Part 1 [BHL 6160]

From: Falconius, p.124, chapter 19.

From: Falconius, p.124, chapter 20. This is continues the story in BHL 6160, but exists in two forms, which the BHL labels as BHL 6161, with ending "?" and a longer version, BHL 6162, with ending "?". Falconius gives the BHL 6161 text, ending with "incrementum. The BHL 6162 text is printed from BNF lat 5277, in Catal. Paris., vol.1. p.461-2. It is the same as BHL 6161, but with extra material, which is inserted below in square brackets [].

Prologue and Text [BHL 6163/6164]

From: Falconius, p.124-6, chapter 21. Also printed by Mombritius, vol. 2, p.168 middle of column 2 - p.169, middle of col. 1; and also by Lippomanus, vol. 2, f.245v-46v. Both give the text without the prologue sentence, BHL 6163.

[Prologue] Restat autem adhuc, quod de eo jocunda scribere miracula dignum judicavimus.

From: Falconius, p.124-6, chapter 22; also in Mombritus and Lippomanus. A shortened version ending "confessoris piissimi non illustraverint" is BHL 6166.

From: Mombritius, p.169 col. 1 med.-p.170 (this is the last section of Mombritius' text). Also Lippomanus vol.2, f.246v-248. This Latin text was first created from a scan of the Mombritius text, where the abbreviations were expanded, but the punctuation was medieval. This was manually compared with a PDF of the Lippoman text, which was too poor quality and too abbreviated to use directly. The punctuation was added from this, adding quotation marks, normalising some of the spelling, and converting "uir" to "vir", etc.; and dividing the text into paragraphs.

From: Catal.Brux., vol.1, p.257-60. Also found in Ms. BNF lat. 5573. BHL 6169 is the same text with a different ending.

Unpublished. This is the same text as BHL 6168, but with a different and longer ending. In: Catal.Brux., vol.1, p.261, the editors add: Ita expliciunt codd. Gandavenses 289 et 499 (Analect. Boll., tom. III, p. 185, 36° et p. 208, 1C°); Bruxellensis vero paeranetice per tres fere columnas, fol. 20r-21r, laudes sanctissimi viri prosequitur. - So end MSS Ghent 289 and 499. But in the Brussels MS the praises of the most holy man continue for almost another three columns, fol. 20r-21r. Unfortunately this is inaccessible to me.

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9.3c [BHL 6170] Epitome of BHL 6168 and 6169

Fuit in partibus Italiae vir quidam, qui sanctum Nicolaum venerabatur summa devotione et diligebat summa veneratione. Vir iste infra curiam juxta palatium suum ecclesiam sancti Nicolai aedificaverat, quam devotus frequentabat, et frequentans Deo et sancto Nicolao assiduus serviebat. Accidit autem ut insidiantes piratae furarentur unicum filium hujus viri, atque ad transmarinas et peregrinas transferentes partes, venderent mercatoribus Constantinopolitanis. Crevit puer et diversis succedentibus dominis, tandem ipsi venditur Constantinopolitano imperatori. Qui vultu elegantem et bonae indolis adolescentem, et officiosissime obedientem, bene habuit, atque in suo palatio primum pincernam constituit. Interea pater orbatus dolebat et ejulabat, et sanctum Nicolaum flebilibus vocibus accusabat, et filium quem amiserat eidem confessori imputabat et improperabat. Solemnitates tamen beati Nicolai per annos singulos festiva devotione celebrabat, atque ob sancti confessoris dilectionem egenis multa dividebat et erogabat. Quodam autem anno, peractis solemnitatibus, moerens pater solus in ecclesia remansit, et juxta consuetudinem suam sanctum Nicolaum ob mortem filii sui accusare et exprobrare coepit.

There was a certain man in parts of Italy who revered Saint Nicholas with the greatest devotion and loved him with the greatest veneration. This man had built the church of St. Nicholas below the court near his palace, which he frequented devoutly, and while attending he assiduously served God and St. Nicholas. But it happened that pirates, lying in wait, stole this man's only son, and, transferring him to overseas and foreign parts, sold him to the merchants of Constantinople. The boy grew up and had several different masters in succession, and finally he was sold to the Emperor of Constantinople. A young man of elegant appearance and good character, and most dutifully obedient, he was well liked, and he was appointed first cupbearer in his palace. In the meantime the bereaved father mourned and wept, and he accused Saint Nicholas in mournful tones, and blamed and reproached the same confessor for the son whom he had lost. Nevertheless, every year he celebrated the solemnities of blessed Nicholas with festive devotion, and out of love for the holy confessor he distributed and gave much to the needy. Then one year, after the solemnities were over, the grieving father remained alone in the church, and, according to his custom, began to accuse and reproach Saint Nicholas for the death of his son.

Eadem hora filius ejus Constantinopoli ante imperatorem stabat, et imperatoris scyphum pretiosissimum tenebat, et pater in Italia praefatis querimoniis orabat, et orans sanctum Nicolaum accusabat. Tunc beatus Nicolaus amplius non ferens tristitiam et moerorem servi sui, adolescentem occulta vi accepit et portavit, atque uno momento sic ante orantem patrem in Italia constituit, quomodo astabat et serviebat in Graecia Constantinopolitano imperatori. Stupent ambo, sed magis filius, qui pro palatio ecclesiam et pro imperatore videbat jacentem et orantem senem. Tandem senex : "Responde mihi, adolescens : hujus ecclesiae januis clausis quomodo intrasti? Quis sis? Unde venis? Quid requirat iste scyphus, quem portas in manibus tuis?" Stupens jacebat adolescens et, arbitrans se dormire et phantastice ista cernere, penitus ignorabat quid stupenti et interroganti posset ac deberet respondere. Vir instabat et cunctantem adolescentem continuis interrogationibus perurgebat. "Ego," inquit adolescens, "quid tibi dicam nescio? At tu indica mihi ubi sit Constantinopolitanum palatium, ubi modo consistens Constantinopolitano imperatori serviebam." Miratur homo; et adolescentem diligentius intuens et paulatim quaedam vestigia amissi filii in adolescente recognoscens, instabat et orabat, et causam ex ordine confiteri adolescentem compellebat. Tunc puer captivitatem suam et captivitatis laborem seriatim exposuit, et qualiter demum ipsi Constantinopolitano serviret imperatori, indicavit. Audit senex et laetatur, et in amplexus recepti filii ruens insatiabiliter eam osculabatur. "Tu," inquit, "frater, ne formides, ne stupeas. Meus es filius, quem dominus meus, confessor Nicolaus a morte custodivit et lamentis mei desiderii condescendens reportavit." Dein fit gaudium quale exigebat praesens tempus, atque in momentaneo sancti confessoris auxilio, in aeternam laetitiam dolentis senis conversus est luctus longus et continuus. Sunt multa praesentibus aequalia aut etiam majora sancti Nicolai miracula, quibus in ejus laude paene universus exultat mundus et in ejus veneratione universi populi accenduntur.

At the same hour his son was standing before the emperor in Constantinople, and holding the emperor's most precious cup, and the father was praying in Italy with the aforesaid complaints, and while praying he was accusing Saint Nicholas. Then the blessed Nicholas, bearing no longer the sadness and sorrow of his servant, took the young man and carried him by hidden power, and in a moment he made him appear before his praying father in Italy, just as he was standing and serving the emperor in Constantinople in Greece. Both were amazed, but more so the son, who saw the church instead of the palace and the old man lying down and praying instead of the emperor. Then the old man, "Answer me, young man: how did you enter this church after the doors were closed? Who are you? Where do you come from? What is this cup for, that you carry in your hands?" The young man lay stunned, and, thinking that he was asleep and seeing these things in a dream, he was completely ignorant of what he could and should answer to the astonishment and the question. The man persisted and pressed the hesitant young man with continuous questions. "I," said the youth, "do not know what to say to you. But tell me where the palace in Constantinople is, where I was serving the emperor of Constantinople just now." The man was surprised; and looking more carefully at the youth, and gradually recognizing in the youth certain traces of the lost son, he approached and prayed, and compelled the youth to disclose the situation in an orderly way. Then the boy explained in turn his captivity and the labor of captivity, and in what way he would serve the emperor himself in Constantinople. The old man heard and rejoiced, and rushing into the embrace of his restored son, he kissed him insatiably. "You," said he, "brother, do not be afraid, do not be surprised. You are my son, whom my master, the confessor Nicholas, has saved from death and, condescending to the lamentations of my request, have brought back." Then there was joy such as the present time required, and, in the instantaneous help of the holy confessor, the long and continuous mourning of the grieving old man was turned into eternal joy. There are many miracles of St. Nicholas equal to or even greater than the present, because of which almost the whole world rejoices in his praise, and all peoples are busy in his veneration.

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9.4 [BHL 6171] Three Boys, One is Abducted

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32. "Ex iisdem Codicibus Membranaceis Vaticanis num. 1194. et 5696. a pag. 15. a tergo, ad 17."
33. "(a) In Codice 5696, dicitur Miraculum de tribus pueris. Sed est falsum. Non est autem opus Johannis Diaconi, sed longe posterioris impostioris Latini, qui item clypeo Constantini Imperatoris, suam fabulam tegere voluit. Fatue autem, quod illius tempore posuit Saracenos, et Nicolai memoriam celebratam. Bone lector confer cum ista illas Pseudo-Methodii, et Pseudo-Georgii, supra, et ride eas. Nec decimo seculo cognitas cuiquam, nec Diacono quoque nostro. In illis parentes pueri ambo vivunt; in hac solummodo personat mater vidua. In illis pincerna est puer; in his est pastor ovium. Mater minatur Sanctum, nisi etc. Scelestum authoris caput! In illis per aerem, et capillos, vel equo; hic per ocissimum Angelum pedestrem. Tibiae sunt impares. Mitto alia nugatoris. In illis Mitylenae est locus; Lesbus, in his meritima ora Myrae. Ille Basilius dicitur, aliis est Georgius: noster est anonymus, vel Johannes. Sed ei Adeodati nomen Beatillus imponit. Interim nota, dicentem matrem, quod hic casus, nusquam legitur alii evenisse. - a) In codex 5696, this is called the "Miracle of the Three Children". But this is false. For it is not the work of John the Deacon, but of far later Latin imposter, who likewise wanted to hide his story under the shield of the Emperor Constantine. But it is absurd to say that at that time the Saracens, and the memory of Nicholas, were celebrated. Good reader, compare with these those of Pseudo-Methodius and Pseudo-George, above, and laugh at them. Nor was it known to anyone in the tenth century, not even to our Deacon. In those, the parents of the child are both living; in this only the widowed mother appears. In those, the boy is a cupbearer; in these he is a shepherd of sheep. The mother threatens Saint, unless etc. The wicked head of the author! In those he is returned by air, and hair, or by horse; here by a fast-moving angel on foot. The pipes are odd. I disregard other foolish things. In those, Mitylene is the location; Lesbus, in these, the most maritime shore of Myra. He [the author] is called Basil, in others it is George; ours is anonymous, or John. But to him Beatillus gives him the name of Adeodatus. Meanwhile, note that the mother says it happened, because this event is read of nowhere else."
34. "Ex aliis Codicibus, haec Mombritius tomo 2 affert, cum magna variatione. Ait maritum vivere, nec mulierum esse viduam. Viri patriam facit Caesaream, nec puerum habere alios fratres. Reliqua conferat curiosus, qui amet penitius nosse hanc fabulam." - "Mombritius gives this text from different manuscripts in volume 2, with great variation. He says that her husband is alive, nor that the woman was a widow. He makes Caesarea the country of the man, and the child has no other brothers. Let the curious, who would like to know this story more thoroughly, compare the rest."

