wages which are given to me by the owner of the sheep I give unto the poor.” Now when the monk heard these things he fell down at the feet of the shepherd, and said, “I imagined that I had laid hold upon abstinence, but thou through thy well-ordered life art worthy of a greater reward than I, because I have eaten every kind of green thing immediately it came in my way.” Then the shepherd said unto him, “It is not right that rational men should make themselves like unto the beasts, but they should eat whatsoever is prepared for them at the seasons which are duly ordered and appointed for them, and afterwards they should fast from everything until an appointed time.” And the monk profited by these words, and he added to his labour and became perfect, and he praised God, and marvelled how many were the saints in the world who were not known to the children of men.
Chapter III: Of The Reading Of The Scriptures, And Of Watching By Night, And Of The Service Of The Psalms, And Of Constant Prayers
105. THEY used to say about Abbâ Arsenius that no man was able to attain to the manner of life in his abode. And they also said about him that on the night of the Sabbath which would end in the dawn of Sunday, he would leave the sun behind him, and would stretch out his hands towards heaven, and would pray [in this position] until the sun rose in his face, when he would satisfy his eyes with a little slumber.
106. A certain old man was complete in all perfection, and he could see what was happening from a very long way off; and he said, “I once saw in a monastery a certain brother who was meditating on the study of God in his cell, and behold, a devil came and stood outside, and he wanted to go in, but he could not do so, so long as the brother was meditating. Finally, however, when the monk ceased his contemplation the devil was able to enter his cell, for his power is not able to vanquish those whose converse is with God.”
107. An old man said, “Whensoever a man readeth the Divine Books, the devils are afraid.”
108. They used to say about Abbâ Pachomius that he spent much time in striving with devils like a true athlete, and after the manner of Saint Anthony. And because many devils came against him in the night season, he asked God to keep away sleep from him both by day and by night, so that he might not sleep at all, and might be able to bring low the might of the Enemy, even according to that which is written, “I will not turn back until I have made an end of them”; for they
