him were indignant, Antony said, "Be not hard upon the youth, for it
is not he, but the daemon in him; and because he has been rebuked,
and commanded to go forth into dry places, he has become furious,
and done this. Glorify, therefore, the Lord for his having thus
rushed upon me, as a sign to you that the daemon is going out." And
as Antony said this, the youth suddenly became sound, and,
recovering his reason, knew where he was, and embraced the old man,
giving thanks to God. And most of the monks agree unanimously that
many like things were done by him: yet are they not so wonderful as
what follows. For once, when he was going to eat, and rose up to
pray about the ninth hour, he felt himself rapt in spirit; and
(wonderful to relate) as he stood he saw himself as it were taken
out of himself, and led into the air by some persons; and then
others, bitter and terrible, standing in the air, and trying to
prevent his passing upwards. And when those who led him fought
against them, they demanded whether he was not accountable to them.
And when they began to take account of his deeds from his birth, his
guides stopped them, saying, "What happened from his birth upwards,
the Lord hath wiped out: but of what has happened since he became a
monk, and made a promise to God, of that you may demand an account."
Then, when they brought accusations against him, and could not prove
them, the road was opened freely to him. And straightway he saw
himself as if coming back and standing before himself, and was
Antony once more. Then, forgetting that he had not eaten, he
remained the rest of the day and all night groaning and praying, for
he wondered when he saw against how many enemies we must wrestle,
and through how many labours a man must traverse the air; and he
remembered that it is this which the Apostle means with regard to
the Prince of the power of the air; for it is in the air that the
enemy has his power, fighting against those who pass through it, and