ProgLegs posted an excellent diary concerning a Mormon bishop who donned the guise of homeless man, got me thinking about religious texts which focus on social responsibility. As was pointed out in the diary and discussed in the comment section, there's a significant number of Biblical scriptures (in both Old and New Testaments) which deal with this important topic. But the Pagan tradition also provides us with a such tales. For me, one of the best is 'The Transformation of Philemon and Baucis' in book VIII of Ovid's '”Metamorphoses” . (As a child, I first read this tale as “Story of the Mysterious Strangers”, in they young adult mythology book “Hercules and other Tales from the Greek Myths”, by Olivia E. Coolridge). There are many popular translations of this work, some are poetry, others prose. In addition, several authors in recent centuries have retold the tale, offering their own embellishment. I've done no original translation in the retelling below. I've based it on several translations, all that were quite true to the original:
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