A story of the abbot Nisteros, how he escaped the temptation of vainglory.
The abbot Nisteros the elder was one day walking in the desert with one of his disciples. Seeing a serpent in their path, they both turned and fled from it. Then the disciple said, "My father, were you afraid?" The old man answered him, "I was not afraid, my son, but it was better for me that I should flee before the serpent. If I had not at once fled from it, I should afterwards have had to flee before the spirit of vainglory."
Reference: http://www.archive.org/details/wisdomofdesert00birmrich
