. . . <The Gathering of Wood>[163]
. . . that, just as the porters furnish the grain and malt on their
own from the tithes which are given them, so also identically
the firewood should be turned over in the amount which they,
in consultation with the other ministers, consider necessary for
their task of preparing both. Hence it is necessary that every
load of wood which our whole community delivers to the
monastery for the yearly needs be tithed as with all else, and
then placed in a separate location, yet within the compound.
And this arrangement is necessary to prevent the porters from
touching the specified allotment when they begin to run short on
wood for other uses—wood which they have to furnish from
their own resources—and thus be shorted on both counts, just
as we have seen happen this year. And therefore the wood which
might have been needful for the comfort of the guests, or for
any other needs at the gate in the course of the whole year,
should be delivered during the summer outside the gate of the
monastery and then stored in places suitable for use in such a
way that there may always be enough in every hospice for those
who properly should receive it, while it is kept safe from every
type of chicanery. For these reasons we have said that,
notwithstanding the great need for it, that wood is to be stacked
by itself around the monastery, lest we might seem to have
opened the door for its being dissipated, even though for
necessary uses, and consequently being in short supply. Now
that we have in this manner dealt with the provision of wood,
we should move on to other topics.
