see; just as what you say through my Spirit,
I say. But while you see those things in time, I do not see them
in time; and when you speak those things in time, I do not speak
them in time."
CHAPTER XXX
45. And I heard this, O Lord my God, and drank up a drop of
sweetness from thy truth, and understood that there are some men
to whom thy works are displeasing, who say that many of them thou
didst make under the compulsion of necessity -- such as the
pattern of the heavens and the courses of the stars -- and that
thou didst not make them out of what was thine, but that they were
already created elsewhere and from other sources. It was thus
[they say] that thou didst collect and fashion and weave them
together, as if from thy conquered enemies thou didst raise up the
walls of the universe; so that, built into the ramparts of the
building, they might not be able a second time to rebel against
thee. And, even of other things, they say that thou didst neither
make them nor arrange them -- for example, all flesh and all the
very small living creatures, and all things fastened to the earth
by their roots. But [they say] a hostile mind and an alien nature
-- not created by thee and in every way contrary to thee -- begot
and framed all these things in the nether parts of the world.[647]
They who speak thus are mad [insani], since they do not see thy
works through thy Spirit, nor recognize thee in them.
CHAPTER XXXI
46. But for those who see these things through thy Spirit,
it is thou who seest them in them. When, therefore, they see that
these things are good, it is thou who seest that they are good;
and whatsoever things are pleasing because of thee, it is thou who
dost give us pleasure in those things. Those things which please
us through thy Spirit are pleasing to thee in us. "For what man
knows the things of a man except the spirit of a man which is in
him? Even so, no man knows the things of God, but the Spirit of
God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit of God, that we might know the things that are freely given
to us from God."[648] And I am admonished to say: "Yes, truly.
No man knows the things of God, but the Spirit of God: but how,
then, do we also know what things are given us by God?" The
(continued in part 24...)
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file: /pub/resources/text/ipb-e/epl-01: agcon-23.txt
.