Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/303

Rh these women found them again weeping and lamenting. There stood by them a mule covered with a sumptuous cloth, sesame was placed before it, and they kissed it and gave it food. And the girl said O my ladies, What is the matter with this mule? They answered weeping and said, This mule which thou seest, was our brother, born of the same mother with us. For when our father died leaving us great wealth, we who had this only brother endeavoured to secure his marriage, and arranged a wedding for him after the manner of men. But the women, being moved with envy of one another, placed a charm upon him unknown to us, and one night, a little before daylight, when the doors of our house were shut, we saw that this our brother had been changed into a mule, such as thou now seest him. But we, in sorrow, as thou seest, having no father by whom we may be comforted, have left untried no learned magician or enchanter in the world, without sending for him; but it has profited us nothing. Now whenever our hearts are oppressed with grief, we rise and go with our mother, and after we have wept at the tomb of our father, we return.

the girl had heard this, she said, Be of good cheer, and weep not: for a remedy for your