10 
THE LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS. 
But long dlfterwards, when one of the king's sons became 
demoniac, Misdeus opened the Apostle's tomb to find a boive, 
wherewith to touch and cure his son. But, behold, no bones 
were there, for one of the brethren had carried them away to 
the region of the west.'" Wherefore he took some dust from the 
place where the bones had lain, and touched his son with it 
and immediately the devil left him. Then Misdeus met with 
the brethren under the rule of Syphorus,^' " a presbyter in the 
mountain," and entreated them to pray for him that he might 
obtain mercy through Jesus Christ. 
Will it be maintained by any reader of this story that it 
bears any marks of South India^ or that it could have been 
from wliich it could take its name, {b) This assumes that Maj'lapur is as 
old as the first or second century of the Christian era, which is not to be 
assumed. And (c) it assumes that the writers of these early legends were 
familiar with the whereabouts of Maylapur, which also is not to be assumed. 
9 The late JPr. Kennet, in his S. Thomas the Apostle of India (Madras, 
Addison & Co., 1882), printed as an appendix a Latin hymn from the Moz- 
arabic Breviary , edited by Cardinal Lorenzana in 1775. ITiehyninis entitled 
Hymnus in Festo Saneti Thmnm A])ostoli — ad Fespcruw!, and tells the story nearly 
as I have told it above. It will be seen from the following stanzas that 
the author of the hymn represents the death of St. Thomas as ha^-ing been 
caused by an infuriated priest of a temple of the Sun, which would imply 
that in his opinion the kingdom of Misdeus must have lain within the area 
of sun worship, i.e., towards the Persian side. 
Templum Solis comminutum 
Corruit cum idolo ; 
Ac metallum pretiosum, 
Solvitur in pulverem ; 
Eex illius civitatis, 
Fugit cum Carisio. 
Tunc sacerdos idolorum 
Furibundus astitit, 
Gladio transverberavit 
Sanctum Cluisti martjTem, 
Glorioso passionis 
Laui'eatum siinguine. 
1° Another text adds that they were Ciirried to Edessa. It is pertinent, 
however, to ask hero whether a wi-iter, who knew the localities, would have 
expressed himself thus ? Would any man, writing from Maylapui-, speak of 
Edessa as being in the region of the west ? I trow not. Edessa, long. 38° 
40' E., lat. 37° 6' N. ; Maylapur, long. 80° U' E., lat. 13° 4' N. The 
important point to note, however, is that after all Thomas gets to Edessii. 
" Is Syphorus or Syphor the same as the Persum name S;ipor ? 
