They continued on their way, and the prince constantly thought about what he had seen and heard, constantly remembering death. From then on, he was always seen sad and gloomy. He said to himself: "When will death snatch me, and who will remember me after death, while time consigns everything to oblivion? After death I will be annihilated without a trace, or is there some other life, another world?"

Thinking this and the like incessantly, he began to turn pale and wither. When he happened to be in the sight of his father, he pretended to be cheerful and without sorrow, not wanting his father to know his thoughts. He was burning with an intolerable desire to meet someone who could satisfy the aspirations of his soul and say a good word about what interested him so much. So he again began to ask the said tutor if he knew any one who could satisfy his desires and calm his mind, which was terribly wandering in meditation and could not give up the thought of death. The questioner, remembering their previous conversation, said: "I have already told you before how your father has ordered the ascetics who are constantly discussing what you want to know, some of whom he ordered to be executed, while others were inexorably persecuted, so that now I do not know any of them living in the vicinity."

The king's son, filled with anger and very grieved in his soul, was like a man who had lost a great treasure and turned all his thoughts to finding it. From that time on he lived in constant sorrow and care; all worldly pleasures and amusements were in his eyes a kind of abomination, a disgrace. When the prince was in such a situation, striving to find good for his soul, the All-Seeing Eye saw him, and the All-Seeing Eye did not ignore him, Who wished salvation to all and the knowledge of the truth, according to His inherent love for mankind, and in the following way showed him the path along which he should go.

The Story of St. Barlaam and His Meeting with Tsarevich Joasaph. The Beginning of His Holy Teaching

At that time there lived a monk of irreproachable life, distinguished by eloquence and who had traveled the entire path of monastic life. From what place and from what family he came, I cannot say. He lived in a certain wilderness, located in the land of Senar, and was honored with the priesthood. The name of this elder was Varlaam. Having learned by Divine revelation about the state of Joasaph's soul, he left the wilderness and went to inhabited places. Changing his clothes for worldly clothes, he boarded a ship and went to the country of the Hindus. Posing as a merchant, he arrived in the city where the palace of the king's son was located. In this city he spent several days, looking closely at the situation of the prince and scouting about his retinue. When he learned that the tutor mentioned above was closest to the king's son, he said to him in private: "I want to tell you, my lord, that I am a merchant and have come from distant lands. I have one gem the likes of which have never been found before. I have not yet shown it to anyone, but I speak of it to you because I see in you a wise and intelligent man who can lead me to the king's son so that I can present him with my stone. This stone is incomparably higher than all that is beautiful: it can bestow the light of wisdom on the blind, open the ears of the deaf, give voice to the dumb, and heal the sick. He makes the foolish wise; He casts out evil spirits and generously gives everything beautiful and pleasant to those who deserve it."

The teacher answers him: "I see that you have a strong and mature mind, but your words seem to me too boastful. I cannot count to you all the precious stones that I have seen, but I have not seen or heard of stones that have such powers as you attribute to yours. But nevertheless, show it to me, and if what you have said is true, I will take it to the prince at once, and you will receive from him a great many gifts and honors. But until I am convinced of the truth of your words, I cannot tell my lord and king such improbabilities about a subject unknown to me."

Then St. Barlaam said to him: "Thou speakest the truth, that thou hast never seen or heard of such powers and actions, for it is not a question of an ordinary thing, but of an amazing and great thing. But listen to me, and you will see with your own eyes what you have tried to see. This precious stone, in addition to the above-mentioned power and action, has another property: it cannot be seen by one who does not have good, healthy eyesight and a pure, immaculate body. If anyone, being imperfect in these two respects, wanted to look at this precious stone, he would certainly lose the sight and mind that he has. As for me, being somewhat versed in the art of medicine, I see that your eyes are unwell. Therefore, I am afraid that you will not lose the sight that you have. As for the king's son, I have heard that his eyesight is already well established, and therefore I would not be afraid to show him this treasure. I hope that you will not ignore my words and will not want to deprive your master of such a thing."

To this the teacher replies to him: "If this is so, then do not show me the stone. My life is stained by many misdeeds; besides, my eyes, as you have said, are not well. Nevertheless, I believe your words and will not hesitate to report it to the prince."

