abdulhakeem
27-10-03, 09:48 PM
Once when Jesus, the son of Mary, was travelling in the wilderness, a selfish man joined him. Now Jesus had three loaves of bread, and when they rested he gave one to his fellow traveller and ate one himself, and the third one was left. While Jesus went to fetch water, the man ate the loaf, and when Jesus came back, he did not find it. He asked, "My friend, what happened to the third loaf?" The man replied, "I do not know." Then tey continued their journey.
Soon they came to a river, and there was neither a ferry nor a bridge. Jesus took his fellow traveller's hand and walked whith him across the water. When they had reached the middle of the river, Jesus said, "By the power of Him who makes this miracle happen, do tell me what happened to the third loaf." The man replied, "I do not know." They crossed the river and continued their journey.
When they had walked for some time, they became hungry again. There was no bread left, so they caught a deer, slaughtered it, roasted the meat and ate it. Afterwards Jesus arranged the bones and said a prayer, and the deer became alive again and ran away. Jesus said, "By the power of Him who makes this miracle happen, do tell me what happened to the third loaf." The man replied, "I do not know, and I wish you would not molest me with this question any more."
When they continued, they reached a place where there were three heaps of stones. Jesus said a prayer, and the heaps of stones were changed into heaps of gold. He said to his fellow traveller, "One heap is for you, one heap is for me, and one heap is for the one who has eaten the third loaf." Hearing this, the man was suddenly changed completely, and he said, "I have eaten the third loaf because I was very hungry." When Jesus heard this confession, he said, "I do not want or need any gold. All three heaps shall be yours. But you cannot be my fellow traveller any longer." So he left the man with the gold and continued alone.
Soon afterwards, two men came by. They saw all the gold and asked, "Who is the owner of this?" The first man said, "It is mine." "No," the two others said, "It is now ours." They quarreled for a while, then they decided to share the gold.
Now the quarrel had made them all hungry, so the first man said, "I will go to the nearest village and buy us some bread." The two others agreed readily and said, "When we have eaten and gained some strength, we will share the gold justly and take it away."
The first man went into the village, bought three loaves of bread, ate one of them and poisoned the other two because he thought that then the two others would die and the three heaps of gold would belong to him again.
In the meantime, the two others had decided to kill the first man and to share the gold among themselves, so they lay in lurch for him, murdered him, ate the two loaves he had brought for them and died from the poison.
When Jesus came along this way some time later, he found the three heaps of gold and the three dead men. He said to himself, "If I leave this gold lying here, it will only attract human greed and cause more mischief." He said a prayer, and the three heaps of gold were turned back into heaps of stones.
Soon they came to a river, and there was neither a ferry nor a bridge. Jesus took his fellow traveller's hand and walked whith him across the water. When they had reached the middle of the river, Jesus said, "By the power of Him who makes this miracle happen, do tell me what happened to the third loaf." The man replied, "I do not know." They crossed the river and continued their journey.
When they had walked for some time, they became hungry again. There was no bread left, so they caught a deer, slaughtered it, roasted the meat and ate it. Afterwards Jesus arranged the bones and said a prayer, and the deer became alive again and ran away. Jesus said, "By the power of Him who makes this miracle happen, do tell me what happened to the third loaf." The man replied, "I do not know, and I wish you would not molest me with this question any more."
When they continued, they reached a place where there were three heaps of stones. Jesus said a prayer, and the heaps of stones were changed into heaps of gold. He said to his fellow traveller, "One heap is for you, one heap is for me, and one heap is for the one who has eaten the third loaf." Hearing this, the man was suddenly changed completely, and he said, "I have eaten the third loaf because I was very hungry." When Jesus heard this confession, he said, "I do not want or need any gold. All three heaps shall be yours. But you cannot be my fellow traveller any longer." So he left the man with the gold and continued alone.
Soon afterwards, two men came by. They saw all the gold and asked, "Who is the owner of this?" The first man said, "It is mine." "No," the two others said, "It is now ours." They quarreled for a while, then they decided to share the gold.
Now the quarrel had made them all hungry, so the first man said, "I will go to the nearest village and buy us some bread." The two others agreed readily and said, "When we have eaten and gained some strength, we will share the gold justly and take it away."
The first man went into the village, bought three loaves of bread, ate one of them and poisoned the other two because he thought that then the two others would die and the three heaps of gold would belong to him again.
In the meantime, the two others had decided to kill the first man and to share the gold among themselves, so they lay in lurch for him, murdered him, ate the two loaves he had brought for them and died from the poison.
When Jesus came along this way some time later, he found the three heaps of gold and the three dead men. He said to himself, "If I leave this gold lying here, it will only attract human greed and cause more mischief." He said a prayer, and the three heaps of gold were turned back into heaps of stones.