Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/304

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APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.

trouble is at hand; yea, it is with you and within your house: for I also was a leper, but when I saw that woman and with her this little child whose name is Jesus, I poured upon my body the water with which my mother had washed him, and I was healed. Now I know that he can heal your affliction also. But arise, go to my lady Mary, and when she is brought into your house reveal your secret to her, suppliantly entreating her to have pity on you. And when the women heard what the girl said, they went in haste to my lady Mary, and brought her to them, and sat down before her weeping and saying, O our lady, lady Mary, have pity on thy servants, for there is no one older than ourselves, or head of the family surviving, nor is there father or brother to take care of us: but this mule which thou seest was our brother, whom the women by a charm have made what thou seest. We pray thee, therefore, have pity on us. Then lamenting their lot, lady Mary lifted up the Lord Jesus and put him on the back of the mule, and herself wept along with the women; and to Jesus Christ she said, Alas, my son, heal this mule by thy great power, and make him a man endued with reason as he was formerly. When these words proceeded from the mouth of my lady, lady Mary, the mule changed its form, and became a man, a young man, who was whole without any blemish. Then he and his mother and sisters adored