The book of legends told over again

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Horace <£♦ SctOtoet

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: A Biography. With por-
traits and other illustrations, an Appendix, and a full
Bibliography. 2 vols.

MEN AND LETTERS. Essays in Characterization and
Criticism.

CHILDHOOD IN LITERATURE AND ART: With some
Observations on Literature for Children.

NOAH WEBSTER, In American Men of Letters. With
Portrait.

GEORGE WASHINGTON. An Historical Biography. In
Riverside School Library.

THE DWELLERS IN FIVE SISTERS COURT. A Novel.

STORIES AND ROMANCES.

DREAM CHILDREN. Illustrated.

SEVEN LITTLE PEOPLE AND THEIR FRIENDS. Illus-
trated.

STORIES FROM MY ATTIC. For Children. Illustrated.

BOSTON TOWN. The Story of Boston told to Children.
Illustrated.

THE CHILDREN'S BOOK. A Collection of the Best Lit-
erature for Children. New Holiday Edition. Illustrated.

THE BOOK OF FABLES.

THE BOOK OF FOLK STORIES.

THE BOOK OF FABLES AND FOLK STORIES. School
Edition. Illustrated.

THE BOOK OF LEGENDS.

THE BODLEY BOOKS. Including Doings of the Bodley
Family in Town and Country, The Bodleys Telling Sto-
ries, The Bodleys on Wheels, The Bodleys Afoot, Mr.
Bodley Abroad, The Bodley Grandchildren and their
Journey in Holland, The English Bodleys, and The Vi-
king Bodleys. Illustrated. Eight vols.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Boston and New York

RAPHAEL'S ST. GEORGE

THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

€ofti <©toer &ffam

BY

HORACE E. SCUDDER

BOSTON, NEW YORK, AND CHICAGO

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Gfc-

COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY HORACE E. SCUDDER
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PREFACE

This little book follows the general design of
The Book of Fables and The Book of Folk
Stories. Literature, in one form or another,
recognizes a number of stories which are current
in many tongues, and may or may not have had
a single origin. Such is the tale of William
Tell. There are legends also which sprang up
in the popular mind about some hero of real life,
and, in ages which knew a marked separation
between literate and illiterate, these stories,
treasured by uncritical minds, came to express in
supernatural terms facts and incidents which at
other times would have been held fast in more
exact biography. Such are the legends of " St.
Christopher " and " St. George and the Dragon."
Again, there are stories like " The Bell of Jus-
tice " and " The Image and the Treasure " which
were the invention of mediaeval preachers of a
lively turn of imagination, and have found a place
in such collections as Qesta Romanorum.

33803c

iv PREFACE

These tales, springing from various sources>
have been taken up into literature of a more
conscious sort, and have been made the basis of
poem or story or drama. Their antiquity and
their persistence mark them as corresponding
to elemental conditions of human nature, and
thus they have seemed to me peculiarly accept-
able to the young, whose imagination is vivid
and uncritical. But for the most part these
stories are not accessible in a form easily appre-
hended by young readers, and it has been my
pleasure to tell them over again in simple lan-
guage. Perhaps some of the readers of this
book will find a keener pleasure in after-life
when they take up, for example, Longfellow's
" King Kobert of Sicily," or hear an opera by
Wagner, because the story in each case had
become familiar in childhood.

H. B. S.

CONTENTS

PAOK

The Proud King 1

St. George and the Dragon 11

The Bell of Justice 16

How the Lame Man and the Blind Man helped Each

Other 18

King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid .... 19

William Tell 22

The Dog Gellert 26

The Wandering Jew 28

The Legend of St. Christopher 31

How the Princess was beaten in a Race . • . 37

Abraham and the Old Man ...... 41

The Image and the Treasure 43

The Flying Dutchman • • 46

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus 52

The Little Thief 61

The Fair Melusina 65

The Brazen Head 71

The Monk and the Bird ..•••♦• 78

THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

THE PROUD KING

There was once a king who ruled over many
lands ; he went to war, and added one country
after another to his kingdom. At last he came
to be emperor, and that is as much as any man
can be. One night, after he was crowned em-
peror, he lay awake and thought about him-
self.

" Surely," he said, "no one can be greater
than I am, on earth or in heaven."

The proud king fell asleep with these
thoughts. When he awoke, the day was fair,
and he looked out on the pleasant world.

" Come," he said to the men about him ; " to-
day we will go a-hunting."

The horses were brought, the dogs came
leaping, the horns sounded, and the proud king
with his courtiers rode off to the sport. They
had hunted all the morning, and were now in a
deep wood. In the fields the sun had beat upon

2 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

their heads, and they were glad of the shade of
the trees ; but the proud king wished for some-
thing more. He saw a lake not far off, and he
said to his men : —

u Bide ye here, while I bathe in the lake and
cool myself."

Then he rode apart till he came to the shore
of the lake. There he got down from his horse,
laid aside his clothes, and plunged into the cool
water. He swam about, and sometimes dived
beneath the surface, and so was once more cool
and fresh.

Now while the proud king was swimming
away from the shore and diving to the bottom,
there came one who had the same face and form
as the king. He drew near the shore, dressed
himself in the king's clothes, mounted the
king's horse and rode away. So when the
proud king was once more cool and fresh, and
came to the place where he had left his clothes
and his horse, there were no clothes to be seen,
and no horse.

The proud king looked about, but saw no
man. He called, but no one heard him. The
air was mild, but the wood was dark, and no
sunshine came through to warm him after his
cool bath. He walked by the shore of the lake
and cast about in his mind what he should do.

