of a matter that benefits them, they compel themselves to begin to speak; but if they are not compelled by the brethren, they no longer speak the word; so that they may not be found speaking when not asked, which is found to be idle talk. Abba Isaiah asked Abba Macarius, saying: Tell me a word. And the old man says to him: Flee from men. Abba Isaiah said to him: What is it to flee from men? And the old man said to him: To sit in your cell, and to weep for your sins. Abba Paphnutius, the disciple of Abba Macarius, said that I asked my father, saying: Tell me a word. And he said: Do evil to no one, nor condemn anyone; keep these things and you will be saved. Abba Macarius said: Do not sleep in the cell of a brother who has a bad reputation. 34.253 Once some brothers visited Abba Macarius in Scetis, and they found nothing in his cell, except foul water, and they say to him: Abba, come up to the village, and we will give you some rest. The old man says to them: Do you know, brothers, the bakery of so-and-so in the village? And they say to him: Yes. The old man says to them: I know it too. Do you also know the field of so-and-so where the river flows? They say to him: Yes. The old man says to them: I know it too; so when I want to, I do not need you, but I bring things up for myself. They said about Abba Macarius, that if a brother approached him as a holy and great old man with fear, he would say nothing to him. But if one of the brothers said to him as if despising him: Abba, when you were a camel driver and you stole nitre and sold it, did the guards not beat you? If someone said these things to him, he would speak to him with joy, whatever he asked him. They said about Abba Macarius the Great, that he had become, as it is written, an earthly god; for just as God covers the world, so Abba Macarius had become, covering the faults which he saw as though not seeing, and which he heard as though not hearing. Abba Bitimius related that Abba Macarius said: Once when I was sitting in Scetis, two young strangers came down there; and the one had a beard, but the other was just starting to grow a beard. And they came to me saying: Where is the cell of Abba Macarius? And I said: What do you want with him? And they say: Hearing the things about him and about Scetis, we came to see him. I say to them: I am he. And they made a prostration, saying: We want to stay here. But I, seeing that they were delicate and as if from wealth, say to them: You cannot stay here. And the elder one says: If we cannot stay here, we will go elsewhere. I say in my thought: Why do I drive them away and they are scandalized? The labor will make them flee on their own. And I say to them: Come, make a cell for yourselves if you can. And they say: Show us a place, and we will do it. And the old man gave them an axe and a bag full of bread and salt. And the old man also showed them a hard rock, saying: Quarry here, and bring yourselves wood from the marsh, and having roofed it, settle down. And I thought, he says, that they would leave because of the labor. And they asked me what work they should do here. I tell them rope-making; and I take palm leaves from the marsh, and I show them the beginning of the rope, and how it must be plaited, and I said: Make baskets, and give them to the guards, and they will bring you bread. So then I departed. But they with patience did 34.256 everything that I told them; and they did not visit me for three years. And I remained, wrestling with my thoughts, saying: What then is their work, that they have not come to ask about a thought? Those from afar come to me; but these who are near have not come, nor have they gone to others; except only to the church in silence, to receive the offering. And I prayed to God, having fasted for the week, that he might show me their work

