nt will pass for men of hard heart and
jealous.'

And the man resumed aloud, thinking that no one would know who it was
that thus spoke: 'Glory to thee, Jesus of Nazareth, glory to thee, the
protector, the defender of us dissipaters and prostitutes! It is folly
to be wise and virtuous, since the fatted calf is to be killed for the
most debauched.'

Loud murmurs acknowledged these words of the emissary of the Pharisees;
all turned round whence they had been pronounced; threats were heard:

'Hence! away with these men of inexorable heart!'

'Oh! these men are without pity, without mercy, repentance does not
touch them,' said the courtezan Oliba; 'these frozen bodies who cannot
comprehend that with others the blood boils!'

'Let him who has thus spoken show himself,' exclaimed Banaias, striking
the table with his heavy, knotted stick in a threatening manner, 'yes,
let him show his virtuous face, the scrupulous! more severe than our
friend of Nazareth, the brother of the poor, the afflicted, and the
suffering, whom he supports, heals and consoles! By the eye of
Jerobabel! I should like to look him in the face, this white lamb
without spot, who comes here to bleat his virtues. Where is he, then,
this immaculate lily of the valley of men? He must smell of good, like a
real balm,' added Banaias, opening his wide nostrils; 'and by the nose
of Malachi! I don't smell at all this aroma of wisdom, this perfume of
honesty, which ought to betray the choice odoriferous vase hidden
amongst us poor sinners.'

This pleasantry of Banaias made the auditory laugh excessively; and the
one of the two emissaries who had thus attacked the words of Jesus,
seemed in no hurry to gratify the desire of the redoubtable friend of
the Nazarene; he feigned, on the contrary, as well as his companion, to
search, like the rest of the audience, from whence the words had
proceeded. The tumult was increasing, when the young Nazarene made a
sign that he wished to speak; the tempest was appeased as if by
enchantment; and replying to the reproach of being too indulgent to
sinners, Jesus said with an accent of severe mildness: 'Who amongst you
possessing a hundred sheep, and losing one, would not leave in the plain
the ninety-and-nine others, to go and seek that which is lost, until he
had found it? When he has found it he brings it back with joy on his
shoulders; and having returned to his house, he assembles his friends
and neighbors, and says to them, "