Historia Monachorum

Watering the Dry stick Inst 4.24; changed in Sulp.Sev. Dialogues 1.13 where stick blooms NPNF 2^nd series, vol. 11



13. Well then, when I entered upon the nearest parts of the desert, about twelve miles from the Nile, having as my guide one of the brethren who was well acquainted with the localities, we arrived at the residence of a certain old monk who dwelt at the foot of a mountain. In that place there was a well, which is a very rare thing in these regions.	XIII. Ergo ubi prima eremi ingressus sum, duodecim fere a Nilo millibus (habebam autem unum ^[192A] e fratribus ducem, locorum peritum) pervenimus ad quemdum senem monachum sub radice montis habitantem. Ibi, quod in illis locis rarissimum est, puteus erat.
The monk had one ox, the whole labor of which consisted in drawing water by moving a machine worked with a wheel. This was the only way of getting at the water, for the well was said to be a thousand or more feet deep.	Bovem unum habebat, cujus hic erat totus labor, impulsa rotali machina aquam producere: nam fere mille aut amplius pedum profundum putei ferebatur.
There was also a garden there full of a variety of vegetables. This, too, was contrary to what might have been expected in the desert where, all things being dry and burnt up by the fierce rays of the sun produce not even the slenderest root of any plant. But the labor which in common with his ox, the monk performed, as well as his own special industry, produced such a happy state of things to the holy man; for the frequent irrigation in which he engaged imparted such a fertility to the sand that we saw the vegetables in his garden flourishing and coming to maturity in a wonderful manner.	Hortus illic erat multis oleribus copiosus: id quidem contra naturam eremi, ubi omnia arentia, exusta solis ardoribus, nullius umquam seminis vel exiguam radicem ferunt. Verum hoc sancto illi labor cum pecore communis, et propria praestabat industria: frequens enim irrigatio aquarum tantam pinguedinem arenis dabat, ut mirum in modum virere atque fructificare horti illius olera videremus.
On these, then, the ox lived as well as its master; and from the abundance thus supplied, the holy man provided us also with a dinner. There I saw what you Gauls, perchance, may not believe— a pot boiling without fire with the vegetables which were being got ready for our dinner: such is the power of the sun in that place that it is sufficient for any cooks, even for preparing the dainties of the Gauls. Then after dinner, when the evening was coming on, our host invites us to a palm-tree, the fruit of which he was accustomed to use, and which was at a distance of about two miles.	Ex iis igitur una cum domino bos ille ^[192B] vivebat: nobis quoque ex ea copia coenam sanctus dedit. Ibi vidi, quod vos Galli forte non credetis, ollam cum oleribus quae nobis in coenam praeparabantur, sine igne fervere: tanta vis solis est, ut quibuslibet coquis etiam ad Gallorum pulmenta sufficiat. Post coenam autem jam inclinante vespera invitat nos ad arborem palmam, cujus interdum pomis uti solebat, quae fere duobus millibus aberat: nam hae tantum in eremo arbores, licet raro, habentur tamen.
For that is the only kind of tree found in the desert, and even these are rare, though they do occur. I am not sure whether this is owing to the wise foresight of former ages, or whether the soil naturally produces them. It may indeed be that God, knowing beforehand that the desert was one day to be inhabited by the saints, prepared these things for his servants. For those who settle within these solitudes live for the most part on the fruit of such trees, since no other kinds of plants thrive in these quarters. Well, when we came up to that tree to which the kindness of our host conducted us, we there met with a lion; and on seeing it, both my guide and myself began to tremble; but the holy man went up to it without delay, while we, though in great terror, followed him.	Quod utrum solers antiquitas procuraverit, an soli natura gignat, ignoro: nisi si Deus praescius habitandam quandoque a sanctis eremum, haec servis suis paraverit: ex majore enim parte, qui intra illa secreta consistunt, cum alia ibi germina nulla succedant, istarum arborum pomis aluntur. Ergo ^[192C] ubi ad illam ad quam nos humanitas nostri hospitis ducebat, arborem pervenimus, leonem ibi offendimus: quo viso, ego et ille dux meus intremuimus; sanctus vero ille incunctanter accessit: nos, licet trepidi, secuti sumus.
As if commanded by God, the beast modestly withdrew and stood gazing at us, while our friend, the monk, plucked some fruit hanging within easy reach on the lower branches. And, on his holding out his hand filled with dates, the monster ran up to him and received them as readily as any domestic animal could have done; and having eaten them, it departed. We, beholding these things, and being still under the influence of fear, could not but perceive how great was the power of faith in his case, and how weak it was in ourselves.	Fera paululum (ut cerneres imperatam a Deo) modesta secessit et constitit, dum ille attigua ramis humilioribus poma decerperet: cumque plenam palmulis manum obtulisset, accurrit bestia, accepitque tam libere quam nullum animal domesticum: et cum comedisset, abscessit. Nos haec intuentes et adhuc trementes, facile potuimus expendere, quanta in illo fidei virtus et quanta in nobis esset infirmitas.


