On Teachers and Disciples
De magistris et discipulis
The Unskilled Leader§1
1An unskilled pilot is ready for shipwreck, and an ignorant leader for the loss of disciples. An inexperienced shepherd turns away the sheep's ankles, and an ignorant leader the disciples' paths. An ignorant shepherd is not recognized in the mist among sheep, nor in a time of trials will an inexperienced teacher say anything useful.
A general of war and a doctor of passions is the skilled leader; for he will either not allow one to be wounded, or having been wounded, he will quickly heal. An inattentive disciple is a straying piece of wood and will not be straightened by continuous rebuke. A discordant brother is a lyre-string sounding out of tune and being dissolved from the common melody through fellowship. A brother eating only the honey of bees' toil and a sluggish brother diminishes the fellowship, a profitable practice. A cowardly soldier.
Greek · §1
De magistris et discipulis sub nomine Nili Ancyrani fragmenta e codd. Paris. gr. 1188 + 1066 43 Ἄτεχνος κυβερνήτης ἕτοιμος ναυαγία καὶ ἀνεπιστήμων ἡγούμενος ἀπώλεια μαθητῶν. Ἄπειρος ποιμὴν ἐξέστρεψεν ἀστραγάλους προβάτων καὶ ἡγούμενος ὁδοὺς μαθητῶν. Οὐ διαγνώσεται ἐν ὁμίχλῃ ἀνὰ μέσον προβάτων ἀνεπιστήμων ποιμὴν οὐδ' ἐν καιρῷ πειρασμῶν ἐρεῖ τι συμφέρον διδάσκαλος ἄπειρος. Στρατηγὸς πολέμου καὶ παθῶν ἰατρός ἐστιν ἐπιστήμων ἡγούμενος· ἢ γὰρ τρωθῆναι οὐκ ἐάσει ἢ τρωθέντα ταχέως ἰάσεται. Ἀνήκοος μαθητὴς διεστραμμένον ξύλον καὶ οὐ μὴ ὀρθωθῇ ἐλεγχόμενος συνεχῶς. Ἀσύμφωνος ἀδελφὸς ἀπηχούσης λύρας νευρὰ καὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ λυομένη τοῦ κοινοῦ μέλους. Κηφὴν ἐσθίει μελισσῶν πόνους καὶ ῥᾴθυμος ἀδελφὸς ἐλαττοῖ συνοδίας ἐνάρετον πρᾶξιν. ∆ειλὸς στρατιώτης
The Spiritual Armament§2
2He loosens the hands of warriors, and a negligent monk destroys the zeal of brothers. A swarm of bees produces wax, and a community of brothers produces the kingdom of heaven. A trumpet awakens the zeal of warriors, and the diligence of disciples is the teaching of practical virtue.
Arm, O leader, your brothers with the words of rings, and protect them with promises of coming good things; surround them with the shield of faith through contests, and hem them in with the hope that is toward God. Move the feet in evangelical lessons and vivify the loins with words of temperance; give a sword into the hand against the passions, a sharper spirit, and set in opposition a phalanx of passions with pleasure. Exercise the soldiers in thoughts, who have experience in the battle; and show them to be fearsome.
