Chapter III.
Of the character of the districts which anchorites ought
to seek.
And
therefore by him who is
exercising anxious care over the purity of his inner man, those
districts should be sought, which do not by their fruitfulness and
fertility invite his mind to the trouble of cultivating them, nor drive
him forth from his fixed and immovable position in his cell, and force
him to go forth to some work in the open air, and so, his thoughts
being as it were poured forth openly, scatter to the winds all his
concentration of mind and all the keenness of his vision of his aim.
And this cannot be guarded against or seen by anyone at all however
careful and watchful, except one who continually keeps his body and
soul shut up and enclosed in walls, that, like a splendid fisherman,
looking out for food for himself by the apostolic art, he may eagerly
and without moving catch the swarms of thoughts swimming in the calm
depths of his heart, and surveying with curious eye the depths as from
a high rock, may sagaciously and cunningly decide what he ought to lure
to himself by his saving hook, and what he can neglect and reject as
bad and nasty fishes.