THE book Paradise was composed by Palladius in the year 420 at the request of Lausus, a man who held high rank at Constantinople, and who is generally thought to have been a chamberlain of the Emperor Theodosius II, who ascended the throne in 408; for this reason the work was called the Lausiac History of Palladius. According to some authorities, Lausus, the friend of Palladius, is to be identified with “ Lausus præ- positus,” who received the lady Melania when she visited Constantinople about 435. Be this as it may, the friend of Palladius was, as we know from his testimony (Vol. I, p. 79), a man whose mind was full of doctrine, whose habits were those of a lover of peace, who feared God in his heart and loved Christ in his mind,” and elsewhere (Vol. I, p. 80) he describes him as the ornament of this believing and Godfearing kingdom,” and the true friend and servant of “God.” Nowhere does Palladius tell us what the bond was which united him in friendship with Lausus, or why the great court official entreated him to write down the histories of the lives of the Fathers of the Egyptian desert, and of other holy men. To guess at the origin of their friendship is useless, and whatever his motive may have been in urging Palladius to compile his histories, the thanks of every student of religion is due to Lausus as being the immediate cause of the production of a work which gives a true account of the origin and development of one of the most remarkable phases of Christianity which the world has ever seen.
In the brief account of the book Paradise which will be given in the following paragraphs, no attempt will be made to consider the difficulties which exist in connexion with the investigation of the original Greek text of the work, or to outline the chronological sequence of the versions which are based upon it. A general discussion of these matters will be found in Dom Cuthbert Butler’s Lausiac History (Cambridge, 1898), and in the learned notes which he has appended to his critical edition of the Greek text published at Cambridge in 1904. These works contain an honest description of the difficulties which have beset the paths of earlier editors and translators of Paradise, together with solutions of many of them. As the result of the scholarship, clear thought and well-balanced judgement which Dom Cuthbert Butler has bestowed upon Paradise, Palladius stands forth with an enhanced reputation, and the reader may once and for all rest assured that he is perusing the work of a man who described truthfully the things which he had seen and the men whom he had known.
The translations of Paradise and of the Sayings of the Fathers collected by Palladius, which are printed in the following pages, are made from the fullest Syriac versions of these works known to us, namely, those which we owe to Rabban Ânân-Îshô, a monk who flourished in Northern Mesopotamia in the latter half of the sixth and the first half of the seventh century. Of this man we possess a tolerably full account, written by Thomas, Bishop of Margâ, about a.d. 840 (see The Book of Governors, ed. Budge. 2 vols. London, 1893). Writing in this work (Book II, chap, xi), Thomas says:
“It is not right that the glorious memory of the holy Abbâ Ânân-Îshô should drop from our mind, or that we should suppress the mention of his indefatigable zeal; on the contrary, let us place his noble acts among [those of] his companions, for happiness at the right hand of our Lord Christ is laid up for him with them. Now this blessed man, and his brother Îshô-Yahbh, came from the country of Adiabene. They were both trained in doctrine in the city of Nisibis, being children of the school and household of the blessed Mâr Îshô-Yahbh. They became disciples in the Great Monastery [of Mount Îzlâ, about ten miles from Nisibis], as the books which belonged to them [and are now] in the library of this monastery (i.e., Bêth Abhê) testify, for they show that they were written by their hands there. Now Ânân-Îshô, having lived the life of an ascetic with all excellence, and having had his mind constantly fixed upon the works of the ascetic fathers, determined to go and worship in Jerusalem. And from there he went to the desert of Scete, where he learned concerning all the manner of the lives of the ascetic fathers, whose histories and questions are written in books, and concerning their dwellings and the places in which they lived. And when he turned to come back he made his journey by way of [the place of] holy Mâr John, the Bishop of the Scattered, of whom I have made mention a little way back, that he might be blessed by his holiness and enjoy his conversation. And after he had come to his own monastery (i.e., Mount Îzlâ) he took his brother, and they came to this monastery (i.e., Bêth Âbhê) by reason of the annoyance and contention which had taken place there, for certain slanderous men who had set themselves against holy men, had risen up there, and they drove out the holy Rabban Narsai, the disciple of Mâr Bâbhai, who finally became head of the monastery and was renowned for a life of excellence.
