In the world he would
have been a great administrator. In the monastery he seemed to find
ample scope for his powers, and never varied from the character of a
man who set piety and learning above all else. Drawing nigh to Basil
he greeted him gently, and asked whether it would give him pleasure
to see the copyists at work. Basil gladly accepted this invitation,
and was conducted to a long, well-lit room, where, at great desks,
sat some five or six of the brothers, each bent over a parchment
which would some day form portion of a volume, writing with slow
care, with the zeal of devotees and with the joy of artists. Not a
whisper broke upon the silence in which the pen-strokes alone were
audible. Stepping softly, the prior led his companion from desk to
desk, drawing attention, without a word, to the nature of the book
which in each case was being copied. It surprised Basil to see that
the monks busied themselves in reproducing not only religious works
but also the writings of authors who had lived in pagan times, and
of this he spoke when the prior had led him forth again.
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