Chapter XX: Of A Certain Holy Virgin
ONCE certain of the great sages of Scete were travelling along a road in the desert when they heard a sound, like the groan of a sick person, [rise up] from the ground; and they searched, and found a path which led into a cave, and when they had descended into it they discovered [there] a certain holy virgin. Then they said unto her, “O mother, when didst thou come here? And who ministereth unto thee?” For they saw nothing in the cave except the holy woman herself who was lying on the earth. And she said unto them, “Behold, I have passed eight and thirty years in this cave, and I have satisfied my wants with grass, for I labour for Christ. And I have never seen a man except this day, and God hath sent you to me this day to bury my body”; and having said these words, she died. And when the fathers saw [this], they glorified God, and they buried her body, and prayed, and departed from the place.
Chapter XXI: Of The Two Young Men Who Were With Macarius
ABBÂ BYTINIUS said:—The disciple of Macarius once told me the following story, and said:—Abbâ Macarius once said to me whilst I was living in Scete:—Two young men, who are strangers, have gone down there, and one of them hath a few hairs as a beard, and the other hath the beginning of a beard. And these young men came and said unto me, “Where is the cell of Abbâ Macarius?” And I said unto them, “What seek ye with him?” And they said, “We have heard of his life and deeds, and we have come to see him.” And I said unto them, “I am he”; and they offered me repentance, and said unto me, “We wish to abide here.” Now, seeing that they were proud because of [their] riches, I said unto them, “Ye will not be able to dwell here”; and the elder of them said unto me, “If we are unable to dwell here, we will go to another place.” Then I said to myself, “Why should I be an occasion of stumbling to them, for the labour itself will make them flee?” And I said unto them, “Come, make ye a cell for yourselves if ye can”; and they replied to me, “Only shew us how to do it, and we will do it.” So I gave them an axe, and a tool for digging up the ground, and a sack of bread and salt, and I shewed them a rock wherefrom they might [hew] stone, and I said to them, “Hew your stone from here, and then bring wood from the forest and roof over [the
