Page:The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas.djvu/35



7. And while Paul was thus speaking in the midst of the congregation in the house of Onesiphorus, a certain virgin named Thecla, the daughter of Theoclia, betrothed to a man named Thamyris, sitting at the window close by, listened day and night to the discourse of virginity and prayer, as proclaimed by Paul. And she did not look away from the window, but paid earnest heed to the faith [rejoicing exceedingly]. And when she saw many women and virgins going in beside Paul, she also had an eager desire to be deemed worthy to hear the words of Christ. For she had not yet seen Paul's figure, but heard his word only.

8. As she did not move from the window, her mother sent to Thamyris. And he came gladly, as if already receiving her in marriage. And Thamyris said to Theoclia, "Where, then, is my Thecla "? And Theoclia answered, "I have a strange story to tell thee, Thamyris. For three days and three nights Thecla does not rise from the window, neither to eat, nor to drink; but looking earnestly as if upon some pleasant sight, she is devoted to a foreigner teaching deceitful and artful discourses, that I wonder how a virgin of her great modesty exposes herself to such painful vexations.

9. "Thamyris! this man will overturn the city of the Iconians, and thy Thecla too, besides; for all the women and the young men go in beside him to be taught by him, who says one must fear only one God and live in chastity. Moreover, also, my