the sign of the cross, and pronounced the
name of Jesus; he immediately saw a bat fly out of one of the monster's
ears, and Paphnutius knew that he had driven out the evil spirits which
had been for centuries in the figure. His zeal increased, and picking up
a large stone, he threw it in the idol's face. Then the mysterious face
of the sphinx expressed such profound sadness that Paphnutius was moved.
In fact, the expression of superhuman grief on the stone visage would
have touched even the most unfeeling man. Therefore Paphnutius said to
the sphinx--

"O monster, be like the satyrs and centaurs our father Anthony saw in
the desert, and confess the divinity of Jesus Christ, and I will bless
thee in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

When he had spoken a rosy light gleamed in the eyes of the sphinx; the
heavy eyelids of the monster quivered and the granite lips painfully
murmured, as though in echo to the man's voice, the holy name of Jesus
Christ; therefore Paphnutius stretched out his right hand, and blessed
the sphinx of Silsile.

That being done, he resumed his journey, and the valley having grown
wider, he saw the ruins of an immense city. The temples, which still
remained standing, were supported by idols which served as columns,
and--by the permission of God--these figures with women's heads and
cow's horns, threw on Paphnutius a long look which made him turn pale.
He walked thus seventeen days, his only food a few raw herbs, and
he slept at night in some ruined palace, amongst the wild cats and
Pharaoh's rats, with which mingled sometimes, women whose bodies ended
in a scaly tail. But Paphnutius knew that these women came from hell,
and he drove them away by making the sign of the cross.

On the eighteenth day, he found, far from any village, a wretched hut
made of palm leaves, and half buried under the sand which had been
driven by the desert wind. He approached it, hoping that the hut was
inhabited by some pious anchorite. He saw inside the hovel--for there
was no door--a pitcher, a bunch of onions, and a bed of dried leaves.

"This must be the habitation of a hermit," he said to himself. "Hermits
are generally to be found near their hut, and I shall not fail to meet
this one. I will give him the kiss of peace, even as the holy Anthony
did when he came to the hermit Paul, and kissed him three times. We will
discourse of things eternal, and perhaps our Lord will send us, by one
of His ra