CHAPTER LXVI

OF SABAS, THE LAYMAN OF JERICHO

AND there was a certain layman from Jericho whose name was Sabas, and he had a wife, and this man loved the monks so much that during the night season he used to go round about in the desert, and pass by the cells of the solitary monks therein, and outside the cell and habitation of each one of them he would set down a bushel of dates and vegetables, which would be sufficient for his wants, for the monks who lived by the side of the Jordan did not eat bread, and thus this man Sabas supplied the wants of the monks. One day as he was carrying along a load [of food] for the usual needs of the monks, through the operation of the Evil One, who is the Adversary of the monks, a lion met him, which terrified him, and wished to make him to cease from his ministrations to those holy men, and schemed to prevent him from performing his benevolent intent for their comfort. And the lion having overtaken him about a mile from the place where the monks were, and having seized him by his hand in order to turn him aside from his business, He Who by the hand of Daniel shut the mouth[s] of the lions, shut the mouth of this lion also (Daniel 6:22; Hebrews 11:33), and the beast did this lover of alms no harm whatsoever; and although the lion was exceedingly hungry he only took a very little of the things which Sabas was carrying for the old men, and then he departed. And it is manifest that He Who gave this man his life also satisfied the hunger of the lion.