6. Only once did anything shine through: it was a frightening fire that seemed to have a life of its own. But then, when they lost sight of that light, they were even more afraid than they had been before they had seen it! They began to realize that what they had seen was even worse than what they had thought.
7. They realized that their mocking attempts at magic were too weak and that they had no real power. It became clear to them that they had given themselves far too much credit for understanding what was happening.
8. Those who had thought they could dispel fears and free sick beings from terror became sick themselves with a laughable case of nerves.
9. Even when there was nothing around to frighten them, they were scared by the simple sounds of animals’ movements and hissing serpents.
10. Trembling, they were dying with fright, shutting their eyes even against the empty air, as if they could thus avoid what was scaring them.
11. Wickedness is cowardly, condemned by its own witness. Distressed by conscience, the wicked person thinks everything is worse than it is.
12. Fear betrays our ability to help ourselves by thinking clearly.
13. Expecting the worst, people prefer to remain ignorant of the cause of their torment.