Theodosius, the great king, who became the father of the Emperors Honorius and Arcadius, and he lived in Scete forty years, and he lived for ten years in the Troja of Babylon which is opposite the Memphis which is in Egypt, and he dwelt for three years in Canopus of Alexandria, and during the two remaining years he came to Troja again, where he died. And he finished his career in peace and in the fear of God.
166. On one occasion a certain Bishop came to the Fathers in Scete, and a brother went forth to meet him, and having met him, he took him and brought him into his cell; and having set before him bread and salt, he said, “Forgive me, O my father, for I have nothing else to set before thee.” And the Bishop said unto him, “I wish that when I come another year I may not find even bread and salt in thy cell.”
167. One of the old men said, “If thou sittest in a place and seest people with abundant provisions, look not at them; but if there be a man who is destitute, look at him as one who hath no bread, and thou shalt find relief.”
168. Abbâ Isaac, the priest of the Cells, used to say that Abbâ Pambô said, “The manner of the apparel which a monk ought to wear should be such that if it were cast outside the cell for three days no one would carry it away.”
169. A certain brother asked one of the old men a question, and said unto him, “Dost thou wish me to keep two darics as provision for the needs of the feebleness of the body?” And the old man, perceiving his mind and also that he wished to keep them, said unto him, “Yea.” Now when the brother had gone to his cell, he became troubled in his mind, and he debated in his thoughts, saying, “Did the old man speak truthfully or not?” Then he rose up, and went back to the old man, and made excuses to him, and said, “For our Lord’s sake, tell me the truth, because my thoughts are troubling me about these two darics.” The old man said unto him, “I spake to thee as I did because I saw that thy mind was to keep them, but it is not necessary for thee to keep the two darics, except only for the need of thy body. But why is thy hope set upon two darics? If by chance they were lost would not God take care of thee? Let us then cast [our] care upon Him, for it belongeth to Him to take care of us continually.”
170. Some of the old men used to tell a story about a gardener who used to work and to give away whatsoever he gained thereby in alms, but subsequently his thoughts said to him, “Gather together a few oboli, lest when thou hast grown old thou fall into want”; so he gathered together some money, and filled a large vessel therewith. And it fell out that he became sick, and the disease seized upon his foot, and he spent the whole
