young woman lay with him, and she conceived, and folk asked her, saying, “Whence hadst thou that which thou hast conceived?” And she said unto them, “From the old man,” and they believed her not. Now when the old man heard that they would not believe her, he said, “Yea, I have done this thing; but protect ye for me the child which shall be born.” And when the child had been born and was weaned, there was a congregation in Scete, and the old man went down carrying the child on his shoulder, and he went into the church before all the people; and when they saw him they all wept. Then the old man said unto the brethren, “Observe ye, O my brethren, this is the child of disobedience; take heed, then, unto yourselves, for I have committed this act in my old age, and pray ye for me”; and the old man went to his cell, and dismissed the things wherewith he hath lived, and returned to his former deeds, and after a time he arrived [once more] at his old measure of ascetic excellence.
Chapter xxxvj: Of the Harlot whom Serapion converted
ABBÂ SERAPION once came and passed through a certain village in Egypt, and he saw a harlot standing in his cell, and the old man said unto her, “Remain here until the evening, for I wish to come with thee, and to pass this night with thee”; and the harlot said, “It is well, O father.” Then she made ready, and prepared her bed, and she awaited the old man with that which he required. Now when it was evening, Abbâ Serapion came, but he brought nothing with him, and he went into her cell, and said unto her, “Is thy bed ready?” And she said unto him, “Yea, father”; and they shut themselves in. Then the old man answered and said unto her, “Wait a little, because I must perform a certain thing which is a law unto us.” And he began to recite the Book of the Psalms of David from the beginning, and with every Psalm he offered up a prayer on her behalf, and he made supplication before God that she might repent and live, and God hearkened unto him. And the harlot stood up in fear by the side of the old man and prayed also, and when Abbâ Serapion had finished all the Psalms she fell down upon the ground, and he began to repeat many verses from the [books of the] Apostles. When he had finished his service, God having opened the heart of that woman, she knew that Abbâ Serapion had not come unto her for the purposes of sin, but that he might redeem her, and she fell on her face before him, and said unto him, “Perform an act of grace for me, O father, and take me to any place whatsoever wherein
