[108] And as he prayed, all the prisoners looked on him, and besought him to pray for them: and when he had prayed and was set down, he began to utter a psalm in this wise:
1
When I was an infant childin the palace of my Father,
2
and resting in the wealth and luxury of my nurturers,3
out of the East, our native country, my parents provisioned me and sent me.4
And of the wealth of those their treasures they put together a load,5
both great and light, that I might carry it alone.6
Gold is the load, of them that are above (or of the land of the Ellaeans or Gilaeans),and silver of the great treasures (or of Gazzak the great),
7
and stones, chalcedonies from the Indians,and pearls from ‹the land of› the Kosani (Kushan).
8
And they armed me with adamant ‹which breaketh iron›,9
and they took off from me 2 the garment set with gems, spangled with gold, which they had made for me because they loved me,10
and the robe that was yellow in hue, made for my stature.11
And they made a covenant with me, and inscribed it on mine understanding, that I should ‹not› forget it, and said:12
If thou go down into Egypt, and bring back thence the one pearl13
which is there ‹in the midst of the sea› girt about by the devouring serpent,14
thou shalt put on ‹again› the garment set with gems, and that robe whereupon it resteth (or which is thereon),Acta Thomae. Anonymous. Oxford. 1924.
Funding provided by University of Virginia; Center for Hellenic Studies.