Letter 3: Evagrius asks where the monk is staying and urges him not to marvel at hardship.

You wrote to us about things no one expected to receive or know by letter, but you did not tell us the very things we wanted to learn: who received you, whether he is blessed, where you are living, and with whom you have been staying. I very much wanted to know these things. If nothing is turning out as you wished, do not be surprised. Remember the one who had nowhere to lay his head. If they do not receive him who is the head of all things, how much less will they receive a human being who stands only in the outward form of humanity? You know this too: the earth does not rise up against foxes when they want to make holes in it, but when people try to dig wells in it, it often caves in, falls on them, and chokes them. We glorify the Lord because you remember us in love and show everyone the sincerity of your affection.

Greek retroversion from Syriac transmission (Frankenberg 1912, TAN/TEI CC BY 4.0): οτι λαβειν η γνωναι τις ουχ ηλπισε δια γραμματων επεστειλας ημιν α δε μαθειν επεθυμησαμεν ουχ εγνωρισας, τις σε εδεξατο και ει ευλογητος εστι και οπου κατοικεις (καθιζεις) και μετα τινων ησθα· ταυτα γαρ πανυ εβουλομην μαθειν. ει δε μηδεν κατα το θελημα σου σοι επιτυγχανει μη θαυμαζε, μνημονευε ωι ουχ ην που την κεφαλην κλινει· ει γαρ τον κεφαλην του παντος οντα ου δεχονται ποσωι μαλλον τον ανθρωπον τον ως εστιν εν σχηματι εστωτα. γιγνωσκεις δε και συ οτι η γη αλωπεξιν ουκ επανισταται ζητουσι ποιεισθαι αυτοις εν αυτηι φωλεους, επι δε τους φρεατα εν αυτηι σκαψαι αυτοις επιχειρουντας ποσακις κλινομενη πιπτει και αυτους πνιγει. ημεις δε δοξαζομεν τον κυριον οτι δ’ αγαπης ημων μνημονευεις τε και παντι την της αγαπης σου ειλικρινειαν αποδεικνυς Syriac transmission available in the linked TAN/TEI source. The complete corpus is Syriac-transmitted; Greek survives only fragmentarily, so this display text is a retroversion witness.