man, and he took some food which we were going to eat, and threw into it a little oil of radishes. And we said unto him, ‘Father, throw into our food a little sweet oil,’ but when he heard these words, he made the sign of the Cross over himself, and said, ‘If there be any other oil besides this I know not of it.’ ”
102. Abbâ Joseph asked Abbâ Poemen what was the proper way in which to fast, and Abbâ Poemen said unto him, “I prefer the man who eateth every day a very small quantity of food, and who doth not satisfy his cravings for food.” And Abbâ Joseph said unto him, “When thou wast a young man didst thou not fast two days at a time, O father?” Then the old man said unto him, “Yea, I did, and three days at a time, and four days at a time, and even a week at a time; and the old men, like men of might, have tried all these by experience, but they have found that it is beneficial for a man to eat an exceedingly small quantity of food each day, and because of this they have delivered unto us an easy way to the kingdom.”
103. One of the fathers said, “I knew a brother in the Cells who used to fast the whole of the Great Sabbath, and when the brethren were assembled in the evening he used to flee to his cell in order that he might eat nothing in the church; and he would eat a few plantains with salt, and without bread, that he might conceal his abstinence.”
104. They used to tell about a certain monk who, having gone forth from the world, and lived in the coenobium for a number of years, was gracious unto every man in his humility, and all the brethren marvelled at his abstinence from meats; then he went to the barren desert, and lived there for many years, eating for food wild herbs. And afterwards he entreated God to inform him what reward He would give him, and it was said unto him by an angel, “Go forth from this desert and get thee along the road, and behold a certain shepherd shall meet thee, and according to [what he saith] so shalt thou receive.” Now when he had made ready to depart, the shepherd of whom he had been told by the angel met him, and saluted him, and having sat down to hold converse with each other, the monk saw in the shepherd’s bag some green herbs, and he asked him, saying, “What is this?” And the shepherd said unto him, “It is my food.” And the monk said unto him, “How long hast thou been feeding thyself on these green herbs?” And the shepherd said unto him, “Behold, for the last thirty years, more or less, and I have never tasted anything else except these herbs which I have eaten once a day, and I drink as much water as my food requireth; and the