1. Fratres carissimi, en adhuc aliud vobis ipsius beati Nicolai confessoris miraculum dicere volumus, ut dum ejus miraculorum recordati fuerimus, amplius Domino nostro Jesu Christo, et ipsi confessori gratias agamus.	1. Dear brothers, we would like to tell you yet another miracle of the blessed Nicholas the confessor himself, so that while we have been reminded of his miracles, we give thanks even more to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the confessor himself.
Denique temporibus Constantini Imperatoris, fuit quaedam mulier in civitate Myreae, metropolis, nomine Constantina, quae [ut vir suus dum vixerat] cum magno studio et amore, beati Nicolai memoriam celebrare curavit. Venit itaque tempus, ut cum Dominus de corpore eum assumeret, sicut moris est humano generi hunc evenire casum, vocavit ad se conjugem suam, cum tribus suis sobolibus, et praecepit eis dicens: "Ecce ego incipio viam sempiternam: memores estote praecepti Dei, et state perfeci in mandatis ejus, ut Deus Omnipotens accrescat omnia vestra, et insuper vitam aeternam habeatis. Super autem omnia, beati confessoris Nicolai memoriam, cum summa studio celebrare praecipio, ut ipse vobis adjutor semper existat," et his dictis, migravit ad Dominum.	Now, in the time of the emperor Constantine, there was a certain woman in the city of Myra, the metropolis, named Constantina, who [as long as her husband lived] with great zeal and love, took care to celebrate the memory of the blessed Nicholas. Then came the time that, when the Lord took him up from the body, just as is normal that this fate should happen to the human race, he called his wife to him, with his three children, and instructed them, saying, "Behold, I am beginning the everlasting way: remember the commandments of God, and stand perfect in his commandments, that God Almighty may increase all your things, and that you may have eternal life in addition. Above all, I order you to celebrate the memory of the blessed confessor Nicholas with the greatest zeal, so that he may always be your helper," and having said these things, he departed to the Lord.
Illa autem per singulos annos faciebat praeceptum viri sui. Contigit autem post aliquantos annos, dum appropinquaret festivitas ipsius confessoris, vocavit tres filios suos, et dixit illis: "Cognitum vobis sit, filii mei, quia festivitas beati Nicolai adest; praeparate vos ad ea, quae necessaria sunt, quoniam quidem dignum et justum est; ea, quae pater vester jussit, adimplere debere." Illi autem, cum magno gaudio dixerunt: "Domina mater, quidquid nobis jusseris, in dictis vel operibus, gratanter facere parati sumus." Erat autem inter eos frater eorum junior, nimis in aspectu pulcherrimus, qui a matre prae caeteris amabatur. Illi autem suscipientes mandatum ejus, cum summo gaudio perficiebant. Contigit autem pergentibus illis ad mare propter escam sacerdotum emendam, navigio Sarracenorum adveniente subito, ad ripam maris festinanter exierunt. Illi autem, nescientes de tali gente, obviam eis venerunt.	Then, every year, she did her husband's bidding. Then after some years it came about, when the festival of the confessor himself was approaching, she called her three sons and said to them: "Let it be known to you, my sons, that the feast of the blessed Nicholas is at hand; prepare yourselves for those things which are necessary, since it is indeed worthy and just; those things which your father commanded must be carried out." And they, with great joy, said: "Lady mother, whatever you command us, in words or deeds, we are ready joyfully to do." And there was among them their younger brother, exceedingly handsome in appearance, who was loved by his mother above all others. Then they, receiving her command, carried it out with great joy. But it happened that, while they were going to the sea to buy food for the priests, a boat of Muslims suddenly arrived, and they went out hastily to the shore of the sea. For they, not knowing about such a nation, went to meet them.
2. Cum autem agnovissent, quod gens aliena esset, caeperunt fugam nimiam petere. Denique duo majores fratres, dum fugerent, evaserunt; junior autem, suos non valens assequi fratres, a Sarracenis tentus est, quem illi alligantes, in navem miserunt, et statim exinde abierunt. Illi vero, qui evaserant, angustiati et afflicti ad matrem reversi sunt. Quae videns filios nimis afflictos, dixit eis: "Quare tristes animis video, vos filii? Dicite mihi, si quid vobis evenerit. Numquid in via aliquid vobis accidit? Ne contristemini propter aliquam rem: quoniam non licet nos, in tanta festivitate aliquam habere tristitiam." Illi autem respondentes dixerunt: "Utinam nunquam a nobis, festivitas ista vel agnita fuisset." Et mater ad eos: "Ut quid tam dura et aspera contra Deum, et nos respondetis?" At illi dixerunt: "Quia cum tres habuisses filios, amodo amplius non habebis." Ad quos illa: "Quid est, quod dicitis?" Illi autem narraverunt ei omnia, sicut eis evenerant.	2. But when they recognized that this was a foreign nation, they began to seek excessive flight. Then the two elder brothers escaped while they were fleeing; but the younger, not being able to catch up with his brothers, was held by the Muslims, who bound him and put him into a ship, and immediately departed from thence. But those who had escaped, distressed and afflicted, returned to their mother. Seeing that the children were greatly afflicted, she said to them: "Why do I see you sad in spirit, you children? Tell me if anything has happened to you. Has anything happened to you on the way? Do not be sad because of any thing: for it is not lawful for us to have any sadness on such a festival " And they answered and said: "If only this festival had never been acknowledged by us!" Then their mother said to them: "Tell us why you are so harsh and savage against God?" But they said: "Because, once you had three sons, now you have them no more." She said to them: "What is it that you are saying?" And they told her everything as it had happened to them.
Cum autem audisset mulier verba eorum, prosternens se terrae, aspergens pulverem capiti suo, caepit flere filium suum, dicens: "Heu me, quid mihi evenit peccatrici? Numquid ad rapinam filios meos misi? vel ad aliquod malum perpetrandum abire jussi? Heu me! qualis dolor, sive miseria in me orta est, qualis nunquam legitur alii evenisse?" In ipso autem luctu, et gemitu mulier in semetipsam reversa, caepit intra se cogitare dicens: "Quis alius abstulit filium meum, nisi ille, pro cujus servitio eum misi? Surgam et ibo ad Ecclesiam ejus, interpellabo eum, ut mihi meum restituat filium." Jam autem vesperascente, venit ad Ecclesiam beatissimi Nicolai confessoris, et prosternens se ante sanctum altare, cum gemitu et dolore dicebat: "Confessor Christi, et amabilis famule Dei, Nicolae, cur in me tanta mala fecisti evenire, ut filium meum dilectum, a me separares, et alienigenarum gentium esse fecisti servum? Heu me infelix; numquid aliquando aliquod contra tuam sanctitatem malum operavi? ut merito mihi talem retribueres mercedem? Miserere mei sancte Nicolae serve Christi, indulge mihi ancillae tuae; et mihi meum pupillum restitue filium, ac eum suis afflictis associa fratribus, a quibus est separatus."	And when the woman had heard their words, prostrating herself on the ground, sprinkling dust on her head, she began to weep for her son, saying: "Alas, what is happening to me, a sinner? Have I ever sent my sons out to plunder? Or have I commanded them to go away to commit some evil? Alas! Such pain and misery has arisen in me, as it is never read of that it happened to others?" But in the middle of her grief, and with a groan, the woman returned to herself, and began to think within herself, saying: "Who else has taken my son, but he, for whose service I sent him? I will rise and go to his church, I will intercede with him to restore my son to me." Then, when it was already evening, she came to the church of the blessed Nicholas the confessor, and prostrating herself before the holy altar, with groaning and sorrow, she said: "Confessor of Christ, and beloved servant of God, Nicholas, why have you caused so much evil to happen to me, that you have separated my beloved son from me, and you have made him a slave of foreign nations? Alas, wretched me; have I ever done any evil against your sanctity, that you should deservedly repay me such a reward? Have mercy on me, Saint Nicholas, servant of Christ, have mercy on me, your handmaid; and restore to me my orphaned son, and unite him with his afflicted brothers, from whom he is separated."
3. Haec et alia multa, dum flendo, diceret. Consolari caeperunt eam parentes et vicini, dicentes: "Ut quid tam amarissime ploras? Cur non consolaris te ipsam? Recordare quomodo tres viros, subito a morte liberavit, et multa alia miracula per ejus intercessionem facta cognovimus esse." His itaque talibus dictis amicorum, mulier tacuit; tamen per totum annum in lamentatione et angustia mansit. Revoluto autem beatissimi confessoris Christi Nicolai festivitatis anno, mulier spem suam habens in Domino, iterum suos convocans filios, dixit eis: "Filii mei, faciamus in quantum possumus ea, quae necessaria sunt in festivitate sanctissimi pastoris nostri: forsitan merebimur requiem adipisci." At illi respondentes dixerunt: "Cum filius tuus in tali re captus sit; cur iterum nobis talia precipis?" Tunc illa: "Obedite," inquit, voci meae, filii, et facite quod dico. Scitote pro quo amisi eum, quia et ipse misericors est." Et illi dixerunt: "Fac quod bonum tibi videtur." Cum ergo omnia praeparassent, non tamen quanta soliti erant, venerunt ad Ecclesiam cum parvis luminaribus. Mater se ante altare jaciens, caepit talia dicere: "O sancte Nicolae, abundantiam olei et cerae, semper ad te veniens, obtuli. Nunc autem jam ultra tibi datura non sum,36 quia tu mihi meos filios minuisti. Et ego volo, quod tuae aulae datura devovi, minuta sint amodo. Quod si mihi meum restitues filium, ego tuae sanctae ecclesiae duplam portionem restituo. Memorare, obsecro, famuli tui, viri mei servitium, et ejus miserere filio, ut semper patris sui praecepta adimpleat, quaecumque tibi fieri jusserat." Ista, et multa alia, cum lamentatione et fletu dicebat. 35. Fal.: "(a) Si casus ejusmodi aliis pueris accidisset, qui consolantes inducuntur, ab his casibus mulierem consolarentur potius, quam a tribus viris, quos Nicolaus a morte liberasset. Num enim fingemus adhuc eodem tempore, anno, mense, die, in diversis locis, eundem casum accidisse? Nuper vidimus, matrem etiam pueri, secus dicere." 36. Fal.: "(b) Nota minas istas, et promissa."	3. These and many other things, while she was crying, she was saying. Her parents and neighbours began to console her, saying: "Why are you crying so bitterly? Why do you not console yourself? Remember how he delivered three men suddenly from death, and we know that many other miracles were done through his intercession." And so at these words of her friends, the woman was silent; yet she remained in lamentation and distress throughout the whole year. When the feast of the most blessed confessor of Christ, Nicholas, returned in the year, the woman, having her hope in the Lord, called her children together again, and said to them: "My children, let us do as far as we can those things which are necessary in the feast of our most holy Shepherd: perhaps we shall deserve to obtain respite." But they, answering, said: "Since your son has been taken in such a way, why do you order such things again for us?" Then she said: "Obey my voice, my children, and do what I say. Know him for whom I have lost him, because he is also merciful." And they said: "Do what seems good to you." When they had prepared everything, although not as much as they were used to, they came to the church with small lights. The mother, throwing herself before the altar, began to say these things: "O Saint Nicholas, I have offered an abundance of oil and wax, always coming to you." But now I will not give you any more,38 because you have lessened my children for me. And I intend that, what I have marked out to give your church, henceforth has been lessened. But if you will restore my son to me, I will restore a double portion to your holy church. Remember, I beseech you, the service of your servant, my husband, and have mercy on his son, so that he may always fulfill his father's commandments, whatever he ordered to be done for you." These things, and many other things, she said with lamentation and weeping. 38. Fal.: "(a) If such a thing had happened to other children, who are introduced as a comfort, the woman would have been comforted by these events, rather than by the three men whom Nicholas had saved from death. Shall we still imagine that the same event happened at the same time, year, month, day, in different places? We have recently seen the mother of the child, too, say otherwise." 39. Fal.: "(b) Note these threats and promises."
