discover whether this is, or is not, really the case; one thing is true at any rate, namely, that immoderate or very great indulgence in alcoholic beverages has such deplorable consequences in regard to morality, that we can say with truth that an impure and evil spirit lurks therein. I mean the enemy of chastity. An eastern legend runs as follows: When Noe began to plant the vine, Satan offered to assist him, on condition that he should receive two thirds of the produce. He then watered the vine with the blood of a parrot, a lion, an ape, and a pig. And since then, so runs the legend, wine (alcohol) possesses this property, namely, that any one who partakes too freely of it, becomes boastful and loquacious like a parrot, furious like a lion, lascivious like an ape, filthy like a pig This story is, as I said, only a legend, a parable, but it depicts with admirable precision the ruinous effects of alcohol in regard to morality. We will mention here only one of these effects: alcohol prepares the way for sins against chastity; the enemy of innocence is present in alcohol.
2. The Wise Man in Holy Writ thus addresses the drunkard: "Thine eyes shall look after strange women and thy heart - speak perverse things." And Sirach remarks: "Wine and women make wise men fall off." And in Proverbs it is expressly
