suffer the most acute pain in the genitals, and the doctors were quite unable to
Book XII 483
35. We have also heard of someone suffering from an unclean spirit, who while confined to his house used to announce when a priest from twelve miles away was setting out to visit him, and then say where he had got to through all the stages of his journey, and how near he was getting, and when he entered the estate, and the house, and the bedroom, until he stood there in front of him. The patient observed none of this with his eyes, but if he was not observing it in some way or other, he would not be stating it all so accurately. But the man was in the grip of a fever, and used to say all this as if he were delirious. And perhaps he really was delirious, but because of all this he was thought to be suffering from a demon.
He would not take any food from his own family, but only from that priest. He used to put up a violent resistance against his family, as much as his strength allowed him to, and only when that priest arrived would he quiet down, and submit only to him and answer him submissively. His loss of wits however, or demonic possession, did not give way even to the priest, except when he was cured of his fever, as delirious people usually are cured, and after that he did not experience the same sort of thing again.
36. We also know beyond a shadow of doubt of a person in a delirium fore telling that a certain woman would shortly die. But this certainly did not look like divination; rather he was recalling it as an event that had already happened, because when her name was mentioned in his presence, "She's dead; l've seen her carried out," he said; "They passed by here with her body," and this while she was still living, hale and hearty. But a few days later she died suddenly, and was carried out past the place that he had foretold.
37. Again there was a boy at our place who at the onset of puberty used to suffer the most acute pain in the genitals, and the doctors were quite unable to diagnose it, except that they could see that the penis itself was withdrawn so far inwards that not even when they had cut off the foreskin, which was hanging down at quite inordinate length, could it appear, but later on it was pulled out with some difficulty. Meanwhile a sticky, stinging fluid would be burning the testicles and groin. But he did not suffer the acute pain continuously; and when he did suffer it, he would wail and scream at the top of his voice and toss and turn, as people usually do when suffering excruciating bodily pain, but would still remain in full possession of his wits.
Then between his cries he would be snatched away from all his senses and lie there with his eyes open, seeing none of the people standing round, not moving at all or responding to any amount of pinching. After a while he would seem to wake up, and no longer being in any pain would give an account of what he had seen. Then after the interval of a few days he would go through the same thing all over again. In all or nearly all of his visions he said he saw two people, one of advanced age the other a boy, by whom the things were told or shown him, which he declared he had heard and seen.