“Now when they came to this monastery, and were living in silence, according to the rule of ascetics, Rabban Ânân-Îshô, the wise of understanding, laboured so hard in the study of books that he surpassed all who were before and after him in his knowledge. And when Mâr Îshô-Yahbh was Metropolitan of Arbel and wished to draw up in order a book of the Canons that he might send copies of it to all the countries of his patriarchate, he made the wise Ânân-Îshô, the love of whom is very dear and sweet to me, to sit with him during the drawing up of the Canons, because he had composed Institutes and Rules, and because he found that he alone possessed, in a sufficient measure, a clear mind and a natural talent for the art of music and a knowledge of how to arrange words.
“ And the noble Ânân-Îshô composed Definitions and Divisions of various things, which were written upon the walls of his cell. And when his brother Mâr Îshô-yahbh came to pray in this monastery (i.e., Bêth Âbhê), and saw the divisions of the science of philosophy of his brother, AnAn-lsh0, he begged him to write a commentary on them for him, and to send it to him, which Ânân-Îshô actually did. And he wrote to him a clear exposition in many lines, from which will be apparent, to every one who readeth therein, the greatness of his wisdom; now the title of the work is, ‘A Letter which a Brother wrote to his Brother….’ He also wrote a work on the correct pronunciation of the words, and of the difficult words which are used with different significations in the writings of the Fathers; a copy of this work exists among the books in the library of this monastery, and it surpasses all other collations in its accuracy.”
The above extract is of great interest, for it proves that Ânân-Îshô, who edited the Syriac version of Paradise which is translated in these volumes, prepared himself for his great work by visiting the Scete desert, in order that he might see for himself the conditions under which the monks lived, and the dwellings and places wherein they abode. Knowledge, at first hand, and experience went side by side with great learning and literary skill, and the more his translation is studied, the greater its accuracy is found to be.
A little further on in his Book of Governors (Bk. II, chap, xv) Thomas, Bishop of Margâ, gives us some details of the “Compilation of the Book which was called Paradise. From these we learn that Ânân-Îshô undertook this work as a result of an order which he received from the Patriarch Mâr George. Having asked for the Prayers of Mâr Catholicus and of the holy old men of his congregation, he began and finished the command wherewith he had been commanded. And with an enlightened mind and a wise understanding—especially as the Spirit had manifested in him the efficacy of His gifts—
“ he arranged and grouped together in smooth order (i.e., consecutively), 615 ‘Heads’ (or Chapters), in Canons and Sections, [with] each ‘Head’ a ‘ Question ’ giving information concerning the subject matter of the ‘Head’ which preceded it. So that if a brother was labouring in any [spiritual] warfare whatsoever, and he wished to pluck consolation or to take counsel on the matter which was troubling him, he might find it close at hand. And the Counsels were arranged and classified according to the subject matter, so that he might very quickly be consoled in his tribulation, and find relief, and might also lay a soothing plaster on the wound which was causing him pain.”
“And besides these [615 ‘Heads’] there were 430 others, which would give a man information in general upon all kinds of spiritual excellence, and there were many others which he did not arrange in numerical order, and which he did not group or classify. And he took from the ‘ Commen- ‘tary ’ on the blessed Matthew, the Evangelist, the Discourse which was composed by Mâr John [Chrysostom] on the praises of the monks who were in Egypt, and the Questions of the blessed Mâr Abraham of Nephthar, and demonstrations and other histories which he himself had collected from the writings of the Fathers.”
“And he arranged the whole book [Paradise] in two Parts. In the First Part were the Histories of the Holy Fathers, which were composed by Palladius and Hieronymus (Jerome), and in the Second Part were the Questions and Narratives (or Matters) of the Fathers, which he had arranged and classified. And he called this Book Paradise and under this name hath it been handed down and accepted in all the monasteries of the East, and the Fathers in every place have praised his ability and applauded his work.”
