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 speak thou to it, saying, ‘I have nothing to do with this thought, and my soul desireth it not; let this blasphemy be upon thee, Satan, for nothing in [my] soul desireth it, for the time is short.’ ” And when that brother heard these things he departed rejoicing.

60. A brother asked an old man, saying, “How is that the soul is obstinate, and that it wisheth not to fear God?” The old man said unto him, “The soul wisheth, O my son, to fear God, but there is no time, for the fear of God belongeth to perfection.”

61. One of the old men used to say, “Be not thou asking for one thing after another, but ask concerning the matter of the war wherein thou art at the time engaged, and when thou hast eradicated that then ask concerning something else; but if when there is in thee one passion, thou settest it aside and askest about another, the former passion will never be eradicated from thee.”

62. A brother asked one of the old men, saying, “What shall I do? for my thoughts wish to wander and go round about by reason of the sight of the fathers.” And the old man answered and said unto him, “If thou seest that thy thoughts wish to go forth by reason of the strictness of the restraint, or through need, make unto thyself a division in thy cell, and thou wilt henceforward seek not to go out; but if thou seest that they wish to go out for the benefit of the soul, go out.”

63. There was a certain brother in the Cells, who, when the service in the church was ended, used to remain until the last and to wait for some one to lead him home; one day, however, when the church was being dismissed, he went out before any one else and ran to his cell, and the priest saw him and marvelled. And when the brother came on the following day, the priest said unto him, “Tell me truly why thou, who hadst been in the habit of going out last, dost now go forth first of all?” and he said, “Up to the present I made a distinction by not boiling any food [on the First Day of the week], and I waited that, peradventure, some one might take me to his cell; on that day, however, before I came [to the church] I boiled a few lentiles, and therefore I departed quickly.” And when the priest heard this he gave a commandment to the brethren in the church that before each man came to the service in the church, he should on the First Day of the week boil some food, by way of making a distinction.

64. The brethren used to tell about a certain old man who had a disciple who, when he sat down to eat, used to put his feet on the table, and although the old man had suffered this