to the angel that the prayers are few, the angel says to him: "I have prescribed these things so that even the lesser ones may be able to complete the rule and not be grieved. But the perfect have no need of legislation; for by themselves in their cells they have yielded their whole life to the contemplation of God. But for those who do not have a discerning mind I have legislated these things, so that at least as servants fulfilling the order of the community they may be disposed in confidence". 32.8 There are, then, many monasteries that have maintained this model, amounting to seven thousand men. The first and great monastery, where Pachomius himself lived, which also gave birth to the other monasteries, has one thousand three hundred men. Among whom also was the good Aphthonius, my true friend, who is now second in command in the monastery; whom, as one who causes no scandal, they send to Alexandria to sell their handiwork and to buy their necessities. 32.9 There are other monasteries of two hundred and three hundred; among which, entering the city of Panos, I found three hundred men. [In this monastery I saw fifteen tailors, seven smiths, four carpenters, twelve camel drivers, fifteen fullers.] They practice every craft, and from their surplus they support both the women's monasteries and the prisons. 32.10 [They also raise pigs; but when I criticized the practice, they said that, "In the tradition we have received that they should be fed on the siftings, on the scraps of vegetables, on the leftovers that are thrown away, so that they not be wasted. And the pigs should be slaughtered, and the meat should be sold, but the extremities should be consumed by the sick and the elderly, since the country is temperate and populous"; for the tribe of the Blemmyes lives near them.] 32.11 The weekly servers, rising early in the morning, are occupied some in the kitchen, others at the tables. Thus they set them up, having prepared them by the hour, placing on each table loaves of bread, cooked dishes, olives, cheeses from cows, [the extremities of the meats,] and small vegetables. So there are those who enter at the sixth hour and eat, others at the seventh, others at the eighth, others at the ninth, others at the eleventh, others late in the evening, others every two days, so that each element knows its own hour. 32.12 So too were their works; one tills the earth as a farmer, another a garden, another a smithy, another a bakery, another a carpenter's shop, another a fuller's shop, another weaves the large baskets, another a tannery, another a shoemaker's shop, another a scriptorium, another weaves soft materials; and they memorize all the scriptures. 