It may be mentioned in passing that the word “Paradise” means garden,” and there is no doubt that Palladius intended to suggest to his readers that his compilation resembled a spiritual garden, the flowers of which were the Histories of the famous monks which he had collected therein, just as the monks themselves were the flowers of the Garden of God.
Prefixed to the translations of Paradise and the Sayings of the Fathers printed in these volumes will be found a rendering of the Syriac version of a Life of St. Anthony, which is attributed to Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria. This work is of very great interest, and it is of considerable importance for the study of Christian monasticism in Egypt. The original was written in Greek, but the Greek text now extant is different from that used by the translator into Syriac (Butler,
Lausiac History, p. 227; Schulthess, Probe einer syrischen Version der Vita S. Antonii, Leipzig, 1894). Many authorities have denied the authenticity of this Life of St. Anthony, but there is really no good reason why Athanasius should not have taken part in the preparation of some portions of the work, or in its revision, and until proof is brought forward that such a thing is impossible, we shall be justified in believing that the framework of the narrative is historical. The character of St. Anthony, as drawn by the author of the Life in the form wherein we now have it, is wholly lovable, and it is easy to understand how the words and deeds of the great monk drew all men to him. His manner of life was as simple and as strenuously ascetic as it could well be, and yet his manners towards all men were kind and gentle. He ate bread and salt, and drank water only, and on certain occasions passed three or four days, and sometimes whole weeks, without eating (Vol. I, p. 12). He passed most nights in vigil, and when he slept his bed was a palm-leaf mat. He never used oil and he never washed. He wore an untanned leather garment with the hair next his skin (Vol. I, pp 40, 73), and he slept, when an old man, with a skin covering over him. Before his death he gave his leather tunic to Athanasius, and his leather coat to Bishop Serapion. He remained healthy to the last, and his eyesight failed not, and not a tooth dropped from his head; he died aged 105 years. Before his death he ordered the brethren to bury him in a grave, and not to embalm him, for, said he, [“there shall I be] until the Resurrection of the Dead, when I shall receive this body without corruption (Vol. I, p. 73). He spoke Egyptian, and knew neither Greek nor Latin, but his speech was dignified, austere, pungent and seasoned with salt; his mind was alert, and his shrewdness and sagacity won the admiration of the crowds of ascetics of all kinds who visited him. Though kind to all, and gracious even to those with whose opinions he disagreed, his quick intelligence enabled him to defeat the worldly-wise in argument, and to show the superiority of his religion over that of the pagan philosophers who propounded problems to him. His disposition was happy, and his faith in God as firm as a rock; no devil, fiend, or phantom could undermine his trust in the goodness of God, and no wickedness of man made him to doubt it. We hear nothing of his torturing his body, as was the custom of later monks; nevertheless he was willing to suffer hardship, imprisonment, and even martyrdom, if by so doing he might help his fellow man. During the persecution of Maximinus he left the desert and went into Alexandria, and visited the prisons and ministered to the wants of the blessed confessors who were shut up there. He comforted those who were condemned to hard labour in the mines in the Sûdân, and those who were to be banished to the islands, and those on whom the sentence of death had been passed, and he went in and out among the prisoners fearlessly. At length the governor heard of him and his ministrations, and ordered that he should in future be kept out of the city. In spite of this prohibition he made his way into the judgement hall of the governor, intending, no doubt, to make a vigorous’protest against his treatment of the confessors. His friends, however, saw him there, and prevented him that day from appearing before the judge,” and thus he escaped certain condemnation.
We may now proceed to the consideration of the contents of the First Part of Ânân-Îshô’s Syriac recension of the book Paradise. After the Epistle to Lausus, the high official at whose request the original work was compiled, we have a description of the plan of Paradise and a series of “Counsels ” to Lausus, and then comes the first history, namely, that of:
Book I
1. Isidore, who had been a monk in Nitria, and died fifteen years after Palladius met him, aged 85 years. With his sisters lived a company of about seventy nuns. His history is followed by those of:
2. Dorotheos, who lived in a cave for sixty years.
3. Potamiaena, the virgin, who was boiled to death at Alexandria in a cauldron of bitumen by the order of the prefect Basilides.
