Saints, and Righteous Men’ ”; and he came to the old man, and said, “I have praised them.” And the old man said unto him, “And did they return thee no answer?” and he said “No.” And the old man said unto him, “Thou seest how thou hast praised them, and that they said nothing to thee, and that although thou didst revile them they returned thee no answer. And thus let it be with thyself. If thou wishest to live, become dead, so that thou mayest care neither for the reviling of men nor for [their] praise, for the dead care for nothing; in this wise thou wilt be able to live.”
447. One of the fathers used to relate that he had an old man in a cell, who performed many ascetic labours, and who clothed himself in a palm-leaf mat; and this old man went to Abbâ Ammon, who, seeing that he wore a palm-leaf mat only, said unto him, “This will profit thee nothing.” And the old man asked him, saying, “Three thoughts vex me. Shall I go to the desert, or shall I go forth into exile, or shall I shut myself up in a cell, and receive no man, and eat once every two days?” Abbâ Ammon said unto him, “Thou art not able to do any one of these things, but go, sit in thy cell, and eat a very little food each day, and let there be in thine heart always the word[s] of the publican, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner,’ and thus thou shalt be able to live” (St. Luke 18:13).
448. Abbâ Daniel used to relate a story, saying:—There was with us in Babylon of Egypt the daughter of a man who was the captain of a company of soldiers, and she was possessed of a devil, and her father took her to many places, but she could not find healing. Now her father had a friend who was a monk, and he said unto him, “No man is able to cure her except those monks of whom I spake unto thee, but even if we entreat them to do this they will not agree to it, because they flee from the love of the approbation [of men]. Nevertheless, when they come to sell [their] baskets, ye shall pretend that ye wish to buy some, and when they come to sell and to take the price of the baskets from thy house, we will say unto them, ‘Put up a prayer, and this maiden shall be healed’ ”; and the man did so. And they came as it were to buy baskets, and they found the disciple of these holy men sitting down and selling [them], and they took him and the baskets, and carried him to their houses, and then they set another man in his place, and commanded him when the monks came to bring them to them. Now when their disciple entered the house, the maiden who was possessed of a devil went forth and smote him on the cheek, but that brother fulfilled the commandment and turned to her the other cheek, and straightway that devil, who was unable to bear the
