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Having hidden these things well in the furrows of his soul, he said that he had run to the nearby shrine of the holy martyrs. There he pressed his knees and forehead to the ground and beseeched the one who is willing to save all men to guide him to the perfect path of piety. And after he had spent a long time in this way, a certain sweet sleep came upon him, and he saw a dream such as this: "I seemed," he says, "to be digging a foundation, and then I heard someone standing by saying that I still needed to deepen the trench. So having added depth as he commanded, I tried to rest again. But again he ordered me to dig and not to cease from the labor. And having urged me to do this three and four times, at last he said the depth was sufficient and ordered me to build the rest without toil, as the labor had ceased and the building would be without toil." Events bear witness to this prophecy; for the things that happened were beyond nature. 26.4 Rising from there, he found the lodging of some neighboring ascetics. And having spent two years with them and having fallen in love with a more perfect virtue, he reached that village of Teleda, which we have also mentioned before, near which the great and divine men Ammianus and Eusebius had established their ascetic training ground; but the divine Symeon did not arrive at this one, but to the other one that had sprung from it. For Eusebonas and Abibion, having sufficiently enjoyed the teaching of the great Eusebius, built this school of philosophy. And having been of one mind and one way of life throughout their lives, and displaying as it were one soul in two bodies, they had many who loved their way of life with them. And when these had departed this life with good repute, the marvelous Heliodorus received the leadership of the community, who, having lived for sixty-five years, spent sixty-two years enclosed within; for having been raised for three years by his parents, he had entered this flock, having never seen any of the things that happen in the world. And he used to say that he did not even know the appearance of pigs or roosters or other such things. I too often enjoyed the sight of him and admired the simplicity of his ways and was exceedingly fond of the purity of his soul. 26.5 Coming to him, this pentathlete of piety continued his contest for ten years; and though he had eighty fellow-contestants, he outstripped them all; and while the others partook of food every two days, he himself remained without food for the whole week, though the superiors were displeased and always quarreled with him and called the practice a breach of discipline, but not persuading him by what they said nor being able to restrain his zeal. I heard from the man himself as he recounted, and from the current leader of the same flock, that once, taking a rope made from palm fronds—this is very rough even to the hands that touch it—, with this he girded his loins, not putting it on the outside, but fastening it to his very skin; and he tightened it so much as to ulcerate that entire part in a circle, around which it was placed. And when he continued in this way for more than ten days, and the wound, becoming more severe, was letting out drops of blood, someone who saw him asked him what was the cause of the blood. And when he said he had nothing troubling him, his fellow-contestant, using force, both put in his hand and learned the cause and reported it to the superior. At once therefore, both rebuking and exhorting him and denouncing the cruelty of the act, he with difficulty undid that bond. But not even so did he persuade him to apply any remedy to that wound. And seeing him do other such things, they ordered him to withdraw from that training ground, lest to those whose bodies were weaker disposed

