Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

A CHRISTIAN ROMANCE. 55 I
"and silver, and through meat and drink, and
"through rich possessions, and through goodly
"apparel. But we will make offerings for our
"souls, and we will shew compassion on the poor
"and needy, and thus will we send on before us
"provisions in order that we may go on, and find
"them, and rejoice therein when we open our treasures.
"For when we give of the things of this world
"we find [them] in the next, and whatsoever we
"leave in this world belongeth not to us, [p. 351]
"but is divided among our kinsfolk. O my brethren,
"let us now give of the things which are of this
"world as offerings for our souls whilst we have
"power over our possessions. Thou didst speak
"to us and didst rebuke us, and didst admonish
"us, and didst thyself do as thou didst tell us [to
"do]; for thou hast opened the treasures of thy
"house to the needy, and thou hast neither kept
"in mind nor wished for the love of children, or
"wife, or kinsfolk, because of thy love for thy God.
"And, moreover, for us, the children of the sons
"of men, it would have been better had we never
"been created, for we go from nothing into nothing, KSmsafs
"even if it be actually as thou hast told me this "'""'^'
"day that the dead shall rise in the spirit of life,
"whether they be righteous or whether they be
"sinners. Thou sayest that they shall not die a
"second time, and that sinners only shall suffer
"torment in Sheol, and that they shall not die a
"second time, but I say that it would be better
"for them to perish at once rather than to dwell