One day, several brothers left the monastery to visit the hermits who lived in the desert. They found one who received them with joy and who, seeing their fatigue, invited them to eat before the usual time and gave them any food. But at night, when they should sleep, the hermit heard cenobites say them: "These hermits eat more than we monks. "
Now, at dawn, they went to see another hermit, and when taking leave, their host said, "Make him my regards and this message: do not water the vegetables. "Arriving at their destination, they told it message. And the second hermit understood what he meant. He asked visitors to sit, made them weave baskets, and, settling among them, worked himself without interruption. And in the evening when it was time to light the lamp, he added some additional psalms to those he usually recited, then he said, "We do not eat every day in the desert, but since you are here, it should be a little dinner for a change. "He gave them bread and salt, adding:" This is a special treat, in your honor. "And making a sauce with vinegar, oil and salt, he distributed them. After the meal, they resumed reciting psalms and prayers almost until dawn; the hermit said, "Come, we will not complete our usual prayers, because your journey has tired you. Relax a little. "
From the first hour of the day, they all expressed the desire to leave the hermit, but he refused to let them go, saying, "Stay with me a little. I can not let you go so fast; charity requires that I keep you two or three days. "
But the monks, hearing these words, waited until night and fled under cover of darkness.
http://messe.forumactif.org/t417-apophtegmes-des-peres-du-desert