“A physician, my lord the king,” said the attendant, “who would try to cure your disease.”
“What, another victim?” rejoined the royal leper; “does he know the alternative?”
“My lord,” said Jonathan, “I am aware of the terms, and accept them freely; by God’s help I will cure my lord, or perish in the attempt. I pray my lord the king to eat of this fruit.”
“What, this withered, rotten apple?” exclaimed the king.
“Even this, my lord.”
The king took the fruit of the second tree, and ate it as Jonathan advised. In a moment his leprosy began to disappear, and the pimples to sink and become hardly visible.
“Thou art, indeed, a physician,” exclaimed the king; “the promised reward is thine.”
“Stay, my lord,” said Jonathan, “we must restore the flesh to its original state.”
With these words, he touched every mark on the king’s body with the water of the second river, and the flesh returned fair and white as before the leprosy.
“Blessed physician, thy reward is doubled; stay, I pray thee, in our country.”