πράγματος ὠφελοῦντος αὐτούς, ἀναγκάζουσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἰπεῖν ἀρχὴν τοῦ λόγου· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀναγκα σθῶσι παρὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, οὐκ ἔτι λαλοῦσι τὸν λόγον· ἵνα μὴ εὑρεθῶσιν ὡς μὴ ἐπερωτώμενοι καὶ λαλοῦν τες, καὶ ὡς ἀργολογία εὑρίσκεται. Ἠρώτησεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἠσαΐας τὸν ἀββᾶν Μα κάριον λέγων· εἰπέ μοι ῥῆμα. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέ ρων· φεῦγε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ἔλεγε αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἠσαΐας· τί ἐστι τὸ φεύγειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους; ὁ δὲ γέρων εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τὸ καθίσαι εἰς τὸ κελλίον σου, καὶ κλαῦσαι τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου. Ἔλεγεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Παφνούτιος ὁ μαθητὴς τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου, ὅτι παρεκάλεσα τὸν πατέρα μου, λέγων· εἰπέ μοι λόγον. ὁ δὲ ἔφη· μὴ κακοποιήσῃς τινά, μηδὲ κατακρίνῃς τινά· ταῦτα τήρει καὶ σώζῃ. Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος· μὴ κοιμηθῇς εἰς κελλίον ἀδελφοῦ ἔχοντος κακὴν φήμην. 34.253 Παρέβαλόν ποτε τῷ ἀββᾷ Μακαρίῳ ἀδελφοὶ εἰς Σκῆτιν, καὶ οὐχ εὗρον ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲν, εἰ μὴ ὕδωρ σαπρόν, καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· ἀββᾶ, δεῦρο ἄνω εἰς τὴν κώμην, καὶ ἀναπαύομέν σε. λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· οἴδατε, ἀδελφοί, τὸ ἀρτοκοπεῖον τοῦ δεῖνος εἰς τὴν κώμην; καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· ναί. λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· κἀγὼ οἶδα αὐτό. οἴδατε καὶ τὸ χω ρίον τοῦ δεῖνος ὅπου ὁ ποταμὸς κρούει; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· ναί. λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· κἀγὼ οἶδα αὐτό· ὅτε οὖν θέλω, οὐ χρείαν ὑμῶν ἔχω, ἀλλ' ἐμαυτῷ ἀναβάζω. Ἔλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου, ὅτι εἰ προσ ήρχετο αὐτῷ ἀδελφὸς ὡς ἁγίῳ γέροντι καὶ μεγάλῳ μετὰ φόβου, οὐδὲν ἐλάλει αὐτῷ. εἰ δὲ ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὡς ἐξουθενῶν αὐτόν· ἀββᾶ, ἄρα ὅταν ἦς καμηλίτης καὶ ἔκλεπτες νίτρον καὶ ἐπώλεις αὐτό, οὐκ ἔδερόν σε οἱ τηρηταί; εἰ ταῦτά τις ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ, ἐλάλει αὐτῷ μετὰ χαρᾶς, εἴ τι αὐτὸν ἠρώτα. Ἔλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου τοῦ μεγά λου, ὅτι γέγονε, καθώς ἐστι γεγραμμένον, θεὸς ἐπίγειος· ὅτι ὥσπερ ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς σκεπάζων τὸν κόσμον, οὕτως γέγονεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος σκεπάζων τὰ ἐλαττώματα, ἃ ἔβλεπεν ὡς μὴ βλέπων, καὶ ἃ ἤκουεν ὡς μὴ ἀκούων. ∆ιηγήσατο ὁ ἀββᾶς Βιτίμιος, ὅτι ἔλεγεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος· καθημένου μού ποτε εἰς Σκῆτιν, κατέβη σαν δύο νεώτεροι ξενικοὶ ἐκεῖ· καὶ ὁ μὲν εἷς εἶχε γένειον, ὁ δὲ ἄλλος ἀρχὴν βάλλων γενείου. καὶ ἦλθον πρός με λέγοντες· ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ κέλλα τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μα καρίου; κἀγὼ εἶπον· τί θέλετε αὐτόν; καὶ λέγουσιν· ἀκούοντες τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς Σκήτεως ἤλθομεν ἰδεῖν αὐτόν. λέγω αὐτοῖς· ἐγώ εἰμι. καὶ ἔβαλον με τάνοιαν, λέγοντες· ὧδε θέλομεν μεῖναι. ἐγὼ δὲ βλέ πων αὐτοὺς τρυφεροὺς καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ πλούτου, λέγω αὐτοῖς· οὐ δύνασθε καθίσαι ὧδε. καὶ λέγει ὁ μειζό τερος· ἐὰν μὴ δυνώμεθα καθίσαι ὧδε, ὑπάγομεν ἀλ λαχοῦ. λέγω ἐγὼ τῷ λογισμῷ μου· διὰ τί διώκω αὐτοὺς καὶ σκανδαλίζονται; ὁ κόπος ποιεῖ αὐτοὺς δι' ἑαυτῶν φυγεῖν. καὶ λέγω αὐτοῖς· δεῦτε, ποιήσατε ἑαυτοῖς κελλίον εἰ δύνασθε. καὶ λέγουσι· δεῖξον ἡμῖν τόπον, καὶ ποιοῦμεν. ἔδωκε δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων πέλεκυν καὶ ἀναβολίδιν μεστὸν ψωμίων καὶ ἅλας. ἔδειξε δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων καὶ πέτραν σκλη ρὰν λέγων· λατομήσατε ὧδε, καὶ φέρετε αὑτοῖς ξύλα ἐκ τοῦ ἕλους, καὶ στεγάσαντες καθίσατε. ἐνόμιζον δὲ ἐγώ, φησίν, ὅτι μέλλουσι διὰ τὸν κόπον ἀναχωρεῖν. ἠρώτησαν δέ με, τί ἐργάζωνται ὧδε. λέγω αὐτοῖς τὴν σειράν· καὶ λαμβάνω βαΐα ἐκ τοῦ ἕλους, καὶ δεικνύω αὐτοῖς τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς σειρᾶς, καὶ πῶς ῥά πτειν δεῖ, καὶ εἶπον· ποιεῖτε σπυρίδας, καὶ παρ έχετε τοῖς φύλαξι, καὶ φέρουσιν ὑμῖν ψωμία. λοιπὸν οὖν ἐγὼ ἀνεχώρησα. αὐτοὶ δὲ μεθ' ὑπομονῆς πάντα 34.256 ἐποίησαν, ὅσα εἶπον αὐτοῖς· καὶ οὐ παρέβαλόν μοι ἐπὶ τρία ἔτη. καὶ ἔμεινα πολεμῶν τοῖς λογισμοῖς, λέγων· τίς ἄρα ἐστὶν ἡ ἐργασία αὐτῶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἦλ θον ἐρωτῆσαι λογισμόν; οἱ ἀπὸ μήκοθεν ἔρχονται πρός με· καὶ οὗτοι οἱ ἐγγὺς οὐκ ἦλθον, οὔτε δὲ πρὸς ἄλλους ὑπῆγον· εἰ μὴ μόνον εἰς τὴν ἐκκλη σίαν σιωπῶντες, λαβεῖν τὴν προσφοράν. καὶ ηὐξάμην τῷ Θεῷ νηστεύσας τὴν ἑβδομάδα, ἵνα δείξῃ μοι τὴν ἐργασίαν