Now here is something a bit different! Cannibals have made their way into the apocrypha throughout the years (believe it or not!). This particular tale I am sharing with you comes from the Ethiopic tradition and features Our Lady interacting with a cannibal. This story is a well known tale in the Ethiopic apocrypha but not so much outside that tradition. As always, my goal is to bring to light stories that modern English readers have never heard of. I have provided an English translation of the tale by E.A. Wallis Budge. I have slightly updated some of the language to make it more modern. This tale comes from the “Miracles of Our Lady the Virgin Mary” tradition that is quite well known in Ethiopia. This tradition features numerous tales of Mary helping others in various situations. I do plan on highlighting more of these tales in the future. Also, most of these tales have beautiful iconography artwork that correspond with the stories. So when possible, I will be including such artwork.
THE VIRGIN AND THE CANNIBAL OF THE CITY OF QEMER
A miracle of Our Holy Lady, the Two-Fold Virgin Mary, who gave birth to God. May her prayer and her blessing, and the mercy of her beloved Son be with our king David forever and ever! Amen.
Now there was a certain main in the city of Qemer, and he was of a noble race and was, in name, a Christian. And his sin was very great, and indeed, it exceeded that of all other men, for he did not eat ordinary food and the flesh of oxen, but he lived upon human flesh. Now when this cannibal had devoured seventy-eight people, whom were his friends, acquaintances, and kinsfolk. As the people who were in his service began to come to an end, the remaining men fled from him so that he might not be able to devour them. He was left alone with his wife and two children, and them also he ate. It came to pass one day as he was walking along that he found a certain husbandman on the road, and he lay in wait for him and followed him. When he knew that he would be too strong for him, he left him and departed. As he was going away, he said unto him, “Sell me an ox, and behold, I will give thee my bow which is ornamented with gold; take it.” And the husbandman said unto him, “I refuse it wholly, for money and food are more useful to me; I will not give thee the ox.” Then the cannibal spoke unto him a second time and said, “I will give thee in addition arrows”; but the husbandman refused to accept them. And again, the cannibal said unto him, “Show me, I pray, thy cave wherein thou dwellest.” The husbandman said unto him, “Behold, it is close by thee. Dost not thou thyself dwell in the habitations of men?” And he refused to show him his dwelling, and departed. Then again the husbandman said unto him; “Thou art of noble family, but thy heart is depraved, and full of guile, and thou appearest to be like unto a rich man who hath his abode in the city of Qemer.” And the cannibal said unto him, “Why dost thou compare me with such an one, O my brother?”
Then the cannibal took some water in a vessel, and as he was going along the road, he found a certain poor beggar whose whole body was covered with the sores and scabs of leprosy; and he wished he could eat the poor man, but he did not like him because of his sores which were putrefying, and which stank exceedingly. Now the beggar was thirsty, and he begged some water from the cannibal, and said unto him, “Give me some water to drink, for God’s sake”; but the cannibal became greatly enraged, and heaped abuse upon him. Then the beggar begged again for water from him for the sake of heaven and earth, and the for the sake of the martyrs and the righteous men; and the cannibal refused to give him any. And the beggar begged from him a third time, and said unto him, “In the name of Mary, give me water to drink before my soul depart.” Then the cannibal said unto him, “Verily, from my youth up, I have heard that she saveth men by her prayers, therefore I myself will take refuge in her.” And he said to the beggar, “Take and drink for Mary’s sake”; but when only a little water had gone down his throat, that is to say about a handful, the cannibal seized him and stopped him from drinking before he was able to satisfy his thirst. Then the cannibal died, and the angels of darkness took his soul, and cast it into Sheol. And our holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to God, came unto the Son of God and said, “Have compassion upon me, O my Son.” And he said unto her, “What good thing hath he done for thee?” And she said unto him, “He gave a thirsty man water to drink in my name.” Then the Lord said, “Bring forth the scales and weigh the souls which he hath devoured against the water which he gave the thirsty man to drink”; and they weighed them, and the little drop of water outweighed the seventy-eight souls. And the angels of light who were looking on marveled, and they gave shouts of joy because the cannibal had been saved and was made to live through the entreaty of our holy Lady, the two-fold Virgin Mary, who gave birth to God, through whom all things come to pass. May her prayer, and her blessing, and the mercy of her beloved Son be with our king David forever and ever! Amen.
Thy love did save the evil-doing cannibal, because the handful of water give to the beggar stood on his side. Vain and useless beneath the heavens are all things; What can benefit the children of men without thy love, O Mary thou Pearl?
That particular hymn ends the story of the Cannibal of Qemer. Quite the interesting tale. The traditional interpretation of the story would be to showcase the mercy of Christ upon someone so evil, even though a single good will gesture at the end was enough to save the sinner’s soul. Whether you agree with the morale of the story is up to you. The iconography I shared with this story comes from the 1900 edition of the E.A. Wallis Budge publication The miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the life of Hannâ (Saint Anne), and the magical prayers of A̕hĕta Mîkâêl. More to come from this fascinating, exceedingly massive size book!
bP
Culmination of Wisdom 