4. Interea namque infantulus in captivitate positus, pascebat oves domini sui. Dabatur ei quotidie modicum panis, et sic post oves dimittebatur abire. Semper autem recordabatur diei illius, quando ablatus a fratribus fuerat, et praestolabatur in dies, ut eum Dominus, suae patriae revocaret. In ipsa siquidem die, qua mater ejus ad beati confessoris Nicolai vigilias iverat; post oves et ipse perrexerat. Tunc caepit intra se ipsum cogitare et dicere: "O quanta in me calamitas evenit! O quanta super me angustia volvit!" Haec cum magno dolore dicebat: "Quid ego feci, ut meis privarer fratribus? Alme Dei Nicolae suscipe preces, quas tibi pupillus devotissima mente deposco, ut Dominum pro me nimis afflicto rogites, quatenus me infelicem, huc sine causa conductum; ita deliberes, quemadmodum illos juvenes, jam sub ense depositos, liberari jussisti. Libera me,Christe, de opprobrio isto, cui me suppositum video; qui liberasti tres pueros de camino ignis ardentis; et filium viduae,37/sup> a vinculo mortis solvisti. Per famuli tui Nicolai preces, exaudi me, et viduae meae matriculae; salvum restitue: quia tu omnes salvas, et neminem vis perire, Trinus, et Unus Deus, qui regnas in secula cuncta. Amen." Haec autem oratione sussusa, mater itidem postulabat. Per merita autem beati Nicolai confessoris, amborum preces ante conspectum Domini constiterunt. 37. Fal.: "(c) Diligenter nota hanc ficti captivi pueri orationem, in qua non tinnit unquam similis suo casus."	4. Now in the meantime the little child, being placed in captivity, was feeding the sheep of his master. A little bread was given to him every day, and so he was sent out to go after the sheep. But he always remembered that day when he had been taken away from his brothers, and he longed day by day for the Lord to call him back to his country. On the very day when his mother had gone to the vigil of the blessed confessor Nicholas, he himself had gone after the sheep. Then he began to think within himself and to say: "O what a calamity has befallen me! O what anguish has rolled over me!" This he said with great pain: "What have I done that I am deprived of my brothers? O Blessed of God, Nicholas, accept the prayers, which I, an orphan make to you with a most devoted heart, that you may speak to the Lord for me in my great distress, because I am wretched, brought here without cause; so may you decide, just as you ordered those young men, already placed under the sword, to be set free. Deliver me, O Christ, from this shame, for which I see myself destined, you who have delivered three children from the furnace of burning fire, and the son of a widow from the chain of death. Through the prayers of your servant Nicholas, hear me, and restore the support of my widowed mother: for you save all, and do not want anyone to perish, Triune and One God, who reigns forever and ever. Amen." Then, after this prayer, the mother requested the same. Then, through the merits of the blessed Nicholas the confessor, the prayers of them both came before the Lord. 40. Fal.: "Carefully note this prayer of the fictitious captive boy, in which he never mentions anything similar to his case."
5. Statim autem ante faciem pueri, apparuit juvenis nimium splendidus, quem puer prospiciens, advolutus ejus vestigiis, gratanter volebat osculari pedes ejus. Cui juvenis ait: "Surge, ne feceris, sed magis me sequere." At ille cum gaudio surgens, caepit illum assequi. Caeperunt autem tam velocissime currere, sicut nulla sub coelo reptilis, avolare potuisset. Aestimabat vero et puer, non sicut exteri homines angustiando percurrere, sed quasi invitatus ad nuptias citius properare. Juvenis itaque ante illum gradiens, quasi splendidissima stella, paulisper se longius anteferebat. Et sicut anxiatus homo ad fontem, ut animam suam refocillet pergere cupit, ita cupiebat ad vestigia juvenis accedere, sed eum penitus attingere non poterat. Quanto juvenis ante eum ambulabat, tanto ille gratanter eundem assequi juvenem gestiebat.	5. And immediately in front of the boy's face, there appeared a young man exceedingly splendid, whom the boy, seeing, falling on his knees instantly, gratefully wanted to kiss his feet. To whom the young man said: "Get up, don't do that, but instead follow me." Then he, getting up with joy, began to pursue him. Then they began to run so fast, like nothing under heaven that goes afoot had been able to fly away. Indeed the boy also thought that they ran, not as if the foreign men were chasing them, but as if he had been invited to hasten quickly to a wedding. So the young man, going before him, like a most brilliant star, carried himself a little farther ahead. And as an anxious man longs to go to the spring to refresh his soul, so he desired to catch up with the footsteps of the young man, but he could not reach him entirely. As fast as the young man walked before him, so fast was he gratefully eager to catch up with the same young man.
Hoc, et hujusmodi alia agentes, venerunt citius ad ecclesiam, ubi mater ejus, et fratres, obsequia beatissimi Nicolai confessoris faciebant, et ante januam ecclesiae eum posuit, dicens: "Vade in pace: scias te per merita Sancti Nicolai esse salvatum," et statim evanuit ab oculis ejus. Cumque puer talia audisset, et vidisset mirabilia in se facta; caepit considerare locum, sive ecclesiam, et solicite conspicere populum, ut agnosceret illum. Cumque cognovisset se in suam regionem reductum, cum magno gaudio caepit laudare Dominum, dicens: "Gratias tibi, ago, Domine Jesu Christe, quoniam cum essem in regione umbrae mortis, lux orta est mihi, et subito ostendisti in me misericordiam tuam, per beati Nicolai famuli tui merita. Tu enim mortificas, et vivificas, tu omnes salvas, et neminem vis perire. Tibi, honor et gloria, in secula seculorum. Amen." Haec autem eo orante, experunt eum agnoscere omnes, qui ibidem ante januam ecclesiae, ad obsequium beati Nicolai, convenerant, et se terrae praecipitantes, caeperunt talia dicere: "Vere iste, est puer, qui perditus aestimatur a matre." Cumque eum certius agnovissent, cursu rapidissimo, ad eam intus ecclesiam venerunt dicentes: "Noli domina, noli angustiari amplius, quoniam fides tua, tuum tibi salvum restituit filium, et quia angustiata pro eo nimis fuisti, modo magis exsulta, quia videre eum meruisti."	Doing this, and other things of this kind, they came quickly to the church, where his mother and brothers were paying homage to the most blessed Nicholas the confessor, and he set him down before the door of the church, saying: "Go in peace: know that you are saved by the merits of Saint Nicholas," and immediately he disappeared from his eyes And when the boy had heard such things, and had seen wonderful things done in him, he began to examine the place, or the church, and to anxiously observe the people to know who they were. And when he knew that he was returned to his own country, with great joy he began to praise the Lord, saying: "I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, because when I was in the region of the shadow of death, light arose for me, and suddenly you showed me your mercy, through the merits of your blessed servant Nicholas. For you kill, and you give life, you save all, and you do not want anyone to perish. To you, honour and glory, forever and ever. Amen." And while he was praying these things, all who had assembled there before the door of the church, to pay homage to the blessed Nicholas, endeavoured to recognize him, and throwing themselves to the ground, they began to say such things: "Truly this is the boy who was esteemed lost by his mother." And when they had more certainly recognized him, they came to her inside the church at a very rapid pace, saying: "Do not, lady, do not be distressed any longer, for your faith has restored your son to you safe, and since you were so distressed for him, only rejoice more, because you deserved to see him."
6. At illa, dum talia audisset, sicut excitata a somno, cum constantia magna, caepit sibi dicentibus taliter, respondere: "Quae dictis dicitis enixius rogito, ut mihi quam citius, demonstrare curetis." Qui cum dixissent: "Veni, et vide," ille obviam lacrymando, ad matrem suam, prae nimio gaudio ante currit. Quae eum intuita, extensis ambobus brachiis, a longe currere caepit. Statim puer, ejus advolutus vestigiis, osculari cupiebat pedes ejus. Quem mater amplexans, sicut gallinae mos est sub alas suscipere proles, ita eum suis tenebat brachiis, et osculabatur, dicens talia: "Unde modo reversa es dulcissima proles? Quis te, carissime,ad nos usque reduxit, lumen ac meae senectutis fiducia? Lumen amissum hactenus, subito in me renovatum est." Similiter autem fratres ejus, tenentes brachia sua, dulcissima ei oscula dabant, dicentes: "Reddita est nobis margarita, quam quaerebamus, datum est nobis gaudium; pro quo hactenus tristitiam habuimus, quia frater noster mortuus fuerat, et revixit, perierat, et inventus est. Et nunc amodo canemus Davidicum versum, dicentes: 'Ecce quam bonum, et quam jucundum, habitare fratres in unum.'" Tunc mater ejus gratias referebat Domino, dicens: "Gratias tibi ago, Domine Jesu Christe, quia viderunt oculi mei, quem desideravit anima mea. Et nunc Domine modo impleta est veridica promissio, quam promisisti nobis: 'Petite, et accipietis; quaerite et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis.' Et iterum: 'Amen dico vobis, quia quicquid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, dabit vobis.' Ideo gratias agimus, et collaudamus, nomen tuum, quia sicut promisisti, ita et factum ostendisti. Quia tu es unus, et verus illorum Deus, qui te per beatum celebrant Nicolaum."	6. But when she had heard such things, as if roused from sleep, with great constancy, she began to reply to those saying such things to her: "I beseech you more emphatically to show me what you have said as soon as possible." They said, "Come and see," and he ran to meet his mother, with tears in his eyes, in great joy. When she saw him, she stretched out both her arms and began to run from a distance. At once the boy, falling on his knees, desired to kiss her feet. His mother embraced him, as a hen receives her brood under her wings, and so she held him in her arms, and kissed him, saying thus, "Where have you just returned from, sweetest child? Who brought you, dearest, to us, O light and confidence of my old age? The light, hitherto lost, was suddenly renewed in me." Then likewise his brothers, holding his arms, gave him the sweetest kisses, saying: "The pearl which we were looking for has been returned to us, we have been given joy; for this we had hitherto been sad, because our brother had died, and has revived, had perished, and has been found. And now let us sing the Davidic verse, saying: 'Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity.'" Then his mother gave thanks to the Lord, saying: "I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, because my eyes have seen whom my soul longed for. And now, Lord, the truthful promise that you promised us has just been fulfilled: 'Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' And again: 'Amen I say to you, because whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.' Therefore we give thanks, and we praise your name, because just as you promised, so you have shown it to be done. Because you are one and the true God of those who celebrate you through blessed Nicholas."
7. Caeperunt itaque omnes, qui aderant, una cum matre et filiis, unanimiter glorificare Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui per suum Athletam, ubique poscentibus prodigia tanta fecisset. Expletis omnibus Missarum solemniis, unusquisque ad propria sunt reversi. Illi autem in quadruplum, de omnibus rebus suis, per singulos annos devotissime memoriam beatissimi Nicolai confessoris, cum summo studio perficiebant, agentes gratias Domino nostro, Jesu Christo, qui cum Patre, et Spiritu vivit et regnat Deus, in omnia secula seculorum Amen.	7. So all who were present, together with the mother and the children, began to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ with one accord, who through his Athlete41 had done such wonders for those who were asking everywhere. Having finished all the solemnities of the Masses, each one returned to his own place. Then they fourfold, in all their affairs, every year they devoutly completed the memorial of the blessed Nicholas the confessor with the greatest zeal, giving thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. 41. Ascetics were called the "athletes of God".

