making mats, but I am unable to make [them] here.” The old man said unto him, “Abbâ Sisoes used to say, ‘It is not the work which is easy for us that we ought to do, but that which befitteth the place, and a brother should labour according to what it will cost to keep him.’ ”
100. Abbâ Joseph used to say, “When we were sitting with Abbâ Poemen he made mention of Abbâ Agathon, and we said to him, ‘He was a young man, why dost thou call him Abbâ?’ Abbâ Poemen said unto him, ‘His mouth made him to be called Abbâ.’ ”
101. One of the old men used to say, “Wheresoever the bee goeth it maketh honey; and thus also it is with the monk, for wheresoever he goeth he doeth the work of God.”
102. An old man used to say, “Satan is a twister of cords, and as long as thou givest him threads he will plait them”; now he spake this concerning the thoughts.
103. Abbâ Sisoes shewed us the cave of Abbâ Anthony, and said, “Thus in the cave of a lion a fox dwelleth.”
104. They used to say of those who were in Scete that no pride was found among them, because they surpassed each other in spiritual excellences. They fasted so much that one would only eat [once] every two days, and another [once] every four days, and another [once] every seven days; another would eat no bread, and another would drink no water, and to speak briefly, they were adorned with every spiritual excellence.
105. They used to relate that a certain old man entreated God and made supplication unto Him that the devils might appear to him, and it was revealed to him that “It is not necessary for thee to see them”; but the old man made entreaty, saying, “Lord, Thou art able to hide me in Thy grace.” Then God opened his eyes, and he saw them like bees surrounding a man, and they were gnashing their teeth upon him, and the angels of God were rebuking them and driving them away from men.
106. A man asked a certain old man from Thebes, and said unto him, “Tell me how I may be redeemed”; and the old man said unto him, “Three things [thou must do]. Sit in thy cell and keep silence, and consider attentively thy sins, and keep thyself wholly from judging any man, and accept no gift from any man, and let thine hands be sufficient to find thee thy food. And if thou art unable to give alms of thy work at least supply all thy needs by thine own hands.”
107. They used to say that one day when Abbâ Sisoes was sitting down he cried out with a loud voice, and said, “O my feebleness”; his disciple said unto him, “What aileth thee, O
