Hymn of the Pearl

When I was a little child:
and dwelling in my kingdom

in my father's house, and was content with the wealth and the:
luxuries of my nourishers

from the East, our home:
my parents equipped me and sent me forth;

and of the wealth of our treasury:
they took abundantly, and tied up for me a load

large and yet light:
which I myself could carry

gold of Beth-Ellaya:
and silver of Gazak the great

and rubies of India:
and agates from Beth-Kashan

and they furnished me with the adamant:
which can crush iron.

And they took off from me the glittering robe:
which in their affection they made for me

and the purple toga:
which was measured and woven to my stature.

And they made a compact with me:
and wrote it in my heart, that it might not be forgotten:

"If thou goest down into Egypt:
and bringest the one pearl

which is in the midst of the sea:
around the loud-breathing serpent

thou shalt put on thy glittering robe:
and thy toga, with which thou art contented

and with thy brother, who is next to us in authority:
thou shalt be heir in our kingdom."

I quitted the East and went down:
there being two guardians

for the way was dangerous and difficult:
and I was very young to travel it.

I passed through the borders of Maishan:
the meeting-place of the merchants of the East

and I reached the land of Babel:
and I entered the walls of Sarbug.

I went down into Egypt:
and my companions parted from me.

I went straight to the serpent:
I dwelt in his abode

waiting till he should lumber and sleep:
and I could take my pearl from him.

And when I was single and alone:
and became strange to my family

one of my race, a free-born man:
and Oriental, I saw there

a youth fair and loveable:
the son of oil-sellers;

and he came and attached himself to me:
and I made him my intimate friend

and associate with whom I shared my merchandise:
I warned him against the Egyptians and against consorting with the unclean;

And I dressed in their dress:
that they might not hold me in abhorrence

because I was come from abroad in order to take the pearl:
and arouse the serpent against me.

But in some way other or another:
they found out that I was not their countryman

and they dealt with me treacherously:
and gave their food to eat.

I forget that I was a son of kings:
and I served their king;

and I forgot the pearl:
for which my parents had sent me

and because of the burden of their oppressions:
I lay in a deep sleep.

But all this things that befell me:
my parents perceived, and were grieved for me;

and proclamation was made in our kingdom:
that every one should come to our gate [kingdom]

kings and princes of Parthia:
and all the nobles of the East.

And they wove a plan on my behalf:
that I might not be left in Egypt;

and they wrote to me a letter:
and every noble signed his name to it:

"From thy father, the king of kings:
and thy mother, the mistress of the East

and from thy brother, our second in authority:
to thee our son, who art in Egypt, greeting!

Call to mind that thou art a son of kings:
See the slavery, whom thou servest!

Remember the pearl:
for which thou was sent to Egypt!

Think of thy robe:
and remember thy splendid toga

which thou shalt wear and with which thou shalt be adorned:
when thy name hath been read out in the list of the valiant

and thy brother, our viceroy:
thou shalt be in our kingdom."

My letter is a letter:
which the king sealed with his own right hand

to keep it from the wicked ones, the children of Babel:
and from the savage demons of Sarbug.

It flew in the likeness of an eagle:
the king of all birds;

it flew and alight beside me:
and became all speech.

At its voice and the sound of its rustling:
I started and arose from my sleep.

I took it up and kissed it:
and I began and read it;

and according to what was traced on my heart:
were the words of my letter.

I remembered that I was a son of royal parents:
and my noble birth asserted itself.

I remembered the pearl:
for which I had been sent to Egypt

and I began to charm him:
the terrible loud breathing serpent.

I hushed him asleep and lulled him into slumber:
for my father's name I named over him

and the name of our second in power:
and the of my mother, the queen of the East.

And I snatched away the pearl:
and turned to go back to my father's house.

And their filthy and unclean dress I stripped off:
and left it in their country;

and I took my way straight to come:
to the light of our home in the East.

And my letter, my awakener:
I found before me on the road;

and as with its voice it had awakened me:
so too with its light it was leading me.

It, that dwelt in the palace:
gave light before me with its form

and with its voice and its guidance:
it also encouraged me to speed and with its love it drew me on.

I went forth and passed by Sarbug:
I left Babel on my left hand;

and I came to the great Maisan:
to the haven of merchants which sitteth on the shore of the sea.

And my bright robe, which I had stripped off:
and the toga that was wrapped with it

from Rantha and Reken:
my parents had sent thither

by the hand of their treasures:
who in their truth could be trusted therewith.

And because I remembered not its fashion:
for in my childhood I had left it in my father's house,

on a sudden, when I received it:
the garment seemed to me to become like a mirror of myself.

I saw it all in all:
and I to received all in it

for we were two in distinction:
and yet gain one in one likeness.

And the treasurers too:
who brought it to me, I saw in like manner

to be two and yet one likeness:
for one sign of the king was written on them both

of the hands of him who restored to me through them:
my trust and my wealth

my decorated robe, which:
was adorned with glorious colors

with gold and beryls:
and rubies and agates

and sardonyxes, varied in color:
And it was skillfully worked in its home on high

and with diamond clasps:
were all its seams fastened;

and the image of the king of kings:
was embroidered and depicted in full all over it

and like the stone of the sapphire too:
its hues were varied.

And I saw also that all over it:
the instincts of knowledge were working and I saw too that it was preparing to speak.

I heard the sound of its tones:
which it uttered with its whole being, saying:

"I am the active in deeds:
whom they reared for him before my father;

and I perceived myself:
that my stature grew according to his labors."

And in its kingly movements:
it poured itself entirely over me

and on the hand of its givers:
it hastened that I might take it.

And love urged me too run:
to meet it and receive it;

and I stretched forth and took it:
With the beauty of its colors I adorned myself

and I wrapped myself wholly in my toga:
of brilliant hues.

I clothed myself with it, and went up to the gate:
of salutation and prostration;

I bowed my head and worshipped the majesty:
of my father who sent me,

for I had done his commandments:
and he too had done what he promised,

and the gate of his heart.:
I mingled with his princes

for he rejoiced in me and received me:
and I was with him in his kingdom

and with the voice of joy:
all his servants praised him.

And he promised that to the gate too:
of the king of kings with him I should go

and with my offering and my pearl:
with him should present myself to our king.

The Hymn of Judas Thomas the Apostles:
which he spake in prison, is ended.