203. They used to say that Mother Sarâ, who dwelt above the river and was sixty years old, had never looked out [from her abode] and seen the river.
204. A certain old man dwelt in the desert at a distance of ten miles from the monastery, wherefrom he had always to draw water, and on one occasion the matter became very wearisome to him, and he said, “What is the necessity for me to labour so much? I will come and will take up my abode by the side of this stream.” And having said this, he turned behind him and he saw a man coming after him, and he was counting his footsteps, and he asked him, saying, “Who art thou?” And he answered and said unto him, “I am an angel of the Lord, and I have been sent to count thy footsteps, and to give thee thy reward”; and having heard this the old man was consoled greatly, and he went five miles further from the place wherein he was, and took up his abode there.
205. They say that three thieves went into the cell of Abbâ Theodore, and that two of them laid hold upon him whilst the third carried off the things which he had in his cell; and having taken out even the books which he had there, they were going to carry away his cloak, when he said unto them, “Leave me this”; and as they refused to do so, he moved his arms and hands and hurled the two men who were holding him from him, and when they saw this they were afraid. Then the old man said unto them, “Fear ye not, but divide what ye have taken into four parts, and take three of them, and leave me one.”
206. They used to say that the cave in Patârâ which belonged to Abbâ Chaeremon who was in Scete, was forty miles distant from the church, and twelve miles further from a spring of water. And he used to bring to the church, with the labour of his hands, two pitchers of water, one for each day, and when he was tired he would set one down by the roadside and go back afterwards and fetch it.
207. They used to say that the cell of the blessed Arsenius also was two and thirty miles from the church, but he never went anywhere and others brought him whatsoever he required.
208. The blessed Arsenius never changed the water [wherein he soaked] the leaves which he twisted into ropes except once a year, but he used to add frequently to it, for he twisted palm leaves and sewed them together until the sixth hour [daily]. And the fathers entreated him, saying, “Tell us why thou dost not change the water of the leaves, for it is very foul”; then the old man answered, and said, “It is right that I should endure this foul smell in return for the odours of the sweet scents, and oils, and delightful odours, which I enjoyed when I was in the world.”
