308        THE  VARIETIES  OF  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE

on  fire  about  him,  he  could  not  have  helped  himself.  This  he
continued  until  his  hands  and  arms  had  become  almost  tremu-
lous with  the  strain,  and  then  he  devised  something  else :  two
leather  gloves ;  and  he  caused  a  brazier  to  fit  them  all  over  with
sharp-pointed  brass  tacks,  and  he  used  to  put  them  on  at  night,
in  order  that  if  he  should  try  while  asleep  to  throw  off  the  hair
undergarment,  or  relieve  himself  from  the  gnawings  of  the  vile
insects,  the  tacks  might  then  stick  into  his  body.  And  so  it
came  to  pass.  If  ever  he  sought  to  help  himself  with  his  hands
in  his  sleep,  he  drove  the  sharp  tacks  into  his  breast,  and  tore
himself,  so  that  his  flesh  festered.  When  after  many  weeks
the  wounds  had  healed,  he  tore  himself  again  and  made  fresh
wounds.
