The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 27 -
The life history of the two girls.
Here Schabbi turned to Me and asked, if he may do this.
2
Said I: "Oh, just carry on; nobody has ever sinned before Me by performing a good deed! Go, and let the two get dressed!"
3
And Schabbi went, and within a few moments he returned with two sparkling white coloured shirts of the finest silk and with two sky-blue dresses of the finest cashmere, as well as two pairs of the most expensive festival sandals with long, silk lined ribbons; the two newly awakened were also given two diadem-like combs and golden forehead braces, decorated with precious stones. However, they refused to accept the jewellery which they regarded as too valuable.
4
But I Said: "If I want it, just take what has been given to you; because it is fitting for brides to be adorned!"
5
After that the two also accepted the jewellery; and after being dressed and adorned and standing there as two daughters of a king, they showed a great and thankful joy.
6
But while standing in front of us in radiating beauty, Zinka said: "No, no, this is again a miracle! When I looked at them when dead they looked like two women in their forties and their shrunk shapes did not show any special sign of beauty; even after being miraculously awaken, nothing in particular was showing; and now they have become two beauties, like my eyes have never seen something similar before! Now they are two maidens not counting more than twenty years! Yes, this is also a miracle of miracles! Where is the young Herodias now?! Now, if Herodes would see one of them and she would insist on it, he would for the love of her let all Jews be beheaded! Should I poor sinner really be worthy of the mercy, to take one of those two angels as my wife, then Jerusalem would never ever see me again; since this would be such a bait for Herodes and also for all the other many holy men of the city of God!"
7
Says Cyrenius: "If those two miracle children do not have proper parents anymore or if the actual parents have lost any right to them because the intervention of death, they will become my daughters and will receive from me a proper trousseau!"
8
Says the older one of the two, called Gamiela: "Both of us are, strictly speaking, without parents; and those we called father and mother, should basically not be close relatives of us. We came as little children of two and I three into the house of a Greek merchant, who only later converted partially to the Jewish believe; according to the testimony of an old maid we have been brought by a slave trader from Sidon to Kapernaum and bought by the said merchant, who we called father, for five pigs and three calves and eight sheep.
9
The seller also gave the merchant a document, in which our names and the names of our real parents are written! Our real parents are supposed to be Romans of very high parentage. How much of it is true, we don't know; but the trip on which we had the accident, we undertook secretly with the aim to learn the full truth from a relative of our false parents who lives in another place, if we are the actual or in fact are only bought daughters of our parents.
10
But then we fell into the hands of the evil pirates, have been robbed of everything we took with us, had been undressed, despite of our begging we have been tied together by the hair and thrown alive into the deep sea. What happened after that with us, we don't know, and also not how we came to this completely unfamiliar place, and who gave us back our lives; since we must have been dead, when we were found after being washed ashore by the sea at some shore or beach! - Where are we actually now, and who are you good and marvellous people?"