A Fool and Heretic

Once a provincial judge heard of Moses and went to Scetis to see him. They told Moses that he was on his way, and he got up and fled towards a marsh. The judge and his entourage met him, and asked him, "Tell me, old man, where is the cell of Moses?"

"What do you want to see him for?" Moses asked. "He is a fool and a heretic."

The judge came to the church and said to the clergy, "I have heard about Moses and I came to see him. But I met an old man on the way to Egypt, and I asked him where the cell of Moses was and he said, 'Why are you looking for him? He is a fool and a heretic.'"

The clergy were distressed and said, "What sort of person was your old man who told you this about the holy man?"

They said, "He was an old man, tall and black, wearing the oldest possible clothes."

The clergy said, "That was Moses. He said that about himself because he didn't want you to see him."

The judge went away very impressed.