The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 179 -
The Lucky Catch - An Omen For Jonathan
ACCORDING TO present-day calculations it was the tenth hour in the evening when Jonathan came home.
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When he arrived there, he found his three helpers with their wives and children quite busy and heard them rejoice and speak among themselves as follows,
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'It is well and good that our master went away and gave us a chance to show him what faithful servants we are to his house.
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Today we caught a thousand pounds of tuna, a thousand pounds of sturgeon, three young sharks, ten swordfish, one dolphin and about two hundred pounds of choice smaller fish.
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How happy he will be to find such a wealth of fish.'
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Jonathan now made his presence known, and all ran towards him like children to their father and told him of the lucky catch.
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Jonathan praised and kissed them and then said, 'Since you have already been so industrious today, go now and quarter the large fishes - namely the sharks, the swordfish, the dolphin and the sturgeons and bring them into the large smoke-shed.
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Be sure to promptly make a strong smoke with a number of pleasantly scented shrubs so the fish will not spoil because of the heat, and rub especially the sharks and the dolphin well with salt, and do not spare the sea-onions and the thyme.
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Then put the tuna and the other smaller fish into the large casks.'
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And his chief helper assured him, 'Oh master, what you have now ordered done was already done during the day, and everything is in the best order.'
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Here Jonathan went and convinced himself of everything and then declared, 'Children and brothers, that is no ordinary catch.
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A higher power has helped here so let us wait until after midnight and see whether this higher power will not make use of our strength in return.
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You have seen the full eclipse of the moon - that is a sure sign that a misfortune awaits someone still today! So let us wait until midnight and see if someone will not have need of our help.
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Go now and ready the great boat that has a sail and ten strong oars for departure.
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And the three helpers at once readied the boat.
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Now they had hardly completed their task, when a mighty wind began to stir up the water of the sea.
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Here Jonathan said to the three, 'Now we have no more time to lose! Call your ten sons and place them at the oars. You, fishing master, take the wheel, and I shall manage the two large forward oars myself.
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Pull in the sail, since we have a contrary wind - and now let us go out on the high sea at once in the name of the Almighty!' -
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When they had thus steered outward for at least an hour and had much trouble with the strong waves, they heard loud cries of fear coming from the high, mightily heaving sea.
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At this they rowed with great vigor and in a quarter of an hour reached a large Roman ship which had run aground on a sandbar and had already been strongly tilted by the pressure of the waves.
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Ropeladders were hastily thrown over the side of the Roman ship, and all the people - numbering about one hundred - were saved, in command of whom was none other than Cyrenius accompanied by Tullia and by Maronius Pilla.