Agathon.
[Approaching.] Listen to me, Julian?
Julian.
[In lively excitement.] He understood me! And Libanius himself, the great, incomparable Libanius! Only think, Agathon, Libanius has said Oh, how keen must the heathen eye not be!
Agathon.
Trust me, this meeting was a work of the Tempter!
Julian.
[Not heeding him.] I can no longer endure to live among these people. It was they, then, who wrote those abominable lampoons! They make a mockery of me here; they laugh behind my back; not one of them believes in the power that dwells in me. They ape my gait; they distort my manners and my speech; Hekebolius himself! Oh, I feel it—Christ is deserting me; I grow evil here.
Agathon.
Oh, though you know it not—you, even you, stand under special grace.
Julian.
[Walks up and down beside the balustrade.] I am he with whom Libanius longs to measure swords. How strange a wish! Libanius accounts <g>me</g> his peer. It is <g>me</g> he awaits
Agathon.
Hear and obey: Christ awaits you!
