Ireland. A History. A Nation Once Again? Part I. Иностранный язык. Фомина И.В - 6 стр.

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literature in order to portray him as a special prophet sent by God to the Irish
people. As a result, modern scholars regard these and later medieval biographies of
the saint as having no historical value, except for the study of how legends develop
around the name of a famous person.
    These fanciful texts do, however, have some curious accounts which seem to echo
the preaching of Patrick himself. For instance, in the Confessio he contrasted the idols
of the pagan Irish to the true ‘light’ of Christianity. He criticized in particular the
belief in the divinity of the sun, claiming that ‘its brilliance will not endure’, and that
those who worship it will be punished; and insisted instead on the worship of Christ,
‘the true sun who will never perish, nor will anyone who does His will’. It is
interesting to note that both Muirchu and Tireachan tell a story of a fire-ordeal by
which the saint showed the superior power of Christianity over that of a pagan druid.
According to the story, a servant of Patrick emerged unscathed from the ordeal, being
untouched by the fires of paganism, whereas his opponent was totally consumed by
the fire of the Christian faith.
    In the Confessio, Patrick repeatedly refers to the great ‘gift’ he has received –
meaning the conversion of the Irish people – and remarks that ‘whether I receive
good or ill, I return thanks equally to God’. Curiously, Muirchu related a story of how
a powerful pagan called Daire sent a cauldron to Patrick as a gift, but the saint uttered
no more than a single word of thanks. The pagan was incensed at this, and had the
cauldron taken back, but Patrick expressed the same word of gratitude again. This
caused the pagan to reconsider his position, and he gave the cauldron to Patrick to
keep, as well as a site on which to build a church at Armagh. It is interesting to note
that Daire was an alternate name for the Celtic father-deity who was more usually
referred to as the ‘Daghdha’, the bountiful god who gave to all from his great
cauldron. Since Patrick preached that the Christian God was the true giver of good
fortune, it may well be that this story sprang from a confused memory of such
teaching.

II. Answer the questions.
    1. Whose work now crucial to the conversion of Ireland to the Christian faith in
       the 5th century?
    2. How did a romanised Celt called Patricius become St Patrick?
    3. What is Confessio?
    4. What dates have been given for Patrick’s mission traditionally?
    5. Why do modern scholars regard medieval biographies of Patrick as having no
       historical value?

III. Retell the text.

                                          Unit Four.

   I.      Read and translate the text.