A Possessed Cow and a Hunted Hare

“About the same time, as Martin was returning from Trier, he was met by a cow that a demon was tormenting. That cow had left its own herd and was in the habit of attacking people, and it had already badly gored many with its horns. As she came near us, those who were following her at a distance began shouting loudly to warn us to watch out for her. But after she had come quite close to us in a great fury, with rage in her eyes, Martin raised his hand and ordered the animal to stop, and at his word she instantly stood stock-still. Then Martin saw a demon sitting on her back. Rebuking it, he cried out: ‘Get out, you deadly thing! Leave the innocent beast alone, and stop tormenting it any longer.’ The evil spirit obeyed and left. And the heifer had sense enough to understand that she had been set free. With her peace restored, she fell at the holy man’s feet. Then, at Martin’s direction, she made for her own herd and, quieter than any sheep, joined the rest of them. [a]

“This was also the time when he felt no burning, though he was caught in the middle of the flames. But I do not think I need to give an account of this, because Sulpitius there, though he passed over it in his book, has nevertheless told it quite fully in the letter he sent to Eusebius, who was then a presbyter and is now a bishop. I believe, Postumianus, that you have either read this letter or, if you do not know it yet, you can easily get it from the bookcase whenever you like. I will simply tell things he has left out.

“Well, once, as he was going around the various parishes, we came upon a party of hunters. The dogs were chasing a hare, and the little animal was already badly worn out by its long run. Out on the plains, which stretched far away on every side, it could see no way of escape, and several times it was on the very point of being caught. So it tried to put off the death that threatened it by doubling back again and again. Now the blessed man, with pious feeling, pitied the creature in its danger. He commanded the dogs to stop chasing it and to let it get safely away. Instantly, at the first command they heard, they stood perfectly still. You would have thought they were tied up, or rather held fast, so that they stood without moving in their own footprints. And so, with its pursuers stopped as if they were bound together, the hare got safely away.