And Tobias went forward, and the dog followed him, and he lodged the first night by the river of Tigris.

Ad hanc vocem cessavit mater ejus flere, et tacuit.

Tobias, meanwhile, was on the march, with his dog at his heels; they did not make their first halt until they reached the river Tigris.

And he went out to wash his feet, and behold a monstrous fish came up to devour him.

Profectus est autem Tobias, et canis secutus est eum, et mansit prima mansione juxta fluvium Tigris.

And when he went down to wash the dust from his feet, up came a monstrous fish as if it would have devoured him.

And Tobias being afraid of him, cried out with a loud voice, saying: Sir, he cometh upon me.

Et exivit ut lavaret pedes suos, et ecce piscis immanis exivit ad devorandum eum.

At this, he cried out in an extreme of fear, Help, sir; he means mischief.

And the angel said to him: Take him by the gill, and draw him to thee. And when he had done so, he drew him out upon the land, and he began to pant before his feet.

Quem expavescens Tobias clamavit voce magna, dicens: Domine, invadit me.

But the angel bade him catch it by the gill and pull it towards him; so catch it he did, and brought it out on to the dry land, where it lay struggling at his feet.

Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of this fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are necessary for useful medicines.

Et dixit ei angelus: Apprehende branchiam ejus, et trahe eum ad te. Quod cum fecisset, attraxit eum in siccum, et palpitare cœpit ante pedes ejus.

This fish, the angel told him, is worth the bowelling; heart and gall and liver of it thou must keep by thee, sovereign remedies all.

And when he had done so, he roasted the flesh thereof, and they took it with them in the way: the rest they salted as much as might serve them, till they came to Rages the city of the Medes.

Tunc dixit ei angelus: Exentera hunc piscem, et cor ejus, et fel, et jecur repone tibi: sunt enim hæc necessaria ad medicamenta utiliter.

This done, he roasted part of the meat, which they ate on their journey, and salted the rest, to serve them for provisions till they should reach Rages in Media.

Then Tobias asked the angel, and said to him: I beseech thee, brother Azarias, tell me what remedies are these things good for, which thou hast bid me keep of the fish?

Quod cum fecisset, assavit carnes ejus, et secum tulerunt in via: cetera salierunt, quæ sufficerent eis, quousque pervenirent in Rages civitatem Medorum.

And now Tobias had a question to ask of the angel; Tell me, good Azarias, said he, what healing virtue lies in those parts of the fish I must needs keep by me?

And the angel, answering, said to him: If thou put a little piece of its heart upon coals, the smoke thereof driveth away all kind of devils, either from man or from woman, so that they come no more to them.

Tunc interrogavit Tobias angelum, et dixit ei: Obsecro te, Azaria frater, ut dicas mihi quod remedium habebunt ista, quæ de pisce servare jussisti?

Its heart, answered he, has this virtue, that if a morsel of it be laid on the coals, the smoke will rid man or woman of the fiend’s harassing, and that for ever.

And the gall is good for anointing the eyes, in which there is a white speck, and they shall be cured.

Et respondens angelus, dixit ei: Cordis ejus particulam si super carbones ponas, fumus ejus extricat omne genus dæmoniorum sive a viro, sive a muliere, ita ut ultra non accedat ad eos.

As for the gall, it is a sovereign salve for healing eyes that have a white film binding them.

And Tobias said to him: Where wilt thou that we lodge?

Et fel valet ad ungendos oculos in quibus fuerit albugo, et sanabuntur.

And for our journey, said Tobias, what is the next stage of that?

And the angel answering, said: Here is one whose name is Raguel, a near kinsman of thy tribe, and he hath a daughter named Sara, but he hath no son nor any other daughter beside her.

Et dixit ei Tobias: Ubi vis ut maneamus?

Our host’s name is Raguel, the angel told him, a tribesman and a kinsman of thy own. He has a daughter called Sara, and neither chick nor child besides.

All his substance is due to thee, and thou must take her to wife.

Respondensque angelus, ait: Est hic Raguel nomine, vir propinquus de tribu tua, et hic habet filiam nomine Saram, sed neque masculum neque feminam ullam habet aliam præter eam.

Of all he possesses thou mayest be heir, if thou wilt claim his daughter’s hand in marriage;

Ask her therefore of her father, and he will give her thee to wife.

Tibi debetur omnis substantia ejus, et oportet eam te accipere conjugem.

thou hast but to ask him, and she is thine.

Then Tobias answered, and said: I hear that she hath been given to seven husbands, and they all died: moreover I have heard, that a devil killed them.

Pete ergo eam a patre ejus, et dabit tibi eam in uxorem.

I hear stories told of this maid, Tobias answered; how she has been betrothed seven times, and to every bridegroom it brought death; how it was a fiend, if the tale be true, that made away with them.

Now I am afraid, lest the same thing should happen to me also: and whereas I am the only child of my parents, I should bring down their old age with sorrow to hell.

Tunc respondit Tobias, et dixit: Audio quia tradita est septem viris, et mortui sunt: sed et hoc audivi, quia dæmonium occidit illos.

If the like befall me too, it would go hard with those parents of mine; I am all the children they have, they are old now, and this were to give them a cheerless passage to the grave.

Then the angel Raphael said to him: Hear me, and I will shew thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail.

Timeo ergo, ne forte et mihi hæc eveniant: et cum sim unicus parentibus meis, deponam senectutem illorum cum tristitia ad inferos.

Heed me well, answered Raphael, and thou shalt hear why the fiend has power to hurt some and not others.

For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power.

Tunc angelus Raphaël dixit ei: Audi me, et ostendam tibi qui sunt, quibus prævalere potest dæmonium.

The fiend has power over such as go about their marrying with all thought of God shut out of their hearts and minds, wholly intent on their lust, as if they were horse or mule, brutes without reason.

But thou when thou shalt take her, go into the chamber, and for three days keep thyself continent from her, and give thyself to nothing else but to prayers with her.

Hi namque qui conjugium ita suscipiunt, ut Deum a se et a sua mente excludant, et suæ libidini ita vacent sicut equus et mulus quibus non est intellectus: habet potestatem dæmonium super eos.

Not such be thy mating, when thou hast won thy bride. For three days deny thyself her favours, and the time you spend together, spend all in prayer.

And on that night lay the liver of the fish on the fire, and the devil shall be driven away.

Tu autem cum acceperis eam, ingressus cubiculum, per tres dies continens esto ab ea, et nihil aliud nisi orationibus vacabis cum ea.

The first night, burn the liver of yonder fish, and therewith the fiend shall be driven away.

But the second night thou shalt be admitted into the society of the holy Patriarchs.

Ipsa autem nocte, incenso jecore piscis, fugabitur dæmonium.

On the second night, union thou shalt have, but with the company of the holy patriarchs.

And the third night thou shalt obtain a blessing that sound children may be born of you.

Secunda vero nocte in copulatione sanctorum patriarcharum admitteris.

The third night, thy prayer shall win thee a blessing, of children safely born to thee and to her.

And when the third night is past, thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayst obtain a blessing in children.

Tertia autem nocte, benedictionem consequeris, ut filii ex vobis procreentur incolumes.

Then, when the third night is past, take the maid to thyself with the fear of the Lord upon thee, moved rather by the hope of begetting children than by any lust of thine. So, in the true line of Abraham, thou shalt have joy of thy fatherhood.