Then I went from Aleppo to Edessa by the king’s highway, and being afraid of the soldiers (i.e., bands of marauding robbers), who had already taken up their abode in the countries round about, I remained in Edessa, hoping to find company for the journey, for so great as this was my watchful fear. And when we had gathered together a company of men and women, [whose] names were seventy in number, and had therefore set out on the road, suddenly a band of Arab soldiers swooped down upon us, and carried us all away; then I called to mind the exhortation of the holy father, and I said to myself, “O my soul, such are the great riches which I went forth to inherit! O wretched man that I am, such are the promises of the Enemy, the deceiver and destroyer of souls! Inherit [thy wealth] then, O wretched one, and make thyself happy therewith.” And as I was saying these things to myself, one of the Arabs took me and a certain woman, and set the two of us on one camel, and having travelled a short distance in the desert, because we were afraid lest we should fall from the camel, we were compelled to hold tightly to each other; and not only did this shame come upon mine unconvinceable mind, but I was also obliged to eat with her. And the Arab gave us milk and camel’s flesh, and he carried us to his tent, and he commanded me to do homage to his wife and to bow down before her, and he said, “This is thy mistress.” Now through these things I, the chaste man and monk, was becoming acquainted with the form of the nakedness of these people, according to the reward which my passion of avarice merited; and the Arab ordered me to gird myself about with woollen garments and to shepherd the sheep and this [occupation] became unto me a source of consolation for the tribulations which surrounded me, because after a few days I was released from the evil faces of my masters and companions. But this alone did not bring me consolation, for I remembered that Abel, and the Patriarch Jacob and his sons, and the holy man Moses, and king David were shepherds of sheep, and I rejoiced in the desert, and I pastured the sheep, and prayed, and sang the Psalms which I learned in the monastery. And I used to eat cheese made of goats’ milk, and I drank milk, and I gave praise to God, that I had obtained such a [light] penalty for my disobedience; and remembering that the Apostle said, “Servants, be submissive to your masters, not only to the good, but also to the wicked” (Colossians 3:22; Ephesians 6:5), I took care of my master’s sheep with the utmost diligence. Now in all these things I kept in mind always the envy of the Calumniator, which hateth that which is good.
And when my master saw that I was acting rightly towards him, he wished to reward me well therefore, and he wanted to
