Son of Tears (9-44)

Chapter 9

The following morning, Augustine awoke with a raging headache. After lying awake for a while he decided to go to mass. As he walked into the church he noticed the Pagan believers and decided to blatantly ignore them. He sat with the men and found himself to be very bored while in mass. His boredom came to an abrupt halt as he noticed a beautiful young woman enter the room. The urge to have her came over Augustine. They said one last prayer. He closed his eyes and after the prayer was finished she was gone. Augustine ran downstairs and looked for her but couldn't find her.

Chapter 10

Augustine receives a letter from Monica explaining that Patricius was ill and there was very little chance of recovery. A second letter was received saying that Patricius had passed on. Augustine accepted his father's death with little emotion. He responds with a letter of consolation to Monica. Later on he found the astonishing woman that he saw in church the previous week. He followed her home and met her father who choked him until he would explain to him what he desired of Melanie.

Chapter 11

Leporius, Melanie's father, led Augustine into the house. He is a poor fisherman. They talked a lot about Melanie. When Leporius left the cottage, Augustine talked with Melanie and tried to explain to her that he loved her. She obviously did not believe him when she heard this news.

Chapter 12

Augustine did not tolerate Melanie's rejection of his offering as a final stand. He went to her cottage but no one answered. He ran to the wharf and he found that all the fishing boats were out. He eventually found Melanie after searching around town. She explained to Augustine about how her parents were slaves and with that they began to get acquainted with each other for the first time.

Chapter 13

Augustine thought about Melanie for hours. He knew Melanie would soon have to give in and profess her love for him. When he got back to his house, he talked with one of his roommates about love and that if he and Melanie were together, and that she could not live with them. If this happened they knew that it would ruin their friendship. Later, Augustine was near Melanie's house and saw a soldier talking to her. Augustine thought he was flirting with her so he attacked him. Augustine got knocked unconscious during the fight. Melanie told him that it was her cousin that he fought and they talked about love. She became enraged and went back inside the house. Augustine was in his house and he got a letter from Melanie saying that her father had left her. He ran over to her house and she pronounced her love for him.

Chapter 14

It seems as if Augustine and Melanie fight all the time. He thinks she is not only spending too much money for herself, but also cheating on him. Augustine has seen her with numerous different men walking through the streets. One day they get into a big fight which looks to be the final blow and Melanie ends up leaving him. Then at night, she comes home and tells him everything. She says that she loves him and that she has not cheated on him like he thinks. She says that the men she was with were only protecting her from other men. She also confesses to Augustine that she believes she could possibly be pregnant.

Chapter 15

Augustine is now worried that his mother might have found out about his mistress. He is in a very dreadful state, until he finds a passage from Cicero. He then realized that he was missing a god in his life. He opened up the Bible and read until he fell asleep. The next he saw two men fighting over Christianity. The younger one hit the older one twice and then left. Augustine helped the man up and inquired about his religion.

Chapter 16

Augustine goes to a place to eat with Marius. They talk about their faith and just about everything he was told contradicted the Christian belief and way of life. They talked about how the two religions are different and how much better the Manichean religion was. On his way home, Augustine was very interested and eager to talk about this new religion he had been taught. He wanted to tell Monica about everything.

Chapter 17

Augustine talks with Monica about this new religion he has learned and she is infuriated. She explains to him that it is the religion of Satan and that he must not worship it. He tells her all the great things about it and she is still angry. She realizes what is going on between Augustine and Melanie which makes her madder than she was before. While they are talking, Romanianus joins them. She then talks to the bishop about her son and what she should do with him. He tells her to believe in God and pray and everything will be corrected over time and Augustine will become a Christian.

Chapter 18

Augustine begins to teach a rhetoric class at Romanianus' villa. A man named Spendius comes to him and tells him that he needs to stop teaching Manicheanism to his sister and they had a long talk about it. After they talked, Spendius still did not like it, but he said that he would allow it. However, he was taken ill immediately and died shortly after.

Chapter 19

Romanianus sees that Augustine is suffering from Spendius' death so he says that he can go back to Carthage and that his debts are paid off. Before he leaves, he tells Monica that he would like her to come see him in the spring and she agrees. When he gets back to Carthage, Augustine talks with Melanie about the baby and how things went while he was gone.

Chapter 20

Augustine opens up his own school of rhetoric and has many pupils sign up immediately thanks to Romanius. In this chapter Adeodatus, his son is born. Augustine talks with Melanie and one of his friends about astrology then goes to talk to Vindicianus about it. He tells Augustine that he is needed in rhetoric and that he should not start learning about astrology that a mind like his should not focus on it.

Chapter 21

Nine years pass. The scene opens up where Augustine, Honoratus, and Nebridius are at a public bath. At this juncture in time Augustine gave up on astrology. The friends discuss their religion. They also talk about the corruption of the officials and finally decide that if the leader, Faustus, doesn't answer their questions then they will leave Manicheanism. When Faustus does arrive he leaves many of their questions unanswered. We also find out that Alypius is in Rome.

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