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9.5a [BHL 6172] The Golden Vessel

1. Igitur operae pretium remur, si ea quae nostris temporibus per ejus gloriosa merita gessit omnipotens Deus, brevi elogio depromamus. Cum longe lateque virtutum beatissimi Nicolai propalarentur insignia, ex diversis et semotis mundi partibus nobilium et ignobilium, divitum quoque et pauperum catervae, ad ejus venerabilia coeperunt convolare merita. Itaque vir quidam praepotens incola patriae, degens etiam trans mare quod illas suo volumine circuit nationes, secundum hujus seculi transitoriam dignitatem gazis refertus opimis multisque ditatus rerum copiis, annuatim ad ejus navigio consueverat sanctissima properare moenia, ejusque tumulum post multarum orationum fusa libamina suis honorare xeniis, sicque laetus et alacer remeare ad propria.	1. Therefore, it would be worth our while if we set forth with a brief description what Almighty God has accomplished in our times through his glorious merits. When the signs of the virtues of the blessed Nicholas were spread far and wide, groups of the noble and the lowly, the rich and the poor, from different and remote parts of the world, began to flock to his venerable merits. And so a certain man, a powerful inhabitant of the country, living even beyond the sea which encircles those nations with its volume, filled with wealth and enriched with many things according to the transitory dignity of this age, was accustomed every year to hasten by his ship to the most holy walls, and, after pouring out the libations of many prayers, to honour his tomb with his gifts, and so to return happy and cheerful to his home.
Quodam autem tempore secundum morem consuetum ad ejus veniens bustum, voto se constrinxit aureum vas se facturum in ejus servitio, sibique delaturum. Domum vero regressus, aurificem peritissimum accersiri jussit, et illi non modicum pretiosi obrizi libravit talentum, et quid de hoc faceret velle indicavit proprium. Artifex ergo accepto auro, illud diligentissime, prout decebat sanctum Nicolaum, operari coepit et variis gemmarum unionumque ordinibus mirifice ordinavit. In tantum itaque, in sculptura illius vasis, illi affuit pietas jam dicti praesulis, ut ipse quoque ingenium miraretur collatum opusque manuum suarum. Tandem strenuissime peracto opere, patremfamilias repetiit quodque sibi commiserat retulit integro libramine. Qui satis eximium opus admirans artificemque collaudans, qualem pro tanto opere decebat illi recompensavit talionem.	Now one time, according to the usual custom, coming to his tomb, he made a vow that he would have a golden vessel made in his service, and bring it to himself. But when he had returned home, he ordered that the most skilled goldsmith was summoned, and he weighed out to him a full talent of pure precious gold, and told him what he wanted him to do with it. The craftsman, therefore, having received the gold, began to work it with the utmost care, and wonderfully arranged it in different rows of gems and pearls, as was fitting for Saint Nicholas. In this much, then, in the shaping of that vessel, the piety of the aforesaid nobleman abounded, so that he too marveled at the quality conferred upon it and the work of his hands. At length, having done his work most thoroughly, he returned to the father of the family, and returned in full the whole weight that he had committed to him. Admiring the excellent work and applauding the artist, he recompensed him with such a reward as was fitting for such a work.
2. Verum caeca animi pellectus cupiditate, et perfossus cuspide tenacis avaritiae, tanti pretii vas suis usibus deputavit retinendum, malens sibi ex eo diatim vinum propinare quam sancto Nicolao cui illud devoverat deferre. O vir egregie, dic, quaeso te, numquid gloriosus et jam coelesti gloria sublimatus et totius paradisi jocunditate insignitus Nicolaus, opum tuarum cupidus, te compulit ut illi aurea vasa promitteres? Numquid aurum tuum non manebat tibi? Quare ergo illi vovisti quod postea, poenitendo fraudulenta cupiditate, illi subtrahere conaris? Nonne scriptum audieras, quia melius est non vovere, quam post votum promissa non reddere? An psalmistam dicentem non legeras: "Vovete et reddite Domino Deo vestro?" Virum ergo te non recte profiteor. Cum enim vir dicatur a virtute, si tibi aliqua virtus inesset animi, perpenderes utique astutias versipellis inimici, qui suggerebat ut ea quae tuo patrono Nicolao devoveras, falsa avaritiae irretitus decipula auferres; dicente Salomone: "Qui dominatur animo suo, validior est expugnatore urbium." Verumtamen quia ad horam reddere noluisti quod volens vovisti, necessitate coactus et illud et alia quamplura, ut dignum fuit, sancto Nicolao persolvisti. Nunc autem ad rei gestae veniamus ordinem.	2. But driven by the blind greediness of his soul, and pierced by the stubborn spear of avarice, he decided to retain the vessel of such great value for his own use, preferring to pour out wine for himself from it rather than send it to Saint Nicholas, to whom he had dedicated it. O extraordinary man, tell me, I beseech you, was Nicholas, the glorious and already raised to heavenly glory, and distinguished with the joy of the whole of paradise, covetous of your riches, and compel you to promise him vessels of gold? Did not your gold remain yours? Why, then, did you dedicate this to him, which afterwards, repenting from fraudulent greed, you attempted to hold back from him? Have you not heard it that it is written, that it is better not to make a vow, than not to pay having made a vow? Have you not read the psalmist, saying, "Make your vow and pay it to the Lord your God"? (Ps. 75:12) Then I don't identify you correctly as a man. For when a man is called a man of virtue, if you had any virtue of mind, you would certainly have recognised the wiles of the sly enemy, who suggested that, entangled in the snare of deceptive greed, you should carry off those things which you had devoted to your patron Nicholas; saying with Solomon: "He who rules his spirit is stronger than the conqueror of cities." (Prov. 16:32) Nevertheless, because at the time you did not want to pay what you had willingly vowed, you were compelled by necessity to pay that and many other things, as it was right, to St. Nicholas. But now we come to the order of events.
3. Cum itaque praefatus locuples jam dictum vas ambitiose suis delegasset obsequiis, rursus ad se convocans aurifabrum, similem prioris auri illi proferri jussit quantitatem, omnimodis obsecrans ut exinde alterum vas in servitio sancti sculperet Nicolai. Quod ille libenter annuens, auri summam secum detulit; et saepissime ut ars expostulat fundendo et tundendo, nullatenus secundum suum velle aliquod opus exinde efficere praevaluit. Rediens ergo ad memoratum virum, quod ei dederat reconsignavit; et quae sibi contigerant, retulit. Ille autem hoc audiens et in sua cupiditate permanens, decrevit illud aurum et gemmas pariter sancto Nicolao devehendum. Interea anni orbita volvente, secundum tempus quo ad sancti limina consueverat properare, scapham sibi praeparari jussit honorifice, et omnia necessaria in ea poni affluentissime. Igitur remigio remigum fultus, velis quoque tantae navigationi aptis adumbratus, Euro flante secundo, sua carbasa ventis commisit fluctivagique sali fluctibus; gubernatoreque artemonem prospere regente, una cum uxore et filio, servorum etiam plurimo famulatu, navigationem est aggressus.	3. So, after the aforesaid rich man had presumptuously assigned the already mentioned vessel to his own service, he summoned the goldsmith to him once more, and he ordered a similar amount of gold to be brought to him, imploring him in every way to sculpt a second vessel for the service of St. Nicholas. He willingly agreed, and he took away the sum of gold with him; but most of the time, as the art requires by casting and pounding, he was quite unable by any means to accomplish any of the work as he wanted it to be. Returning therefore to the said man, he returned what he had given him, and reported what had happened to him. But he, on hearing this, and remaining in his cupidity, decided that the gold and the gems should be brought to Saint Nicholas in the same manner. In the meantime, as the circle of the year rolled around, according to the time at which he was accustomed to hasten to the threshold of the saint, he ordered a boat to be prepared for him with honour, and everything necessary to be placed in it in the most affluent manner. Therefore, supported by a crew of oarsmen, and with sails also fitted for such a voyage, with an east wind blowing a second time, he committed his canvas to the winds and driven by the winds and the waves of salt, and with a successful pilot in charge of the ship, together with his wife and son, and a great number of servants, he set out on the voyage.
4. Cum igitur per vitreos campos navigando in maris devenissent medio, nimia siti exardescente, filio suo praecepit ut ei vini propinaret haustum, cum vase jam saepissime praelibato. Tanto enim illud amplectebatur amore, ut neminem praeter se ex eo poculum vellet haurire. Expositum itaque vas ab adolescente subito e manibus ejus elapsum, corruit in mare. Cumque juvenis porrectus illud conaretur arripere brachiis, incaute prosiliens ipse etiam delapsus est in gurgite profundi maris. Navis quoque ut coeperat percurrens cursu volucri, ulterius eum inveniendi navigantibus abstulit spem. Ecce quid promeruit inepta cupido. Tum moestus et lugubris quod residuum erat navigationis peragit, et illo quo tendebat, usque pervenit.	4. When, therefore, they had sailed through the plains of glass and reached the middle of the sea, burning with excessive thirst, he commanded his son to bring him a draught of wine with the vessel from which he had already often drunk. For he embraced it with so much love, that he wished no one but himself to drink from it. The vessel, therefore, which had been set up by the youth, suddenly slipped from his hands, and fell into the sea. And when the young man reached out and tried to seize it in his arms, incautiously jumping forward, he also fell into the flood of the deep sea. The ship, too, having begun to move along with the speed of a bird, took away the hope of the sailors of finding him any more. Behold what the foolish covetous man has earned! Then, gloomy and sorrowful, he completed the remainder of the voyage, and arrived where he was going.
5. Attamen pietas sancti non diu passa est tantam in eo permanere maestitiam. Denique potitus optata litoris statione, extemplo ad sancti tumulum convolavit, et aurum quod detulerat, pro vase super ejus altare posuit; sed protinus longius repulsum est, quasi cum magna vi indignationis. Quod ille cernens, ante sancti memoriam prostratus, se reum, se culpabilem clamabat, et quid egerat, qualiterve vas quod sancto Nicolao daturum se spoponderat, coram omnibus intimavit, necnon et amissionem filii sui vasisque illius, lugubri lamentatione professus est. Igitur post longa orationum suspiria, voto sese astrinxit plurimam rerum suarum copiam in obsequio sancti Nicolai expositurum fore, si, suis meritis et intercessionibus, sibi suum redderet filium. At venerabilis confessor qui semper praesto adest omnibus se cum fide invocantibus, non distulit illius adesse invocationibus. Mira res. Cum idem vir sua infortunia lacrimabili querimonia defieret, et, singultu quatiente, omnibus confluentibus propalaret, repente filius ejus quem in maris medio perdiderat, quemque fluctibus absorptum, deflebat vas illud quod amiserat, manibus bajulans, insperate limina templi ingressus veniebat.	5. However, the saint's piety did not long suffer so much sadness to remain in him. Then, having obtained the desired station on the shore, he immediately flew to the tomb of the saint, and placed the gold which he had brought instead of the vessel on his altar, but he was immediately thrown back a long way, as if with a great force of indignation. Seeing this, he prostrated himself before the memory of the saint, crying out that he was guilty, and he described before everyone what he had done, and he related with a mournful lamentation what kind of vessel he had promised that he was going to give to Saint Nicholas, as well as the loss of his son and of that vessel. Therefore, after long sighs of prayer, he bound himself with a vow that the greatest abundance of his possessions would be laid out in service to St. Nicholas, if, by his merits and intercessions, he would return his son to him. But the venerable confessor, who is always available to all who invoke him with faith, did not delay to be present to him in his invocations. A wonderful thing. When the same man was running out of his misfortunes with tearful complaint, and, shaking with sobbing was telling them to all who came together, suddenly his son, whom he had lost in the middle of the sea, and who had been swallowed up by the waves, lamenting the vessel which he had lost, with his hands flapping, arrived unexpectedly, approaching the threshold of the temple.
6. Quem pater illius et mater omnesque astantes considerantes, maximis exhilarati gaudiis, grates immensas Deo et suo adjutori magnifico retulerunt Nicolao. Juvenis autem clara voce referre coepit quemadmodum venerandi vultus habitum gerens, cum in mari cecidisset, ei senex apparuerit et eum ulnis sustentans usque ad litus deportaverit, et ei iter quod ducebat ad basilicam sancti Nicolai insinuaverit, et sic subito ab eo recesserit. Haec et his similia illo referente, prae magnitudine gaudii lacrimas lacrimis addentes, collaudabant clementiam sancti et incomparabilis meriti Nicolai. Sicque vota sua persolvens, et oenophorum quod pridem abstulerat reddens, gaudens et alacer cum filio proprio universoque comitatu, remeavit ad propria, laudans et glorificans Deum, qui per sanctum suum talia et tanta dignatus est patrare magnalia. Laudemus ergo et nos immensam ejusdem Dei misericordiam, qui quotidie nobis ut meliorando proficiamus, in exemplum sanctorum suorum facta manifestat.	6. His father and mother, and all those standing by considering, were gladdened with the greatest joy, and gave immeasurable thanks to God and to his magnificent helper, Nicholas. And the young man began to tell in a clear voice how an old man with a venerable countenance appeared to him when he had fallen into the sea, and, supporting him by his forearms, carried him to the shore, and told him the way that led to the basilica of St. Nicholas, and then suddenly withdrew from him. When these and similar things were reported to him, they added tears to their tears for the greatness of their joy, and they applauded the clemency of the holy and incomparable merit of Nicholas. Having thus fulfilled his vows, and returning the vessel which he had previously stolen, rejoicing and cheerful with his own son and the whole company, he returned to his home, praising and glorifying God, who through his saint had deigned to accomplish such excellent and such great things. Let us therefore also praise the immeasurable mercy of the same God, who daily shows us the example of his saints, so that we may progress in improving ourselves.

