Paul the Simple was a contemporary of St. Anthony

Anthony the Great

Anthony the Great or Antony the Great , , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was a Christian saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers...

 and a younger contemporary of St. Paul of Egypt

Paul of Thebes

Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Saint Paul the First Hermit or St Paul the Anchorite is regarded as the first Christian hermit...

, the First Hermit. The account of his life is found in Palladius of Helenopolis De Vitis Patrum 8,28 and Tyrannius Rufinus

Tyrannius Rufinus

Tyrannius Rufinus or Rufinus of Aquileia was a monk, historian, and theologian. He is most known as a translator of Greek patristic material into Latin—especially the work of Origen.-Life:...

 Historia Eremitica 31.

Originally a farmer, upon discovering that his wife was an adulteress, Paul left her to become a hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

. He asked to study the monastic life with St. Anthony, but the latter was reluctant to accept him as Paul was 60 years old. Paul refused to leave, fasting outside St. Anthony’s door night and day until the fourth night. Fearing that Paul would die of thirst and hunger, Anthony took him in.

That night at dinner, when Anthony took a crust of bread and gave three to Paul. When each had eaten one crust, Anthony told Paul to eat another. "If you have another one, I will," said Paul, "but not if you won't." "I've had quite sufficient for one who is a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

," said Anthony. Paul replied, "Then one is enough for me, for I want to be a monk."

Later, the account describes a miracle

Miracle

A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...

 performed by Paul—a victim of demonic possession

Demonic possession

Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...

 came to the cell on St. Anthony, but he directed the boy to Paul who, with a prayer to Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

, cast out the creature into the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

.