CHAPTER XXII

THE TRIUMPH OF AMMON THE FIRST

THERE was in the early times in Nitria a certain man whose name was Ammon, whose soul the blessed Anthony saw being taken up to heaven, and this man became the chief of the monks who were in Nitria. He belonged to a noble family, and because his parents were exceedingly rich, they urged him to marry a wife, although he was unwilling to do so; and having persisted in urging him [he did so], but in the wedding chamber he persuaded the maiden who became his bride to keep [her] virginity, and he promised to do the same. Now after a few days he departed to the country of Nitria, and the maiden herself called all the members of her household to virginity, and turned her house into a nunnery.

Now the blessed Ammon was living by himself in the country of Nitria, and they brought unto him a certain young man who had been seized with madness and he was bound with chains; a mad dog had bitten him, and the madness of the animal had entered into him, and his body was torn by the severe pain which was in it. And when the blessed man saw that the relatives of the young man were making supplication unto him, he said unto them, “What are ye bringing to me, O men? Ye are seeking from me what is greater than my power, and besides it lieth in your own hands to help and to heal the young man. Get ye gone, and restore [the value of] the widow’s bull which ye slew secretly, and your son shall be given back to you healed.” Then they, as people who had been rebuked, fulfilled his commandment, with gladness, and he prayed straightway, and their son was healed.

And on one occasion certain people came to visit the blessed Ammon, and he, having learned their mind, said unto them, “Bring hither to me a large potter’s vessel, so that there may be an abundance of water for the people who come here.” Now, although they promised him that they would do so, one of them, as soon as he had gone to his village, took counsel and said unto his companion, “I am not going to carry the potter’s vessel on my camel and kill it”; and when the other man heard this, he saddled his asses, and carried the vessel to the holy man with great labour. And the blessed man Ammon said unto the man before he could speak, saying, “What [is this]? Behold, thy friend’s camel died whilst thou wast coming here”; and when the man returned he found that the camel had been killed by wolves. And many [other] miracles were worked by this man.

Here endeth the Triumph of Ammon