St. John the Nudist.
I blame tootsiemuppet and snakey entirely for this; they should not have started discussing Jack walking across the North Sea in his... usual swimming attire in a place where I could read it. See, you two? This is the sort of thing that happens when you allow dangerous talk like that...
From the Twenty-Eighth Epistle of St. William the Poet;
"And it came to pass as they were in pursuit of the Frenchman that the one called Davies (known to his friends as ‘Awkward’) did inadvertently unbalance Stephen from his seat of contemplation at the taffrail, from whence he did fall into the sea. The crew did despair, as they knew that Stephen by his tradition wore leaden soles and did not swim, and therefore would undoubtedly be lost to them.
At this time John had been in preparation for his morning dip, unclad as he was to bathe in the sea; and at the sight of his beloved falling into the water it was in this unclad state that he did step down from the gunwale to tread the waves as Our Lord did tread the waves to save Peter. When he came to the place where Stephen lay flailing, he did reach out his hand and said; “Clap on there, hold hard!” and with one mighty heave he did raise Stephen out of the water and carry him to safety aboard the boat(1). The crew were amazed at this miracle and they rejoiced, swearing many oaths(2).
At this point the man Killick, servant of John, came forth to rebuke his master, crying; “O sir, why didst thou dive into the sea to save Stephen whenst thou might have perished thyself? And in the nude as well? Thou shall catch thy death of cold, thou shall - and who is it that shall pick up the pieces? I tell you, it shall be Killick!”
But John said unto him; “Be silent, O ye of little faith! Who are you to rebuke thy captain?” Then turning to the one called Davies, said; “Davies, by thy negligence thou hast endangered the life of my faithful Stephen. For this thou shall be punished most severely!”
Stephen raised his head, hoping to plead with John; “John, do not admonish Davies. Wouldst thou be so hard on him if it had not been I in danger, the one you most love, but another man?”
But John shook his head.
“Thy words are kindness, brother, but through his negligence Davies hath endangered our cause, and for this I would punish any man severely. For I say unto you all; any one of my flock who shouldst endanger one of my beloved through his own fault shall no longer be called beloved by me!”
Then he took Stephen below and gave him a place in his own bed and tended to his dampness."
(1) Some translations give this word as ‘ship’.
(2) There has been much debate amongst scholars whether this should be read as simply ‘oaths’ or ‘oaths of faith and/or loyalty’. However, considering the company John kept, it is most commonly thought that ‘oaths’ is correct.
I may get around to colouring, hopefully this week; but I thought I'd post it like this in case I don't, which is more than likely.
You guys have a lot to answer for.
From the Twenty-Eighth Epistle of St. William the Poet;
"And it came to pass as they were in pursuit of the Frenchman that the one called Davies (known to his friends as ‘Awkward’) did inadvertently unbalance Stephen from his seat of contemplation at the taffrail, from whence he did fall into the sea. The crew did despair, as they knew that Stephen by his tradition wore leaden soles and did not swim, and therefore would undoubtedly be lost to them.
At this time John had been in preparation for his morning dip, unclad as he was to bathe in the sea; and at the sight of his beloved falling into the water it was in this unclad state that he did step down from the gunwale to tread the waves as Our Lord did tread the waves to save Peter. When he came to the place where Stephen lay flailing, he did reach out his hand and said; “Clap on there, hold hard!” and with one mighty heave he did raise Stephen out of the water and carry him to safety aboard the boat(1). The crew were amazed at this miracle and they rejoiced, swearing many oaths(2).
At this point the man Killick, servant of John, came forth to rebuke his master, crying; “O sir, why didst thou dive into the sea to save Stephen whenst thou might have perished thyself? And in the nude as well? Thou shall catch thy death of cold, thou shall - and who is it that shall pick up the pieces? I tell you, it shall be Killick!”
But John said unto him; “Be silent, O ye of little faith! Who are you to rebuke thy captain?” Then turning to the one called Davies, said; “Davies, by thy negligence thou hast endangered the life of my faithful Stephen. For this thou shall be punished most severely!”
Stephen raised his head, hoping to plead with John; “John, do not admonish Davies. Wouldst thou be so hard on him if it had not been I in danger, the one you most love, but another man?”
But John shook his head.
“Thy words are kindness, brother, but through his negligence Davies hath endangered our cause, and for this I would punish any man severely. For I say unto you all; any one of my flock who shouldst endanger one of my beloved through his own fault shall no longer be called beloved by me!”
Then he took Stephen below and gave him a place in his own bed and tended to his dampness."
(1) Some translations give this word as ‘ship’.
(2) There has been much debate amongst scholars whether this should be read as simply ‘oaths’ or ‘oaths of faith and/or loyalty’. However, considering the company John kept, it is most commonly thought that ‘oaths’ is correct.
I may get around to colouring, hopefully this week; but I thought I'd post it like this in case I don't, which is more than likely.
You guys have a lot to answer for.