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a watchword. He, therefore, who is always on journeys and moving about, and ever fanning and scattering the soul's concentration and density, and gradually accustoming himself to look to the pleasures of the body, how will he be able to observe himself, or to know the things that are not right, or to adapt them to what is necessary, while still exciting his soul to passionate dispositions? It is necessary, therefore, to remain quiet for the most part, and for each one to persevere in his own dwelling, so that he may have this as a testimony of the stability of his ways; not to be entirely confined, but to make the necessary excursions with confidence, in which the conscience raises no objection, and to visit the best and most profitable of the brethren on account of the exactness of their way of life, 31.1368 receiving examples of virtues from the profitable encounter, making his excursions measured, as we said, and blameless. For often an excursion, by dissolving the listlessness that has arisen in the soul, and having allowed it, as it were, to recover and breathe a little, makes it approach with eagerness the struggles for piety. But if anyone should be proud of not going out of his room, let him know that he is puffed up over an empty matter. For neither is not going out good in itself, nor does going out at the right time know how to produce good or evil; but the firm and unshakable judgment concerning what is good, or on the contrary, changeableness, brings about what is virtuous or what is base. But if someone, having firmly established what is good in his soul, and having acquired experience in the governance of the passions through long practice, and having tamed the intemperance of the body, and bridled the disorders of the soul, and trusting in the bridle of his reason, should wish to make more frequent excursions for the edification and visitation of the brethren, our discourse will rather urge such a one to go out, so that, by placing the lamp upon the lampstand, he may supply to all the light of the guidance of good things; if only he should be confident that he will be able to present himself, both in word and in deed, as a school of virtues to those he meets; and thus he would secure himself, as the Apostle has said: *Lest perhaps, after I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.*

CHAPTER 8. That one must not give to the unstable among the ascetics confidence and

boldness, but that one must also be on guard against them. It is fitting, however, to be on guard also against the unstable, and who at another time to

others of the brethren move, and with unceasing and relentless impulses wander about the monasteries, and under the pretext, forsooth, of spiritual love, fulfill the desires of the flesh; having nothing firm, nor established, nor orderly, nor adorned with understanding in their souls, but everything that is meddlesome and malicious, filled with restlessness and irrationality, with deceit and hypocrisy, with falsehood and deceptive flattery. These men are uninstructed in tongue, intemperate in belly, and their soul is always winged 31.1369 and fanned, having thoughts like the flight of bats, looking nowhere straight ahead, but flying crookedly and changeably; suggesting one thing contrary to their first impulses, and being carried toward another by the changeableness of their opinion, contrary to all expectation, crawling much, and advancing not at all. They are like the beasts of burden driven around the mills, which, though walking much, are always found in the same place; and their body is worn out, but they in no way pass beyond the small space; so too they, being always dragged through the mud of the passions of the body, make no progress toward spiritual height; but they run an endless circle, always vibrating with the desires and pleasures of the body, and are carried again from the same things to the same things, and are not released from their wicked bondage on account of the

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σύνθεμα. Ὁ τοίνυν δια παντὸς ἐν ἀποδημίαις καὶ μεταβάσεσιν ὢν, καὶ ἀεὶ τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς σύννουν καὶ πεπυκνωμένον ῥιπίζων καὶ διαχέων, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἡδονὰς τοῦ σώματος βλέ πειν κατὰ μικρὸν ἐθιζόμενος, πῶς δυνήσεται κατ ιδεῖν ἑαυτὸν, ἢ γνῶναι τὰ μὴ καλῶς ἔχοντα, ἢ πρὸς τὸ δέον αὐτὰ μεθαρμόσασθαι, τὴν ψυχὴν ἔτι διερεθίζων πρὸς ἐμπαθεῖς διαθέσεις· Χρὴ τοίνυν ἡσυχῆ μένειν τὰ πολλὰ, καὶ καρτε ρεῖν ἕκαστον τὴν ἰδίαν καταγωγὴν, ἵνα ἔχῃ τοῦτο τῆς εὐσταθείας τῶν τρόπων μαρτύριον· μὴ πάντη μὲν καθεῖρχθαι, ἀλλὰ τάς τε ἀναγκαίας προόδους εὐπαῤῥησιάστους ποιεῖσθαι, ἐν αἷς οὐδὲν τὸ συνειδὸς ἐπισκήπτει, καὶ τοὺς βελτίστους τε καὶ ὠφελιμω τάτους διὰ πολιτείας ἀκρίβειαν τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐπι 31.1368 σκέπτεσθαι, παραδείγματα ἀρετῶν ἐκ τῆς ὠφελίμου συντυχίας λαμβάνοντα, ἐμμέτρους, ὡς ἔφημεν, καὶ ἀνεπιλήπτους τὰς προόδους ποιούμενον. Πολλάκις γὰρ καὶ ἀκηδίαν ἐγγενομένην τῇ ψυχῇ ἡ πρόοδος δια λύσασα, πάλιν οἷον ἐπιῤῥῶσαι καὶ ἀναπνεῦσαι μι κρὸν παρασχοῦσα, προθύμως προσιέναι τοῖς ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγωνίσμασι δίδωσιν. Εἰ δέ τις ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ προϊέναι τοῦ δωματίου μέγα φρονοίη, ἴστω δια κένῳ φυσιούμενος πράγματι. Οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ μὴ προ ϊέναι καθ' ἑαυτὸ καλὸν, ἢ τὸ κατὰ καιρὸν προϊέναι καλὸν ἢ φαῦλον οἶδεν ἐργάζεσθαι· ἀλλ' ἡ περὶ τὸ καλὸν βεβαία καὶ ἀκίνητος κρίσις, ἢ τοὐναντίον, τὸ εὐμετάθετον σπουδαῖον ἢ φαῦλον ἀποτελεῖ. Εἰ δέ τις, τὸ καλὸν τῇ ψυχῇ βεβαίως ἐνιδρυσάμενος, καὶ τῇ χρονίᾳ ἀσκήσει τῆς τῶν παθῶν κυβερνήσεως τὴν ἐμπειρίαν λαβὼν, καὶ δαμάσας μὲν τὰς σωμα τικὰς ἀκρασίας, χαλινώσας δὲ τὰς ψυχικὰς ἀταξίας, θαῤῥῶν δὲ τῷ τοῦ λογισμοῦ χαλινῷ, συχνο τέρας θέλοι ποιεῖσθαι τὰς προόδους εἰς οἰκοδο μὴν καὶ ἐπίσκεψιν ἀδελφῶν, τὸν τοιοῦτον καὶ παρορ μήσει μᾶλλον ὁ λόγος ἐπὶ τὴν πρόοδον, ἵνα, τὸν λύχνον ἐπὶ τὴν λυχνίαν τιθεὶς, πᾶσι τὸ φῶς τῆς τῶν καλῶν καθηγήσεως χορηγήσῃ· μόνον εἴγε θαῤ ῥοίη, ὡς καὶ λόγῳ καὶ ἔργῳ διδασκαλεῖον ἀρετῶν ἑαυτὸν δυνήσεται τοῖς συντυγχάνουσι παρέχειν· καὶ οὕτως ἐξασφαλίσαιτο ἑαυτὸν, καθὼς ὁ Ἀπόστολος εἴρηκε· Μή πως, ἄλλοις κηρύξας, αὐτὸς ἀδόκι μος γένωμαι.

ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Ηʹ. Ὅτι οὐ χρὴ τοῖς ἀστατοῦσι τῶν ἀσκητῶν μετα διδόναι θάρσους καὶ

παῤῥησίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτους φυλάττεσθαι. Φυλάττεσθαι μέντοι προσήκει καὶ τοὺς ἀστα τοῦντας, καὶ ἄλλοτε πρὸς

ἄλλους τῶν ἀδελφῶν μεταβαίνοντας, καὶ ἀπαύστοις καὶ ἀνενδότοις ὁρμαῖς διαπαντὸς περινοστοῦντας τὰ μοναστήρια, καὶ προ φάσει δῆθεν πνευματικῆς ἀγάπης τὰ τῆς σαρκὸς ἐκπληροῦντας θελήματα· οὐδὲν βέβαιον, οὐδὲ ἱδρυ μένον, οὐδὲ εὔτακτον, οὐδὲ συνέσει κεκοσμημένον ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἔχοντας, ἀλλὰ πᾶν ὅ τι περίεργον καὶ κακόηθες, ῥεμβασμοῦ καὶ ἀλογιστίας πεπληρω μένον, δόλου καὶ ὑποκρίσεως, ψευδολογίας καὶ ἀπα τηλῆς κολακείας. Οὗτοι γλῶσσαν μὲν ἀπαίδευτοι, γαστέρα δὲ ἀκρατεῖς, ψυχὴν δὲ διαπαντὸς ἐπτερω 31.1369 μένοι καὶ ῥιπιζόμενοι, λογισμοὺς κατὰ τὴν πτῆσιν τῶν νυκτερίδων ἔχοντες, οὐδαμοῦ πρὸς τὸ εὐθὺ βλέποντας, ἀλλὰ σκολιὰ καὶ εὐμετάτρεπτα πετομέ νους· ἄλλο παρὰ τὰς πρώτας ὁρμὰς ὑποφαίνοντας, καὶ πρὸς ἕτερον τῷ εὐμεταβόλῳ τῆς γνώμης παρὰ δόξαν πᾶσαν φερομένους, πολλὰ ἕρποντας, καὶ οὐδὲν προβαίνοντας. Ἐοίκασι δὲ καὶ τῶν ὑποζυγίων τοῖς περὶ τὰς μύλας ἐλαυνομένοις, ἃ πολλὰ βαδίζοντα ἐπὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ τόπον εὑρίσκεται· καὶ τὸ μὲν σῶμα κόπτεται, τὸ δὲ βραχὺ χωρίον οὐδαμῶς ὑπερβαίνει· οὕτω κἀ κεῖνοι, διαπαντὸς περὶ τὰ πάθη τοῦ σώματος ἰλυ σπώμενοι, οὐδὲν ἐπὶ τὸ πνευματικὸν ὕψος προκό πτουσι· τρέχουσι δὲ κύκλον ἀπέραντον ταῖς τοῦ σώ ματος ἐπιθυμίαις καὶ ἡδοναῖς ἀεὶ συνδονούμενοι, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὰ αὐτὰ πάλιν φερόμενοι, καὶ τῆς πονηρᾶς δουλείας οὐκ ἀφιέμενοι διὰ τὴν τῆς