The Metaphorical Definitions of Vices and Virtues

The weakness of fasting, the muzzle of asceticism, the terror of contemplation, the imitation of filth, the shadow-sketch of gluttonies, an unbridled ass, an unbridled madness, a vessel of disease, the envy of health, a dam for pipes, the groan of the intestines, the limit of insolence, a partner in fornication, the filth of the mind, the sickness of the body, a heavy sleep, and a cheerful death. Temperance is a bridle for the stomach, a chew for hunger, a balance for symmetry, a balm for light eating, a cutting off from rest, a rule of hardness, a tamer of thoughts, an eye of wakefulness, a flow of burning, a pedagogue of the body, a tower of labors, and a wall of manners, a restraint of morals, and a check of passions, the death of members, a revival of souls, an imitation of resurrection, and a commonwealth of sanctification.

Fornication is a wave of gluttony, a softener of the heart, a furnace of burning, a bridegroom of idols, an unnatural act, a shadowing form, an imagined entanglement, a bed of dreams, an unfeeling intimacy, the deceit of eyes, the shamelessness of a look, a stumbling block to prayer, the shame of the heart, and a guide to ignorance. Sobriety is an ornament of truth, a crushing of excess, a charioteer of the eyes, a supervisor of thoughts, a circumcision of intention, a cutting away of lawlessness, an opponent of nature, and an opposite to burning, a worker of deeds, and a helper of temperance, a lamp of the heart, and a witness of prayer.

Chapter 3. Love of money is a treasury of idols, a prophecy of the people, a lot for the Sphinx, a calculation of those who depart, wealth of captivity, a race of injustice, a sweetness of diseases, a charm of many years, a song of industry, a counselor of wakefulness, a poverty of the stomach, a uselessness of filth, an insatiable madness, and a multi-anxious evil. Lack of restraint,