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9.5b [BHL 6173] The Golden Vessel (Epitome)

Quidam quoque praepotens vir accersito aurifice aureum vas fieri imperat, quod sancto Nicolao pro voto offerendum deputat. Quod ut artifex miro modo sculpsit, ac variis gemmis distinxit, vir ille insigne opus miratus concupivit, et suis usibus retinendum censuit. Aliudque vas ad instar prioris fieri voluit, quod pro illo sancto Nicolao deferendum disposuit. Aurifex vero summam diligentiam adhibuit, sed nullo modo secundum formam prioris insignire valuit. Ut autem opus minime processit, vir idem aurum tulit, cum uxore et filio multisque aliis navim intravit, aurum pro vase sancto Nicolao offere cogitavit. Maxima autem pelagi parte emensa, sitit, et de aureo vase sibi male retento bibere voluit. Quod filius ejus, accipiens cui soli hoc tangere licuit, in undas lavandum tenuit. Sed de manu incauti juvenis elabitur, ipseque hoc apprehendere nisus, fluctibus maris immergitur. Quo casu, omnes nimium contristati portum attingunt, moesti basilicam sancti Nicolai introeunt. Dominus munus allatum altari imponit, sed, divinitus repulsum, longius resilit. Omnibus stupentibus, ipse per ordinem retulit qualiter vas promissum sibi retinuerit, et ob hanc causam filium cum vase in mari amiserit, istud autem sanctus accipere respuerit. Unde cum omnes laudes Deo et sancto Nicolao personarent, pater vero et mater pro reatu suo et filii amissione fletibus graviter instarent, et vota votis multiplicarent, ecce, repente juvenis cum vase incolomis advolat, qui, cunctis mirantibus, sanctum Nicolaum sibi in gurgite apparuisse, se in pelagus cadentem excepisse, ad litus illaesum detulisse, ad ecclesiam suam ducatum praebuisse narrat. Qui omnes obstupefacti iterum atque iterum laudant Deum in omnibus, qui facit mirabilia solus. Pater itaque adolescentis vas cum preciosis muneribus sancto Nicolao obtulit, ac laetus cum suis in propria rediit.

Also a certain powerful man ordered a noted goldsmith to make a golden vessel, which he assigned to be offered to St. Nicholas in fulfilment of a vow. As the artist carved it in a wonderful manner, and set it with various gems, the man admired the remarkable work, and decided to retain it for his own uses. And he wanted another vessel to be made, just like the former, which he assigned to be taken to St. Nicholas. The goldsmith, however, used the utmost care, but in no way could he adorn it in the same way as the former. But when the work had not progressed at all, the man took the same gold, and entered the ship with his wife and son, and many others, and he thought to offer the gold to St. Nicholas instead of the vessel. But having passed through the greatest part of the ocean, he was thirsty, and he wished to drink from the golden vessel which he had wrongfully kept for himself. His son, accepting that only he was allowed to touch this, kept washing it in the waves. But it slipped from the hand of the unwary youth, and he, trying to catch it, was drowned by the waves of the sea. After this accident, they all reached the harbour in great sorrow, and sadly they entered the basilica of St. Nicholas. The master laid the offering on the altar, but, rejected by God, it bounced off a long way. Everyone was astounded, and he recounted in order how he had retained for himself the vessel promised, and for this reason he had lost his son with the vessel at sea, and then the saint refused to accept the offering. Wherefore, when all were praising God and Saint Nicholas, while the father and mother were weeping heavily for their guilt and the loss of their son, and were multiplying their vows, behold, suddenly the young man rushed in alive with the vessel, who, to the astonishment of all, said that Saint Nicholas had appeared to him in the waters, and had taken him out while he was sinking in the sea, carried him unharmed to the shore, and had led him to his church. All of them, astonished, praised God again and again in all things, who alone does wonderful things. And so the father of the young man presented the vessel with precious gifts to St. Nicholas, and happily returned home with his family.

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9.6a [BHL 6174] The Jew and the Staff and the Christian Swindler

