for him, and he will ask thee, saying, ‘Did this murder take place in thy presence?’ And if thou dost not wish to tell a I lie thou wilt deliver up to death the other man, whom it would be right for thee to let go free, so that he might be reserved for the judgement hall of God, Who knoweth all things.”
392. A certain brother was travelling on a road, and his aged mother was with him, and they came to a river which the old woman was not able to cross; and her son took his shoulder cloth and wound it round his hands so that they might not touch his mother’s body, and in this manner he carried her across the river. Then his mother said unto him, “My son, why didst thou first wrap round thy hands with the cloth, and then take me across?” and he said, “The body of a woman is fire, and through thy body there would have come to me the memory of [the body of] another woman, and it was for this reason that I acted as I did.”
Chapter IX: Of Love, And Charity, And Of The Welcoming Of Strangers
393. A CERTAIN old man used to dwell with a brother in a cell in a friendly manner, and he was a man of compassionate disposition; now a famine broke out, and the people began to be hungry, and they came to him that they might receive charity, and he gave bread unto them all. And when the brother saw that he was giving away large quantities of bread, he said unto the old man, “Give me my portion of the bread”; and the old man said unto him, Take [it],” and he divided [what there was] and gave him [his share], and the brother took it from him for himself. And the old man was compassionate, and gave away bread from his portion, and many folk heard [that he was doing this] and came unto him, and when God saw the generosity of the old man He blessed his bread; but the brother took all his portion and ate it up, and when he saw that his bread was finished, and that the portion of the old man was still lasting, he made entreaty unto him, saying, “My portion hath come to an end, and this [bread of thine is all] that I have; receive me as a partner [therein].” And the old man said unto him, “Good,” and he associated him with himself again. And when there was abundance [again], the people came to take [bread] from him, and he gave it unto them again. Now it came to pass that they lacked bread, and the brother went and found that bread was wanting, and a poor man came for some, and the old man said unto the brother, “Go in and give him some,” and the brother said, “There is none”; for he was filled with bread. The old man said, “Go in and search [for some],” and
