The Silver Chalice
Uploaded by Admin on Feb 09, 2001
The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain is a spectacular story which takes place about twenty years after Jesus ascended into Heaven. It tells of how a young man named Basil was adopted by a rich merchant. But, when the rich merchant died, Basil’s cousin stole Basil’s inheritance; and made him a slave. After a few years he was to be rescued, married, and to gain back his inheritance.
The story begins when a rich merchant named Ignatius asked Theron, a seller of pens, if he was willing to give Ambrose up for adoption. The reason he chose Ambrose was because Ignatius loved the talent which enabled Ambrose to create such beautiful masterpieces of silver, clay, and wood. Theron gave his son Ambrose up for adoption only for one reason, because he was too poor to take good care of him. They made sure that the procedure of the adoption was followed to the letter of the law of the Twelve Tables. As a proof of the adoption, Ignatius gave each of the witnesses a belt. The name of Basil( Ignatius changed Ambrose’s name to Basil in honor of his father), and the date. Basil loved his new father, and became very devoted to hi
Basil’s father passed away about three years after the adoption. Basil was heart broken. Even the servants grieved of his death. But the only person who was filled with ecstasy upon hearing the news, was Linus. He was Basil’s cousin. Little did Basil know how much his heart would harden against his cousin.
Linus wanted the rich inheritance of his cousin, so he decided make it seem that he was never adopted as a son, but as a slave. By bribing the witnesses of the adoption to lie, Linus won the case. Basil was stripped of his inheritance, and was sold as a slave to a silver smith. The Silver Smith was a nice man, but his wife was meaner than a pack of wolves. She made Basil and the other slaves work past their limits. There, Basil met a slave girl named Agnes. She helped Basil deal with his losses and comforted him. She told him that if you pray and believe, you will be set free. Basil decided to pray. He prayed long and hard. What a surprise to see that his prayers were answered!
That very night an old man knocked on the door of the...