‘Now not far from the wilderness in which Chrysostom dwelt, was the capital of a great king; and it happened that one day, as the princess his daughter, who was young and very fair, was walking with her companions, there came a sudden and violent gust of wind, which lifted her up and carried her away, and set her down in the forest, far off; and she wandered about till she came to the cave of Chrysostom, and knocked at the door. He, fearing some temptation of the devil, would not let her in; but she entreated, and said, “I am no demon, but a Christian woman; and if thou leavest me here, the wild beasts will devour me!” So he yielded perforce, and arose and let her in. And he drew a line down the middle of his cell, and said, “That is your part, this is mine; and neither shall pass this line.” But this precaution was in vain, for passion and temptation overpowered his virtue; he over-stepped the line, and sinned. Both repented sorely; and Chrysostom, thinking that if the damsel remained longer in his cave it would only occasion further sin, carried her to a neighbouring precipice, and flung her down. When he had done this deed, he was seized with horror and remorse; and he departed and went to Rome to his godfather the Pope, and confessed all, and entreated absolution. But his godfather knew him not; and, being seized with horror, he drove him forth, and refused to absolve him. So the unhappy sinner fled to the wilderness, and made a solemn vow that he would never rise from the earth nor look up, but crawl on his hands and knees, until he had expiated his great sin and was absolved by Heaven. ‘When he had thus crawled on the earth for fifteen years, the queen brought forth a son; and when the Pope came to baptize the child, the infant opened its mouth and said, “I will not be baptized by thee, but by St. John;” and he repeated this three times: and none could understand this miracle; but the Pope was afraid to proceed. In the meantime, the king’s huntsmen had gone to the forest to bring home game for the christening feast: there, as they rode, they beheld a strange beast creeping on the ground; and not knowing what it might be, they threw a mantle over it and bound it in a chain and brought it to the palace. Many came to look on this strange beast, and with them came the nurse with the king’s son in her arms; and immediately the child opened its mouth and spake, “John, come thou and baptize me!” He answered, “If it be God’s will, speak again!” And the child spoke the same words a second and a third time. Then John stood up; and the hair and the moss fell from his body, and they brought him garments; and he took the child, and baptized him with great devotion.