The abbot Agathon, surrendering one
day in the city to sell objects, came
across on the road a leper who asked
him:
“Where are you going?”
The abbot Agathon told him: “To the
city to sell objects.”
The leper says: “By charity, carry me
there.” Having lifted him, the old man
carried him to the city.
The other then tells him: “Put me
down in the place where you sell your
objects.” And the abbot Agathon did.
When he had sold an object, the leper
asked him: “How much did you make?”
“So much.”
“Buy me a cake.” And the abbot did
so. When he had sold another object,
the leper asks: “And this one, how
much did you make?”
“So much.”
“Buy me such a thing.” The old man
did again buy it. When he had sold all
his objects and he wanted to leave, the
leper asked him:
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes.”
“I do pray of you, by charity, to take
me back to the place where you found
me.” The abbot Agathon took the
leper to this place and the leper said:
“Blessed are you, Agathon, by the Lord
of the sky and the earth.”
Agathon raised eyes but he didn’t see anybody
anymore, because the leper was an
angel of the Lord come to put him to the test.