THE PROUD KING 8

" « I have it," he cried at last. " Not far from
here lives a knight. It was but a few days ago
that I made him a knight and gave him a castle.
I will go to him, and he will be glad enough to
clothe his king."

The proud king wove some reeds into a mat
and bound the mat about him, and then he
walked to the castle of the knight. He beat
loudly at the gate of the castle and called for
the porter. The porter came and stood behind
the gate. He did not draw the bolt at once, but
asked : —

"Who is there?"

" Open the gate," said the proud king, " and
you will see who I am."

The porter opened the gate, and was amazed
at what he saw.

" Who are you ? " he asked.

" Wretch ! " said the proud king ; "lam the
emperor. Go to your master. Bid him come
to me with clothes. I have lost both clothes
and horse."

"A pretty emperor!" the porter laughed.
" The great emperor was here not an hour ago.
He came with his court from a hunt. My mas-
ter was with him and sat at meat with him.
But stay you here. I will call my master. Oh,

ft THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

yes! I will show him the emperor," and the
porter wagged his beard and laughed, and went
within.

He came forth again with the knight and
pointed at the proud king.

u There is the emperor ! " he said. u Look at
him ! look at the great emperor ! "

" Draw near/' said the proud king to the
knight, "and kneel to me. I gave thee this
castle. I made thee knight. I give thee now
a greater gift. I give thee the chance to clothe
thy emperor with clothes of thine own."

" You dog ! " cried the knight. " You fool !
I have just ridden with the emperor, and have
come back to my castle. Here ! " he shouted to
his servants, " beat this fellow and drive him
away from the gate."

The porter looked on and laughed.

" Lay on well," he said to the other servants.
"It is not every day that you can flog an
emperor."

Then they beat the proud king, and drove him
from the gate of the castle.

" Base knight ! " said the proud king. " I
gave him all he has, and this is how he repays
me. I will punish him when I sit on my throne
again. I will go to the duke who lives not far

THE PROUD KING 5

away. Him I have known all my days. He will
know me. He will know his emperor."

So he came to the gate of the duke's great
hall, and knocked three times. At the third
knock the porter opened the gate, and saw be-
fore him a man clad only in a mat of reeds, and
stained and bleeding.

" Go, I pray you, to the duke," said the proud
king, "and bid him come to me. Say to him
that the emperor stands at the gate. He has
been robbed of his clothes and of his horse.
Go quickly to your master."

The porter closed the gate between them, and
went within to the duke.

" Your Grace," said he, " there is a madman
at the gate. He is unclad and wild. He bade
me come to you and tell you that he was the
emperor."

"Here is a strange thing indeed," said the
duke ; " I will see it for myself."

So he went to the gate, followed by his ser-
vants, and when the porter opened it there
stood the proud king. The proud king knew
the duke, but the duke saw only a bruised and
beaten madman.

"Do you not know me?" cried the proud
king. " I am your emperor. Only this morn?

6 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

ing you were on the hunt with me. I left you
that I might bathe in the lake. While I was in
the water, some wretch took both my clothes
and my horse, and I — I have been beaten by a
base knight."

"Put him in chains/' said the duke to his
servants. " It is not safe to have such a man
free. Give him some straw to lie on, and some
bread and water."

The duke turned away and went back to his
hall, where his friends sat at table.

"That was a strange thing," he said.
" There was a madman at the gate. He must
have been in the wood this morning, for he told
me that I was on the hunt with the emperor,
and so I was ; and he told me that the emperor
went apart to bathe in the lake, and so he did.
But he said that some one stole the clothes and
the horse of the emperor, yet the emperor rode
back to us cool and fresh, and clothed and on
his horse. And he said " — And the duke
looked around on his p-uests.

"What did he say?"

" He said that he was the emperor."

Then the guests fell to talking and laughing,
and soon forgot the strange thing. But the
proud king lay in a dark prison, far even from

THE PROUD KING 1

the servants of the duke. He lay on straw, and
chains bound his feet.

"What is this that has come upon me?"
he said. " Am I brought so low ? Am I so
changed that even the duke does not know me ?
At least there is one who will know me, let me
wear what I may."

Then, by much labor, he loosed the chains
that bound him, and fled in the night from the
duke's prison. When the morning came, he
stood at the door of his own palace. He stood
there awhile ; perhaps some one would open the
door and let him in. But no one came, and the
proud king lifted his hand and knocked; he
knocked at the door of his own palace. The
porter came at last and looked at him.

"Who are you?" he asked, "and what do
you want ? "

"Do you not know me?" cried the proud
king. " I am your master. I am the king. I
am the emperor. Let me pass ; " and he would
have thrust him aside. But the porter was a
strong man ; he stood in the doorway, and
would not let the proud king enter.

" You my master ! you the emperor ! poor
fool, look here ! " and he held the proud king by
the arm while he pointed to a hall beyond.

8 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

There sat the emperor on his throne, and by his
side was the queen.

" Let me go to her ! she will know me," cried
the proud king, and he tried to break away from
the porter. The noise without was heard in the
hall. The nobles came out, and last of all came
the emperor and the queen. When the proud
king saw these two, he could not speak. He
was choked with rage and fear, and he knew not
what.

" You know me ! " at last he cried. " I am
your lord and husband."

The queen shrank back.

"Friends," said the man who stood by her,
u what shall be done to this wretch ? "

" Kill him," said one.

" Put out his eyes," said another.

" Beat him," said a third.

Then they all hustled the proud king out ol
the ,palace court. Each one gave him a blow,
and so he was thrust out, and the door was shut
behind him.

