down in the middle of it, and prayed. And that old man used to say, “If thou wishest to become a monk, bring thyself into subjection that thou mayest be in the congregation of the community, and mayest enter the monastery; but if thou canst not cast away from thee care concerning [all kinds of] occupations and affairs, thou canst never dwell in the congregation. All the power thou hast is over a bottle of water.”
630. And there are also wonderful things which the blessed Bessarion performed. He made the waters of the sea sweet, and Saul his disciple drank [of them]; he crossed over the water of the river; he prevented the sun from setting in the heavens; and the rooting up of the temples of the idols was revealed unto him. As they were going to John the Theban his disciple became thirsty, and Bessarion prayed, and water bubbled up, and he gave him to drink; and he healed also the young man who was a paralytic, so that he ran to his father; and he cast out a devil from a young man who was always asleep, and whom his parents besought him to wake up. I have, however, written down all these things in the history of the holy man Bessarion, wherein it is written that he was sitting at the door of the monastery and weeping bitterly.
Chapter XIV: Of The Greatness Of The Sublime Rule Of The Solitary Life
631. THERE was a certain old man amongst the fathers who used to see visions, and this man testified, and said, “That power which I have seen existing in baptism, I have also seen in the apparel of the monks when they take the garb of the monk.”
632. An old man from Thebaïs used to say:—I was the son of a priest of idols, and when I was young I lived in the temple, and I have on many occasions seen my father go into the temple to perform the sacrifices to the idols. Once I went in secretly after him, and I saw Satan sitting [there], with his whole army before him, and, behold, one of his devils came and did homage to him. And Satan answered and said unto him, “Whence comest thou?” And the devil made answer, saying, “I was in such and such a country, and I stirred up many wars and revolts, and I caused the shedding of blood, and I have come to tell thee these things.” Satan said unto him, “How long did it take thee to do this?” and the devil said “Thirty days.” Then Satan commanded him to be beaten, saying unto him, “Is this all that thou hast done in so long a time?” And, behold, another devil came and worshipped him, and to him he said, “Whence comest thou?” And the devil answered and said, “I was in the sea, where I stirred up storms, and
