with each other, and that he went back to his cell, and went round it three times, and then entered it; now the brethren saw him, and they expressed their contrition to him, saying, “Tell us why thou didst go round thy cell three times.” And he said unto them, “Because the sound of the quarrel was still in my ears, and I said, ‘I will first of all drive it out from them, and then I will go into the cell.’ ”
320. They used to say about Abbâ ’Ôr that whilst other monks would give a pledge for the palm leaves when they wished to buy, he would never give any pledge whatsoever, but whensoever he required leaves he would send the price of them, and take them. Now his disciple went on one occasion to buy leaves, and the gardener said unto him, “A man gave me a deposit, but he hath not taken away his leaves, and therefore thou mayest take them”; and having brought them he came to the old man and related unto him the matter as it had happened. And when the old man heard it, he wrung his hands, and said, “’Ôr will not work this year,” and he did not cease [to importune] his disciple until he had returned the palm leaves to their [proper] place.
321. They used to tell the story of a certain brother who never ate bread, but only unleavened cakes soaked in water; and whenever he visited the monks when they sat down to eat he would set before himself unleavened cakes and eat [them]. And it happened that one day he went to a certain great Sage, and there also visited him at the same time other strangers, and the old man boiled a few lentiles for them; and when they sat down to eat that brother also brought out his soaked cakes, and set them before himself, and ate them. Now when the old man saw this, he held his peace and did not rebuke him before the brethren who happened to be there, but when they rose up from the table, he took him aside privately, and said unto him, “O brother, if thou goest to visit a man do not reveal thy rule of life, but eat with the brethren that thou mayest not think within thyself that thou art better than they, and so condemn them. But if thou wishest to keep hold upon thy self-denial, sit in thy cell and do not go out of it.” Then the brother was persuaded by the old man, and he ate with the brethren what they ate so as to deceive them, according to what the old man had said.
322. A certain father whose name was Eulogius, having led a life of great austerity and labour in Constantinople, obtained great fame and reputation; and he came to Egypt in order that he might see something more excellent, and when he heard about Abbâ Joseph he came to him, expecting to see a very much more laborious form of life than his own. And the old