The proud king fled, he knew not whither.
He wished he were dead. By and by he came
to the lake where he had bathed. He sat down
on the shore. It was like a dream, but he knew
he was awake* for he was cold and hungry and

th£ proud king 9

faint. Then he knelt on the ground and beat
his breast, and said : —

" I am no emperor. I am no king. I am a
poor, sinful man. Once J thought there was
no one greater than I, on earth or in heaven.
Now I know that I am nothing, and there is no
one so poor and so mean. God forgive me for
my pride."

As he said this, tears stood in his eyes. He
wiped them away and rose to his feet. Close by
him he saw the clothes which he had once laid
aside. Near at hand was his horse, eating the
soft grass. The king put on his clothes; he
mounted his horse and rode to his palace. As
he drew near, the door opened and servants
came forth. One held his horse ; another helped
him dismount. The porter bowed low.

" I marvel I did not see thee pass out, my
lord," he said.

The king entered, and again saw the nobles in
the great hall. There stood the queen also, and
by her side was the man who called himself
emperor. But the queen and the nobles did not
look at him ; they looked at the king, and came
forward to meet him.

This man also came forward, but he was clad
in shining white, and not in the robes of the

10 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

emperor. The king bowed his head before him.

"I am thy angel/' said the man. "Thou
wert proud, and made thyself to be set on high.
Therefore thou hast been brought low. I have
watched over thy kingdom. Now I give it back
to thee, for thou art once again humble, and
the humble only are fit to rule."

Then the angel disappeared. No one else
heard his voice, and the nobles thought the king
had bowed to them. So the king once more sat
on the throne, and ruled wisely and humbly ever
after.

ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON

In the country of Libya in Asia Minor there
was a town called Silene, and near the town was
a pond, and this pond was the roving place of a
monster dragon. Many times had great armies
been sent to slay him, but never had they been
able to overcome him. Instead, he had driven
them back to the walls of the city.

Whenever this dragon drew near the city
walls, his breath was so full of poison that it
caused the death of all who were within reach
of it ; and so, to save the city, it was the custom
to throw each day two sheep to feed the dragon
and satisfy his hunger. So it went on, until
not a sheep was left, and not one could be
found in the neighborhood.

Then the people took counsel, and they drew
lots, and each day a man or a woman and one
of their cattle were given to the dragon, so that
he might not destroy the whole city. And their
lot spared no one. Rich or poor, high or low,
some one must each day be sacrified to the
dreadful dragon.

12 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

Now it came to pass one day that the princess
herself was drawn by lot. The king was filled
with horror. He offered in exchange his gold,
his silver, and half his realm if she might but be
spared. All he could obtain was a respite of
eight days, in which to mourn the fate of the
girl. At the end of that time, the people came
to the palace and said : —

"Why do you spare your daughter and kill
your subjects? Every day we are slain by the
breath of the monster." So the king knew he
must part with his daughter. He dressed her
in her richest apparel, and kissed her, and said :

"Ah, my dearest daughter! what an end is
this! I had thought to die and leave you
happy. I hoped to have invited princes to your
wedding, and to have had music and dancing.
I hoped to see your children, and now I must
send you to the dragon."

The princess wept and clung to her father,
and begged him to bless her. So he did, weep-
ing bitterly, and she left him, and went, like
those before her, to the lake where the dragon
dwelt.

Now these people of Libya were heathen, but
In Cappadocia, not far away, was a Christian
named George, and this George was a young

ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON 13

man of noble bearing. He heard in a visioa
that he was to go to Libya, and so he rode his
horse toward the city, and he was hard by the
lake, when he saw the princess standing alone,
weeping bitterly. He asked her why she wept,
and she only said : —

"Good youth, mount your horse again
quickly and fly, lest you perish with me." But
George said to her : —

" Do not fear. Tell me what you await, and
why the vast crowd yonder are watching you."

Again she begged him to fly.

"You have a kind and noble heart, sir, I
perceive," said she, " yet fly, and at once."

" Not so," said George j " I will first hear
your tale."

Then she told him all.

" Be of good courage," said he. " It was for
this I was sent. In the name of Jesus Christ I
will defend you."

"I do not know that name, brave knight,"
said she. " Do not seek to die with me. It is
enough that I should perish. You can neither
save me nor yourself from this terrible dragon."
At that moment, the dragon rose with a great
bellowing from the lake. " Fly ! fly ! " said the
trembling princess. " Fly, sir knight ! "

14 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

But George, nothing daunted, made the sign
of the cross, and went forward boldly to meet
the dragon, commending himself to God. He
Raised his spear, and flung it with all his force
at the neck of the monster. So surely did the
spear fly that it pierced the neck and pinned the
dragon to the ground.

Then he bade the princess take her girdle and
pass it round the spear, and fear nothing. She
did so, and the dragon rose and followed her
like a docile hound. George led his horse and
walked beside her, and thus they entered the city.
The people began to flee when they saw the
dread beast, but George stayed them.

" Fear not," said he. " This monster can no
longer harm you. The Lord sent me to deliver
you ; " and so the multitude followed, and they
came before the palace, where the king sat
sorrowing. And when the king heard the
mighty rejoicing, he came forth and saw his be-
loved daughter, safe, with the dragon at her
heels.

Then George took his sword and smote off the
dragon's head, and all the people hailed him as
their deliverer. But George bade them give
glory to the Lord j and he remained and taught

ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON 15

them the new faith, so that the king and the
princess and all the people were baptized. And
when George died he was called St. George, and
it fell out finally that he became the patron saint
of merry England.

THE BELL OF JUSTICE

A Roman emperor had the ill fortune to lose
his sight. He wished that his people might not
be the worse for this loss ; so he hung a bell in
his palace, and a law was made that any one who
had a wrong to be righted must pull the rope
with his own hands and thus ring the bell.
When the bell rang, a judge went down to hear
the complaint and right the wrong.

