CHAPTER X.
Of the Water turned into Honey, and of his Nurse restored to Health.
The nurse of Saint Patrick, being oppressed with illness, longed much for honey, by the taste whereof she trusted that her health might be restored. It was sought by all who stood round her, but obtained not; and when she was told thereof, she longed so much the more earnestly for that which she could not have, and complained that she was remembered and assisted of none. But her young charge, the illustrious boy Patrick, was grieved for her, and, putting his trust in the Lord, he commanded that a vessel might be filled with fresh water from the fountain, and brought unto him; and he bended his knees in prayer, and, rising, blessed it with the sign of the cross, and gave it to the woman desiring honey. And immediately the water was changed into the best honey; and the woman tasted, and her soul was satisfied, and she was relieved from her infirmity. Thus did Patrick change water into honey in the name of Him who, at Cana in Galilee, changed water into wine.
CHAPTER XI.
How the Fort was Cleansed.
On a certain promontory overhanging the aforementioned town of Empthor was erected a fort, the ruins of whose walls may yet be traced. And the governor thereof had reduced the nurse of Saint Patrick under the yoke of slavery, and compelled her to be a servant unto him. And among other servile works enjoined to her, he had commanded her to clean with shovels all the offices within the fort, and to carry forth the soil from the stables. But the woman, having an ingenuous mind, and understanding that all power was from God, and that all things were ordained of God, made of her necessity a virtue, and patiently bore the servitude imposed on her. Then the boy Patrick, compassionating his nurse's affliction, besought the Lord that he would vouchsafe to set her free from the labor of this servile work; and behold, as he prayed, all the dwelling-places therein were cleansed without an human hand, and neither within nor without could any remains of the soil be found. And the governor and all who saw or heard this miracle marvelled; and the nurse was released from slavery through the merits of her foster-child. Nor is this miracle beheld only at stated seasons, or once in every year; for even to this day does it appear to be continued. And the dwellers and the neighbors bear witness that if within the precincts of the fort as many cattle as the place could hold were gathered to abide there together, not even the least portion of soil could therein be found. And the place, being in the Valley of Clud, is called in the language of that people Dunbreatan—that is, the Mountain of the Britons; and the miracle cannot be unknown to those who desire to be informed thereof, inasmuch as so often it is published abroad by all the dwellers in that country.