Writings of Porphyry Ivanov. Parables.
About the Fast.
It was in a monastery. In a period of fasting, a monk strongly wanted to eat up an egg. He languished for a long while, then managed somehow to procure an egg and began to roast it on the candle.
At that time the Father superior enters the cell. He has seen all this and says, “What art thou doing?” The monk falls to his knees and says, “Oh, Father superior, the unclean one has beguiled me! I am not to blame for this.” And at that moment the unclean one emerges from under the table and says, “Believe me, I’ve seen everything in the world, but had never seen how eggs are roasted on the candle.”