him by another way, and had found him after they had been fasting for seven days, he commanded them to come in and to rest and refresh themselves in his cave; and when they reminded him about the food, he said unto them, “God is able to prepare for us food in the wilderness,” and immediately an angel of God in the form of a beautiful youth stood and knocked at the door whilst they were praying; and they opened the door, and [found there] a youth carrying a large basket wherein were bread and olives, and they took it from him, and ate therefrom, and gave thanks unto God, and the youth removed himself from them. These and many other wonderful things were performed by the blessed Apellen.
Here end the Triumphs of Apellen
Chapter xj: The Triumphs of another Apollo, and of John, the dweller in the Desert
AND we also saw another holy man in the region of ‘Or (or Akûr, i.e., Acre), whose name was also Apollo, who was a righteous man; his handicraft was originally that of a blacksmith, but he had been converted to the way of truth, and he laboured afterwards in the service of the brethren, and supplied their needs. And on one occasion Satan came unto him in the form of a woman, who appeared to be anxious to work in the service of the brethren, and the blessed man happened at the time to be working at his trade, and he took up the red-hot iron and thrust it into the woman’s face, and burned it so severely that she shrieked out, and the brethren who were in the chambers heard her cries. And from that time forward the blessed man was able to hold red-hot iron in his hands without being hurt. And this man also received us, and gave us refreshment, and he related unto us the histories of the men who had lived with him in that country, and of those who still lived there, and said:—
There is in this desert one of our brethren whose name is John, who is now exceedingly old, and whose works of ascetic excellence are superior to those of all the other monks in the country. No man can find him at once, because he wandereth about from place to place in the desert. During the early period [of his life] he stood for three whole years praying, and he never sat down or went to sleep, but he was in the habit of snatching a little sleep as he stood. A certain priest used to bring him the Offering (i.e., sacramental bread) from Sunday to Sunday, and besides that he ate nothing. And one day the devil stood up in the form of a priest, and was exceedingly anxious to bring him a woman, but as soon as the blessed John had recognized him, he said unto him, “Out upon thee, O thou
