Ælfric

“ Then said he, ' I am called Smaragdus.' The abbot said to him: ' thou art young; thou canst not dwell alone, but thou needest to have one who can teach thee monastic life and the holy rule.' Then quoth he, ' I will do, my father, according to thy words.' Then he drew forth the fifty mancuses, and gave them to the abbot, and said, ' Take, father, this money on account, and if I continue here the remainder shall come here.' Then the abbot called a brother to him who was named Agapitus, a man of holy life and honourable in manners ”

“ Now pray I thee, for the sake of the reward of thy soul, that thou instruct me in those things which pertain to God.' Then said the brother, ' the Lord said in His gospel, " Whosoever will not forsake father and mother and all his kindred, and moreover his own soul, he cannot be My disciple." ”

“ Then Smaragdus fulfilled, in that unknown state, eight and thirty years, and fell into a sickness, and therein likewise died. Then came Paphnutius again to the minster, and after speech with the abbot and the brothers, he prayed that he might go to Smaragdus; then the abbot bade them conduct him thither. So Paphnutius sat beside him being thus sick; and, weeping, said to him: ' Woe is me! where are now thy promises which thou didst promise me, that I might yet see my daughter? Lo now! we had some comfort by thy means, and thou wilt leave us! Woe is me! who shall now comfort my old age ”

“ Then he sent a brother to Paphnutius, and invited him to the solemnity. When the monk came to his hall, he did not find him at home; but when Euphrosyne knew the monk was there, she called him to her and said; ' tell me, brother, for true charity, how many are there of you in the minster? ' Then said he; 'three hundred monks and two and fifty.' Then again she asked and said,' If any one desire to turn in thither, will your abbot receive him?' ' Yea,' quoth he, ' but with all (joy will he receive him) , the rather for the Lord's voice who thus said ”

“ So Agapitus fulfilled that which his abbot commanded him, and brought Smaragdus into the deserted cell, where he occupied himself in fastings and vigils day and night, serving God in purity of heart; so that his master greatly wondered thereat, and related to his brethren his way of life. But Paphnutius her father, when he came home, went very quickly into the bower wherein his daughter was wont to be; and when that he found her not there he became very uneasy, and began to question of all, both slaves and free-men, (what) had been done with his daughter Euphrosyne? ”

“ Sayest thou that the Lord's hand is weak, or that anything is hard for Him 1 Put an end to thy affliction, and remember how God revealed to Jacob the patriarch his son Joseph, whom he likewise bewept as if he were dead. ”

“ Then Euphrosyne thought thus, saying; ' if I go now to a women's convent, then my father will seek me there, and will find me there; and then he will take me thence by force for my bridegroom's sake; but I will go to a man's minster where no man will suspect me.' Then she put off her womanly garb from her, and clothed herself with a man's; and in the eventide departed from her ha^ll, and took, with her fifty mancuses, and that night she hid herself in a secret place. ”

“ Then began she to speak to him of the heavenly kingdom's blessedness, and how the entrance to it is to be won by almsdeeds and other unnumbered good works; and. that a man should not love father and mother and other worldly things before God ”