In the Yule-Log Glow, Book I | Page 9

of that which appeared to
them, wherefore many paynims left their errors and worshipped the
Holy Child.
And thus these three worshipful Kings dwelt in their kingdoms in
honest and devout conversation until the coming of St. Thomas, the

apostle.
Now, after the three Kings had gone forth from Bethlehem, there began
to wax, all about, a great fame for Mary and her Child, and for the
Kings of the East. Wherefore, Mary, in dread of persecution, fled out of
the little house where Christ was born, and went to another dark cave
and there abode; and divers men and women loved her and ministered
to her all manner of necessaries. But when she went out of the little
house, Mary forgot and left behind her her smock and the clothes in
which Christ was wrapped, folded together and laid in the manger; and
there they were, whole and fresh, in the same place to the time when St.
Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, came thither, long after.
Anon so great was grown Mary's fame that she durst not abide longer
there for dread of Herod and the Jews, and an angel appeared to Joseph,
saying: "Arise, and take the Child and His mother and flee into Egypt,
and tarry there till I summon thee, for it is to come that Herod shall
seek the Child to slay Him." Then Joseph arose and took the Child and
His mother and went into Egypt in the night, and there he remained
until Herod died. And Mary and her Son dwelt in Egypt seven years.
And it is told that by the road which Mary journeyed thither and came
back again, grew roses, which are called the Roses of Jericho, and they
grow in no other place. The shepherds of that country, in following
their sheep, gather these roses in their season, and sell them to pilgrims,
and thus they be borne into divers lands. And the place where Mary
dwelt is now a garden where groweth balm, and to every bush a
Christian man, among the Sultan's prisoners, is assigned to protect it
and keep it clean; for when a paynim keepeth them, anon the bushes
wax dry and grow no more. And this balm hath many virtues the which
were long to tell; but all men in the East believe truly that the place
bears such a virtue of growing balm because Mary dwelt there seven
years, and washed and bathed her Son in its wells of water.
And as to the gifts which the three Kings gave to Christ: the thirty gilt
pennies of Melchior were made of old by Thara, father of Abraham,
and Abraham bare them with him when he went on pilgrimage out of
the land of Chaldee into Ebron, which was then called Arabia, and

there he bought with them a burial-place for himself, his wife, and his
children, Isaac and Jacob. In exchange for the same thirty pieces Joseph
was sold by his brethren to merchants of Egypt. Afterward, when Jacob
died, they were sent to the land of Sheba to buy divers spices and
ornaments for his sepulture, and so they were put into the king's
treasury of that land. Then by process of time, in Solomon's reign, the
Queen of Sheba offered these thirty gilt pennies, with many rich jewels,
in the Temple at Jerusalem; but in the time of Roboam, King Solomon's
son, when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple despoiled, they
were carried to the King of Arabia, and were put into his treasury with
other spoils from the Temple.
And Melchior offered these same thirty pieces to Christ, because they
were of the finest gold, and the best that he had. But when Mary went
into Egypt she lost all the gifts of the three Kings by the way, bound all
in one cloth together. And it happened there was a shepherd who had so
great an infirmity that no leech might heal him, and all that he had he
paid to the leeches to be whole,--yet it might not be. But, on a time, as
he went into the fields with his sheep, he found these thirty gilt pennies,
with incense and myrrh, bound all in a cloth together, and he kept them
privily to himself, until, hearing tell of a holy prophet that healed all
men of their infirmities by a word, he came to Christ and prayed Him
for grace and help; and, being healed, he offered the gold, and incense,
and myrrh to Him with good devotion. And when Christ saw the thirty
gilt pennies and precious herbs He knew them well, and bade the
shepherd go into the Temple and offer them upon the altar.
Now, when the priest saw such oblations laid upon the