4. Didymus. He was a friend of St. Anthony, who had visited him in his cell thrice, and he received through the Spirit the news of the death of Julian the Apostate on the very day on which he died. He was 80 years of age when Palladius met him.
5. Alexandra of Alexandria, who shut herself up in a tomb and saw neither man nor woman for twelve years. Her history was told to Palladius by Melania.
6. The Avaricious Virgin, who gave Macarius 500 dinars to buy emeralds and jewels; he spent the money on the sick poor.
7. The Monks of Nitria. Palladius mentions the monks Petâ-Bast, Arsisius, Chronius, and Serapion, and describes the life led by the monks there.
8. AMMÔN, one of the early monks of Nitria, who died aged 62 years.
9. Hor, a monk of Nitria, who died before Palladius came there.
10. Pambo, who died on the day of the arrival of Palladius in Nitria, aged 70 years. Palladius received his history from Melania, Ammonius, and Origen, the priest and steward.
11. Ammonius, the Tall Brother, the disciple of Pambo. He cut off his left ear to prevent the brethren from making him a bishop; and he never ate any food which had been cooked by fire.
12. Benjamin, of Nitria, the physician, who died of dropsy; he was 80 years old when Palladius visited him.
13. Apollonius the merchant, who lived in Nitria for twenty years, and purchased with the money he earned necessaries for the 5,000 brethren who dwelt in the mountain.
14. Paesius and Isaiah, the sons of a merchant, who spent all their money in charity.
15. Macarius [the Younger], the “Child of his Cross,” who lived for three years in the open desert, and for twenty-five in a cell.
16. Nathaniel, who died fifteen years before Palladius visited Nitria. He lived for thirty-seven years in his cell, and never passed outside its door.
17. Macarius the Egyptian, who lived in the desert for sixty years, and died aged 90; he is said to have raised a man from the dead.
18. Macarius the Alexandrian, who was famous for his fasting and vigils, and self-abnegation; some of his cells had no windows, and at one time he walked about in the desert carrying a basket with two or three bushels of sand in it on his shoulders. He performed many cures, and worked miracles.
19. Paul the Simple, who became a disciple of St. Anthony when he was 80 years of age (Butler’s Greek text, chap. 22).
20. Pachomius of Scete; he was 70 years of age when visited by Palladius (Greek text, chap. 23).
21. Stephen the Libyan, who dwelt in the desert for sixty years (Greek text, chap. 24).
22. Valens the Palestinian, who went mad, and was put in fetters for a year by the fathers (Greek text, chap. 25).
23. Hero the Alexandrian, who became a drunkard and whoremonger, but returned to the desert, repented, and died (Greek text, chap. 26).
24. Ptolemy the Egyptian, who dwelt in the portion of the Scete desert called “ Klimax” for fifteen years, and went mad (Greek text, chap. 27).
