and done on their journey; and they made in
their temples a star after the likeness of that which appeared to them,
wherefore many paynims left their errors and worshipped the Holy Child.

And thus these three worshipful Kings dwelt in their kingdoms in honest
and devout conversation until the coming of St. Thomas, the apostle.

Now, after the three Kings had gone forth from Bethlehem, there began to
wax, all about, a great fame for Mary and her Child, and for the Kings
of the East. Wherefore, Mary, in dread of persecution, fled out of the
little house where Christ was born, and went to another dark cave and
there abode; and divers men and women loved her and ministered to her
all manner of necessaries. But when she went out of the little house,
Mary forgot and left behind her her smock and the clothes in which
Christ was wrapped, folded together and laid in the manger; and there
they were, whole and fresh, in the same place to the time when St.
Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, came thither, long after.

Anon so great was grown Mary's fame that she durst not abide longer
there for dread of Herod and the Jews, and an angel appeared to Joseph,
saying: "Arise, and take the Child and His mother and flee into Egypt,
and tarry there till I summon thee, for it is to come that Herod shall
seek the Child to slay Him." Then Joseph arose and took the Child and
His mother and went into Egypt in the night, and there he remained until
Herod died. And Mary and her Son dwelt in Egypt seven years.

And it is told that by the road which Mary journeyed thither and came
back again, grew roses, which are called the Roses of Jericho, and they
grow in no other place. The shepherds of that country, in following
their sheep, gather these roses in their season, and sell them to
pilgrims, and thus they be borne into divers lands. And the place where
Mary dwelt is now a garden where groweth balm, and to every bush a
Christian man, among the Sultan's prisoners, is assigned to protect it
and keep it clean; for when a paynim keepeth them, anon the bushes wax
dry and grow no more. And this balm hath many virtues the which were
long to tell; but all men in the East believe truly that the place bears
such a virtue of growing balm because Mary dwelt there seven years, and
washed and bathed her Son in its wells of water.

And as to the gifts which the three Kings gave to Christ: the thirty
gilt pennies of Melchior were made of old by Thara, fa