Joseph asked Abba Poemen,

'How should we fast?'

Abba Poemen said,

'I suggest that everyone

should eat a little less

than he wants, every day.' 

Joseph said to him

'When you were a young man,

didn't you fast

for two days on end?' 

He said to him, 'That's right,

I used to fast three days on end,

even for a week. 

But the great hermits

have tested all these things,

and they found that it is good

to eat something every day,

but on some days a little less. 

They have shown us

that this is the King's highway,

for it is easy and light."