25. Abraham the Egyptian (Greek text, chap. 53).
26. A Virgin in Jerusalem, who fell (Greek text, chap. 28).
27. A Virgin in Caesarea, who fell. A fuller form of this history is given in chapter 29.
28. A certain Virgin, who fell (Greek text, chap. 69).
29. A Virgin in Caesarea, who fell (Greek text, chap. 70).
30. Thais, or Thaisis, the harlot. According to the Syriac version of this chapter Thais, the harlot, was converted by Abbâ Bessarion. She burnt all her possessions, and was introduced by Bessarion into a religious house of sisters” (Vol. I, p. 141), where she lived on one pound of dry bread daily and water for a period of three years. At the end of this time Bessarion went and asked St. Anthony whether God had forgiven her her sins or not, and Anthony told his monks to shut themselves up in their cells all night in order that the matter might be revealed concerning which Bessarion had applied to him. After a long time Paul, the disciple of Anthony, saw a vision in the heavens of a splendid couch with a crown of glory laid thereon, and three angels with three lamps standing by its side. Paul thought that the couch was prepared for Anthony, but a voice came to him from heaven, saying, “This couch is not for Anthony, thy father, but for Thais, the harlot.” When Bessarion heard the news of the vision from Paul, he returned to Thais and told her that God had forgiven her her sins. Fifteen days afterwards she died. In Book II, chap. 36 of the Syriac version (see Vol. I, p. 268) will be found the story of the conversion of a harlot by Abbâ Serapion, but it differs in many respects from the story of Bessarion and the harlot. Now according to the Greek versions of this history the monk who converted Thais was called Paphnutius, or Serapion (see F. Nau, Histoire de Thais, in Annales duMusie Guimet, Tome trentième, pt. iii, Paris, 1903), and some authorities identify this Serapion with “Serapion of the Girdle.” In 1899-1900 M. Gayet carried out a series of excavations on the site of Antinoë, and in the course of his work discovered the tomb of a woman which contained baskets made of plaited reeds, a chaplet made of wood and ivory, an object in the form of the ancient Egyptian symbol for life” (ankh, the crux ansata), palm branches, and a rose of Jericho. In the tomb, roughly traced in red ink, was the inscription:
EKOIMHOEMA ΚΑΡΙΑΘΑΙΑΣ
• · · · ΘΕΣΣΑΑ · · · · which proved that it was the resting place of the “Blessed Thais.” In a neighbouring tomb was found a fragment of pottery, on which were inscribed the words:
ΣΑΡΑΠΙΩΝ ΚΟΡΝΩΣΘΑΛΟΥ which prove that the occupant was called “Serapion.” We knew that Thais, the harlot, was buried in Egypt, and there are fairly good reasons for believing that Serapion of the Girdle was buried there also. This being so, some have not hesitated to think that the Thais and Serapion whose tombs were excavated by M. Gayet, are to be identified with Thais, the harlot, and Serapion, who converted her. On the other hand, M. Gayet’s words (L’Exploration des Nécropoles Gréco-Bysantines d’Antinoë, in Annales du Musée Guimet, tome xxx, Part. II, Paris, 1902), are to be well considered: “La question a été controversée; je me bornerai à redire ce que je n’ai cessi de répéter A ceux qui m’ont questionné A ce sujet: ‘Je n’ai ‘aucun document me permettant d’identifier Thais d’Antinoë ‘A la Thais historique; je n’en ai aucun, non plus, m’autori- ‘sant à nier la possibilité de cette identification.’” It seems, then, that the identification is not at present certain, but it is difficult not to wish that the bodies of the man and woman who now lie side by side in the Musée Guimet, may eventually prove to be those of the famous monk and the woman whom he converted.
