little figs; and as they were running, one of them fell, and having taken it, I ate it; and whenever I remember it, I sit weeping. Abba Macarius said that once, while walking in the desert, I found the skull of a dead man thrown on the ground; and having moved it with my palm staff, the skull spoke to me. And I say to it: Who are you? The skull answered me: I was a high priest of the idols, and of the Hellenes who remained in this place; but you are Macarius the spirit-bearer. Whenever you have compassion on those in torment, and pray for them, they are comforted a little. The old man says to it: What is the comfort, and what is the torment? It says to him: As far as the heaven is from the earth, so much fire is beneath us, we standing in the midst of the fire from feet to head; and it is not possible for anyone to see another face to face, but the face of each is stuck to the back of the other. When, therefore, you pray for us, one sees in part the face of another; this is the 34.260 comfort. And weeping the old man said: Woe to the day in which man was born. The old man says to it: Is there another worse torment? The skull says to him: There is a greater torment beneath us. The old man says to it: And who are there? The skull says to him: We, as not having known God, are at least pitied a little; but those who knew God and denied him, are beneath us. And the old man, having taken the skull, buried it. They said about Abba Macarius the Egyptian that he was once going up from Scetis to the mountain of Nitria; and as he drew near to the place, he said to his disciple: Go on a little ahead. And as he was going ahead, he met a certain priest of the Hellenes; and the brother, crying out to him, shouted, saying: Hey, hey, demon, where are you running? And that one, turning, gave him blows and left him half dead. And picking up the wood, he ran; and having gone on a little, Abba Macarius meets him running, and says to him: Greetings, greetings, laborer. And amazed, he came to him and said: What good did you see in me, that you greeted me? The old man says to him: Because I saw you toiling; and you do not know that you toil in vain. And he himself says to him: I too was moved to compunction by your greeting, and I learned that you are of God's party; but another evil monk met me and insulted me, and I gave him blows to the point of death. And the old man knew that it was his disciple. And the priest, taking hold of his feet, said: I will not let you go, unless you make me a monk. And they went up to where the monk was, and they carried him and brought him to the church of the mountain; and seeing the priest with him, they were astonished. And they made him a monk; and through him many of the Hellenes became Christians. Abba Macarius therefore said that an evil word makes even the good evil, and a good word makes even the evil good. They said about Abba Macarius that while he was away a robber entered his cell. And when he arrived at the cell, he found the robber loading his things onto the camel; and he himself, entering the cell, took from the things, and helped him load the camel. When therefore they had loaded it, the robber began to beat the camel, so that it would get up; and it did not get up. And Abba Macarius, seeing that it did not get up, entering the cell, found a small hoe; and bringing it out, he put it on the camel, saying: Brother, the camel wants this. And the old man, having kicked it with his foot, says: Get up; and immediately it got up, and went a little way because of his 34.261 word; and again it sat down, and did not get up, until they unloaded all the things; and so he went away. Abba Aio asked Abba Macarius, saying: Tell me a word. The abba says to him

