Once upon a time, as never was before, in a vast wilderness, there lived a hermit who dwelled all alone. His only neighbors were the wild beasts of the forest. So great was his piety before God that all the animals would bow before him whenever they met him.
One day, the hermit went to the edge of the stream that flowed near his hut, and there he saw a small tar-covered coffin floating down the water, tightly sealed. From within, he heard the cry of a child. He paused to reflect for a moment and, after saying a prayer, stepped into the water and used a pole to draw the coffin to shore.
When he opened it, what did he see? A baby, around two months old. He lifted the child from the coffin, and the moment he took him in his arms, the crying stopped.
The child had a small pouch hanging from his neck. When the hermit opened it, he found a letter. He read it and discovered that the baby had been abandoned by a king’s daughter, who had stumbled into the currents of life and, out of fear of her parents, had placed the child in the coffin and set it adrift, leaving it in God’s hands.
The hermit wanted with all his heart to raise the child that God had sent him, but when he realized he had nothing to feed the infant, he was overcome with tears. He fell to his knees and prayed to God, and oh, what a miracle!—from one corner of his cell, a vine suddenly sprang forth. It grew swiftly and reached all the way to the eaves of his hut. The hermit looked upon it and saw grapes: some ripe, some ripening, some sour, and some still in bloom. At once, he picked some and gave them to the child, and seeing that the child ate them, he rejoiced deeply and gave thanks to God.
Thus the child grew up on grapes, until he could eat other foods. And when he was older, the hermit began teaching him to read, to gather roots for nourishment, and to hunt.
But one day, the hermit called the child and said: