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Sayings of John the Dwarf

Apophthegmata

Date written: collected about 450 to 500; the place is not known. The date is the usual view of scholars; some doubt it.

John the Dwarf did not write this text. Another person wrote it about John the Dwarf, or wrote down what John the Dwarf said.

Sayings and short stories of John the Dwarf, taken from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.

Sayings · first written in Greek

John did not write this. The sayings are spoken words and stories that the unknown collectors of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers wrote down. The corpus files it under John.

Translated by E. A. Wallis Budge (1907). The Paradise or Garden of the Holy Fathers, vol. 2 (London: Chatto & Windus, 1907); sayings picked out of it Public domain. Source and rights

About this text (1 note)

John did not write this. The sayings are spoken words and stories that the unknown collectors of the Sayings of the Desert Fathers wrote down. The corpus files it under John.

How we know the date and place
Date written probable
Sayings were gathered and written in Greek in the later 5th century (W. Bousset, Apophthegmata, 1923; J.-C. Guy, Sources Chretiennes 387, 1993)
The man spoke in his own lifetime; this date is for the written collection. The English is from Budge, Paradise of the Fathers (1907), made from the 7th-century Syriac of Anan-Isho.
Place written not known
Guy (SC 387) and L. Regnault think the Greek collection was made in Palestine; no town is known

757 words. 1 section.

Sayings of John the Dwarf

§ 1

57. A certain brother came to take some baskets from John the Less, and when he had knocked at the door, the old man came out to him, and said unto him, "What seekest thou?" And the brother said unto him, "Father, I want baskets." And John the Less went in to bring them out to him, but he for- got to do so, and sat down, and went on plaiting. And the brother knocked at the door again, and when Abb& John went forth to answer him, he said unto him, "Wilt thou bring out "the baskets to me, Father?" And again John went in, and sat down, and went on plaiting, and when the brother knocked again, John went forth and said unto him, "Brother, what "seekest thou?" And he said unto John, "Baskets, Father"; and John took his hand and led him inside, saying, "If thou "wish est for baskets take them and get thee gone, for I am "not able [to bring them to you]."

132. They said concerning Abb£ John the Less that, on one occasion, he steeped the palm leaves for two baskets in water, and sewed one basket to the other without perceiving it until he came to the side of it, for his mind was led captive by the sight of God.

199. They say that Abbd John the Less, the Theban, the disciple of Abbi Ammon, ministered unto the Abb£ in his sick- ness for twelve years, and he sat by him when the old man was in a state of exhaustion, and he persevered and endured so patiently, even whilst he was performing great labours, that the old man never once said unto him, "Rest, my son; rest, my " son ! " And when the old man was about to die, and the other old men were sitting before him, Abbd Ammon took his hand, and said unto him, "Live, my son, live!" Then he committed

479. Abbd John the Less used to say, "Humility and the "fear of God are more excellent than all the [other] virtues."

495. Abba* John the Less used to say, "On one occasion " when I was going up on the Scete road with some palm leaves " I heard a camel speaking words to me, and he was about to 1 * make me angry, but I straightway left the palm leaves and fled. "

498. Abbd John the Less said unto the brethren who were with him, " Although we be little folk in the eyes of men, let " us consider how we may be held in honour before God."

70. Abb& John the Less, who was a young man, and had an elder brother, used to say, "I wanted to be without any care " whatsoever, and to be like the angels of God, who do nothing " except sing and pray to Him. " And straightway he cast from him the garments which he had on, and went forth to the wil- derness, and when he had passed one week there, he returned to his brother; now when he knocked at the door his brother did not answer it, but asked him, "Who art thou?" And John said unto him, "I am John," and his brother answered and said unto him, "John hath become an angel and is no longer " among men "; and John entreated him, saying, " I indeed am " John," but his brother left him outside in affliction, and did not open the door until the morning. And when he came to open the door he said unto John, "If thou art indeed a man, it is neces- "sary for thee to work so that thou mayest live."

118. A brother said unto AbbA Poemen, " Can a man rely "upon anyone work of spiritual excellence [for salvation]?" The old man said unto him, "John the Less said, 'I should " ' wish that a man should take to himself a little of each kind " * of spiritual excellence. ' "

469. Certain old men asked John the Less, saying, "When " thou wast in Crete with the fathers, how didst thou see them " conducing themselves?" And he said unto them, "By night "and by day they were performing with all their might the " work of God, that is to say, [they were reciting] the service, "and they prayed, and read, and were anxious with divine "solicitude, and instead of being idle they worked with their "hands."