31. Elijah of Atrêpe (Athribis) near Akhmîm, the builder of a nunnery (Greek text, chap. 29).
32. Dorotheos, who lived in an upper chamber.
33. Pachomius the Great, of Tabenna, the Abbot of 1,300 monks, and the nuns (Greek text, chaps. 32-34).
34. The Virgin who hid Athanasius (Greek text, chap. 63).
35. Piamon the Virgin (Greek text, chap. 31).
36. EmmA TalIdA, the old woman of Antinoë (Greek text, chap. 59).
37. Taor the Virgin (Greek text, chap. 59).
38. Colluthus the Virgin (Greek text, chap. 60).
39. The Virgin and the Magistrianus, who was thrown to the beasts in her stead (Greek text, chap. 65).
40. Melania the Elder. She lived in exile for thirty-seven years (Greek text, chaps. 46 and 54).
41. Melania the Younger (Greek text, chap. 61). Pammachius (Greek text, chap. 62).
42. Olympias, daughter of Seleucus (Greek text, chap. 56).
43. Candida, who lived on dry bread dipped in vinegar (Greek text, chap. 57).
44. Gelasia (Greek text, chap. 57).
45. Juliana, who received Origen (Greek text, chap. 64).
46. Heronion and his wife Bosphoria (Greek text, chap. 66).
47. Magna (Greek text, chap. 67).
48. Misericors the monk (Greek text, chap. 68).
49. John of Lycus, who foretold that Palladius would be made a bishop (Greek text, chap. 35).
XXX11J
50. Possidonius the Theban, who possessed the gift of prophecy (Greek text, chap. 36).
51. Chronius of TomArtA, the priest, who lived in the desert for sixty years (Greek text, chap. 47).
52. James the Lame and Paphnutius Kephala (Greek text, chap. 47).
53. Solomon of Antinoë (Greek text, chap. 58).
54. Dorotheos of Antinoë (Greek text, chap. 58).
55. Diocles of Antinoë (Greek text, chap. 58).
56. Kapiton of Antinoë (Greek text, chap. 58).
57. The Monk who fell.
58. Ephraim of Edessa, who made an open-air hospital (Greek text, chap. 40).
59. Innocent of the Mount of Olives (Greek text, chap. 44).
60. Elpidius of Jericho (Greek text, chap. 48). ENESIUS (Greek text, chap. 48).
61. Eustathius (Greek text, chap. 48).
62. Sisinnius (Greek text, chap. 49).
63. Gaddai (Gaddanus) (Greek text, chap. 50).
64. Elijah (Greek text, chap. 51).
65. Sabas of Jericho (Greek text, chap. 52).
66. Serapion of the Girdle (Greek text, chap. 37).
67. Eulogius and the Crippled Arian (Greek text, chap. 21).
Book II
1. Mark the mourner.
2. Paul, the prince of monks, who died at the age of 113 years, when St. Anthony was 90 years old.
3. History of a young Alexandrian.
4. History of an old man in Scete.
5. History of a solitary dweller.
6. History of the disciple of a certain old man.
7. History of Peter, a disciple.
8. History of a disciple.
9. Adolius of Tarsus (Greek text, chap. 43).
10. Moses the Indian (Greek text, chap. 19).
11. Ρίόκ (Greek text, chap. 39).
12. Moses the Libyan.
13. A WANDERING MONK.
14. Evagrius (Greek text, chap. 31).
15. Malchus of Mârônîa.
16. Two fathers who went naked.
16A. An old man who went naked.
