_How the unicorn came to the hall of Thierry, otherwise called
Porphyrodimus, and conducted the two sisters Oliveria and Liberetta
to the retreat of Messire St. Berthold, and of divers marvels that
ensued._
Now one day, being alone in the kitchen, Oliveria was spinning wool
beneath the chimney canopy when she saw approach her a beast of a
perfect whiteness which had the body of a goat and the head of a horse,
and which bore on its forehead a shining spear. Oliveria immediately
recognized what animal it was, and as she had maintained her innocence
she was not in the least afraid, being aware that the unicorn never does
any harm to discreet maidens. And indeed the unicorn did but place his
head gently upon Oliveria’s knees. Then turning again towards the door,
by the direction of its eyes it invited the young girl to follow it
without.
Oliveria immediately called her sister, but when Liberetta entered the
room the unicorn had disappeared; and so it came about that Liberetta,
in accordance with her desire, acknowledged the true God without having
been constrained by a sign.
The two sisters set forth in the direction of the forest, and the
unicorn, who had once more become visible, walked ahead of them. They
pursued throughout their journey the trail of the wild beasts. And it
came to pass that when they had reached the depths of the wood, they saw
the unicorn take to the water and swim across a torrent. Now when they
came to the water's edge they were aware that it was both wide and deep.
They leaned over it to see if perchance there might be any
stepping-stones by means of which they could cross, but none such could
they discover. Now whilst they were leaning upon a willow and gazing
upon the foaming waters, the tree bent down suddenly and bore them
without effort to the opposite shore.
Thus, then, they arrived at the hermitage, where St. Berthold imparted
unto them the words of life. Upon their return, the willow uprearing
itself again bore them back to the other side.
Each day they betook themselves to the dwelling of the holy man, and
when they returned to their own home they found that all the thread on
their distaffs had been spun by invisible hands. For these reasons,
then, having received baptism, they believed in Jesus Christ.
For more than a year they received instruction from St. Berthold, when
Thierry their father, who was also called Porphyrodimus, was seized with
a cruel malady. Being aware that the end of their father was drawing
nigh, his daughters instructed him in the Christian faith. He
acknowledged the truth. And so it came about that his death was most
meritorious. He was ensepulchred near to his mortal home in a place
known as the Giant’s Mountain, and in after days his tomb was venerated
throughout the Pays Porcin.
Meanwhile the two sisters repaired daily to the dwelling of the holy
hermit Berthold, and they gathered from his lips the words of life. But
on a certain day when the rivers were greatly swollen by the melted
snows, Oliveria, as she went through the vineyards, took a prop that she
might with greater security cross the torrent whose much widened stream
sped along riotously.
Liberetta, disdaining all human aid, declined to follow her example. She
was the first to reach the torrent, her hands armed solely with the sign
of the cross. And the willow bent down in its customary way. Then it
rose erect once more, and when Oliveria in her turn desired to pass over
it remained motionless. And the current broke her prop as if it had been
a wisp of straw and carried it away. And Oliveria remained still on the
hither side. But since she was discreet she recognized that she was
justly punished for having doubted the heavenly powers, and for not
having committed herself to the grace of God after the manner of her
sister Liberetta. Thereafter she had no other thought but to win pardon
for herself by works of penitence and self-denial. So being resolved,
after the example of St. Berthold, to lead the eremitical life which is
both desirable and rare, she remained in the forest on this side of the
torrent, and built herself a hut of boughs interlaced at a spot where a
spring gushed forth, which has since received the name of St. Olive’s
well.