10.  Elene and Judas.

Then were they in the fear of death, of the funeral-pyre, and the end of life; and there they 585 thrust forth one of exceeding wisdom in the lore of old, whose name was Judas, sprung from noble lineage; and they gave him up unto the queen, and called him a man of wondrous learning:  ’He can show forth to thee the truth, unlock the secret of the fates, expound the just law from the beginning 590 even to the end, according as thou dost ask him.  He is of noble race in the world, wise in speech, the son of a prophet, outspoken in council.  And it is his nature to have sage answers and wisdom of soul.  He shall show forth to thee before 595 the multitude with his great power the gift of wisdom, even as thy heart desireth.’

Then she let each man seek his own home in peace, and took Judas alone as hostage.  And she earnestly 600 bade him tell the truth concerning the cross, which had been long buried in a secret place.  Then Elene, the glorious queen, drew him aside by himself, and thus spake to the lonely man:—­’Two ways 650 are ready for thee, either life or death, whichsoever thou shalt please to choose.  Declare quickly now which one thou wilt accept.’

And Judas made answer unto her—­nor could he rid himself of sorrow and turn away the wrath of his ruler, but he was in the power of the queen—­:  610 ’How shall it be with him who treadeth the moor in a desert, weary, without food, and tortured with hunger, if before his eyes a loaf and a stone together seem hard and soft, and he knoweth them not apart, but taketh the stone to ward off his 615 hunger, and marketh not the loaf, turneth to want and forsaketh the food, refuseth the better when he hath the choice of both?’

Then openly before the people the blessed Elene gave him answer:—­’If thou wouldst have thy life 620 in the world and a home with the angels in the kingdom of heaven, the reward of victory in the sky, tell me straightway where the holy rood of the King of glory lieth under the earth, which ye 625 have hid now for a while from men because of the unrighteous murder.’

Judas answered, and his heart was heavy within him; there was grief in his soul, and woe either way, whether thus he forsook the joy of the 630 heavenly realm and this present kingdom beneath the skies, or disclosed the rood:—­’How can I reveal that which came to pass so long ago in the course of years?  Two hundred or more in number are now vanished away—­I know not the sum of 635 them, and I cannot declare the event.  Many of wisdom, of virtue, and of learning, who were before our time, are told among the dead.  In days long after was I born, and in my childhood, and in my youth.  I may not discover in my heart that which 640 I know not, and which came to pass so long ago.’