Упреки неразумным стремлениям души

Night ghost, maenad - my poor heart! Night ghost, maenad, how long will you chase pleasures, looking at everything around you? Will you not be sober? Will you not extinguish the fire that ignites unlawful desires in you? Will you really not awaken the rational power that is innate to you, taking irritable power as your champion? What has become of you, my soul? Why do you think about what is not in accordance with your dignity? Or don’t you know that you alone have been given the reins, and that you must drive, as it were, a chariot harnessed to three horses of dissimilar properties? One horse is noble, another is disorderly, the third is meek. And if you loosen the reins of a violent one, he rears up, becomes stubborn, puts you in difficulty along the way, rushing without knowing where; he attaches the average horse to himself, convinces him to be at the same time with him, and enslaves the noble horse, like a captive, and carries him away against his will, although he grieves about being led astray. But the wild horse, disorderly, with the most senseless aspiration, rushing uncontrollably down, as if from a steep slope, does not look forward at all, does not stop its run until it rushes into the gates of hell, destroying both itself and you, unfortunate soul! And if you reasoned in accordance with your nature, you would gladly leave the entire path to a noble horse who knows well the path leading to things above; You would strictly instill in an average horse that he should show his zeal wherever he should, and run along with the smart horse; and she would begin to subdue the disorderly horse with strong butts, without loosening the reins for a minute. Then your path would be joyful, respectable, calm, carefree, full of hope. For reason, like a noble horse, which by nature is given the power to take the upper hand, prevails, and constantly stretching forward, fearlessly fixing its gaze on the mountain, bypassing all the difficulties here, does not slow down its running speed until it reaches the lot appointed by God, saving both itself and you, blessed soul! You might be interested in: