t soon those
misguided men might violently destroy the chapel that had been built on
the shore of their island.

The holy man resolved forthwith to visit his faithless children, so that
he might lead them back to the faith and prevent them from yielding to
such sacrilege. As he went down to the bay where his stone trough was
moored, he turned his eyes to the sheds, then filled with the noise of
saws and of hammers, which, thirty years before, he had erected on the
fringe of that bay for the purpose of building ships.

At that moment, the Devil, who never tires, went out from the sheds and,
under the appearance of a monk called Samsok, he approached the holy man
and tempted him thus:

"Father, the inhabitants of the island of Hoedic commit sins
unceasingly. Every moment that passes removes them farther from God.
They are soon going to use violence towards the chapel that you have
raised with your own venerable hands on the shore of their island. Time
is pressing. Do you not think that your stone trough would carry you
more quickly towards them if it were rigged like a boat and furnished
with a rudder, a mast, and a sail, for then you would be driven by the
wind? Your arms are still strong and able to steer a small craft.
It would be a good thing, too, to put a sharp stem in front of your
apostolic trough. You are much too clear-sighted not to have thought of
it already."

"Truly time is pressing," answered the holy man. "But to do as you say,
Samson, my son, would it not be to make myself like those men of little
faith who do not trust the Lord? Would it not be to despise the gifts of
Him who has sent me this stone vessel without rigging or sail?"

This question, the Devil, who is a great theologian, answered by
another.

"Father, is it praiseworthy to wait, with our arms folded, until help
comes from on high, and to ask everything from Him who can do all
things, instead of acting by human prudence and helping ourselves?

"It certainly is not," answered the holy Mael, "and to neglect to act by
human prudence is tempting God."

"Well," urged the Devil, "is it not prudence in this case to rig the
vessel?"

"It would be prudence if we could not attain our end in any other way."

"Is your vessel then so very speedy?"

"It is as speedy as God pleases."

"What do you know about it? It goes like Abbot Budoc's mule. It is a
regular old tub. Are you forbidden to make it speedier?"

"My son, clearness adorns your