t Patrick was a little boy, his aunt entrusted him with the
care of the sheep, and to these he diligently attended with his
aforementioned sister. For in that age no reproach was attached to
such employments when the sons of the chief men discharged the duties
of a shepherd; as the patriarch Jacob and his sons truly declared
before Pharao, that they, like their forefathers, were keepers of
sheep; and as the lawgiver Moses and the illustrious King David long
time labored in the shepherd's occupation. But as the boy Patrick was
one day in the fields with his flock, a wolf, rushing from the
neighboring wood, caught up a ewe-lamb, and carried it away. Returning
home at evening from the fold, his aunt chided the boy for negligence
or for sloth; yet he, though blushing at the reproof, patiently bore
all her anger, and poured forth his prayers for the restoration of the
ewe-lamb. In the next morning, when he brought the flock to the
pasture, the wolf ran up, carrying the lamb in his mouth, laid it at
Patrick's feet, and instantly returned to the wood. And the boy gave
thanks to the Lord, who, as he preserved Daniel from the hungry lions,
so now for his comfort had saved his lamb uninjured from the jaws of
the wolf.

CHAPTER IX.

_Of the Cow freed from an Evil Spirit, and Five other Cows restored to
Health._

The aunt who had nursed Saint Patrick had many cows, one of which was
tormented with an evil spirit; and immediately the cow became mad, and
tore with her feet, and butted with her horns, and wounded five other
cows, and dispersed the rest of the herd. And the owners of the herd
lamented the mishap, and the cattle fled from her fury as from the face
of a lion. But the boy Patrick, being armed with faith, went forward,
and, making the sign of the cross, freed the cow from the vexation of
the evil spirit; then drawing near to the wounded and prostrate cows,
having first prayed, he blessed them and restored them all even to
their former health. And the cow, being released from the evil spirit,
well knowing her deliverer, approached with bended head, licking the
feet and the hands of the boy, and turned every beholder to the praise
of God and the veneration of Patrick.

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.