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A GUEST at table. ARE ye deceived? Have any of the Rulers | |
| Believed on him? or do they know indeed | |
| This man to be the very Christ? Howbeit | |
| We know whence this man is, but when the Christ | |
| Shall come, none knoweth whence he is. | 5 |
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CHRISTUS. Whereunto shall I liken, then, the men | |
| Of this generation? and what are they like? | |
| They are like children sitting in the markets, | |
| And calling unto one another, saying: | |
| We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; | 10 |
| We have mourned unto you, and ye have not wept! | |
| This say I unto you, for John the Baptist | |
| Came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; | |
| Ye say he hath a devil. The Son of Man | |
| Eating and drinking cometh, and ye say: | 15 |
| Behold a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber; | |
| Behold a friend of publicans and sinners! | |
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A GUEST aside to SIMON. Who is that woman yonder, gliding in | |
So silently behind him?
SIMON. It is Mary, | |
| Who dwelleth in the Tower of Magdala. | 20 |
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THE GUEST. See, how she kneels there weeping, and her tears | |
| Fall on his feet; and her long, golden hair | |
| Waves to and fro and wipes them dry again. | |
| And now she kisses them, and from a box | |
| Of alabaster is anointing them | 25 |
| With precious ointment, filling all the house | |
With its sweet odor!
SIMON, aside. Oh, this man, forsooth, | |
| Were he indeed a Prophet, would have known | |
| Who and what manner of woman this may be | |
| That toucheth him! would know she is a sinner! | 30 |
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CHRISTUS. Simon, somewhat have I to say to thee. | |
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SIMON. Master, say on.
CHRISTUS. A certain creditor | |
| Had once two debtors; and the one of them | |
| Owed him five hundred pence; the other, fifty. | |
| They having naught to pay withal, he frankly | 35 |
| Forgave them both. Now tell me which of them | |
Will love him most?
SIMON. He, I suppose, to whom | |
He most forgave.
CHRISTUS. Yea, thou hast rightly judged. | |
| Seest thou this woman? When thine house I entered, | |
| Thou gavest me no water for my feet, | 40 |
| But she hath washed them with her tears, and wiped them | |
| With her own hair. Thou gavest me no kiss; | |
| This woman hath not ceased, since I came in, | |
| To kiss my feet. My head with oil didst thou | |
| Anoint not; but this woman hath anointed | 45 |
| My feet with ointment. Hence I say to thee, | |
| Her sins, which have been many, are forgiven, | |
For she loved much.
THE GUESTS. Oh, who, then, is this man | |
| That pardoneth also sins without atonement? | |
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CHRISTUS. Woman, thy faith hath saved thee! Go in peace! | 50 |
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