Kristuslegender. English
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consternation among all who stood there. The first whocame to their senses were the priests. They immediately sent a messengerafter the poor man, and when he came back they said to him: "God hasperformed a miracle to show us that He will accept your offering. Giveus your lamb and we will sacrifice it."
When this was done they asked for the little boy who had walked acrossthe chasm; but when they looked around for him they could not find him.
For just after the boy had crossed the chasm, he happened to think ofthe journey home, and of his parents. He did not know that the morningand the whole forenoon were gone, but thought: "I must make haste andget back, so that they will not have to wait. But first I want to runover and take a look at the Voice of the Prince of this World."
And he stole away through the crowd and ran over to the damppillar-aisle where the copper trumpet stood leaning against the wall.
When he saw it, and thought about the prediction that he who could coaxa tone from it should one day gather all the peoples of earth under hisdominion, he fancied that never had he seen anything so wonderful! andhe sat down beside it and regarded it.
He thought how great it would be to win all the peoples of earth, andhow much he wished that he could blow in the old trumpet. But heunderstood that it was impossible, so he didn't even dare try.
He sat like this for several hours, but he did not know how the timepassed. He thought only how marvelous it would be to gather all thepeoples of earth under his dominion.
But it happened that in this cool passageway sat a holy man whoinstructed his pupils, that sat at his feet.
And now this holy man turned toward one of his pupils and told him thathe was an impostor. He said the spirit had revealed to him that thisyouth was a stranger, and not an Israelite. And he demanded why he hadsneaked in among his pupils under a false name.
Then the strange youth rose and said that he had wandered throughdeserts and sailed over great seas that he might hear wisdom and thedoctrine of the only true God expounded. "My soul was faint withlonging," he said to the holy man. "But I knew that you would not teachme if I did not say that I was an Israelite. Therefore, I lied to you,that my longing should be satisfied. And I pray that you will let meremain here with you."
But the holy man stood up and raised his arms toward heaven. "It is justas impossible to let you remain here with me, as it is that some oneshall arise and blow in the huge copper trumpet, which we call the Voiceof the Prince of this World! You are not even permitted to enter thispart of the Temple. Leave this place at once, or my pupils will throwthemselves upon you and tear you in pieces, for your presence desecratesthe Temple."
But the youth stood still, and said: "I do not wish to go elsewhere,where my soul can find no nourishment. I would rather die here at yourfeet."
Hardly was this said when the holy man's pupils jumped to their feet, todrive him away, and when he made resistance, they threw him down andwished to kill him.
But the boy sat very near, so he heard and saw all this, and he thought:"This is a great injustice. Oh! if I could only blow in the big coppertrumpet, he would be helped."
He rose and laid his hand on the trumpet. At this moment he no longerwished that he could raise it to his lips because he who could do soshould be a great ruler, but because he hoped that he might help onewhose life was in danger.
And he grasped the copper trumpet with his tiny hands, to try and liftit.
Then he felt that the huge trumpet raised itself to his lips. And whenhe only breathed, a strong, resonant tone came forth from the trumpet,and reverberated all through the great Temple.
Then they all turned their eyes and saw that it was a little boy whostood with the trumpet to his lips and coaxed from it tones which madefoundations and pillars tremble.
Instantly, all the hands which had been lifted to strike the strangeyouth fell, and the holy teacher said to him:
"Come and sit thee here at my feet, as thou didst sit before! God hathperformed a miracle to show me that it is His wish that thou shouldst beconsecrated to His service."
* * * * *
As it drew on toward the close of day, a man and a woman came hurryingtoward Jerusalem. They looked frightened and anxious, and called out toeach and every one whom they met: "We have lost our son! We thought hehad followed our relatives, but none of them have seen him. Has any oneof you passed a child alone?"
Those who came from Jerusalem answered them: "Indeed, we have not seenyour son, but in the Temple we saw a most beautiful child! He was likean angel from heaven, and he has passed through Righteousness' Gate."
They would gladly have related, very minutely, all about this, but theparents had no time to listen.
When they had walked on a little farther, they met other persons andquestioned them.
But those who came from Jerusalem wished to talk only about a mostbeautiful child who looked as though he had come down from heaven, andwho had crossed Paradise Bridge.
They would gladly have stopped and talked about this until late atnight, but the man and woman had no time to listen to them, and hurriedinto the city.
They walked up one street and down another without finding the child. Atlast they reached the Temple. As they came up to it, the woman said:"Since we are here, let us go in and see what the child is like, whichthey say has come down from heaven!" They went in and asked where theyshould find the child.
"Go straight on to where the holy teachers sit with their students.There you will find the child. The old men have seated him in theirmidst. They question him and he questions them, and they are all amazedat him. But all the people stand below in the Temple court, to catch aglimpse of the one who has raised the Voice of the Prince of this Worldto his lips."
The man and the woman made their way through the throng of people, andsaw that the child who sat among the wise teachers was their son.
But as soon as the woman recognized the child she began to weep.
And the boy who sat among the wise men heard that some one wept, and heknew that it was his mother. Then he rose and came over to her, and thefather and mother took him between them and went from the Temple withhim.
But as the mother continued to weep, the child asked: "Why weepest thou?I came to thee as soon as I heard thy voice."
"Should I not weep?" said the mother. "I believed that thou wert lost tome."
They went out from the city and darkness came on, and all the while themother wept.
"Why weepest thou?" asked the child. "I did not know that the day wasspent. I thought it was still morning, and I came to thee as soon as Iheard thy voice."
"Should I not weep?" said the mother. "I have sought for thee all daylong. I believed that thou wert lost to me."
They walked the whole night, and the mother wept all the while.
When day began to dawn, the child said: "Why dost thou weep? I have notsought mine own glory, but God has let me perform miracles because Hewanted to help the three poor creatures. As soon as I heard thy voice, Icame to thee."
"My son," replied the mother. "I weep because thou art none the lesslost to me. Thou wilt never more belong to me. Henceforth thy lifeambition shall be righteousness; thy longing, Paradise; and thy loveshall embrace all the poor human beings who people this earth."
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Saint Veronica's Kerchief]
SAINT VERONICA'S KERCHIEF
I
During one of the latter years of Emperor Tiberius' reign, a poorvine-dresser and his wife came and settled in a solitary hut among theSabine mountains. They were strangers, and lived in absolute solitudewithout ever receiving a visit from a human being. But one morning whenthe laborer opened his door, he found, to his astonishment, that an oldwoman sat huddled up on the threshold. She was wrapped in a plain graymantle, and looked very poor. Nevertheless, she impressed him as beingso respect-compelling, as she ros
e and came to meet him, that it madehim think of what the legends had to say about goddesses who, in theform of old women, had visited mortals.
"My friend," said the old woman to the vine-dresser, "you must notwonder that I have slept this night on your threshold. My parents livedin this hut, and here I was born nearly ninety years ago. I expected tofind it empty and deserted. I did not know that people still occupiedit."
"I do not wonder that you thought a hut which lies so high up amongthese desolate hills should stand empty and deserted," said thevine-dresser. "But my wife and I come from a foreign land, and as poorstrangers we have not been able to find a better dwelling-place. But toyou, who must be tired and hungry after the long journey, which you atyour extreme age have undertaken, it is perhaps more welcome that thehut is occupied by people than by Sabine mountain wolves. You will atleast find a bed within to rest on, and a bowl