It chanced that a serpent had its home under
the end of the bell-rope. Here it brought forth
its young, and one day, when the little serpents
could leave the place, it led them out for fresh
air. While they were gone, a toad came and
took a fancy to the place. Nor would he go
away when the serpent came back.

The serpent could not drive the toad out, so it
coiled its tail about the bell-rope, and rang the
bell of justice. Down came the judge, but saw
nobody, and went back. Again the serpent
rang the bell in the same way.

This time the judge looked about with care
and espied the serpent and the toad. He went

THE BELL OF JUSTICE 17

back to the emperor and told him what he had
seen.

" It is very clear," said the emperor, " that
the toad is in the wrong. Go down, drive out
the toad, kill it, and let the serpent have its
place again."

All this was done. Now, not many days after,
as the emperor lay in his bed, the serpent came
into the room, and toward the emperor's bed.
The servants were about to drive the serpent
away, but the emperor forbade them.

" It will do me no harm," said he ; " I have
been just to it. Let us see what it will do."

At that the serpent glided up the bed and
laid a precious stone, which it carvied in its
mouth, upon the emperor's eyes. Then it
slipped out of the room and no one saw it again.
But no sooner had the stone lain on the eyes of
the emperor than his sight was restored and he
could see as well as other men.

HOW THE LAME MAN AND THE BLIND
MAN HELPED EACH OTHER

A certain king made a great feast, and in-
vited nany guests to it. There was to be much
eating and drinking, and every one besides was to
have a present. The servants of the king gave
the bidding to one and another, and in jest bade
two men to the feast, one of whom was strong
but stone blind, while the other had good sight
but was dead lame.

"What a pity it is," said the blind man,
" that we cannot go to the feast, for we should
have enough to eat and drink, and a present
beside. But I am blind and cannot see the way,
and you are lame and cannot walk."

" Take my counsel," said the lame man, " and
we can both go to the feast."

" Why, how may that be ? "

" It is easily done," said the lame man. " You
are strong and I can see. Let me mount your
back. You can carry me, and I will show you
the way."

"Well said," quoth the blind man. So he
took the lame man on his back and trudged
along, and both sat down at the king's feast.

KING COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAB
MAID

There was in Africa a rich and powerful
king, and his name was Cophetua. He lived in
a fine palace and had gold and silver dishes on
his table, and his bedstead was made of ivory,
and there were weavers in the palace who were
always weaving new and beautiful clothes for
this rich and powerful king.

But though Cophetua had all these goods, he
lacked one thing. He had no wife, and he was
lonely. He was not an old man, — not at all.
He was young and fair to look at ; and he was,
beside, not spoiled by his riches and his power.
He treated every one about him kindly, and he
was known throughout his kingdom as a good
and generous king.

The people wished him to marry, and his old
counsellors wagged their heads together and
named over all the young princesses in the neigh-
boring kingdoms. They took journeys to see
the different princesses, but could not agree
amongst themselves. One princess was ill-tem*

20 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

pered; another thought of nothing but her
clothes ; another was silly ; and then, what they
disliked most, all the princesses wanted so much
to marry King Cophetua that they behaved
ridiculously whenever his name was mentioned.

So it was that the king, for all his riches and
power, led a lonely life. But he did not sit
down and mope. He went cheerfully about his
daily duties, and, to tell the truth, he had seen so
many f oolish princesses that he came to feel a
great contempt for women. Mother and sisters
had he none, and in his country it was not the
way for young kings to see any women but
princesses and slaves.

But one day, as King Cophetua was riding
out to hunt with his nobles, there stood by the
wayside a blind old man, and by his side was
his daughter, a young maid, in poor clothing.
They were beggars, for even when a king is rich
he may have beggars in his kingdom. King
Cophetua was about to toss a coin into the out-
stretched hand of the old man, when he caught
sight of the girl's face. He stopped his horse.

" What is your name ? " he asked the girl.

" Penelophon," said she. Now it sounded
oddly in the ears of his nobles that she did not
say, " Penelophon, your Majesty," but in fact

KING COPHETUA OFFERING HIS CROWN

KING COPHETUA 21

the beggar girl did not know this was the king,
and so she answered simply, and looked up into
his face with her clear, trusting eyes.

King Cophetua had never seen such a face as
hers. It was not only beautiful; it showed at
once a beautiful soul behind it. The king for-
got in a moment his disdain for women. He
sprang from his horse to the ground, and took
the girl's hand.

"Wilt thou love me and be my wife?" he
asked, a little fear in his voice, lest she should
say him nay. She looked at him and saw that
he was a true man. No one ever had asked her
that question before, and she answered very
simply, "Yes."

"Then back to the palace," shouted King
Cophetua, joyously. "There shall be no hunt
to-day." Amazed were the nobles, and amazed
were the people, when they heard the news, but
King Cophetua wedded the beggar maid, and
together they reigned over a happy people.

WILLIAM TELL

Switzerland is a republic, like the United
States, and the men who live among its moun-
tains are a brave, free people. But long ago the
Emperor of Austria claimed the land as a part of
his empire, and sent a man named Gessler to rule
the people in his stead.

Gessler was a tyrant. He wished to stand
well with his master, the emperor, and he ruled
the bold Swiss with a rod of iron. He had
soldiers at his command, and he seemed able to
do whatever he wished, but there was one thing
he could not do : he could not make the proud
people bow down to him when he came among
them.

He was angry enough at this, and he cast
about for some new way in which to make them
feel his power. In those days, as now, every
town had a public square called a market-place.
Here the people flocked to buy and sell of each
other. The men and women came down from
the mountains with game and cheese and butter ;
they sold these things in the market, and bought

WILLIAM TELL 28

goods which they could not make or grow in
their mountain homes.