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ψυχῆς αὔλαξι ταῦτα καλῶς κατακρύψας εἰς τὸν πελάζοντα τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων ἔφη δεδραμηκέναι σηκόν. Ἐν τούτῳ δὲ τῇ γῇ τὰ γόνατα καὶ τὸ μέτωπον προσερεῖσαί τε καὶ ἱκετεῦσαι τὸν πάντας ἀνθρώπους σῴζειν ἐθέλοντα ποδηγῆσαι αὐτὸν πρὸς τὴν τελείαν τῆς εὐσεβείας ὁδόν. Ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ τοῦτον διατρίψαντι τὸν τρόπον ὕπνον μὲν αὐτῷ προσγενέσθαι τινὰ γλυκύν, ὄναρ δὲ τοιόνδε θεάσασθαι· "Ὀρύττειν, φησίν, ἐδόκουν θεμέλια, εἶτά τινος ἑστῶτος ἀκούειν, ὡς ἔτι με βαθύνειν τὸ ὄρυγμα δεῖ. Προστεθεικὼς τοίνυν ὡς ἐκέλευσε βάθος πάλιν ἐπειρώμην διαναπαύεσθαι. Ἀλλὰ καὶ αὖθίς μοι ὀρύττειν προσέταττε καὶ μὴ λήγειν τοῦ πόνου. Τρὶς δέ μοι τοῦτο καὶ τετράκις ποιῆσαι παρεγγυήσας τέλος ἀποχρώντως ἔχειν ἔφη τὸ βάθος καὶ οἰκοδομεῖν ἀπόνως ἐκέλευσε τὸ λοιπὸν ὡς τοῦ πόνου λωφήσαντος καὶ τῆς οἰκοδομίας ἐσομένης ἀπόνως". Ταύτῃ τῇ προρρήσει τὰ πράγματα μαρτυρεῖ· πέρα γὰρ τῆς φύσεως τὰ γιγνόμενα. 26.4 Ἐκεῖθεν ἀναστὰς ἀσκητῶν τινων γειτονευόντων κατέ λαβε καταγώγιον. ∆ύο δὲ αὐτοῖς συνδιαγαγὼν ἔτη καὶ τῆς τελειοτέρας ἀρετῆς ἐρασθεὶς Τελεδὰν ἐκείνην τὴν κώμην κατέλαβεν, ἧς καὶ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθημεν, παρ' ἣν οἱ μεγάλοι καὶ θεῖοι ἄνδρες Ἀμμιανὸς καὶ Εὐσέβιος τὴν ἀσκητικὴν παλαίστραν ἐπήξαντο· ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς ταύτην ὁ θεσπέσιος Συμεώνης ἀφίκετο, ἀλλ' εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν τὴν ἐκ ταύτης βλαστήσασαν. Εὐσεβωνᾶς γὰρ καὶ Ἀβιβίων τῆς Εὐσεβίου τοῦ μεγάλου διδασκαλίας ἱκανῶς ἀπολαύσαντες τόδε τὸ τῆς φιλοσοφίας ᾠκοδομήσαντο φροντιστήριον. Ὁμογνώμονες δὲ διὰ βίου καὶ ὁμότροποι γεγονότες καὶ οἱονεὶ μίαν ψυχὴν ἐν δύο σώμασιν ἐπιδείξαντες πολλοὺς ἔσχον τοῦ βίου συνεραστάς. Τούτων δὲ μετ' εὐκλείας ὑπεξελθόντων τὸν βίον, Ἡλιόδωρος ὁ θαυμάσιος τὴν τῶν συνοίκων ἡγεμονίαν ἐδέξατο, ὃς πέντε καὶ ἑξήκοντα ἔτη διαβιώσας δύο καὶ ἑξήκοντα ἔνδον καθειργμένος διετέλεσεν ἔτη· τρία γὰρ ἔτη παρὰ τοῖς γεγεννηκόσι τραφεὶς εἰς τὴν ἀγέλην εἰσελήλυθε ταύτην, οὐδὲν τῶν ἐν τῷ βίῳ γιγνομένων θεασάμενος πώποτε. Ἔφασκε δὲ μηδὲ αὐτὸ εἰδέναι τῶν χοίρων ἢ τῶν ἀλεκτρυόνων ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν τοιούτων τὸ εἶδος. Τούτου κἀγὼ πολλάκις τῆς θέας ἀπέλαυσα καὶ τῶν τρόπων ἐθαύμασα τὴν ἁπλότητα καὶ ὑπερηγάσθην μάλα τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότητα. 26.5 Πρὸς τοῦτον ἀφικόμενος ὁ πένταθλος οὗτος τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγωνιστὴς δέκα μὲν διετέλεσεν ἀγωνιζόμενος ἔτη· ὀγδοήκοντα δὲ συναγωνιστὰς ἔχων, ὑπερηκόντισεν ἅπαντας· καὶ τῶν ἄλλων διὰ δύο ἡμερῶν ἀπολαυόντων τροφῆς, πᾶσαν αὐτὸς ἄσιτος τὴν ἑβδομάδα διέμενε, δυσα νασχετούντων μὲν τῶν προστατευόντων καὶ ζυγομαχούντων ἀεὶ καὶ ἀταξίαν τὸ πρᾶγμα καλούντων, οὐ πειθόντων δὲ τοῖς λεγομένοις οὐδὲ χαλινοῦν δυναμένων τὴν προθυμίαν. Ἤκουσα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου διηγουμένου καὶ τοῦ νῦν τῆς αὐτῆς ἀγέλης ἡγεμονεύοντος ὡς σχοῖνόν ποτε ἀπὸ φοινίκων κατεσκευασμένην λαβών-τραχυτάτη δὲ αὕτη λίαν καὶ χερσὶ προσψαυούσαις-, ταύτῃ διέζωσε τὴν ὀσφύν, οὐκ ἔξωθεν περιθείς, ἀλλ' αὐτῷ προσφύσας τῷ δέρματι· καὶ οὕτω λίαν συνέσφιγξεν ὡς ἅπαν ἐκεῖνο ἐν κύκλῳ τὸ μέρος ἑλκῶσαι, ᾧ περιέκειτο. Ὡς δὲ πλείους ἢ δέκα ἡμέρας τοῦτον διετέλεσε τὸν τρόπον καὶ τὸ ἕλκος χαλεπώτερον γιγνόμενον αἵματος ἠφίει σταγόνας, ἤρετό τις αὐτὸν θεασάμενος τίς ἡ αἰτία τοῦ αἵματος. Τοῦ δὲ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἀνιαρὸν λέγοντος, βιασάμενος ὁ συναγωνιστὴς καὶ τὴν χεῖρα ἐνέβαλε καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν κατέμαθε καὶ ταύτην τῷ προστατεύοντι κατεμήνυσεν. Αὐτίκα τοίνυν καὶ ἐπιτιμῶν καὶ παρακαλῶν καὶ τοῦ πράγματος τὴν ὠμότητα διαβάλλων μόλις ἐκεῖνον διέλυσε τὸν δεσμόν. Ἀλλ' οὐδ' οὕτως ἔπεισε θεραπείαν τινὰ ἐκείνῳ τῷ ἕλκει προσενεγκεῖν. Καὶ ἄλλα δὲ τοιαῦτα δρῶντα ὁρῶντες ἀναχωρεῖν τῆς παλαίστρας ἐκείνης ἐκέλευον, ὡς ἂν μὴ τοῖς ἀσθενέστερον τὸ σῶμα διακειμένοις