1 L covers the childhood of Jesus from his second year, A from Iiis fifth to his twelfth year, and B from his fifth to his eighth.
B4-5
Some days later, when Jesus was passing through the town, a boy threw a stone at him and struck him on the shoulder. Jesus said to him, 'Thou shalt not go thy way.' And at once he fell down and died. Those who happened to be there were astounded, saying, ' Whence is this child, that every word he utters becomes act and fact ? ' And they went off and com- plained to Joseph, saying, ' Thou canst not dwell with us in this town. If thou desirest to do so, teach thy child to bless and not to curse ; for he is killing our children, and everything he says becomes act and fact.'
Joseph was sitting on his seat, and the child stood in front of him ; and he caught him by the ear and pinched it hard. Jesus looked at him steadily and said, ' That is enough for thee.'
L5
A few days later, as Jesus was walking with Joseph through the town, one of the children ran up and struck Jesus on the arm. Jesus said to him, ' Thou shalt not finish thy journey thus.' And at once he fell to the earth and died. But when they saw these wonders, they cried out, saying, ' Whence is that boy ? ' And they said to Joseph, 'Such a hoy must not be among us.' Joseph went off and brought him, but they said to him, ' Go away from this place; but ifyou must be among us, teach him to pray and not to curse. Our children have been insensate.'
Joseph called Jesus and re- proved him, saying, ' Why dost thou curse? "These inhabitants hate us.' But Jesus said, ' I know these words are not mine but thine ; for thy sake I will say nothing ; let them see to it in their wisdom 1 ' Immediately those who spoke against Jesus were blinded ; and they walked up and down, saying, ' All the words that proceed from his mouth take effect.' But when Joseph saw what Jesus had done, he angrily caught him by the ear. Jesus in a passion said to Joseph, ' It is enough for thee to see me, not to touch me. For thou knowest not who I am ; if thou kne west that, thou would- est not irritate me. And al- though I am with thee now, I was made before thee.' i
S 4-5 (tr. Wright).
And again Jesus had gone with his father, and a boy, running, struck him with his shoulder. Jesus says to him, ' Thou shalt not go thy way.' And all of a sudden he fell down and died. And all who saw him cried out and said, ' Whence was this hoy born, that all his words become facts?' And the family of him who was dead drew near to Joseph and say to him, 'Thou hast this boy ; thou canst not dwell with us in this village unless you teach him to bless.'
And he drew near to the boy, and was teaching him and say. ing, ' Why doest thou these (things)? And these people reckon them, and hate thee.' Jesus says, ' If the words of my Father were not wise, he would not know how to instruct child- ren.' And again he said, ' If these were children of the bed- chamber, they would not re- ceive curses. These shall not see torment.' And immediately those were blinded who were accusing him. But Joseph be- came angry, and seized hold of his ear, and pulled it. Then Jesus answered and said to him, ' It is enough for thee, that thou shouldest be commanding me and finding me (obedient) ; for thou hast acted foolishly.
A fair idea of the characteristic contents of this Gospel may be derived from one or two extracts, such as the story of Jesus and the sparrows (B 3) : ' Jesus made out of that clay twelve sparrows. It was the Sabbath-day. And a child ran and told Joseph, saying, "Behold, thy child is playing about the stream and he has made sparrows out of the clay, which is not lawful." When he heard this, he went and said to the child, "Why dost thou do this, profaning the Sabbath ? " But Jesus did not answer him ; he looked at the sparrows and said, " Fly off and live, and remember me." And at this word they flew up into the air. And when Joseph saw it, he marvelled.' On the strength of this anecdote Vaiiot (op. cit., p. 228 f.) ventures to compare the Gospel of Thomas to the Fioretti of St. Francis. Another tale is that of Jesus and the boy's foot (L 8) : * A few days after- wards a boy in that town was splitting wood, and he cut his foot. As a large crowd went to him, Jesus went with them. And he touched the foot which had been hurt, and at once it was healed. Jesus said to him, "Rise up, split the wood, and remember me."' It is as a thaumaturgist that Jesus appears in A 11 : 'When he was six years old, his mother gave him a pitcher and sent him to draw water and bring it into the house. But he knocked against someone in the crowd, and the pitcher was broken. So Jesus unfolded the cloak he wore, filled it with the water, and carried it to his mother.* And when his mother saw the miracle which had taken place, she kissed him. And she kept to herself all the mysteries she saw • It is conjectured that this was suggested by Pr 30*.