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 old men have been skilled, and have had experience, and they have arrived at the measure for speech, for in them there is nothing alien which they can speak with the mouth.’ And I said unto him, ‘And supposing that I have the necessity to talk with a neighbour, wouldst thou that I should speak with the words of the Scriptures, or with the words of the old men?’ And he said unto me, ‘If thou art not able to hold thy peace it is better for thee to use the speech of the old men rather than that of the Scriptures, for there is danger in a man employing the speech of the Scriptures.’ ”

517. Abbâ Daniel used to say that a man of business once came to Abbâ Arsenius, and brought him a testament of a certain kinsman who had left him a very large inheritance, and having received the deed he wished to tear it to pieces. Then the man of business fell down at his feet, and said, “I beseech thee, do not tear it up, for if thou dost I shall die.” And Abbâ Arsenius said unto him, “I died before he did, though he hath only now died, but shall I live?” And he sent the man of affairs away without having taken anything.

518. A monk went to a nunnery to visit his sister, for she was sick; now she was a woman who was great with God, and a firm believer, and she never allowed herself to see the face of a man, not even that of her brother, lest through her he might go in among the women. And she sent him a message, saying, “Go, my brother, and pray for me, that Christ, by His grace, may make me worthy to see thee in that world of the kingdom of heaven.”

519. A brother asked an old man and said unto him, “What is the best thing for me to do, so that I may do it and live thereby?” And the old man said unto him, “God [alone] knoweth which is best; but listen. One of the old men said that the mind which rebuked a man was his [best] adversary, for it resisted a man who sought to carry out his desires in the flesh, and to rebel against God, and not to be obedient unto Him, and it would also deliver a man over to his enemies.”

520. An old man also said, “It is meet that the soul should be occupied in the service [of God] by day and night, even like Huldah, the prophetess, who used to sit in the house of, the Lord with supplication and ministration; and also like Hannah, who never ceased in her ministrations during a period of eighty years.”

521. A brother asked an old man, saying, “What shall I do, father? For my belly vexeth me, and I am unable to restrain it, and therefore I am leading a life of luxury.” The old man said unto him, “If thou dost not throw on it the fear of fasting