this old man went forth quickly into every place, and so many people believed on the Lord through him that in those borders henceforward no man gave himself the name of “heathen.”
And after a short time two villages quarrelled and fought over certain fields, and as soon as the blessed man heard thereof he went down to them quickly, that he might sow peace between them; now the men who were on one side would not be persuaded by his words, but they disputed them for the reason that they were relying, forsooth, upon a certain mighty man, who was a captain of a band of thieves, and he stood up on their behalf in the struggle. And when the holy Apollo saw this man disputing fiercely, he said unto him, “If thou wilt be persuaded by me, O my beloved, I will beseech our Lord to forgive thee thy sins”; and when the man heard these words, without any hesitation whatsoever he threw his weapons away from him, and fell at the knees of the holy man, and he turned his partisans back into their houses. And when there was peace between them, and every man had departed to his place this famous captain of thieves clung to the blessed man, and entreated him and openly demanded from him [the fulfilment of] his promise; and the holy man took him with him to the desert, and entreated him, and admonished him to be patient and said unto him, “God is able to grant thee this thing.”
And when it was night the two men saw in a dream that they were standing before the throne in heaven, and the two men also saw that the angels and the righteous men were worshipping God; and when they also knelt down on their knees, and bowed down on their faces before Christ, the voice of God came to them, saying, “What connexion hath light with darkness? Or what portion hath the believer with the unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15.) Why then doth this murderer stand with this righteous man, seeing that he is not worthy of this sight? But, O man, get thee gone, for behold, this little one among thy sons who hath taken refuge in thee shall be saved because of thee.” Now they saw and also heard many other things which the mouth must not dare to utter nor the ear to hear. And when they woke up they related the dream to those [who were with them], and those who heard how exceedingly glorious were the stories of these men [marvelled] that two men were able to relate one and the same dream. Now the captain of thieves remained in the monastery with the monks, and led therein a life of ascetic excellence until his departure from the world; and from being a wolf he had turned into a simple lamb; and in him was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (11:6, 7), who said, “The wolf