In the market-place of Altorf, a Swiss town,
Gessler set up a tall pole, like a liberty pole.
But on the top of this pole he placed his hat,
and, just as in the city a gilt crown on some high
point was the sign of the emperor's power, so
this hat was to be the sign of Gessler's power.
He bade that every Swiss man, woman, or child
who passed by the pole should bow to the hat.
In this way they were to show their respect for
him.

From one of the mountain homes near Altorf
there came into the market-place one day a tall,
strong man named William Tell. He was a
famous archer, for it was in the days before the
mountaineers carried guns, and he was wont to
shoot bears and wild goats and wolves with his
bow and arrows.

He had with him his little son, and they
walked across the market-place. But when they
passed the pole, Tell never bent his head; he
stood as straight as a mountain pine.

There were servants and spies of Gessler in
the market-place, and they at once told the
tyrant how Tell had defied him. Gessler com-
manded the Swiss to be brought before him, and
he came, leading by the hand his little son.

84 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

"They tell me you shoot well," said the
tyrant. " You shall not be punished. Instead
you shall give me a sign of your skill. Your boy
is no doubt made of the same stuff you are. Let
him stand yonder a hundred paces off. Place
an apple on his head, and do you stand here and
pierce the apple with an arrow from your
quiver."

All the people about turned pale with fear,
and fathers who had their sons with them held
them fast, as if Gessler meant to take them from
them. But Tell looked Gessler full in the face,
and drew two arrows from his quiver.

" Go yonder," he said to the lad, and he saw
him led away by two servants of Gessler, who
paced a hundred steps, and then placed an apple
on the boy's head. They had some pity for Tell
in their hearts, and so they had made the boy
stand with his back to his father.

" Face this way," rang out Tell's clear voice,
and the boy, qnick to obey, turned and stood
facing his father. He stood erect, his arms
hanging straight by his side, his head held up,
and the apple poised on it. He saw Tell string
his bow, bend it, to try if it were true, fit the
notch of the arrow into the taut cord, bring the
bow slowly into place. He could see no more.
He shut his eyes.

WILLIAM TELL 25

The next moment a great shout rose from the
crowd. The arrow had split the apple in two
and had sped beyond. The people were over-
joyed, but Gessler said in a surly tone to Tell : —

" You were not so very sure of your first shot.
I saw you place a second arrow in your belt."

" That was for thee, tyrant, had I missed my
first shot/' said Tell.

" Seize him ! " cried the enraged tyrant, and
his soldiers rushed forward, but the people also
threw themselves upon the soldiers, and Tell, now
drawing his bow again, shot the tyrant through
the heart, and in the confusion that followed,
taking his boy by the hand, fled quickly to the
lake near by, and, loosing a boat, rowed to the
other shore, and so escaped to the mountain
fastness.

THE DOG GELLERT

In the mountains of Wales there lived a
prince named Llewellyn. He had a fine castle,
but the most precious thing in his castle was his
little child. All the servants were devoted to
the child, but his most constant friend, play-
mate, and guardian was the great dog Gellert.
He was a powerful hound, and he needed to be,
for there were wolves and other wild beasts in
the forest about the castle.

Llewellyn had perfect confidence in the dog
Gellert, and one day when he went out hunting
he told Gellert to stay at home and take care of
his little master. So Gellert lay down by the
side of the cradle and stretched his great paws
out, as if to say : " No one shall come near my
little master."

The afternoon went by, the hunt was over,
and Llewellyn drew near his castle. He sounded
his horn, and threw himself from his horse at
the door. Gellert came bounding out, but to
his horror Llewellyn saw that his mouth was
dripping with blood, and there were marks of
blood all about.

THE DOG GELLERT 27

u 0 faithless hound ! " he cried. " Is this
the way you guard your little master ?" And
he drew his sword and with one blow laid the
hound dead at his feet. Then he rushed into
the house. Everything was in confusion. The
cradle was empty, and the clothes were thrown
about.

He stood still, ready to faint, when he heard
a little sound. Perhaps his son still lived. He
went to the cradle, and there on the floor be-
hind it was his little boy, laughing, and pull-
ing the hair of a great shaggy wolf that lay
stretched out dead beside him.

Then the whole story was clear to him. The
wolf had come in through the open door, had
stolen toward the cradle, when Gellert had
sprung upon the wolf, had fought with him and
slain him.

0 happy father ! 0 unhappy prince ! To
have his child back again, and to have slain
that child's faithful guardian ! He could not
bring the hound back to life, but he dug his
grave and built above it a beautiful monument,
and the place is called Beth Gellert to this
day.

THE WANDERING JEW

When our Saviour was passing out of Jeru-
salem to the place where he was to be cruci-
fied, he was made to carry the heavy cross on
his shoulders. Many people followed him, and
others stood in the doorways of the houses he
passed, or looked out of the windows.

One of these who looked on was a shoemaker,
Ahasuerus by name. He did not believe in
Christ. He had been present when Pilate pro-
nounced the sentence of death, and, knowing
that Christ would be dragged past his house, he
ran home and called his household to see this per-
son, who, he said, had been deceiving the Jews.

Ahasuerus stood in the doorway, holding his
little child on his arm. Presently the crowd
came by and Jesus in the midst, bearing his
cross. The load was heavy, and Jesus stood a
moment, as if he would rest in the doorway.
But the Jew, willing to gain favor with the
crowd, roughly bade him go forward. Jesus
obeyed, but, as he moved away, he turned and
looked on the shoemaker and said : —

THE WANDERING JEW 29

" I shall at last rest, but thou shalt go on till
the last day."