CHAPTER XIX.
“In the same monastery, the fact which I am about to narrate was said to have occurred within recent memory. A certain man had come to the same Abbot in like manner with the former, in order to obtain admission. When the first law of obedience was placed before him, and he promised an unfailing patience for the endurance of all things however extreme, it so happened that the Abbot was holding in his hand a twig of storax already withered.	XIX. In eodem autem monasterio factum id quod dicturus sum, recenti memoria ferebatur. Quidam itidem ^[196A] ad eumdem abbatem recipiendus advenerat: cum prima ei lex obedientiae poneretur, ac perpetem polliceretur ad omnia vel extrema patientiam; casu abbas storacinam virgam jampridem aridam manu gerebat:
This the Abbot fixed in the ground, and imposed this work upon the visitor, that he should continue to water the twig, until (what was against every natural result) that dry piece of wood should grow green in the sandy soil.	hanc solo figit, atque illi advenae id operis imponit, ut tamdiu virgulae aquam irriguam ministraret, donec, quod contra omnem naturam erat, lignum aridum in solo arente viresceret.
Well, the stranger, being placed under the authority of unbending law, conveyed water every day on his own shoulders--water which had to be taken from the river Nile, at almost two miles’ distance. And now, after a year had run its course, the labor of that workman had not yet ceased, but there could be no hope of the good success of his undertaking. However, the grace of obedience continued to be shown in his labor.	Subjectus advena durae legis imperio, aquam propriis humeris quotidie convehebat, quae a Nilo flumine per duo fere millia petebatur; jamque emenso anni spatio, labor non cessabat operantis, et de fructu operis spes esse non poterat: tamen obedientiae virtus in labore durabat.
The following year also mocked the vain labor of the (by this time) weakened brother. At length, as the third annual circle was gliding by, while the workman ceased not, night or day, his labor in watering, the twig began to show signs of life.	Sequens quoque annus laborem jam affecti fratris eludit. Tertio demum succedentium temporum labente ^[196B] curriculo, cum neque noctu neque interdiu aquarius ille cessaret operator, virga floruit.
I have myself seen a small tree sprung from that little rod, which, standing at the present day with green branches in the court of the monastery, as if for a witness of what has been stated, shows what a reward obedience received, and what a power faith can exert.	Ego ipse ex illa virgula arbusculam vidi, quae hodieque in atrio monasterii ramis virentibus quasi in testimonium manens, quantum obedientia meruit, et quantum fides possit, ostendit.
But the day would fail me before I could fully enumerate the many different miracles which have become known to me in connection with the virtues of the saints.	Sed me dies ante deficiet, quam diversa miracula quae mihi de virtutibus Sanctorum sunt comperta, consummem.

Chapter 13. ??? no – it’s 19, but 13 has some nice indications of what garden can be

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