not knock at the door of any other brother’; so I returned and placed the apples in the church and departed.”
15. They said concerning Abbâ Sisoes that when the church began [to fill] he fled quickly to his cell, and, [though] the brethren said, “He hath a devil,” he was performing the work of God.
16. Abbâ Joseph said to Abbâ Nestîr, “What shall I do with my tongue, for I cannot conquer it?” Abbâ Nestîr said unto him, “If thou talkest wilt thou have relief from this [trouble]?” And he said unto him, “Nay.” The old man said unto him, “If then thou hast no relief when thou talkest, why dost thou talk?” Abbâ Joseph said unto him, “What shall I do? For I cannot stand against it.” The old man said unto him, “Wilt thou have relief then?” and he said unto him, “Nay.” The old man said unto him, “If thou canst not gain relief by talking, then hold thy peace.”
17. A certain brother went to Abbâ Poemen on the second Sunday in the Fast of Forty Days and repeated unto him his thoughts, and sighing over what the old man had told him, he said unto him, “I had almost kept myself from coming here to-day”; and the old man said, “Why?” Then the brother said, “I said in my mind, Peradventure during the fast the door will be closed against thee”; and Abbâ Poemen said unto him, “We do not learn to shut a door made of wood, but to close the door of the tongue.”
18. When a certain brother in Scete was going to the harvest, he went to Abbâ Moses, the Black, and said unto him, “Father, tell me what I shall do; shall I go to the harvest?” and Abbâ Moses said unto him, “If I tell thee, wilt thou be persuaded to do as I say?” And the brother said unto him, “Yea, I will hearken unto thee.” The old man said unto him, “If thou wilt be persuaded by me, rise up, go, and release thyself from going to the harvest, and come unto me, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do.” The brother therefore departed and obtained his release from his companions, as the old man had told him, and then he came to him. And the old man said unto him, “Go into thy cell and keep Pentecost, and thou shalt eat dry bread and salt once a day [only], and after thou hast done this I will tell thee something else to do later on”; and he went and did as the old man had told him, and then came to him again. Now when the old man saw that he was one who worked with his hands, he shewed him the proper way to live in his cell; and the brother went to his cell, and fell on his face upon the ground, and for three whole days and nights he wept before God. And after these things, when his thoughts were saying unto him, “Thou art now an exalted