Ahasuerus heard him. Stirred by some im-
pulse, he knew not what, he set his child down,
and followed the crowd to the place of crucifix-
ion. There he stayed till the end. And when
the people turned back, he turned back with
them, and went to his house, but not to stay.
He bade his wife and children farewell.

" Go on ! " a voice said to him, and on that
day he began his wanderings. Years afterward
he came back, but Jerusalem was a heap of
ruins. The city had been destroyed, and he
knew that his wife and children had long since
been dead.

" Go on ! " he heard, and he wandered forth,
begging his way from house to house, from
town to town, from one country to another. He
wandered from Judaea to Greece, from Greece
to Rome. He grew old, and his face was like
leather, but his eyes were bright, and he never
lost his vigor.

He went through storms and the cold of win-
ter, he endured the dry heat of summer, but no
sickness overtook him. He joined armies that
were going forth to battle, but death never
came his way, though men fell by his side.

80 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

He was never seen to laugh. Now and then,
some learned man would draw him into talk,
not knowing who he was, and would find him
familiar with great events in history. It was
not as if he had learned these in books. He
talked as if he himself had been present. Then
the learned man would shake his head, and say-
to himself, "Poor man, he is mad," and only
after the old wanderer had left would the
thought suddenly come, " Why, that must have
been the Wandering Jew."

Where is he now? No one knows. Wan-
dering, weary, he moves from place to place.
Sometimes he is driven off by the people, he
looks so uncanny. When war breaks out, he
says to himself, " Perhaps now at last the end
of the world is coming ; " but though wars have
lasted a hundred years, they cease at last, and
still the Wandering Jew goes on* on.

THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER

There was a mighty man living in the land of
Canaan. He was so strong and could carry such
heavy loads that he was named Offero, meaning
" The Bearer." In those days men born in
poverty were wont to join themselves to the rich
and noble and serve them ; in return, they were
cared for all through life by their masters.

Offero was proud of his strength, and said he
would serve no one but the greatest king on
earth. So he went from one country to another,
until he came to one where the king was richer
and more powerful than all other kings whom
he had seen. Here Offero stayed, and entered
the service of this great ruler.

But one day, as he stood by the king in the
palace, a minstrel sang and played. In his song*
now and then, he uttered the name of Satan.
Every time he did so, the king trembled and
made the sign of the cross. Now Offero had
never heard of Satan, and he asked the king
why he trembled. At first the king made no
answer.

32 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

« Tell me," said Offero, " or I will leave thee."

" I tremble/' said the king, " because I fear
Satan. I make the sign of the cross that he
may have no power over me, for he is as wicked
as he is strong."

" Dost thou fear him? " asked Offero. "Then
will I leave thee and seek him, for I can serve
no master who is afraid of a greater."

Thus Offero left the king and went off in
search of Satan. As he was crossing a great
desert, he came upon a mighty being who
marched at the head of a vast army. This great
one hardly looked at the giant Offero, but as he
passed him he asked : —

"Whither goest thou? whom dost thou
seek?"

" I seek Satan," said Offero. " I would have
him for my master, for he is the mightiest being
on earth."

" I am he," said Satan. "Come with me, and
thy service shall be easy and pleasant."

Offero joined the army of Satan, and went
marching on with it. By and by they came to
a place where four roads met, and by the way-
side stood a cross. When Satan saw the cross,
he turned in great haste, and led his army
quickly away.

THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER 83

"Why is this?" asked Offero. "What is
this cross? and why dost thou avoid it?"

Satan gave no answer.

" Tell me/' said Offero, "or I will leave thee."

Then Satan said : —

" I fear the cross because upon it Christ hung,
and I fly from it, lest he destroy me."

Then Offero left Satan and went in search of
Christ. After many days he came upon a holy
man, and asked him, as he had asked others,
where he should find Christ. The holy man
began to teach him, and said to him : —

" Thou art right. Christ is the greatest king
on earth and in heaven. But it is no light
thing to serve him. He will lay great burdens
on thee. And first thou must fast."

"I will not fast," said Offero; "for my
strength makes me a good servant, and if I fast
I shall be weak."

" Besides, thou must pray."

"I know not how to pray, neither will I
learn," said the proud giant. Then the holy
man said: —

" Wilt thou use thy strength ? Find out
some broad, deep river, with a swift current, so
swift that men cannot cross it."
, u I know such a stream," said Offero.

$4 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

" Then go to it, and help those who struggle
with its waters. Carry across on thy broad
shoulders the weak and the little ones. This is
a good work, and it may be that Christ will be
pleased."

Offero was glad to be given this task. He
built a hut on the bank of the river, and there
he dwelt. Whenever one tried to cross the
stream, Offero gave him aid. Truly, he was
The Bearer, for he carried many across on his
shoulders, so that not one was lost. For a staff
he used a great palm-tree, which he plucked up
by the roots.

Long he lived in his hut, and great was the
help which he gave to travellers. At last, one
night, as he was resting, he heard a voice, like
that of a weak child, saying : —

* Offero, wilt thou bear me over ? "

He went to the bank of the river, but he could
find no one. He went back to his hut and lay
down. Again he heard the same voice. This
happened three times. Then he lighted a lan-
tern, and went out to search the country about.
Now he came upon a little child, who begged
him: —

" Offero, Offero, bear me over to-night."

He lifted the child and placed him on his

ST. CHRISTOPHER AND THE CHILD

THE LEGEND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER 35

broad shoulders; he took his stout staff and began
to cross the flood. But all at once the winds
blew, the waves rose, and there was a roaring in
his ears,, as if the great ocean were let loose ;
the weight on his shoulders bore him down more
and more, until he feared he should sink. But
he held firmly to his stout staff, and at last
reached the other bank, and placed his burden
safely on the ground.