Coming to Joasaph, the tutor told him everything in detail. The prince, having listened to him, felt in his heart a joyful and pleasant feeling, and, as if inspired in his soul by God, ordered this holy man to be brought in as soon as possible.

When Barlaam went in to the king's son and gave him a proper greeting, he invited the holy man to sit down. Upon the departure of the tutor, Joasaph said to the elder: "Show me this precious stone, about which, as my tutor said, you tell something unusual and amazing." Barlaam began his conversation with him thus: "It would be unjust, O king, that I should tell false and superfluous things about a subject that surpasses even your glory in its glory. Everything that has been reported to you about me is true, true, and indubitable. But if I am not first convinced of your prudence, I cannot reveal the mystery to you, for the Lord says: A sower went out to sow. And while he was sowing, some fell by the wayside, and birds flew in and pecked at them. Some fell on stony places, where there was little earth, and soon sprang up, because the earth was not deep, but when the sun rose, it withered, and, as it had no root, withered. Some fell into thorns, and thorns grew up and choked him. And some fell on good ground and bore fruit; one a hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty (Matt. 13:4-9).

If your heart also turns out to be fertile ground, then I will try to plant the Divine seed in you and reveal the great mystery. If your heart represents stony or thorny ground or a path trampled under foot by all, then it is better not to plant the saving seed on it at all and not to throw it to be plundered by birds and beasts. But I hope for the best, I hope that you are worthy to accept salvation; therefore you will see this priceless stone, and thanks to its brilliance you can also become bright and bear a hundredfold fruit. For your sake I have undertaken this work and have come a long way to show you what you have not seen and to teach you what you have never heard."

Joasaph replied: "I, venerable elder, burn with an irrepressible, passionate desire to hear some new good words, and a fire burns in my heart that burns me - so I want to resolve my doubts. Until now, I have not met a single person who could give me a word of salvation. And I hope that this word would not have had the same fate as that which fell on stony and thorny ground and was plundered by birds. I would have accepted it wisely and would have been able to preserve it. If you can help me here in any way, then do not hide it from me, but tell me. As soon as I heard that you had come from a distant land, a joyful feeling and hope arose in my soul, a hope that I would have the opportunity to learn from you what I wanted. Therefore I ordered you to be brought to me, and received you kindly as someone close to me or of the same age, hoping that I would not be mistaken in my expectations."

Then Barlaam said: "In this case you acted beautifully and worthy of your royal greatness, you did not succumb to the surrounding insignificance, but frankly hoped. There was once a great and glorious king. One day, when he rode in a golden chariot with a retinue befitting royal honor, he met two men dressed in dirty and torn rags, with pale and emaciated faces. The king knew them to be fat, but they exhausted their bodies by fasting. Seeing them, he got down from the chariot and fell to the ground before them, greeting them. The nobles and nobles who accompanied him were displeased with this, believing that he was not acting according to the royal dignity, but not daring to blame him, they asked his brother to tell the king not to humiliate the royal crown. When he told his brother about this and rebuked his undue humiliation, the king gave him an answer that his brother did not understand.

It was the custom of this king that when he pronounced a sentence of death against someone, he sent heralds to the door of the condemned man with a trumpet specially designed for this purpose, by the sound of which everyone was informed that so-and-so was sentenced to death. When evening came, the king sent to blow the said trumpet at his brother's door. The latter, hearing the sound of the deadly trumpet, despaired of his salvation, and spent the whole night writing a will concerning his property. At dawn, dressed in black mourning clothes, he sets off with his wife and children, weeping and sobbing, to the doors of the palace. Bringing him into the palace and seeing him in such grief, the king said: "Oh, mad! If you are so afraid of a herald sent by your half-brother of equal rank, of whom you are sure that you have done nothing wrong to him, how can you reproach me for humbly greeting the heralds of my God, who proclaim to me death and a terrible stand before the Lord, before Whom I feel myself to have sinned much and grievously? Therefore I will also accuse those who incited you to reproach me, that they were mad rather than I."