39. And the babe was also beautiful to look upon. And the bosom of the mother yearned over her child, and she called her by her father's name, even by the name of the captain of fifty.
40. And she kissed her child, and wept over it day and night; but the frame and substance of her body were wasted away with perpetual grief, and I saw that the child would die.
41. And, when I saw the countenance that was once beautiful as the morning bathed in tears, as her babe lay at a breast in which there was no nourishment, I was exceedingly sorry even unto death.
42. And lo, I took the child and nourished it; yea I fed it with bread and with wine, with butter also, and with honey and milk from the beasts of the field; and the child was restored.
43. But the mother decayed like a flower that is cut down; for the winds of grief had passed over her, and her spirit was consumed. The summer came, and all the herbs of the field were renewed, but the fairest flower of the land was bending down to meet the clay.
CHAPTER IV.
1. And it came also to pass that as soon as I found myself in a land of safety, I wrote many letters to Galli the scribe; for I said, Peradventure he may escape out of their hands.
2. I wrote also to the chief of our order, giving account of the whole matter, and attesting the innocence of Galli the scribe.
3. But no answer came to me, therefore was I sore distressed; for I said, If the mother and babe both perish, what shall become of me?