hast embarked on the ship without provisions and money? Where wilt thou obtain the money to give us for thy passage?” And he said unto them, “I have thought nothing whatsoever about it, [for] an Egyptian has no anxious care about anything; but carry me back whence ye took me and cast me out [if you wish].” Noweven if he had given them one hundred dînârs they would not have been able to take him back [to Alexandria], and he therefore remained in the ship, and they fed him until he arrived in Rome. And having come to Rome he made enquiries and learned what monk or nun was there, and he found Rumnîn (or Dômnîn), the disciple of Evagrius, whose bed, after his death, cured every kind of sickness. And having seen him, and spoken with him he was greatly edified by him, for he was a man who was greatly skilled in the labours of the ascetic life, and in speech, and in knowledge, and he learned from him what monk, and nuns were in Rome, in order that he might see them.
[Here some editor of Palladius remarks, “In another manuscript the following is written”:]
And the venerable fathers relate concerning him that he once heard that there was in the city of Rome a certain nun who led a life of the strictest seclusion, who had never seen a man, and who used to think concerning herself that she was perfect. Then this blessed man threw himself into a ship and came to Rome, and having learned where she lived he went and spake with the old woman who ministered unto her, and said unto her, “Get thee in and say unto the virgin, I desire to see thee most eagerly, because God hath sent me unto thee”; and he waited two days and then saw her. And when he saw her he said unto her, “Sit thee down,” and she said unto him, “I will not sit down, but will depart.” And he said unto her, “Whither goest thou?” and she said unto him, “To God.” And he said unto her, “Art thou living or dead?” And she said unto him, “I believe, by God, that I am dead, for who that liveth in the body is not able to depart [therefrom]?” And he said unto her, “If thou art dead, as thou sayest, do thou that which I do”; and she said unto him, “Tell me what can happen, and I will do it.” And again he said unto her, “To one who is dead unto the world it is easy to do everything except commit sin,” and he further said unto her, “Come down, and get thee out of thine house”; then she said unto him, “I have not gone out of it for five and twenty years, why should I go out of it now?” And he said unto her, “If thou art indeed dead unto the world, and the world is dead unto thee, it is the same thing unto thee whether thou goest forth or dost not go forth; come, get thee out.” And she went out.
