The Fish in the Tigris
1They traveled the road and came at evening to the river Tigris, and they camped there. 2The boy went down to wash, and a fish leapt up out of the river and meant to swallow him. 3The angel said to him: “Get hold of the fish.” The boy seized the fish and heaved it up onto the land. 4The angel told him: “Cut the fish open. Take its heart, its liver and its gall, and put them away safely.” 5The boy did as the angel had told him; then they roasted the fish and ate it. 6And the two of them traveled on until they were near Ecbatana. 7The boy said to the angel: “Azariah, brother, what are they for — the liver, the heart and the gall of the fish?” 8He said to him: “The heart and the liver: if a demon or an evil spirit is tormenting anyone, these must be burned into smoke before the man or the woman, and the torment is over for good. 9The gall is for rubbing on a man who has white films over his eyes, and he will be healed.” 10As they came close to Rages, 11the angel said to the boy: “Brother, tonight we will lodge with Raguel. He is a relative of yours, and he has an only daughter, Sarah by name. 12I will speak about her, so that she may be given to you as your wife — for her inheritance falls to you, and you are the only man left of her family. And the girl is beautiful and sensible. 13Now listen to me: I will have a word with her father, and when we come back from Rages we will hold the wedding. I know Raguel. He cannot give her to another man — it would cost him his life under the law of Moses — because the right to take the inheritance is yours before anyone’s.” 14Then the boy said to the angel: “Azariah, brother, I have heard that the girl was given to seven husbands, and that every one of them was lost in the bridal chamber. 15And now I am my father’s only son. I am afraid that if I go in to her I will die like the ones before me, for a demon is in love with her, and it harms no one but the men who approach her. So I am afraid that I will die and bring my father’s life and my mother’s down into their grave in grief over me. And there is no other son of theirs to bury them.” 16The angel said to him: “Do you not remember the words your father charged you with, that you were to take a wife from your own family? So listen to me, brother: she will be your wife. Pay no attention at all to the demon. This very night she will be given to you as your wife. 17And when you go into the bridal chamber, take the ash of the incense, lay some of the fish’s heart and liver on it, and make the smoke. The demon will catch the smell and flee, and it will never come back, not through all the ages. 18And when you go to her, the two of you stand up and cry out to the merciful God, and he will save you and have mercy on you. Do not be afraid. She was made ready for you before the world began, and you are the one who will save her; she will go with you, and I expect that you will have children by her.” 19And when Tobias heard this he loved her, and his soul was bound fast to her.
