Page:Theparadiseoftheholyfathers.djvu/437

 poorness of his apparel; and he clung to him, and followed him to the cave. Now when they came [to the river] and found no boat to take them over, the blessed man Apellen cried out with a loud voice to that crocodile, which straightway heard him and came to him, and it made ready its back before the holy man to sit upon; and the blessed man entreated the priest to sit with him and pass over to the other side, but when the priest saw the crocodile, he was afraid, and he returned to his own place. And the brethren, who were dwelling in the mountain on the other side of the river, feared when they saw the blessed man sitting in the water on the back of the crocodile; and as soon as he had crossed over on to dry land, and had come up [out of the water], he slew the crocodile, saying, “Death is better for thee than punishment for the souls which thou hast already slain, and wouldst slay”; and the animal died straightway.

And Apellen remained with the brethren three days, and he sat and taught them the commandments, and the thoughts which one of them had secretly he made clear and plain before them, saying, “This man is vexed by lust, and this man by love of vainglory, and this by evil dislike, and this by pride, and this by arrogance, and this by envy, and this by boasting, and this by anger, and this by greediness, and this by avarice; and this man is humble, and this man is straight, and these men are praiseworthy and good, and these are bad and rebellious.” And he admonished [them] and shewed forth [these things], and when the brethren heard them they marvelled, for in very truth it was even as [he had said].

And he also said, “Prepare for us a meal of garden herbs, for many brethren are coming to us,” and when they had prepared them, the brethren came, and they saluted each other; and one of them entreated him to let him be with him in the desert, and the blessed man said unto him, “Thou art not able to endure the temptations of devils,” and at length the brother said, “I can bear everything.” Then having received him Abbâ Apellen commanded him to dwell in a cave by the side of him. But the devils came by night and sought to strangle him. Now first of all they troubled him sorely with filthy thoughts, and that brother fled, and departed from the cave. And when he had shewn all these things to the blessed Apellen, the Abbâ set out and made for him an abode at a distance, and he commanded them to there live without fear.

And on a certain occasion when they were in the cave they lacked bread, and an angel in the form of a brother brought them food, and once, when ten of the brethren had been seeking