1. Extitit praeterea alius vir, qui mercimoniis intentus assiduis, variis exuberabat rerum opulentiis. Sed sicut sunt nonnulli qui nonnunquam ex minimis rebus artificiose ad quaerendum divitiarum apicem conscendunt, ita quoque sunt plerique qui diutino labore acquisitas opes dilapidatorie utentes, ad infamem egestatem saepissime perveniunt. Hic itaque vir de quo nobis sermo est, fertilitate divitiarum suarum dapsiliter et prodige utens, et in posterum non praecavens, ad ultimum ad ignominiosam pervenit paupertatem. Interea necessitate cogente, verens ne succumberet mendicitati publicas, quemdam judaeum adiit qui in vicino commorabatur, quique, ut in plerisque sese habet illud hominum genus, diversis pollebat copiis, orans et prece multa deposcens ut ex suis facultatibus aliquid ei impertiendo commodaret, unde lucrando aliquomodo valeret suam penuriam relevare. Cumque ille, utpote judaeus, christiano minime fidem dando crederet, et pro thesauro commodando arrabonem sibi deferri jussisset, ille qui petebat subintulit, dicens: "Quid tibi pro arrabone donare valeam non habeo; sed si velis recipere, sanctum Nicolaum pro me tibi fidejussorem delegabo." Quod ille audiens, ut erat judaeus, non abnuit; sed sibi talia praelibanti respondit : "Nicolaum," inquit, "super quo polliceris, multis intimantibus ejusque miraculis coruscantibus, non ambigo bonum esse virum. Et quia fama volitante summi Dei eum cognovi esse fidelem, ea qua postulas sub ejus fidei pollicitatione, si ipse volueris, tibi non cunctabor commendare. Credo equidem tanta auctoritatis virum nullomodo res meas fraudulenta fide defraudaturum." Ergo cum communi utrorumque consensu, oratorium sancti expetunt Nicolai, et christianus, qui a judaeo mutuum quaerebat, tenens cornu altaris, ita eum affatus dixit: "Istud altare tibi in vadimonium trado, simulque ipsum sanctum Nicolaum pro me fidejussorem praebeo, ante cujus etiam conspectum promitto qua mihi nunc in tali angustia praestas, tibi a me esse reddenda die denominato." His igitur sponsionibus delectatus et ad domum propriam reversus, quod petebatur quaerenti contulit, auri scilicet non modicam quantitatem.	1. There was also another man, who was constantly engaged in trade, and was abundant with various material riches. But just as there are some who sometimes from the smallest things artfully ascend to seeking the pinnacle of riches, so also there are many people who, using the riches acquired by long labour extravagantly, very often come down to infamous poverty. This man, therefore, of whom we are speaking, using the fertility of his riches liberally and prodigally, and not making provision for the future, at last came to ignominious poverty. In the meantime, compelled by necessity, fearing lest he should succumb to public begging, he went to a certain Jew who lived in the neighbourhood, and who, as is the case with most of that class of men, had power from various sources, praying and supplicating much that he might lend him something from his resources, so that by making some sort of profit, he would be able to relieve his poverty. And when he, being a Jew, believed in giving little credit to a Christian, and required that a pledge should be brought to him before lending the treasure, the one who asked thrust himself forward, saying, "I do not have what I am able to give you as a pledge, but if you are willing to accept it, I will assign St Nicholas for me as a guarantor to you." Hearing this, as he was a Jew, he did not refuse, but replied to him with such preliminaries, "Nicholas," said he, "on whom you promise, I do not doubt that he is a good man, with his many associates and his glittering miracles. And because I have found him to be trustworthy from the reports that fly about of the most high God, that which you ask under the promise of his faith, if you yourself are willing, I will not hesitate to entrust to you. I believe indeed that a man of such authority would in no way defraud me of my affairs by a fraudulent promise." Therefore, with the common consent of both, they sought the oratory of St. Nicholas, and the Christian who was seeking the loan from the Jew, holding the horn of the altar, approached it in this way and said, "I deliver this altar to you as security, and at the same time I offer Saint Nicholas himself as a guarantor for me, before whose sight I also promise that what you now supply to me in such difficulty will be returned to you by me on the named day." He was therefore pleased with these commitments, and returning to his own house, brought what was asked for to the seeker, namely, a considerable quantity of gold.
2. Domino itaque favente sibi et sancto Nicolao opitulante, ad pristinam divitiarum abundantiam rediit in brevi tempore. Cum autem diffinitum tempus advenisset, judaeus, quod praestiterat, requirere satagit, rogans ut quod commodaverat voluntarie, celeriter restauraret. At ille ejus petitioni acquiescens, quidquid rogavit, prompta voluntate annuit. Verum trium induciarum jam transcurso spatio, judaeus rediit, obnixeque quod mutuum dederat, expetiit. Christianus vero immemor collati beneficii, astutia etiam deceptus diaboli, dixit omne debitum reddidisse se illi. Quod ille audiens et ultra quam credi possit obstupescens, iterum atque iterum monebat ut quod praestiterat, redderetur sibi. E contra Christianus affirmando asserebat se cuncta quae acceperat, restituisse.	2. Therefore, with the Lord favouring him and Saint Nicholas supporting him, he returned to his former abundance of riches in a short time. But when the appointed time had arrived, the Jew endeavoured to recover what he had supplied, asking him to speedily restore what he had voluntarily lent. But he, agreeing to his request, readily agreed to whatever he asked. When three engagements had already elapsed, the Jew returned, and demanded what he had lent. But the Christian, oblivious to the favours bestowed upon him, and also deceived by the cunning of the devil, said that he had paid all his debt to him. Hearing this, and being amazed beyond belief, he warned again and again that what he had supplied should be returned to him. On the other hand, the Christian affirmed that he had restored all that he had received.
Tandem civitatis generale adeuntes "mallum", coram senioribus et judicibus illius patriae, judaeus quae cum christiano egerat vel qua conditione illi aurum suum commodaverat, aptam protulit rationem, obsecrans ut eorum judicio quod mutuum donaverat, sibi integre redderetur. Ille autem qui acceperat, negando respondit, quidquid exigebat illi se reconsignasse integro libramine. Tunc ex consultu arbitrorum decretum est aut illi quod requirebat ad praesens reddendum fore, aut certe sacramento illi fidem facere omne quod exigebat recepisse. Ad haec judaeus : "Satis," inquit, "Nicolaum fidelem virum credo esse, sub cujus fide, quidquid defraudator defendit, videor commodasse. Attamen, si mihi jusjurandi fecerit fidem super illius altare quod in vadimonio suscepi, summam pecuniae quam repeto flocci pendo amittere. Scio enim cui aurum meum credidi, et certus sum non illum aliqua fraude posse decipi." O judaei gloriosissimam fidem, qui nondum in Christo renatus, credebat Deum ejusque famulum Nicolaum minime posse decipi fallacibus sacramentis.	In the end, going to the general judicial assembly of the city, before the elders and judges of that country, the Jew made a ready account of what business he had with the Christian, and on what condition he had lent him his gold, entreating that, through their jurisdiction, what he had lent would be fully returned to him. But he who had received it, answered by denying, that he had given back to him everything he was demanding in full measure. Then it was decided by the counsel of the arbitrators that either what he was requiring should be handed over to him immediately, or that he should swear an oath to him on the sacrament that he had received all that he was claiming. To these the Jew: "Enough," said he, "I believe that Nicholas is a trustworthy man, under whose guarantee I seem to have lent, whatever the defrauder says. However, if he makes the pledge of an oath to me on the altar of he whom I accepted as security, I consider of no importance the sum of money that I am claiming. For I know to whom I have entrusted my gold, and I am sure that he cannot be deceived by any fraud." Oh, the most glorious faith of the Jew, who, not yet reborn in Christ, believed that God and his servant Nicholas could not at all be deceived by deceitful sacraments.
3. Quid multis moror? Constituto iterum die simul conveniunt, judaeus videlicet cum suae legis testibus et christianus cum christianis hominibus. Fecerat autem idem christianus callida machinatione concavum quoddam in manu baculi manualis, in cujus concava summitate auri quantitatem quae repetebatur posuerat. Cumque pariter ad monasterium sancti Nicolai properarent, christianus ille baculum simul cum auro interius recondito judaeo dedit, petens ut usque ad basilicam sancti Nicolai illum deferret secum, ut, dum ille baculum cum auro reciperet atque manu portaret, quia illi quod exigebat in manu dederit, sacramenti fide jurare posset. O calliditas viri praesumptiosa, qua sanctum Nicolaum insontemque decipere conabatur. Sed quia non est sapientia neque prudentia neque calliditas contra Deum, meritis sancti Nicolai quem fallacem machinabatur efficere, fallax machinatio qualiter hominibus innotuit, in subsequentibus intimabo.	3. Why make a long story? On the appointed day they met together, the Jew with the witnesses of his law, and the Christian with the Christians. But the same Christian, by a clever device, had made a kind of hollow in the hand of a manual staff, in the hollow top of which he had placed the quantity of gold which was demanded. Then when they both hastened to the monastery of St. Nicholas, that Christian gave the staff, together with the gold stored inside, to the Jew, asking him to carry it with him as far as the basilica of St. Nicholas, so that while he was holding the staff with the gold and carrying it in his hand, because he had given him what he demanded in his hand, he could swear by the faith of the sacrament. Oh, the cunning of the presumptuous man, with which he foolishly tried to deceive Saint Nicholas. But since there is no wisdom, no prudence, no cunning against God, by the merits of St. Nicholas, whom he contrived to make into a swindler, how the deceitful plotting became known to men, I will relate in what follows.
4. Interea judaeus, tantae falsitatis ignarus, baculum jam dictum artificiose compositum manibus gestans, una cum christiano ad templum sancti Nicolai pervenit. Tunc miserrimus ille manum super altare ponens et pejurans, jusjurandi sacramentum intrepidus dixit, et ab altari laetus discessit. At judaeus: "Satis," inquit, "praestolabor quid vindicta de tanta falsitate mihi Nicolaus iste cui credidi, faciet." His dictis, utrique ad propria moenia recesserunt. Cumque christianus iter quod ad suam mansionem tendebat, alacris perageret, in ipso itineris medio tanto sopore depressus est ut, si ibidem non modicum quiesceret, statim exhalaret animam. Projiciens itaque se bivio, baculum quem confecerat cum auro juxta se posuit et divinitus obdormivit Igitur cum inibi somno depressus jaceret, repente vehiculum onustum bobus trahentibus per eamdem viam veniebat, et usque ad ipsum locum quo ille jacebat, pervenit. Cumque bibulci eum non possent excitare, nec in alteram partem carrum reflectere, impetu valido bobus super eum transeuntibus carrum illud quod trahebatur, per eum transivit, eumque mox exanimem reddidit, et baculum juxta eum jacentem contrivit. Tunc omnibus qui aderant, aurum quod reposuerat, apparuit, et quanta calliditate adversus judaeum usus fuerat, judicibus et magistratibus omnique populo claruit.	4. In the meantime the Jew, unaware of so great a falsehood, carrying in his hands the aforementioned cunningly modified staff, arrived together with the Christian at the temple of St. Nicholas. Then the wretched one, placing his hand on the altar and swearing falsely, said the sacrament of the oath fearlessly, and departed from the altar rejoicing. But the Jew: "Enough," said he, "I wonder what vengeance this Nicholas, in whom I have trusted, will for to me for so great a falsehood." Having said this, both of them retired to their own homes. But when the Christian was making his way to his abode with vigour, in the very middle of the journey he fell into such a deep slumber that, if he had not rested there a little, he would have immediately expired. Throwing himself down at the crossroads, he placed the staff he had made of gold beside him and fell miraculously asleep. Then, as he lay there in a deep sleep, suddenly a vehicle laden with oxen came along the same road, and reached the very place where he was lying. And when the horsemen could not rouse him, nor turn the cart to the other side, the oxen passing over him by a strong impulse, the cart which was being drawn passed over him and soon rendered him lifeless, and it broke the staff lying beside him. Then the gold which he had put there appeared to all who were present, and it became known to the judges and magistrates and to all the people with what cunning he had used it against the Jew.
5. Cum ergo ad illud spectaculum undique suburbani convolarent, judaeus quoque et ipse accurrens, affuit, et aurum suum quod ille fraudator ei suis commentis denegarat, judicibus illic astantibus recepit. Cursu itaque citato usque ad sancti Nicolai oratorium pervenit, et coram astans dixit: "Gratias tibi ago, bone Nicolae, quia fideliter mihi aurum restituisti quod in tua commisi fide. Enimvero, quia tanta mihi immerito voluisti exhibere beneficia, neque passus es me deludi ab illo fraudatore, amodo te venerabor ut Deum, et velut summi Dei fidelissimum amicum et testem. Verum si tanta procacitatis virum resuscitando mihi tuis beneficiis ingrato virtutem tui meriti propalares, cum omni familia juris mei Deo tuo crederem, et omnes quos possem meas religionis viros ad Christianorum sectam convertere conarer." Itaque dum ad invicem de re qua acciderat, confabularentur, ecce qui mortuus fuerat, limina templi ingressus, coram altari sancti Nicolai procidit, et de his qua gesta erant, veniam impetrando, sese culpabilem reddidit, et sic ad domum suam rediit. Quod judaeus ut vidit, confestim credens Christo, cum omni domo sua se baptizari petiit, et judaismum deserens deinceps Christo sanctoque Nicolai fidelis permansit. O facilis pietas eximii confessoris, qui petitionibus viri judaei patulas aures tam facile praebuit, et quod petebatur adimplevit. Ejus itaque imploremus gratissimam clementiam pietatis totis cordium medullis, ut orationum nostrarum libamina ad aures summi deferat conditoris, qui super omnia vivit et regnat in solio regni coelestis. Amen.	5. When, therefore, the townspeople from all parts of the country flocked to that spectacle, the Jew himself also ran there, arrived, and received his gold, which the swindler had denied him by his tricks, from the judges who were standing there. So he hurried on and reached the oratory of St. Nicholas, and standing before him said: "I thank you, good Nicholas, because you have faithfully restored to me the gold which I committed to your trust. Indeed, because you wished to present me with such undeserved favours, you did not suffer me to be deceived by that swindler, from now on I will worship you as God, and as the most faithful friend and witness of the Most High God. Indeed, if by your favours you would show me the thankless power of your merit, by resurrecting a man of such impudence, I would believe in your God with all the family of my household, and I would try to convert all the men of my religion that I could to the sect of Christians." And so, while they were talking to one another about what had happened, behold, he who had died entered the threshold of the temple, fell down before the altar of St. Nicholas, and, obtaining pardon for what had been done, confessed himself guilty, and so returned to his home. When the Jew saw this, immediately believing in Christ, he asked to be baptized with all his household, and abandoning Judaism thenceforth remained faithful to Christ and St Nicholas. Oh, the easy piety of the excellent confessor, who so readily gave open ears to the requests of the Jewish man, and fulfilled what was asked. Therefore let us beseech him with all the innermost part of our hearts for his gracious mercy, that he may bring the first-fruits of our prayers to the ears of the supreme creator, who lives above all things and reigns on the throne of the heavenly kingdom. Amen.