"What have I borne?" cried Offero. "It
could not have been heavier if it had been the
whole world."

Then the child answered : —

"Thou didst wish to serve me and I have
chosen thee as my servant. Thou hast borne,
not the whole world, but the king of the whole
world, on thy shoulders. That thou mayest
know who I am, fix thy staff in the earth."

Offero did so, and, lo ! out of the bare palm-
staff sprang leaves, and among the leaves were
rich clusters of dates. Then Offero knew that
it was Christ whom he had borne, and he fell
down at his feet.

Offero now was in the service of Christ, and
not long after he went to Samos, where the
heathen were killing the Christians. A man
struck him, but the giant only said : —

36 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

" I am a servant of Christ. I cannot strike
thee back."

He was bound with chains and taken to Dag-
nus, king of Lycia. So mighty was the giant
that Dagnus fainted with fear when he saw him.
When Dagnus came to himself, he asked the
giant : —

"Who art thou?"

" My name/' he said, " was Offero, the Bearer,
but now I serve Christ. I have borne him on
my shoulders. For this I am now called Christ-
offero, the Christ-Bearer."

Thus it was that Christopher won his name,
and because he was true to his name he is
called St. Christopher.

HOW THE PKINCESS WAS BEATEN IN A
EACE

There was once a king who had a daughter,
and this daughter was very fair, so that every
prince in all the countries around wished to
marry her. Now the princess was a very swift
junner. She ran so fast that no one could over-
take her.

The king was in no haste to marry off his
daughter, so he gave out that no one should
have her for a wife who could not beat her in a
race. Any one, prince or peasant, might race
with her. The first man who beat her in the
race should have her for wife; but whoever
raced with her and did not beat must have his
head cut off.

At first there were many who tried, for a great
many princes were in love with her, and men who
were not princes thought they might outstrip
her, and so come to be as good as princes.

The girl had fine fun. She raced with each
one, and she always beat in the game ; a great

88 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

many heads were cut off, and at last it was hard
to find any one who dared to race with her.

Now there was a poor young man in the
country who thought thus to himself : —

" I am poor, and have only my head to lose if
I do not win the race. If I should win I should
become noble, and all my family would be noble
also. I think I will try."

He was a good runner, and he was also a fel-
low of quick wit. He heard that the princess
was vfcry fond of roses. So he gathered a fine
nosegay. He also had a silken girdle made.
Finally he took all his money and bought a
silken bag, and placed in it a golden ball ; on the
ball were the words, " Who plays with me shall
never tire of play."

These three things he placed in the bosom of
his robe, and went and knocked at the palace
gate. The porter asked him what he wished,
and he said he had come to race with the prin-
cess.

The princess herself, who was only a young
girl, looked out of the window and heard what
was said. She saw that he was poor and meanly
clad, and she looked on him with scorn.

But the king's law made no choice between
rich and poor, prince and peasant. So the prin-

HOW THE PRINCESS WAS BEATEN 39

cess made ready to run. The king and all the
court gathered to see the race, and the heads-
man went off to sharpen his axe.

The two had not run far, and the princess
was outrunning the young man, when he drew
forth his bunch of roses. He threw this so that
it fell at the feet of the princess. She stopped,
picked it up, and was greatly pleased with the
flowers. She looked at them, smelled of them,
and began to bind them in her hair. She for-
got the race, when suddenly she saw the young
man far ahead of her.

At once off she tore the roses, threw them
from her, and ran like the wind. It was but a
little while before she overtook the young man.
She smote him lightly on the shoulder and
said : —

" Stop, foolish boy ! Do you hope to marry
a princess ? "

But as she sped past him, he threw before
her the silken girdle. Again she stopped, and
stooped to look at it. It was a beautiful girdle,
and she clasped it about her waist. As she was
buckling it, she saw the young man well on
joward the goal.

" Wretch t " she cried, and burst into tears.
Then she flung the girdle away and bounded

40 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

forward. Once more she caught up with him.
She seized him by the arm.

" You shall not marry me ! " she said angrily,
and sprang past him. She was near the goal^
but the young man now let fall at her feet the?
silken bag. The ball of gold glittered in it, and
the princess was curious to see what the play-
thing was. She paused for just a moment,
raised the bag from the ground and took out
the ball. It had letters on it, and she stood
still to read them : —

"Who plays with me shall never tire of
play."

" I should like to see if that is true," said the
princess, and she began to play with the ball.
She tossed it and tossed it, and no one can say
if she would have tired, for suddenly she heard
a great shout. The young man had reached
the winning-post : his head was safe. He mar-
ried the princess, and all his family were made
noble.

ABRAHAM AND THE OLD MAN

The patriarch Abraham sat at the door of his
tent. It was evening, when he was wont to
watch for any strangers who might pass by, for
all such he bade enter his tent. He espied an
old man coming toward him, leaning on his
staff, weary with travel and bent with age, for
he was a hundred years old.

Abraham rose and asked the old man to come
into the tent. He washed his feet, gave him
the best seat, and set meat before him. The
old man ate his supper in silence, but he offered
no prayer before he ate.

" Why dost thou not first worship the God of
heaven ? " asked Abraham.

" I worship fire only ; I know no other God,"
said the old man.

At that Abraham was very angry and drove
his guest out into the dark night. Then God
called Abraham and said to him : —

"Where is that stranger who was in thj
tent?"

" I thrust him out/' said the patriarch, " be-
cause he did not worship Thee."