συκίδια· καὶ ὡς τρέχουσιν, ἔπεσεν ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν, καὶ λαβὼν ἔφαγον αὐτό· καὶ ὅτε μνημονεύω αὐτοῦ, κάθημαι κλαίων. Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος, ὅτι περιπατῶν ποτε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, εὗρον κρανίον εἰς τὸ ἔδαφος νεκροῦ ἐῤῥιμμένον· καὶ σαλεύσας αὐτὸ τῇ βαΐνῃ ῥάβδῳ, ἐλάλησέ μοι τὸ κρανίον· καὶ λέγω αὐτῷ· σὺ τίς εἶ; ἀπεκρίθη μοι τὸ κρανίον· ἐγὼ ἤμην ἀρχιερεὺς τῶν εἰδώλων, καὶ τῶν μεινάντων Ἑλλήνων ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τούτῳ· σὺ δὲ εἶ Μακάριος ὁ πνευματοφόρος· οἵαν ὥραν σπλαγχνισθῇς τοὺς ἐν τῇ κολάσει, καὶ εὔχῃ περὶ αὐτῶν, παραμυθοῦνται ὀλίγον. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· ποία ἐστὶν ἡ παραμυθία, καὶ τίς ἡ κόλασις; λέγει αὐτῷ· ὅσον ἀπέχει ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, το σοῦτόν ἐστιν πῦρ ὑποκάτωθεν ἡμῶν, ἀπὸ ποδῶν ἕως κεφαλῆς ἑστηκότων ἡμῶν μέσον τοῦ πυρός· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον θεάσασθαί τινα, ἀλλὰ τὸ πρόσωπον ἑκάστου πρὸς τὸν ἑτέρου νῶτον κε κόλληται. ὡς οὖν εὔχῃ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἐκ μέρους τις θεωρεῖ τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἑτέρου· αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ πα 34.260 ραμυθία. καὶ κλαύσας ὁ γέρων εἶπεν· οὐαὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος· λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· ἔστιν ἄλλη χείρων βάσανος; λέγει αὐτῷ τὸ κρανίον· μει ζοτέρα βάσανός ἐστιν ὑποκάτωθεν ἡμῶν. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· καὶ τίνες εἰσὶν ἐκεῖ; λέγει αὐτῷ τὸ κρα νίον· ἡμεῖς ὡς μὴ εἰδότες τὸν Θεόν, κἂν ὀλίγον ἐλεού μεθα· οἱ δὲ ἐπιγνόντες τὸν Θεόν, καὶ ἀρνησάμενοι αὐτόν, ὑποκάτωθεν ἡμῶν εἰσι. καὶ λαβὼν ὁ γέρων τὸ κρανίον, ἔχωσεν αὐτό. Ἔλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου, ὅτι ἀνέβαινέ ποτε ἐκ τῆς Σκήτεως εἰς τὸ ὄρος τῆς Νιτρίας· καὶ ὡς ἤγγισεν εἰς τὸν τόπον, εἶπε τῷ μαθητῇ αὐτοῦ· πρόλαβε μικρόν. καὶ ἐν τῷ προ άγειν αὐτὸν συναντᾷ τινι ἱερεῖ τῶν Ἑλλήνων· καὶ κράξας αὐτῷ ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἐφώνει λέγων· αἶ, αἶ, δαῖμον, ποῦ τρέχεις; στραφεὶς δὲ ἐκεῖνος διδοῖ αὐτῷ πληγὰς καὶ ἀφίει αὐτὸν ἡμιθανῆ. καὶ ἄρας τὸ ξύλον ἔτρεχε· καὶ προβάντι ὀλίγον συναντᾷ αὐτῷ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος τρέχοντι· καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· σωθείης, σωθείης, καμα τηρέ. καὶ θαυμάσας ἦλθε πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν· τί καλὸν εἶδες ἐν ἐμοί, ὅτι προσηγόρευσάς με; λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· ὅτι εἶδόν σε κοπιῶντα· καὶ οὐκ οἶ δας, ὅτι εἰς κενὸν κοπιᾷς. λέγει αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτός· κἀγὼ ἐπὶ τῷ ἀσπασμῷ σου κατενύγην· καὶ ἔμαθον, ὅτι τοῦ μέρους τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶ· ἄλλος δὲ κακὸς μοναχὸς ἀπαντήσας μοι, ὕβρισέ με· κἀγὼ ἔδωκα αὐτῷ πλη γὰς εἰς θάνατον. καὶ ἔγνω ὁ γέρων, ὅτι ὁ μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ ἐστι. καὶ κρατήσας τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ὁ ἱερεὺς ἔλεγεν· οὐκ ἀφῶ σε, ἐὰν μὴ ποιήσῃς με μο ναχόν. καὶ ἦλθον ἐπάνω ὅπου ἦν ὁ μοναχός, καὶ ἐβά σταξαν αὐτὸν καὶ ἤνεγκαν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ ὄρους· καὶ ἰδόντες τὸν ἱερέα μετ' αὐτοῦ, ἐξέστησαν· καὶ ἐποίησαν αὐτὸν μοναχόν· καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐγένοντο δι' αὐτὸν Χριστιανοί. ἔλεγεν οὖν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος, ὅτι ὁ λόγος ὁ κακὸς καὶ τοὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖ κακούς· καὶ ὁ καλὸς λόγος καὶ τοὺς κακοὺς ποιεῖ καλούς. Ἔλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου, ὅτι ἀπόντος αὐτοῦ εἰσῆλθε λῃστὴς εἰς τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ. παρα γενομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ κελλίον, εὗρε τὸν λῃστὴν γεμίζοντα τὴν κάμηλον τὰ σκεύη αὐτοῦ· αὐτὸς δὲ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ κελλίον ἐλάμβανεν ἀπὸ τῶν σκευῶν, καὶ συνεγέμιζε μετ' αὐτοῦ τὴν κάμηλον. ὡς οὖν ἐγέ μισαν, ἤρξατο ὁ λῃστὴς τύπτειν τὴν κάμηλον, ἵνα ἀναστῇ· καὶ οὐκ ἠγείρετο. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακά ριος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐγείρεται, εἰσελθὼν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ εὗρε μικρὸν σκαλίδιν· καὶ ἐκβαλὼν ἐπέθηκε τῇ καμήλῳ λέγων· ἀδελφέ, τοῦτο ζητεῖ ἡ κάμηλος. καὶ κρούσας αὐτὴν ὁ γέρων τῷ ποδὶ λέγει· ἀνάστα· καὶ εὐθέως ἀνέστη, καὶ ἀπῆλθε μικρὸν διὰ τὸν λόγον 34.261 αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάλιν ἐκάθισε, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστη, ἕως ἀπεγέμισαν ὅλα τὰ σκεύη· καὶ οὕτως ἀπῆλθεν. Ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀϊὼ ἠρώτησε τὸν ἀββᾶν Μακάριον λέγων· εἰπέ μοι ῥῆμα. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς