her, “Hast thou not heard about my works, and that I am a sinner? For it is these which it is necessary for thee to see. How didst thou dare to travel hither by ship? Didst thou not know that thou wast a woman, and that it was incumbent upon thee not to go forth anywhere? Wouldst thou go back to Rome and make a boast to the women [there] that thou hast seen Arsenius, and dost thou wish to make the sea into a road whereby women shall come unto me?” And the lady said unto him, “Please God I will not let any woman come unto thee; but pray for me that God may have me in remembrance always.” Then Abbâ Arsenius said unto her, “I will pray to God that He may blot out the memory of thee from my heart”; and when she heard these words she went forth, being afraid. Now as soon as she had come to the city a fever began to come upon her because of her grief of mind, and the people told the Bishop, saying, “That noble lady is ill”; and he came to her, and entreated her that he might learn the cause of her sickness.Then she said unto him, “Would that I never had journeyed thither! For I said unto the old man Arsenius, ‘Make mention of me in prayer,’ and he said unto me, ‘I will pray unto God that He may blot out the remembrance of thee from my heart,’ and behold I shall die of grief.” And the Archbishop said unto her, “Dost thou not know that thou art a woman, and that the Enemy doeth battle with the holy men by means of women? It was for this reason that the old man spake as he did; for thy soul, however, he will pray always.” And the noble lady remembered [these things] in her mind, and she rose up, and went to her country with gladness.
254. They say that Abbâ Hôr (or Ôr) of the Cells dwelt for twenty years in the church, and that he never once lifted his eyes and saw the roof thereof.
255. Abbâ Ammon asked Abbâ Poemen about the unclean thoughts which a man begetteth, and about vain lusts; Abbâ Poemen said unto him, “Peradventure shall an axe boast itself without him that heweth therewith? (Isaiah 10:15.) Do not henceforward aid these thoughts and they will come to an end.”
256. They say concerning Abbâ Paphnutius, the disciple of Abbâ Macarius, that when he was a youth he used to look after the oxen with others of his companions; and they went to take some cucumbers to the animals, and as they were going along one of the cucumbers fell, and Abbâ Paphnutius took it up and ate it, and whensoever he remembered this thing, he used to sit down and weep over it with great feeling.
257. One of the fathers went to Abbâ Akîlâ and saw that he was throwing up blood from his mouth, and he asked him,
