nto this purse, that having a last time plunged in his hand, he smiled
mournfully on finding the little pocket empty. So, after turning all
manner of ways, he made a sign of touching regret, as if to show that he
had nothing to give. Then, those whom he had assisted with his counsels,
his balms, and his money, thanked him warmly; he said to them in his
gentle voice:

''Tis Almighty God, the Father of us all, who is in Heaven, that you
must thank, and not me--peace be with you.'

'If your treasury of money is empty, friend, you have still an
inexhaustible treasure, that of good words,' said Banaias; for he had
contrived to approach quite close to Jesus of Nazareth, and he
contemplated him with a mixture of respect and emotion that made his
ferocious traits forgotten.

'Yes,' replied another; 'tell us, Jesus, of things which we poor and
humble can comprehend, the language of our holy and divine prophet, but
often obscure to us poor people.'

'Oh, yes; our good Jesus,' added a pretty child, who had glided into the
front rank, and held one flap of the robe of the young man of Nazareth,
'recount to us one of those parables that delight us so much, and which
we repeat to our mothers and brothers.'

'No, no,' said other voices; 'before the parable, make one of your noble
discourses against the wicked rich, the powerful and the proud.'

But Mary's son pointed with a smile to the little child who had first
demanded a parable, and took him on his knees, after seating himself
near a table; thus showing his love for infancy. Mary's son seemed to
say that this dear little one should be first satisfied in his desire.
All, then, grouped round Jesus; the children who loved him so sat down
at his feet; Oliba and other courtezans also seated themselves on the
ground in the Eastern fashion, embracing their knees with their hands,
and their eyes fixed on the young man of Nazareth, in anxious
expectation. Banaias, and several of his like, crowding behind the young
man, recommended silence to the eager multitude. Others, lastly, more
distant, such as Jane, Aurelia, and her slave Genevieve, formed a second
rank by mounting on the benches. Jesus, still holding on his knee the
little child, who with one of his tiny arms resting on the shoulder of
the son of Mary, seemed suspended from his lips, commenced the following
parable: 'A man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his
father: 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falle