 But I, a miserable young fellow, miserable at the onset of my youth, had even then begged from you the gift of chastity. And I said, give me chastity and continence, but not yet. I was afraid you would hear me right away and heal me right away from the disease of concupiscence, which I wanted more to satisfy than to snuff out. Augustine begins the story of his long-delayed conversion by confessing. Now I should tell and confess to your name, O Lord, my help and my redeemer. How you ransomed me from slavery to worldly business, and freed me from the bonds of the bedchamber and its desires, that had held me in so tight a grip.