The Prudent Wife

When we were on the island of Samos, the God-loving mother of the lord Paul the candidatus told us this:

“In the city of Nisibis there lived a Christian woman. Her husband was a pagan. They had fifty miliarisia. One day the husband said to his wife:

— Let us lend this money at interest, that we may see some profit from it; otherwise it will go on small things and be spent away.

— If thou wouldst lend the money at interest and receive a profit, then go and give it to the God of the Christians, — his wife answered.

— And where shall I find the God of the Christians?

— I will show thee. And know that this money will not be lost: He will return the debt with interest, and will double the capital besides.

— Let us go... show me... let us give the money! — cried the husband.

His wife brought him to the church. The church of Nisibis had five great doors. When they had entered the portico, the woman pointed out the beggars to her husband and said:

— Give to these, and the God of the Christians will receive it from thee; they are all His.

The husband gladly distributed his fifty miliarisia and returned home. Three months passed, and the two of them fell into great want.

— Sister, — said the husband to his wife, — as I see it, the God of the Christians returns us nothing, and we are in the utmost need...

— No! — answered his wife. — That cannot be! Go to the place where thou didst give the money away, and He will surely return it to thee.

The husband hastened to the church. He came to the place where he had given the money away; then he went round the whole church, hoping to meet someone who would repay the debt, but he found no such person: only the beggars sat in the portico as before... He stood a while in one place, thinking what he should do and to whom he should turn. Suddenly he saw on the marble floor a large coin — of the same value as his own coins had been. He picked it up and went home.

— See, — he said to his wife, — I was in your church, but I did not find the God of the Christians there, and He returned me nothing, as thou didst assure me. I found only one miliarision in the place where I gave away fifty...

— It was He who gave it to thee, unseen! — cried that wonderful woman. — By His unseen power and right hand He governs the whole world. Now go, my lord, buy food for this day, and He will help thee again.

The husband went. He bought bread, wine and one fish. Then he came home and gave it all to his wife. The woman began to clean the fish. When she cut it open, she found in its belly a most beautiful and astonishing stone. She did not know what stone it was, but she kept it, and at dinner she showed it to her husband and said:

— This stone I found in the inwards of the fish...

The husband was struck by the beauty of the stone, though neither did he know what stone it was. After dinner he said to his wife:

— Give me that stone; perhaps I shall sell it and get at least a little money.

He was a simple man and, as I have said, did not know the worth of the stone. He took it and went to the money-changer's shop. This money-changer was also a goldsmith. It was growing late. The shop was just about to be shut.

— Wilt thou buy this stone? — the man asked the goldsmith.

— For how much dost thou sell it?

— Give me as much as thou wilt.

— I will give thee five miliarisia.

The man took what was said for a jest, and asked:

— Dost thou give me so much for this stone?

The goldsmith, for his part, thought the man was laughing at him, and answered:

— Then I will give thee ten miliarisia.

It seemed to the man that he was being jested with again, and he said nothing.

— Very well, take twenty miliarisia, — said the goldsmith.

The man was silent again. The goldsmith raised the price little by little. He offered thirty, then fifty, and swore besides that he was in no way deceiving him. At this the man seemed to come to himself and understood that the stone must be worth something, or no one would give fifty miliarisia for it. But the goldsmith kept raising the price again and again, and came at last to three hundred miliarisia. The man took the money, gave the stone to the goldsmith and hastened home as if on wings. When he came in, his wife asked him:

— Well, how did it go, for how much didst thou sell it?

And she was thinking that they had given him perhaps five or six folles.

The husband handed her three hundred miliarisia and said:

— For so much!

Amazed at the boundless love of God for man, the woman said:

— Now dost thou see, my good man, how gracious and merciful, how rich is the God of the Christians! Thou gavest fifty miliarisia, and He has not only returned the debt with interest, but in a few months has multiplied thy capital sixfold. Know then: neither in heaven nor on earth is there any other God save the God of the Christians...

The husband, for his part, was astounded by this wonder, and by his own experience he came to know the truth; whereupon he straightway partook of the light of Christianity and glorified our Saviour Jesus Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And he warmly thanked his prudent wife, through whom he had come to know the true God.”