33 .tConcerning the monastery of the women 33.1 For them there is also a monastery of about four hundred women, having the same ordinance, the same way of life, except for the sheepskin; and the women are on one side of the river, and the men on the other side. So when a virgin dies, the virgins, having prepared her for burial, carry her and place her beside the bank of the river; and the brothers, having crossed by ferry, with palm and olive branches, with the singing of psalms, carry her to the other side, burying her in their own tombs. 33.2 However, apart from the presbyter and the deacon, no one crosses over to the monastery of the women, and this only on the Lord's day. In this monastery of the women such a thing happened: a secular tailor, having crossed over in ignorance, was looking for work; and one young woman, having gone out—for the place is deserted—met him unintentionally and gave him the answer that "We have our own tailors." 33.3 Another, having seen the meeting, after some time had passed and a quarrel had arisen, out of a diabolical suspicion from great malice and a boiling of anger, slandered this one before the sisterhood; with whom a few others also joined in the wickedness. That one, therefore, being deeply grieved at having endured such a slander which had not even entered her mind, and being unable to bear it, threw herself secretly into the river and died. 33.4 Thus the slanderer, knowing that she had slandered out of wickedness and had worked this accursed deed, took a rope and hanged herself, also not enduring the

ἀγγέλῳ ὅτι ὀλίγαι εἰσὶν αἱ εὐχαί, λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἄγγελος· "Ταῦτα διετύπωσα ὡς φθάνειν καὶ τοὺς μικροὺς ἐπιτελεῖν τὸν κανόνα καὶ μὴ λυπεῖσθαι. Οἱ δὲ τέλειοι νομοθεσίας χρείαν οὐκ ἔχουσι· καθ' ἑαυτοὺς γὰρ ἐν ταῖς κέλλαις ὅλον ἑαυτῶν τὸ ζῆν τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ θεωρίᾳ παρεχώρησαν. Τούτοις δὲ ἐνομο θέτησα ὅσοι οὐκ ἔχουσι νοῦν ἐπιγνώμονα, ἵνα κἂν ὡς οἰκέ ται τὴν σύνταξιν πληροῦντες τῆς πολιτείας διατεθῶσιν ἐν παρρησίᾳ". 32.8 Ἔστιν οὖν ταῦτα τὰ μοναστήρια πλείονα κρατήσαντα τοῦτον τὸν τύπον, συντείνοντα εἰς ἑπτακισχιλίους ἄνδρας. Ἔστι δὲ τὸ πρῶτον καὶ μέγα μοναστήριον ἔνθα αὐτὸς ὁ Παχώμιος ᾤκει, τὸ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀποκυῆσαν μοναστήρια, ἔχον ἄνδρας χιλίους τριακοσίους. Ἐν οἷς καὶ ὁ καλὸς Ἀφθόνιος ὁ φίλος μου γενόμενος γνήσιος, τὸ νῦν δευτερεύων ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ· ὃν ὡς ἀσκανδάλιστον ἀποστέλλουσιν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἐπὶ τὸ διαπωλῆσαι μὲν αὐτῶν τὰ ἔργα, συνω νήσασθαι δὲ τὰς χρείας. 32.9 Ἔστι δὲ ἄλλα μοναστήρια ἀπὸ διακοσίων καὶ τριακοσίων· ἐν οἷς καὶ εἰς Πανὸς τὴν πόλιν εἰσελθὼν εὗρον ἄνδρας τριακοσίους. [Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μοναστηρίῳ ἑώρακα ῥάπτας δεκαπέντε, χαλκεῖς ἑπτά, τέκ τονας τέσσαρας, καμηλαρίους δώδεκα, κναφεῖς δεκαπέντε.] Ἐργάζονται δὲ πᾶσαν τέχνην, καὶ ἐκ τῶν περιττευμάτων οἰκονομοῦντες καὶ τὰ τῶν γυναικῶν μοναστήρια καὶ φυλακάς. 