Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/190

 172 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE [chap. and even when suffering undeserved injuries, we obey readily, and weary not, nor turn aside : He who per- severes to the end shall be saved.^ The fifth stair is, if we conceal no evil thought or privily committed sin when humbly confessing to the abbot. The sixth stair is, if the monk is content under every deprivation and indignity and whatever is im- posed upon him, and deems himself as but a bad workman. The seventh stair is, if the monk not only call himself least and vilest of all, but believe it in his heart. The eighth stair is, if the monk does nothing save what the regula of the monastery or the example of the elders bids him. The ninth stair is, if the monk keeps his tongue from speaking, and preserves silence until questioned. The tenth is, if he be not prone to laughter; the eleventh is, when the monk speaks, that he speak gently and humbly with gravity, in few words and rationally. The twelfth stair is, if the monk not only in his heart, but in his demeanor, show humility always — in God's work, in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, in the road, in the field, or wherever he may be, and always stand or walk with head inclined and with looks fixed upon the ground. At all times 1 Here and elsewhere, when I have tried to translate the sub- stance of Benedict's paragraphs, I have omitted for the sake of brevity a number of Scripture quotations, which are admirably chosen.