Page:History of the Franks.djvu/181

 THE SIXTH BOOK 149 The deacon made no delay but went swiftly to his lodging and found the infirm person full of fever, and he indicated by signs that there was a humming in his ears. The deacon seized him and led him to the saint of God. The holy man took hold of his hair and drew his head into the window, and taking oil that had been blessed, he took hold of his tongue with his left hand and poured the oil in his mouth and on the top of his head, saying : "In the name of my lord Jesus Christ let your ears be opened and let that power which once drove a wicked demon from a deaf and dumb man open your Hps." Having said this, he asked him his name, and he answered in a clear voice: "I am called so-and-so." When the deacon saw this he said: "I give thee endless thanks, Jesus Christ, who deignest to work such miracles by thy servant. I was seeking Peter, I was seeking Paul and Laurence and the others who made Rome glorious with their blood ; here I have found them all, I have discovered every one." As he was saying this with loud weeping and great admiration the man of God, wholly intent on avoiding vanity, said: ''Be silent, beloved brother, it is not I who do this, but he who created the universe out of noth- ing, who took on man for our sake, and gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb ; who bestowed on lepers the skin they had before, on the dead life, and on all the infirm abundant healing." Then the deacon said farewell and departed rejoicing with his comrades. When they had gone a certain Dominic — this was the man's name — who had been blind from birth, came to prove his miraculous power, and when he had dwelt in the monastery two or three months praying and fasting, at length the man of God called him to him and said: ''Do you wish to recover your sight?" And he replied: "I wish to know a thing unknown. For I do not know what the light is. Only one thing I know, that it is praised by men. But I have not de- served to see from the beginning of my life until now." Then he made the holy cross over his eyes with oil that had been blessed and said: "In the name of Jesus Christ our redeemer let your eyes be opened." And at once his eyes were opened and he wondered and contemplated the great works of God which he saw in this world. Then a certain woman who, as she herself asserted, had three demons, was brought to him. And he blessed