32.10 [Τρέφουσι δὲ καὶ χοίρους· ἐμοῦ δὲ ψέγοντος τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἔλεγον ὅτι "Ἐν τῇ παραδόσει παρελάβομεν ὅτι τρεφέσθωσαν μὲν διὰ τὰ σινιάσματα, διὰ τὰ ἀποκαθα ρίσματα τῶν λαχάνων, διὰ τὰ ῥιπτόμενα περιττώματα, ἵνα μὴ ζημιῶνται. Καὶ θυέσθωσαν οἱ χοῖροι, καὶ τὸ κρέας μὲν πιπρασκέσθω, τὰ δὲ ἄκρα τοῖς νοσοῦσι καὶ τοῖς γέρουσιν ἀναλισκέσθωσαν, τῷ μετρίαν εἶναι τὴν χώραν καὶ πολυ άνθρωπον"· τὸ γὰρ ἔθνος τῶν Βλεμμύων αὐτοῖς παροικεῖ.] 32.11 Ἀναστάντες δὲ οἱ ἐφημερευταὶ ὄρθριοι οἱ μὲν περὶ τὸ μαγειρεῖον οἱ δὲ περὶ τὰς τραπέζας γίνονται. Ἵστωσιν οὖν αὐτὰς μέχρι τῆς ὥρας ἀπαρτίσαντες, ἐπιθέντες κατὰ τράπεζαν ἄρτους, λαψάνας συνθέτας, ἐλαίας, τυροὺς βοῶν, [τὰ τῶν κρεῶν ἄκρα,] καὶ λεπτολάχανα. Εἰσὶν οὖν οἱ εἰσερ χόμενοι ἕκτην ὥραν καὶ ἐσθίοντες, ἄλλοι ἑβδόμην, ἄλλοι ὀγδόην, ἄλλοι ἐννάτην, ἄλλοι ἑνδεκάτην, ἄλλοι ἑσπέραν βαθεῖαν, ἄλλοι διὰ δύο, ὡς ἕκαστον στοιχεῖον τὴν ἰδίαν ὥραν γνωρίζειν. 32.12 Οὕτως ἦν αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔργα· ὁ μὲν ἐργάζεται γῆν γεωργῶν, ἄλλος κῆπον, ἄλλος χαλκεῖον, ἄλλος ἀρτοκοπεῖον, ἄλλος τεκτονεῖον, ἄλλος γναφεῖον, ἄλλος πλέκων σπυρίδας τὰς μεγάλας, ἄλλος βυρσεῖον, ἄλλος σκυ τοτομεῖον, ἄλλος καλλιγραφεῖον, ἄλλος πλέκων τὰ μαλάκια· ἀποστηθίζουσι δὲ πάσας τὰς γραφάς. 33 .tΠερὶ τοῦ μοναστηρίου τῶν γυναικῶν 33.1 Τούτοις ἔστι καὶ μοναστήριον γυναικῶν ὡς τετρακοσίων, τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχον διατύπωσιν, τὴν αὐτὴν πο λιτείαν, ἐκτὸς τῆς μηλωτῆς· καὶ αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ, οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες ἀντιπέρα. Ὅταν οὖν τελευ τήσῃ παρθένος, ἐνταφιάσασαι αὐτὴν αἱ παρθένοι φέρουσι καὶ τιθέασι παρὰ τὴν ὄχθην τοῦ ποταμοῦ· περάσαντες δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ μετὰ πορθμείου, μετὰ βαίων καὶ κλάδων ἐλαιῶν, μετὰ ψαλμῳδίας φέρουσιν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ πέραν, θάπτοντες εἰς τὰ ἴδια μνήματα. 33.2 Παρεκτὸς μέντοι τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου καὶ τοῦ διακόνου οὐδεὶς περᾷ εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον τῶν γυναικῶν, καὶ τοῦτο κατὰ κυριακήν. Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τῶν γυναικῶν συνέβη πρᾶγμα τοιοῦτον· ῥάπτης κοσμικὸς περάσας κατὰ ἄγνοιαν ἐζήτει ἔργον· καὶ ἐξελθοῦσα νεωτέρα μία, ἔρημος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τόπος, συνέτυχεν αὐτῷ ἀκουσίως καὶ δέδωκεν αὐτῷ ἀπό κρισιν ὅτι "Ἡμεῖς ἔχομεν ἡμετέρους ῥάπτας". 33.3 Ἄλλη ἑωρακυῖα τὴν συντυχίαν, χρόνου παρελθόντος καὶ γενο μένης μάχης, ἐξ ὑπονοίας διαβολικῆς ἀπὸ πολλῆς πονη ρίας καὶ ζέσεως θυμοῦ, ἐσυκοφάντησε ταύτην ἐπὶ τῆς ἀδελφότητος· ᾗ συνέδραμον καὶ ἄλλαι ὀλίγαι τῇ κακίᾳ. Ἀπολυπηθεῖσα οὖν ἐκείνη ὡς ὑποστᾶσα τοιαύτην συκο φαντίαν τὴν μήτε εἰς ἔννοιαν αὐτῆς ἐλθοῦσαν, καὶ μὴ ἐνεγ κοῦσα ἔβαλεν ἑαυτὴν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν λάθρα καὶ ἐτε λεύτησεν. 33.4 Οὕτως ἡ συκοφαντήσασα, γνοῦσα ὅτι ἐσυ κοφάντησεν ἀπὸ πονηρίας καὶ εἰργάσατο τὸ ἄγος τοῦτο, λαβοῦσα ἀπήγξατο καὶ αὐτὴ μὴ στέξασα τὸ