Page:The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas.djvu/72



Peter said to them: "As the Lord liveth, this is good for her and for me. For on the day on which she was born to me, I saw a vision and the Lord said to me, 'Peter, this day has been born unto thee a great (p. 132) affliction, for this (i. e. daughter) will hurt many souls, if her body remains well!' I, however, thought that the vision was chaffing me.

"When the girl was ten years old, she became a stumbling-block to many. And a very rich man, Ptolemy by name, when he saw the girl bathing with her mother, sent for her to take her for his wife; but her mother consented not. He often sent for her, for he could not wait . ..

(135) Ptolemy brought the girl, and leaving her before the door of the house, went away.

"When I saw this, I and her mother went downstairs and found the girl, one side of her body from head to foot being paralyzed and dried up. We carried her away, praising the Lord that he had kept his servant from defilement and violation and . . . This is the reason why the girl thus to this day. But now you shall hear what happened to (p. 136) Ptolemy. He repented and lamented night and day over that which had happened to him; and because of the many tears which he shed, he became blind. Having decided to hang himself, behold, about the ninth hour of that day, whilst alone in his bedroom, he saw a great light, which illuminated the whole house, and he heard a voice saving unto him: (p. 137) 'Ptolemy, God has not given