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9.6b [BHL 6175] The Jew and the Staff and the Christian Swindler (epitome)

Quidam etiam locuples mercator prodige et improvide vixit, quem incuria ad ultimam egestatem perduxit. Hic petit a Judaeo pecuniam sibi dari mutuo. Cui Judaeus ait, si vadimonium ponat, pecuniam commodet quam petat. Ille negat se habere vadimonium, nisi forte fideijussorem velit recipere Nicolaum. Judaeus inquit: "Audio Nicolaum esse fidelem; hunc recipio fidejussorem." Dedit itaque Christiano homini aurum, retinens in vadimonio Nicolaum. Postquam autem ille abundantia pecuniarium excrevit, Judaeus datam pecuniam repetit. Quem ille indutias poscit, et Judaeus nihilominus tribus vicibus praestolando concedit. Deinde repetenti pecuniam denegat, seque reddidisse jurat. Res ante judices ventilatur, et ut aut in praesentiarum pecuniam reddat, aut sacramento abneget lege promulgatur. Christianus itaque acceptum aurum baculo callide inclusum Judaeo portandum tradit, cum quo omnique populi frequentia ad ecclesiam Sancti Nicolai juraturus vadit. Quo perveniens super altare jurat, quod in vadimonium posuerat se aurum reddidisse quod mutuo acceperat. Tunc vero Judaeus: "Confido, inquit, quod me vindicabit Nicolaus." Ille autem baculum a Judaeo recipit, domum laetus cum suis repetit. Qui mox divina ultione multatur, quia de proximi laesione gloriabatur. In itinere quippe ingens sopor eum occupat, ut se putat animam exhalare nisi parum dormiat. Itaque collocat se dormiturus in bivio, posito juxta se baculo. Et ecce carrum onustum advenit, quod in neutram partem declinare nequit. Cumque bubulci nec clamando nec pulsando stertentem excitare valerent, super letifero somno praessum cum vehiculo transierunt, animaque excussa fraudulentum contriverunt. Qui ut aurum confracto baculo splendere viderunt, res cunctis patuit, pro qua culpa Dei judicio occubuit. Concurrente undique populo aurum redditur Judaeo. Qui ecclesiam cum populo intrat, laudes Deo et sancto Nicolao resonat. Deinde voto se constringit, si vita aemulo suo reddatur, ipse mox baptismate abluatur. O clementia Jesu Christi! O merita sancti Nicolai! Illis laudes canentibus homo totis membris in mortem contritus ingreditur vivus, reatum suum confitetur coram omnibus. Quo viso Judaeus, cum omni domo sua, fidei nostrae associatur. Christus Dominus ejusque fidelis famulus Nicolaus ab omnibus magnis vocibus collaudatur.

A certain rich merchant also lived lavishly and imprudently, whose carelessness brought him to the last poverty. He asked a Jew to give him money as a loan. The Jew said to him that, if he put down security, he would lend him the money as he asked. He said that he did not have security, unless perhaps he was willing to accept Nicholas as a guarantor. The Jew said, "I hear that Nicholas is trustworthy; I accept this guarantor." So he gave gold to the Christian man, keeping Nicholas as security. But after that abundance of money grew, the Jew demanded back the money given. He asked him for a delay in repaying, and the Jew still consents, waiting for three repayments. Then he refused to return the money, and swore that he had returned it [already]. The matter was aired before the judges, and it was promulgated by law that he should either pay the money now, or be denied the sacrament. And so the Christian handed the gold received, cunningly enclosed in a staff, to the Jew to carry, and went with him and a crowd of all the people to the church of St. Nicholas to swear an oath. When he arrived at the altar, which he had given as security, he swore that he had given back the gold that he had received as a loan. But then the Jew said, "I trust that Nicholas will vindicate me." Then he received the staff from the Jew, and he returned home laughing with his family. He was immediately punished by divine retribution, because he was priding himself on his neighbour's injury. For on the journey a great drowsiness seized him, so that he thought that he would breathe out his soul unless he slept a little. And so he placed himself to sleep at the crossroads, placing the staff beside him. And behold, an laden wagon arrived, which could not turn aside in either direction. And when the cowherds were unable to rouse the snoring man either by shouting or beating, they carried on over the one held down by a lethal sleep with the vehicle, and crushed the cast-down soul and the fraudulent [staff]. When they saw that gold glittered from the broken staff, the matter was revealed to all, and for which crime he lay dead by the judgement of God. As people came together from all sides, the gold was returned to the Jew. He entered the church with the people, and praises resounded to God and St. Nicholas. Then he bound himself with an oath that, if his rival's life was restored, he himself would immediately be washed in baptism. O the mercy of Jesus Christ! O the merits of St. Nicholas! After they sang these praises, the man, with all his limbs broken in death, walked in alive, and he confessed his guilt before all. On seeing this, the Jew, with all his household, was united to our faith. Christ the Lord and his faithful servant Nicholas were praised by all with loud voices.

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9.7 [BHL 6176] A Demon Murders a Boy

