CHAPTER XCIX.
The Saint Prophesieth of the Obstinate Fergus and of his Children.
And the saint came unto Assul, which was within the territories of Midia, where it seemed good to him in a fitting place to build a church. But a certain wicked man, named Fergus, who therein dwelled, was to him an especial hindrance, that he might not accomplish his purpose. Then the saint, willing to express the hard-heartedness of this man rather by signs than by words, with the staff of Jesus made the sign of the cross on a stone there placed, and immediately the surface of the stone appeared divided into four parts, and showed the form of the cross thereon portrayed. Yet did this man, stiff-necked, and of heart more hard than stone, refuse to be melted unto penitence; but his wife, who was then in travail, entreated pardon of the saint, and fell at his feet. And the saint, beholding him thus hardened in perverseness, spake unto him with prophetic voice: "Even thus, had it so willed, could the power of God have dissolved thee at the word of my mouth. But since thou canst not, nay, wilt not, believe, though the long-suffering of God hath led thee unto repentance, shalt thou, according to thine impenitent heart and the hardness of thine obstinacy, treasure up stores of wrath which right soon shall come upon thee. Quickly shall God consume thee from the face of the earth, nor shall any of thy seed reign ever in this land, nor in any other land shall they prosper, save only the infant alone which thy wife now beareth in her womb, for on him shall my blessing come." And all these things which were prophesied of the lips of the saint unto the father and unto the offspring did happen.
CHAPTER C.
The Malediction of the Saint is laid upon the Stones of Usniach.
And with the like intention of building a church, this servant of Christ turned unto a certain very renowned place named Usneach. But two brothers, by name Fiechus and Enda, ruled in those parts; and unto them and unto their offspring the saint prophesied, if they would so permit him, many blessings in this world and in the next; yet not only turned they their ears from his entreaty and from his preaching, but violently expelled him from the place. Then the saint, more grievously taking the hindrance of his purpose than his own expulsion, began to cast on them and on their seed the dart of his malediction. And Secundinus, his disciple, caught the word of his lip, and, ere he could finish, entreated and said unto him: "I beseech thee, my father, that thy malediction be not poured forth on these men, but on the stones of this place!" And the saint was patient, and he was silent, and he assented. Wonderful was the event! From that day forth are these stones found useful unto no building; but if should any one thereunto dispose them, suddenly would the whole work fall down and tumble into pieces. And they admit not the heat of any fire, nor, when plunged into water, do they hiss like other stones; whence it hath become a proverb in that country, when at any time a stone falleth from a building, that it is one of the stones of Usneach. But Enda repented of the injury which he had offered unto the saint, and cast himself at his feet, and besought his pardon, and obtained and deserved it. And he had nine sons, the youngest of whom, named Cormacus, he offered unto Saint Patrick, to be subject to the divine command, together with the ninth part of all his land; and another brother of his, named Leogerus, was converted unto the faith, and gave unto the saint, with his nephew, fifteen villages. And Saint Patrick baptized the boy, and educated and instructed him; and the boy increased in years, in wisdom, and in holiness, and at length, being renowned in virtue and in miracles, rested he in the Lord.