The old man replied—
“It is useless to act, or to abstain from acting. It matters not whether we live or die.”
“Eh, what?” asked Paphnutius. “Do you not desire to live through all eternity? But, tell me, do you not live in a hut in the desert as the hermits do?”
“It seems so.”
“Do I not see you naked, and lacking all things?”
“It seems so.”
“Do you not feed on roots, and live in chastity?”
“It seems so.”
“Have you not renounced all the vanities of this world?”
“I have truly renounced all those vain things for which men commonly care.”