When he had done so, Antony said, "Did the stone say anything?" He answered, "No."
Then said Antony: "Unto this perfection shalt thou one day come."
2. When Abbot Arsenius was ill, they laid him on a mat, and put a pillow under his head, and a brother was scandalized.
Then said his attendant to the brother: "What were you before you were a monk?" He answered, "A shepherd." Then he asked again, "And do you live a harder or an easier life now than then?" He replied, "I have more comforts now." Then said the other, "Seest thou this abbot? When he was in the world he was the father of emperors. A thousand slaves with golden girdles and tippets of velvet waited on him, and rich carpets were spread under him. Thou hast gained by the change which has made thee a monk; it is thou who art now encompassed with comforts, but he is afflicted."
3. When Abbot Agatho was near his end, he remained for three days with his eyes open and steadily fixed.
His brethren shook him, sayings "Abbot, where are you?"
He replied, "I stand before the judgment seat."
They said, "What, father! do you you too fear? think of your works."
He made answer: "I have no confidence till I shall have met my God."
4. Abbot Pastor was asked, "Is it good to cloak a brother's fault?"