Page:Theparadiseoftheholyfathers.djvu/296

 in to the stranger and treated him kindly. And the old man knew that what had taken place in him had been caused by the working of Satan, and he fell down before his disciple and said, “Henceforward thou shalt be my father, and I will be thy disciple, for through thy good works, after God, thou hast helped the souls of two [men].”

HERE was a certain old man who had an excellent disciple, and on a certain occasion the old man by reason of his hasty temper drove him away, and turned him outside the door, and his apparel with him; and the brother sat down outside the door and waited patiently, and when the old man opened the door he found him sitting outside. Then the old man repented, saying, “O Peter, the meekness of thy longsuffering nature hath vanquished my hasty temper; henceforward thou shalt be my old man and father, and I will be thy servant and disciple. By thy good work thou hast made (or fashioned) mine old age.”

N a certain occasion the disciple of a great sage (i.e., old man) had a war of fornication, and when the old man saw that his brother was vexed and oppressed in his mind, he said to him, “Dost thou wish me to entreat God to make the war less fierce?” And the brother said, “Father, I perceive that, although I toil and am afflicted, I am yet able to see the fruit which I possess within my soul through this strife, [therefore pray not for this thing]; but entreat God especially in thy prayer to give me strength to endure.” His father said unto him, “This day I know that thou hast surpassed me therein.”

USED to know a man in Jerusalem whose name was Aurelius [Adolius?], and by race (or origin) he came from the city of Tarsus, and when this man arrived in Jerusalem, he walked wholly in the path wherein are no stumblings and wherein not many have walked. Now he laid down for himself ascetic rules of life of new kinds, and [these were so severe] that the devils were afraid of him, and they were unable to stand up before him, and by reason of the greatness of his toil he might have been thought to be a shadow, for he would pass the whole weeks of the Forty Days in fasting, and he would spend the other days in constant vigils. Now the