he Hermit, for many years, lived to the glory of God and in great
peace of mind.

II

ONE day he resolved to set forth on a visit to the Saint of the Rock,
who lived on the other side of the mountains. Travellers had brought
the Hermit report of this solitary, how he lived in great holiness and
austerity in a desert place among the hills, where snow lay all winter,
and in summer the sun beat down cruelly. The Saint, it appeared, had
vowed that he would withdraw from the world to a spot where there was
neither shade nor water, lest he should be tempted to take his ease and
think less continually upon his Maker; but wherever he went he found a
spreading tree or a gushing spring, till at last he climbed up to the
bare heights where nothing grows, and where the only water comes from
the melting of the snow in spring. Here he found a tall rock rising
from the ground, and in it he scooped a hollow with his own hands,
labouring for five years and wearing his fingers to the bone. Then he
seated himself in the hollow, which faced the west, so that in winter
he should have small warmth of the sun and in summer be consumed by it;
and there he had sat without moving for years beyond number.

The Hermit was greatly drawn by the tale of such austerities, which in
his humility he did not dream of emulating, but desired, for his soul's
good, to contemplate and praise; so one day he bound sandals to his
feet, cut an alder staff from the stream, and set out to visit the
Saint of the Rock.

It was the pleasant spring season, when seeds are shooting and the bud
is on the tree. The Hermit was troubled at the thought of leaving his
plants without water, but he could not travel in winter by reason of
the snows, and in summer he feared the garden would suffer even more
from his absence. So he set out, praying that rain might fall while he
was away, and hoping to return again in five days. The peasants
labouring in the fields left their work to ask his blessing; and they
would even have followed him in great numbers had he not told them that
he was bound on a pilgrimage to the Saint of the Rock, and that it
behoved him to go alone, as one solitary seeking another. So they
respected his wish, and he went on and entered the forest. In the
forest he walked for two days and slept for two nights. He heard the
wolves crying, and foxes rustling in the covert, and once, at twilight,
a shaggy brown man peered at him through the leaves and galloped