Balthazar

Balthazar is one of the three magi, or wise men, who followed a star out of the east in search of the newborn Jesus. He travels with Gaspar and with Melchior, the expedition's sour-tempered guide, and among the three he is known as the man who talks too much. He is a kindly soul beneath the chatter. When the party took in a stranded young stranger who called himself Eugenius, Balthazar soothed the newcomer's aching feet with an ointment of herbs and myrrh. In Jerusalem the magi asked King Herod where the child could be found and were pointed toward Bethlehem. There Balthazar and his companions bowed before the infant king, offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh - gifts that later helped pay for the family's journey to Egypt.