Then said the Saviour to him, ' Foxes have holes,
and birds have nests, and I have no dwelling,
where I may recline my head.'
Christ looked into his heart, and saw his craftiness, io
because he sought not the Saviour with sincerity,
but foxlike wiles were dwelling in him,
and haughtiness, like unto soaring birds;
for such a man might not journey with Christ.
Christ again after that said to another,
'Follow me in my way;' and he, affrighted, answered,
'Let me first, Lord, go quickly,
and bury my father.' Then said Christ again to that man,
'Suffer that the dead bury their dead,
but go thou thyself indeed, and preach God's kingdom/
Those are verily dead who serve not their Creator,
and who keep not God's commandments devoutly;
these may bury such-like others,
and yield to sins by means of flatteries.
Then again a third man said thus to Christ;
'I will follow Thee, master, but let me first go
and tell my family how I have purposed (to do).'
Him the Saviour answered thus, ' If the husbandman look
oftentimes backward, he will be no fitting tiller;'
that is in this sense ; as the husbandman marreth his furrow
if he looketh too long backward,
so likewise he who desireth to turn to God,
and inclineth again to worldly things, will not be acceptable to God.
Manifold were the Saviour's miracles,
and His holy doctrines, as we learn in books,
and all his followers forsook all things,