Greek · §2
ἐκλύει πολεμιστῶν χεῖρας καὶ ἀμελὴς μοναχὸς χαυνοῖ προθυμίαν ἀδελφῶν. Σμῆνος μελισσῶν ἐργάζεται κηρίον καὶ σύστημα ἀδελφῶν βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν. Σάλπιγξ διεγείρει προθυμίαν πολεμιστῶν καὶ μαθητῶν σπουδὴν διδασκαλία πρακτικῆς ἀρετῆς. Ὅπλισον †δακτύλων λόγοις, ἡγούμενε, σοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ θωράκισον ἐπαγγελίαις τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν· φράξον θυρεῷ πίστεως ἄθλοις καὶ περικνήμισον ἐλπίδι τῇ εἰς τὸν θεόν· †κήνησον τοὺς πόδας ἐν εὐαγγελικοῖς μαθήμασι καὶ ζῶσον τὴν ὀσφὺν σωφροσύνης λόγοις· δὸς μάχαιραν εἰς τὴν χεῖρα κατὰ τῶν παθῶν ὀξύτατον θυμὸν καὶ ἀντίταξον φάλαγγα παθῶν ἡδονῇ. Γύμνασον ἐν λογισμοῖς τοὺς ὁπλίτας, οἳ ἐμπείρως ἔχουσι πρὸς τὴν μάχην· καὶ δεῖξον φοβερὸν
The Teacher as Physician§3
3The lesser punishment by the threat of eternal punishment. The victor is proclaimed with bright praises, for I know that even praise makes men more diligent; and the one influenced, treat him sympathetically, for the prudent man does not fall into a lesser threat by forgiveness. Let the teacher not be moved in mind against a disciple having sinned, for one does not call himself holy before the treatment of another; but rather, without malice, correct toward the good; for indeed a physician treats the passion, but does not feel indignation toward one who has become ill through carelessness. A physician, while cutting, does this without anger; and a teacher, while reproving, let him not mix his mind with the reproof. He who is fleeing to the land of Egypt guides him through the desert by a way; for I know that the...
Greek · §3
τὴν ἧτταν τῇ ἀπειλῇ τῆς αἰωνίου κολάσεως. Τὸν νικητὴν ἀνακήρυττε λαμπροῖς ἐπαίνοις, οἶδε γὰρ καὶ ἡ εὐφημία σπουδαιοτέρους ποιεῖν· καὶ τὸν ἐπηρεασθέντα θεράπευσον συμπαθῶς, οὐχ ἧττον γὰρ ἀπειλῆς ἐντρέπει συγγνώμη τὸν συνετόν. Μὴ κινήσῃ θυμῷ ἐφ' ἁμαρτήσαντι μαθητῇ, οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον ἑαυτὸν τιτρώσκειν πρὸ τῆς θεραπείας ἑτέρου· ἀλλὰ ἀνεξικάκως διόρθωσαι πρὸς τὸ ἀγαθόν· καὶ γὰρ ἰατρὸς θεραπεύει μὲν τὸ πάθος, οὐκ ἀγανακτεῖ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀκουσίως νοσήσαντα. Τέμνων ἰατρός, χωρὶς ὀργῆς τοῦτο ποιεῖ· καὶ ἐλέγχων διδάσκαλος μὴ μιγνύτω τῷ ἐλέγχῳ θυμόν. Τοὺς γῆν Αἴγυπτον φεύγοντας δι' ἐρήμου ὁδηγεῖ ὁδόν· οἶδε γὰρ ἡ
The Path to Virtue§4
4It is a small thing to train toward self-control and toward those beginning in virtue. Pitch a tent for Aileim, and the gates themselves are interpreted, carrying a sign for the entrance into virtue, and show the seventy phoenixes. Pitch a tent according to the twelve springs—for the phoenixes must also shout your victory, and the waters providing a flame that comforts the passions richly—until all the foreign nations, quenching everything, reach the land of promise (Hebrews 11:10), in which they will live the blessed life of apatheia, receiving as a reward for their labors the true joy.
Greek · §4
σπάνις παιδαγωγεῖν πρὸς ἐγκράτειαν καὶ ἀρχομένους τῆς ἀρετῆς. Προσσκήνωσον τῇ Αἰλείμ πυλῶνες δὲ αὐτοὶ ἑρμηνεύονται, τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν εἰσόδου φερούσης σύμβολον καὶ δεῖξον τοὺς ἑβδομήκοντα φοίνικας. Σκήνωσον δὲ κατὰ τὰς δώδεκα πήγας–δεῖ γὰρ καὶ τὰ τῆς νίκης σε ὑποφωνεῖν φοίνικες σύμβολον καὶ τὴν τῶν παθῶν παραμυθεῖσθαι φλόγα παρέχοντα νάματα δαψιλῶς– ἕως ἂν πάντα καθελόντες τὰ ἀλλότρια ἔθνη φθάσωσιν εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἐν ᾗ τὸν μακάριον τῆς ἀπαθείας βιώσονται βίον μισθὸν τῶν πόνων τὴν ἀληθινὴν κομιζόμενοι εὐφροσύνην. 1