Quam piis impius, quam devotis invidus, quam sanctis insidiosus sit antiquus noster adversarius, ex inspectis sequentibus colligere poterit prudens intellectus. Vir quidam venerabilis vitae in Longobardorum olim habitavit regione, cujus fuit conjugalis socia conditionis paris ex parte sua; de qua ortum sibi filium in summam vitae gloriam summaeque felicitatis habuit jactantiam, utpote unicum possessionis suae pariter et laboris heredem, et futurae senectutis fiduciam singularem. Vir igitur iste, divinitatis cultor eximius et sanctorum Dei deprecator assiduus, omnium erat generaliter honori deditus, sed beato Nicolao privilegiata quadam devotione quasi appropriatus. Ad cujus festum festive celebrandum ritu annuo clericos convocabat; peractoque spirituali festo festum eis carnale decentissime praeparabat, et discessuris tandem singulis dona prout potuit lateralia conferebat. Convocatis igitur semel ex more clericis ad beati praesulis merita recolenda, mores et miracula ritu ecclesiastico retractanda, summo mane stratu suo exiliit et a somno sponsam simul excitavit, ut ituri citius ad ecclesiam primam pariter et novissimam caperent servitii portionem. Expergefacta autem femina, ad viri sui nutum, ut decuit, disciplinaliter erudita, immo ad domini sui Nicolai obsequium omni tempore vigilantissima : "Terribile," ait, "ausculta quod conspexi somnium, quod et nunc vigilem me mentis inopem totamque reddit in tuto trepidantem. Vidi enim lupum quemdam vehementi impetu in me irruentem, ubera mea cruentis faucibus laniantem et cruorem profluum sitientissimo gustu suscipientem." Dixerat et in dicto boni aliquid portentari sibi voverat; filium suum et cetera omnia sancti Nicolai curae commendaverat. Egressi que pede propero ecclesiam pervenerunt, ubi in laudes sancti tota devotione, toto desiderio, summa mentis suavitate suspensi, pro se et suis preces placabiles Deo diutius obtulerunt. Vidit igitur et invidit, piis semper votis obvius, quidam satanae consentaneus, assumptoque habitu poenitentis domum eorum adiit daemon religiosus, ficte quidem alimoniam petens, sed non ficte sanctis hominum exercitiis insidiis praetendens. Porro famulis hac illac discurrentibus et convivium clericorum sparsim procurantibus, solus forsan sedit custos domus puer, patrisfamilias filius. Qui, ad daemonem assistentem et miserrimi, ut erat, vultum praetendentem, de insolito habitu admirans, ait: "Quis enim tu es aut quo merito tantae raritatis paenitudinem exhibes? Edicito mihi unde veneris, ut accipias postea quod precaris."- "Ego," inquit hypocrita, "de longinqua regione irrediturus, reor, venio, addictus olim servus regi cuidam potentissimo; sed, quia uni conservo meo, pro singularitate sui honoris, in ipsum regem superbienti, consensum inconsultius exhibui, cum ipso pariter omni honore privatus, necnon exul et exheredatus sum, et nullum hactenus consecutus reconciliationis effectum. Sane, quia in ipsum tantae potestatis dominum ulcisci non potui, quotquot de suis vi vel fraude forsan obtinui, tam multos innoxios unus interemi, ut ob hoc perennem acturus poenitentiam veniam, tamen tanti sceleris non merear affuturam. Desine ergo, desine vanis me miserum detinere sermonibus: affer potius quod poposci, ut procedam poenitendo ulterius."	How impious our ancient adversary is to the pious, how envious to the devout, how treacherous to the saints, the prudent intellect will be able to gather from the observations that follow. A certain man of venerable life once dwelt in the country of the Lombards, whose conjugal partner was of equal condition on her part; by whom he boasted of the birth of a son in the highest glory and highest happiness of his life, as the sole heir of his possessions as well as of his labours, and the single reliance of his future old age. This man, then, an excellent worshiper of the divinity and a constant supplicant of the saints of God, was generally devoted to the honour of all, but to blessed Nicholas he was, as it were, appropriated by a kind of privileged devotion. To celebrate the feast of whom he called together the clergy with an annual ceremony, and when the spiritual feast was over, he prepared a bodily feast for them in the most decent manner, and at the end of his departure he gave each of them such small gifts as he could. When, therefore, the clergy had once been summoned as usual to recall the merits of the blessed prince, and to review the manners and miracles of the ecclesiastical rite, he sprang from his bed early in the morning, and at the same time roused his bride from sleep, that they might go quickly to the church to receive the first and last portion of the service. Then the woman woke up, at the beckoning of her husband, as is fitting, trained in discipline, and indeed at all times vigilant to the obedience of her master Nicholas. "Listen," she said, "to the terrible dream I have had, which even now makes me alert, helpless in mind, and totally trembling on guard. For I saw a certain wolf rush upon me with a violent attack, gnawing at my breasts with his bloody jaws, and drinking the flow of blood with the most thirsty taste." She spoke, and in what was said, she vowed that there was something portentous of good to them, and she entrusted her son and everything else to the care of St. Nicholas. Having gone out, they reached the church on hasty foot, where, suspended in the praises of the saint with all devotion, with all longing, and with the utmost gentleness of mind, they offered for a longer time appeasing prayers to God for themselves and theirs. Then a certain accomplice of Satan saw and envied them, always hostile to pious vows, and assuming the clothes of a penitent, the religious demon went to their house, falsely indeed asking for alms, but in fact doing so as a pretext for a treacherous attack on the holy exercises of men. Moreover, with the servants running to and fro, and arranging the feast of the clergy here and there, perhaps the only keeper of the house was the boy, the son of the father of the family. He, attending the demon, showing a most miserable face as he was, marvelling at his unusual clothing, said: "Now who are you, or by what merit do you show penitence of such rarity? Tell me whence you come, that you may afterwards receive what you pray for." - "I," said the hypocrite, "I come from a distant country to which I think I am destined not to return, having once been the dedicated slave of a very powerful king; but because I was rashly joined with one of my comrades, in showing pride after the manner of the king himself for the uniqueness of his honour, with him I was deprived of all honour in the same manner, as well as exiled and disinherited, and to this day no act of reconciliation has followed. Of course, because I could not take revenge on the master of so much power, however many of his men I got hold of by force or fraud, I alone have done away with so many innocent people, that for this I will do penance forever, and still I do not deserve to be present at so great a crime. Stop, therefore, stop delaying me with empty words: instead bring me what I want, so I can proceed further in repentance."
Accedentis igitur parvuli manum misericordem immisericors hostis arripuit, et, sicut solet ceteros, innocentem ocius jugulavit, subjungens se non cibum carnis sed esurire semper mortem hominis. Redeuntes tandem a procuratione sua famulos quis stupor, quae confusio, quis putas dolor pro dolosa nece pervasit? Quippe nescientes quid agerent, quo se secure diverterent, quem auctorem tanti sceleris accusarent, ad unicum tandem quod habebant, planctus et moeroris refugium pariter declinabant.	Then the merciless enemy seized the merciful hand of the little one approaching, and, as he usually did with others, quickly strangled the innocent, subjugating himself to eat, not the bread of the flesh, but always the death of a man. When the servants returned at last from their business, what astonishment, what confusion, what sorrow do you think went through them for the treacherous murder? Obviously not knowing what to do, where they could safely take themselves, whom they should accuse as the author of so great a crime, they were likewise avoiding the refuge of weeping and grief.
Dolor quidem eorum dolor multus, sed dolor parentum dolor infinitus; quia quos damnum carnis attigit, poena propior penitus penetravit. Quis enim credat planctui pepercisse quos sic contigerat totum vitae solatium tam subito perdidisse? Accurrens namque pater jam peremptus in filio et prae dolore interno extra se factus, vultu quoque et voce incompositus, ut prae viribus pietatis virum oblitus, excusso capite, confusa mente, demissa facie parumper avertit; et reversus demum ad mortuum, satis querulam hanc prorumpit in vocem. (Sequuntur querelae per unam paginam.)	Indeed, their pain was an intense pain, but the pain of the parents was an infinite pain; because the punishment entered more deeply those touched by the loss of the flesh. For who can believe that those who thus happen to have lost so suddenly all the comforts of life are spared from weeping? For the father rushed in, already deprived of life in his son, and was beside himself because of his internal pain, his face and voice also disorganised, as if because of force he forgot the strength of piety, with shaking head, and confused mind, he turned away for a moment with a downcast face; and returning at last to the dead, he burst out with this plaintive complaint. (A page of complaints follows).
Inter verba patris querula non potuit mater ventris sui dissimulare dispendia; sed ob poenam quam sensit, sensus paene nescia et prae doloris copia sui inops effecta, complosis manibus, collisis dentibus, transversis oculis, altis suspiriis prolapsa solo diutius laboravit. Tantoque gravius quod perdiderat, interius planxit, quanto prae dolore nimio non potuit indicare quod doluit. Tandem tamen vultu lugubri, voce miserabili, more muliebri, hanc prorupit ut potuit in querelam. (Sequuntur querela matris per paginam unam.)	Amid the complaining words of the father, the mother could not conceal the loss of her stomach; but because of the suffering that she felt, feeling almost unconscious, and helpless because of the amount of her pain, she lay distressed on the ground for a long time with clasped hands, clashing teeth, crossed eyes, and prostrated with deep sighs. And what she had lost was all the more serious, and she wept inwardly, because she was unable to say that she grieved because of her such great grief. At last, however, with a gloomy countenance, and a pitiful voice, in the manner of a woman, she burst forth as she could into a complaint. (A page of complaints by the mother follows.)
Post effusas hujusmodi conjugum querimonias, facta fuit in familia districta prohibitio ne clericis invitatis eventus rei ullo panderetur indicio: quia, si secus fieret, convivii diem in moestitiae mutari noctem facile contingeret. Clericis itaque convivantibus et diem festum quam festive poterant omnimodis celebrantibus, tanto acrius conjuges doluerunt intus quanto plus laetitiae resonabat42 exterius. Et hoc, ut arbitror, eis crevit ad supplicium quod ferventi intus doloris incendio planctus refrigerium scienter subtraxerunt. Videres igitur intus ipsos miserabiles mutuae compassionis alternari respectus; videres etiam per laetos vultus invitis oculis lacrimas decurrentes, furtivos quoque gemitus jocunda verba raptim interrumpentes : vehementissima quippe vis doloris modo eos sui oblitos reddidit, modo autem superabundans violenter erupit.	After the outpouring of complaints of this kind from the spouses, there was made a strict prohibition in the family, that the events of the matter should not be spread to the invited clergymen, because, if it were done otherwise, it would easily happen that the day of the feast would turn into a night of sadness. With the clergy therefore convivial, and celebrating the feast day as festively as they could in every way, the spouses grieved so much more keenly inwardly, the more joy resounded outwardly. And this, I think, increased their suffering, because they knowingly withdrew the relief of tears from the burning pain inside them. You would see, then, that within themselves the wretched were alternately treated with mutual compassion; you would even see tears running down the happy faces of the unwilling eyes, and furtive moans also abruptly interrupting the jocular words: for the most intense force of pain now made them forget themselves, and now overflowing it burst forth violently. 42. "supra lin. "vel resultabat" (= or resulted)"
Sensit cito pius praesul suorum suspiria, copiosae caritatis jam transfixus lancea, qua jam olim super afflictos pia gessit viscera, assumptaque peregrini specie, ad domum venit luctus et laetitiae. Transeunte vero per convivas suos hospite, respectu facto vidit virum expectantem munus alimoniae. Etsi dolor ipsum multum alienasset a se, non tamen est oblitus misericorditer ceteris subvenire. Mendicum enim illum divitem se privatim poni provide postulantem, pium nolens revocare propositum, in interiorem introduxit thalamum ubi corpus pueri pannis jacuit secretius involutum.	The pious bishop soon perceived the sighs of his people, already pierced with the lance of abundant charity, where once pious bowels ached over the afflicted, and assuming the appearance of a stranger, he came to the house of mourning and joy. But the host, passing through the convivial guests, looking back, he saw a man waiting for a gift of alms. Although grief had estranged him from himself, he did not forget to help others with compassion. For he led that beggarly rich man, desiring providently that he should be kept in private, and unwilling to go back on his pious purpose, led him into the interior chamber, where the body of the child lay, more secretly wrapped in cloths.
Quid plura? Accessit sanctus et commovit mortuum, disparensque postea reliquit redivivum. Redeunte tandem homine et novo hospiti quae quaesierat cibaria afferente, filium suum sibi occurrentem amplexusque pristinos offerentem habuit; virum autem quem induxerat, immotis ceteris solum non invenit. Quantum igitur gaudii et stuporis excessum mente concepit, ille melius explicare potest qui consimile aliquid in se expertus est. Cognovit illico dominum suum suo affuisse solatio, cujus ipse annuatim tenebatur obsequio. Producto siquidem in palam filio et in gremio matris incolumi collocato, in quam summam subitae admirationis gloriam materna mens repente rapta fuerit, pensari potius quam exponi, non tamen plene poterit. Tunc confusa prius respirabant pectora; tunc in laetos luctus concepta intus eruperunt gaudia: pro summa enim praegustata miseria fuit incapabilis felicitas subsecuta. Nota ergo novitate miraculi, coeperunt simul omnes magnificare sanctum Dei, et quod fuit residuum de convivio duplicato celebratur obsequio. Tunc sonabat cithara, tunc psallebant psalteria. Clerici quoque vociferabant modulatione trifaria; et, si prius habuerant sancti praesulis diem festum, duplum deinceps adjecerunt honoris annui incrementum. Benedicamus igitur et nos Deum coeli et cum cunctis viventibus confiteamur illi, qui pro Nicolai meritis tot est toties auxiliatus afflictis.	What more is there to say? The saint came in and awakened the dead man, and disappearing left behind afterwards the revived boy. When the man returned at length and brought the food that he had sought for his new guest, he found his son running to meet him and offering an embrace as before; but, although the rest had not moved, he did not find alone the man whom he had led in. He, therefore, who has experienced something similar in himself, can better explain how much excess of joy and amazement he conceived in his mind. He knew at once that his master had provided his solace, to whose service he himself was bound annually. Then the son was brought out in public and placed unharmed in the bosom of his mother, and the utmost glory of sudden wonder into which the mother's mind was suddenly rapt, can be more fully weighed rather than explained. Then, with confused hearts, they first took a breath; then the joys that had been conceived within in mourning broke out in happiness; for instead of the greatest misery, tasted in advance, there followed an incomprehensible happiness. So, learning of therefore the novelty of the miracle, they all began at the same time to magnify the saint of God, and what was left of the banquet was celebrated with a double service. Then the harp sounded, then the psaltery played. The clergy, too, cried out in a three-tone tune; and if previously they were keeping the feast day of the holy bishop, they afterwards added a double increase of the annual honour. Let us therefore bless the God of heaven, and confess with all living things to him who, for the merits of Nicholas, has so often helped the afflicted.

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THE END

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Translation from Roger Pearse, Thoughts on Antiquity, Patristics, Information Access, and More, St. Nicholas of Myra — Translations, Ipswich, England, March 2023, placed in the public domain.

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