Image via Photobucket and nefertiti916

From Thais:

“He journeyed along lonely roads. When evening came, the murmuring of
the
breeze amidst the tamarisk trees made him shiver, and he pulled
his hood over
his eyes that he might not see how beautiful all things
were. After walking six days, he came to a place called Silsile. There
the river runs in a narrow
valley, bordered by a double chain of
granite mountains. It was there that
the Egyptians, in the days when
they worshipped demons, carved their idols.
Paphnutius saw an enormous
sphinx carved in the solid rock. Fearing that it
might still possess
some diabolical properties, he made the sign of the
cross, and
pronounced the name of Jesus; he immediately saw a bat fly out of
one
of the monster’s ears, and Paphnutius knew that he had driven out
the
evil spirits which had been for centuries in the figure. His
zeal
increased, and picking up a large stone, he threw it in the
idol’s
face. Then the mysterious face of the sphinx expressed such
profound
sadness that Paphnutius was moved. In fact, the expression
of
superhuman grief on the stone visage would have touched even the
most
unfeeling man. Therefore Paphnutius said to the sphinx–

“O
monster, be like the satyrs and centaurs our father Anthony saw in
the
desert, and confess the divinity of Jesus Christ, and I will bless
thee in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”

When he had spoken
a rosy light gleamed in the eyes of the sphinx; the
heavy eyelids of the
monster quivered and the granite lips painfully
murmured, as though in echo
to the man’s voice, the holy name of Jesus
Christ; therefore Paphnutius
stretched out his right hand, and blessed
the sphinx of Silsile.”

Click here to read the book

While this book has a very over the top look at Christian fanaticism, this scene comes off as the most surreal and fantastic.  Before Paphnutius tracks down Thais and demands that she give up her life as an actress, he casts a spell on a Sphinx.  He repents and adds new context this Egyptian religious symbol.

One question, did Paphnutius imagine this whole thing, or did it really happen?