1
allegories of the first letter, he was at a great loss about such a narrative,
and about His teaching. And He said to those that were present:
2
Alas! I, wretch
that I am, am at a loss, bringing shame upon myself by having dragged this child
hither.
3
Take him away, then, I beseech thee, brother Joseph. I cannot endure the
sternness of his look;
4
I cannot make out his meaning at all. That child does not
belong to this earth; he can tame even fire.
5
Assuredly he was born before the
creation of the world. What sort of a belly bore him, what sort of a womb
nourished him, I do not know.
6
Alas! my friend, he has carried me away; I cannot
get at his meaning: thrice wretched that I am, I have deceived myself.
7
I made a
struggle to have a scholar, and I was found to have a teacher. My mind is filled
with shame, my friends, because I, an old man, have been conquered by a child.
8
There is nothing for me but despondency and death on account of this boy, for I
am not able at this hour to look him in the face; and when everybody says that I
have been beaten by a little child, what can I say? And how can I give an
account of the lines of the first letter that he spoke about?
9
I know not, O my
friends; for I can make neither beginning nor end of him. Therefore, I beseech
thee, brother Joseph, take him home.
10
What great thing he is, either god or
angel, or what I am to say, I know not.