17. An old man who fed with the beasts.
18. An old man who lived forty-nine years in the desert.
19. A monk who fed on grass by the Jordan.
20. A HOLY VIRGIN.
21. The young men who were with Macarius.
22. Bessarion, who went naked during the frost.
23. Bessarion’s acts.
24. The holy man with nine virtues.
25. Maria, who assumed a monk’s attire.
26. A certain sage.
27. Two brethren in a Persian Monastery.
28. A virgin.
29. Stephana of Scete.
30. Eucarpus, who went mad and reviled Evagrius.
31. A FAMOUS DEACON.
32. A bishop who fell into fornication and repented.
33. The neighbour of Poemen.
34. The APOSTATE BROTHER.
35. An old man in Scete.
36. Serapion and the Harlot (see Vol. I, p. 140).
37. The harlot whom a subdeacon drove out of the Church.
38. Apollo of Scete.
39. Cosmas of Mount Sinai.
40. Macarius, who was accused of committing fornication.
41. The old man who thought that Melchisedek was the Son of God.
43. Mark the Less.
44. Paule the Simple, the disciple of St. Anthony.
The Askêtikon of Pachomius
1. On pride and wickedness.
2. Sylvanus the Actor.
3. The sinner who died.
4. The righteous man who died.
5. What the devils said to Pachomius.
6. The acts of Pachomius in his Monastery.
7. A revelation concerning heretics.
8. A revelation concerning the Settlement of the Brethren.
9. Another revelation.
10. Words of doctrine.
11. The famine.
12. Pachomius and the Steward.
13. The monk who denied Christ.
14. Pachomius and the Phantom.
15. Pachomius and his gift of tongues.
16. Jonah the Gardener.
17. Pachomius and his oratory.
18. Pachomius and the heretics.
19. Pachomius and the monk.
20. Pachomius and the monk who made mats.
21. Pachomius and the monk with cut hands. Further remarks by Palladius.
Following the above we have in the Syriac version of Ânân-Îshô a History of the Monks who lived in the Desert of Egypt, which is said to have been compiled by Saint Jerome. This work is generally known as the Historia Monachorum^ and was written in Greek; the Latin version is now acknowledged to have been made by Rufinus. It has been shown (Butler, Lausiac History, p. 276, Cambridge, 1898) that it was compiled by a Monk of Jerusalem, who belonged to the monastery on Mount Olivet founded by Rufinus, and who went to Egypt in 394, with six companions, to visit the monks. On his return to his monastery he wrote the book at the request of the brotherhood. According to Sozomen the writer was Timotheus, Bishop of Alexandria, but Dom Butler has proved this to be impossible, and he suggests (op. cit., p. 277) that the writer was not the Bishop of Alexandria, but the Archdeacon of Alexandria, who was also called Timotheus, and was put forward by his party, on the death of Bishop Theophilus in 412, as a candidate for the see against St. Cyril. The contents of his work are:
1. The Author’s Apology.
2. John of Lycus.
3. Abba Hor.
4. Abba Ammon.
5. Abba Abban (Benus).
6. The Brethren of Oxyrrhynchus.
7. Abba Theon.
8. Abba Elijah.
9. Abba Apollo and Abbâ Ammon.
IO. Abba Apellen.
11. Abba Apollo and Abbâ John.
12. Abbâ Paphnutius.
13. Eulogius.
14. Isidore of Thebes.
15. Dioscurus of Thebes.
16. Abbâ Copres and Petarpemotis.
17. Hor, Isaiah, Paul, and Nopi, the Confessors.
18. Evagrius.
19. Pithyrion.
20. Triumphs of the Fathers.
22. Ammon the First.
Contents of the Book Paradise
23. Another Ammon.
24. Didymus.
25. Chronius.
26. The Three Brethren who cut off their ears.
27. Philemon.
28. John, Abbâ of Dîkâpôlîs.
29. Serapion, the head of ten thousand men.
30. Apollo the Less.
The Second Part of Ânân-Îshô’s version of the book Paradise contains several series of miscellaneous collections of “Sayings ” and “ Stories ” of the Fathers, some 635 in number, and also a series of “Questions and Answers,” about 706 in number, which deal with the rule of life of the holy men. Though Ânân-Ishô attributes all of them to Palladius, it is very doubtful if more than a few of them were collected by him. Large numbers of them are found in Greek manuscripts of the sixth century, and it is almost certain that the “ Sayings ” were first collected and done into writing in the fifth century, probably about the time when the book Paradise and History of the Monks were compiled. It is only natural that the men who wrote these works should think that the terse, pithy “Sayings” of the ascetics whom they had visited were just as well worth preserving as the histories of their lives, and that they should take pains to put on record the words and opinions on difficult points of the ascetic life for the benefit and guidance of future generations of monks. It is, in my opinion, quite impossible for all the “ Sayings ” and “ Stories ” collected by Ânân-Îshô to belong to this early period or to be of Egyptian origin, but it is certain that a very large proportion of them is of Egyptian origin, and that the teaching and spirit in all of them are the products of the Christian monasticism of Egypt. On the other hand, the authorship of many of them is doubtful, and this we must probably attribute to the mistakes of copyists. When the “ Sayings ” were first collected, they were grouped either according to the names of their authors or their subject matters; but these arrangements were soon broken up, and after a generation or two anything like systematic order disappeared from the collections. The “Sayings” and the “Stories” of the monks translated in the second volume of this work are of great value for the study of Egyptian monastic Christianity, for they reveal the very thoughts of the ascetics and illustrate the views of the monks on almost every conceivable point in connexion with the theory and practice of the Christian Life as they understood it. In them we have depicted the strength and weakness of the holy men, and though our modern ideas may suggest that selfishness was at the bottom of their stern asceticism, that their labours did nothing to help the world along, and that their hardships and the torturings of their bodies were both useless and unnecessary, no one can deny that the fixedness and intensity of their faith, and their high aims and practical morality made them bright lights and guides to all, and proved them to be most earnest seekers after God.