of three years he placed a stone in his mouth [and kept it there], until he had learned thoroughly how to hold his peace.
62. A certain brother went to Abbâ Moses in Scete, and asked him to speak a word; and the old man said unto him, “Get thee gone, and sit in thy cell, and thy cell shall teach thee everything.”
Chapter II: Of Fasting And Abstinence And Of Other [Similar] Labours
63. THEY used to say about Abbâ Paphnutius that he would not readily drink wine, and that on one occasion he came by chance upon a band of thieves, and found them drinking; and the captain of the thieves recognized him, and knew that he never drank wine; and he looked closely at him [and saw that] he was a man of great ascetic works. And the captain filled a cup with wine and, taking a sword in his hand, he said unto the old man, “If thou wilt not drink I will slay thee”; and the old man knew that the grace of God wished to work on the captain of the thieves through him, and sought to do good to him, so he took [the cup] and drank [the wine]. Then the captain made excuse to him and said, “Forgive me, father, for having distressed thee”; and the old man said unto him, “I believe, by God, that through this cup God will forgive thee thy sins.” And the captain of thieves said unto him, “I believe, by God; from this time forth I will never vex any man.” Thus, because for God’s sake Paphnutius gave up his own wish, he was able to do good to all that band of thieves.
64. A certain old man came unto one of the holy men who was a companion of his, and who cooked a few lentiles; and one of the two said unto his fellow, “Shall we sing a part of the service?” And he sang the whole of the Psalms of David, and his companion repeated two books of the Great Prophets, and when it was morning the old man departed to his own place, and they forgot all about the food. And the old man went another evening and found the food which had been cooked, and he was sorry and said, “Oh! how was it that we came to forget that little mess of lentiles, and did not eat it?”
65. On one occasion a brother came to Abbâ Isaiah, who threw a handful of lentiles into a saucepan to boil, but when they had just begun to boil he took them off the fire; and the brother said unto him, “Are they not yet cooked, O father?” And the old man said unto him, “Is it not sufficient for thee to have seen the fire? For this [alone] is great refreshing.”
66. A certain old man became very seriously ill, for he suffered from some disease of the stomach, and much blood came
