and thou art not able to labour, therefore visit the sick, which is a great commandment.’ ” Then Abbâ Arsenius, after the manner of one who was well acquainted with the war of devils, said unto him, “Eat, drink, and sleep, and toil not, but on no account go out of thy cell”; for the old man knew that dwelling constantly in the cell induceth all the habits of the solitary life. And when the brother had done these things for three days he became weary of idleness, and finding a few palm leaves on the ground, he took them and began to split them up, and on the following day he dipped them in water and began to work (i.e., to weave baskets); and when he felt hungry he said, “I will finish one more small piece of work, and then I will eat.” And when he was reading in the Book, he said, “I will sing a few Psalms and say a few prayers, and then I shall eat without any compunction.” Thus little by little, by the agency of God, he advanced in the ascetic life until he reached the first rank, and received the power to resist the thoughts and to vanquish them.
8. When Abbâ Sisoes was dwelling in the mountain of Abbâ Anthony, the man who used to minister unto him departed and remained away for a period of ten months and did not come [back] to him, and he saw no man. And afterwards, as he was walking in the mountains, he saw a man hunting wild animals, and the old man said to him, “Whence comest thou? And how long hast thou been here?” And the man said unto him, “Father, I have been in this mountain eleven months, and I have seen no man except thyself.” Then the old man having heard these things went into his cell, and smote upon his face, and said, “Behold, O Sisoes, well mayest thou think that thou hast done nothing, for thou hast not made thyself even like unto this man who is in the world, and is not a monk.”
9. I once asked Abbâ Sarmâtâ a question, and said unto him, “What shall I do, O my father, for I do nothing which the monks do? On the contrary, I am negligent, and I eat, and drink, and sleep, and I think many filthy thoughts, and my mind is ever disturbed, and I depart from one work to another, and from one group of thoughts to another. What shall I do, then? For I am troubled, and my soul is little.” And Abbâ Sarmâtâ said unto him: “Sit thou in thy cell, and whatsoever thou canst do, that do, and trouble not thyself. For I wish thee to do now a little, even as did Abbâ Anthony in the mountain, and I believe that by sitting in [thy] cell for the sake of the Name of God, thou also wilt be found in the same place as Abbâ Anthony.”
10. On one occasion the brethren went up from Scete to go
