as he is able to bear, so much the greater are the ferocity, and the wickedness, and the bitterness, and the craftiness of the devils who make war against him. Similarly, when one of the brethren entreated Abbâ Apellen to allow him to live with him in the desert, he said unto him, ‘Thou art not able to bear the temptation of the devils.’ Finally, when the brother urged him [to let him do so], he commanded him to dwell in a cave by his side. And the devils came against him in the night and sought to strangle him, until Abbâ Apellen came, and surrounded the cave with the sign of the Cross, after which the brother was able to live in the cave. For not all monks are able to fight against the devils, but only such as are perfect and humble.”
622. Why is it that the two Romans who went to Abbâ Macarius, did not, during the whole period of three years which they lived [near him] come to him and ask him, or any other aged man, questions about the thoughts? The old man said, “Because the elder brother was exceedingly wise, and perfect and humble. Had he gone to Abbâ Macarius, or to one of the other old men, his perfection would have been revealed, and he would have [received] praise throughout Scete from the Fathers, who would have wondered, saying, ‘How is it that a young man hath become perfect in three years’? It is, however, not right for us to make ourselves like unto these two brethren, and to neglect the doctrine of the old men. As for the two brethren, the elder was perfect, and the younger was humble, and learned from him.”
623. The brethren said, “The history of the triumphs of Bessarion saith that during all the days of his life he dwelt in waste places, and in the desert and in the mountains, and among the rocks.” Once having come to a certain monastery, he stood up by the door like a wandering beggar, and then sat down weeping and crying out, even as one who had been rescued from a storm. And when the brethren entreated him to go in and rest with them, he said, ‘Before I find the possessions of my house which I have lost I cannot endure being under a roof; for thieves fell upon me on the sea, and a storm reared itself up against me, and I have been robbed of the riches which I once possessed, and from being a man of high estate I am become of no account.’ Now what were the riches which [he inherited] from his parents and lost? And what does this [story] mean? Who are parents? What does he refer to by the words ‘sea, and storms, and waves’? Who were the thieves? Are these words spoken of himself or of the other persons? The old man said, “These things are said of all the monks who are still striving and contending