12 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

Then God answered Abraham out of heaven :

"I have suffered him these hundred years,

although he did not honor me, and couldst thou

not endure him one night when he gave thee no

trouble?"

Then was Abraham very sorry, and went and
brought the old man back, and gave him rest,
and sent him on his way in the morning.

THE IMAGE AND THE TREASURE

In the city of Rome was a graven image of a
man. It stood upright and held out its right
hand. On the middle finger of the hand were
the words strike here. No one knew what
this meant, but all thought the image held some
hid treasure. Thus the image was marred by-
blows where one person and another had struck
it to find the opening.

At last a learned man looked hard at the
image to see if he could find out the secret.
The sun was shining brightly. It was noon,
and the shadow of the image lay upon the
ground. The hand of the shadow was stretched
out, and the learned man saw the shadow finger.

He marked the spot where the tip of the fin-
ger rested, and at night, when all was still, he
came again. He had brought a spade with him,
and he dug down at the spot he had marked.
Soon he came to a trap door. He raised the
door and saw some steps leading down. Then
he closed the door above him and went down
the steps.

44 THE BOOR OF LEGENDS

He found himself in a great hall, and in the
middle of the hall was a table. The table was
set with dishes of gold and silver, with golden
Jknives and cups of gold. At one end sat a
king and a queen. He knew they were a king
gnd a queen by their rich robes, and by the
crowns on their heads. Fine nobles, too, sat at
the table, and all about were men standing.

The wonder was, there was not a sound, and
not a single person moved. The king sat still ;
the queen sat still ; the nobles did not stir ; the
men were fixed. It was as if they were all of
stone, and so they were ; for when this learned
man touched them, he found that they were
stone0

He went into a room beyond. There he saw
many women dressed in purple. They, too, were
of stone. He went into a stable : there stood
horses in the stalls, and dogs ; but they had all
been turned to stone. So he went about the
palace, for palace it plainly was, and everywhere
it was as still as death. Not a living thing was
to be seen ; but there were riches more than he
ever dreamt of.

At last he came back to the great hall. He
saw that the light which lighted the hall came
from a precious stone in one corner. The light,

THE IMAGE AND THE TREASURE 45

as he gazed, fell upon a stone archer, who stood
with his bow drawn, and the arrow pointed at
the precious stone. On the archer's brow were
the words : —

" I am what I am. My shaft is sure ; least of
all can the precious stone escape me."

Now the learned man thought to carry away
some of the treasure. He went to the table and
chose some of the golden cups. They surely
would be the easiest to carry. But no sooner
had he hid them in his cloak than, whish ! the
arrow sped from the bow and struck the precious
stone. In an instant the stone was shivered to
bits and there was total darkness.

The learned man groped for the stairs. He
eould not find them. He went back and forth,
but he never found the stairs. He, too, became a
stone statue in the secret hall.

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

Once upon a time, a Dutch ship set sail from
the East Indies to return to Holland. The Dutch
had rich lands in the East Indies, and many a
poor lad went out from Holland before the mast
and landed at Java, it may be, and there settled
himself and grew rich.

Such an one was a certain Diedrich, who had
no father or mother living, and was left to shift
for himself. And when he came to Java he was
bound out to a rich planter ; but he worked so
hard and was so faithful that it was not long
before he was free and his own master. Little
by little he saved his money, and as he was very
careful it was not many years before he was
very rich indeed.

Now all these years Diedrich had never for-
gotten what a hard time he had had when he
was a boy; and at last, when he was a man
grown and had his large fortune, he resolved
to carry out a plan which he had made. He
sold his lands and houses, which he owned in
Java, and all his goods, and took the money he

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN 47

received in bags aboard a ship which was to
return to Holland.

He was the only passenger on board, but he was
a friendly man, and soon he was on good terms
with the captain and all the crew. One day, as
the ship drew near the Cape of Good Hope,
Diedrich was sitting by the captain, and they
each fell to talking about their early life.

"And what," said Diedrich to the captain,
" do you mean to do when you make a few more
voyages, and have saved up money enough not
to need to go to sea any more ? "

"I know well," said the captain, as he pulled
away at his pipe. "There is a little house I
know by a canal just outside of Amsterdam.
I mean to buy that house; and I will have a
summer-house in the garden, and there I will sit
all day long smoking my pipe, while my wife sits
by my side and knits, and the children play in
the garden."

" Then you have children ? "

" That I have," said the captain, and he went
on to name them, and to tell how old each one
was, and how bright they all were. It was good to
hear him, for he was a simple man, and cared
for nothing so much as his wife and little ones.

" And what," at last the captain said to Die*
drich, — " what shall you do ? "

48 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

" Ah, I have no wife or children, and there is
no one in all Holland who will be glad to see me
come home." Then he told of what a hard time
he had when he was a youngster, and at last, as
the darkness grew deeper, and he sat there alone
with the captain, he suddenly told him his great
plan.

" I have made a great deal of money," said he,
" which you know I am carrying home with me.
I will tell you what I am going to do with it.
There are a great many poor children in Amster-
dam who have no home. I am going to build a
great house and live in it, and I am going to
have the biggest family of any one in Amsterdam.
I shall take the poorest and the most miserable
children in Amsterdam, and they shall be my
sons and daughters."

" And you shall bring them out to my house,"
said the captain, " and your children and mine
shall play together." So they talked and talked,
until at last it was very late, and they went to
their cabins for the night.

Now, while they were talking, the man at the
wheel listened ; and, as he heard of the bags of
gold that Diedrich was carrying home, his evil
heart began to covet the gold. As he steered
the ship, and after his turn was over, he thought

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN 49

and thought how he could get that gold. He
knew it would be impossible for him alone to
seize it. and so he whispered about it to one and
another of the sailors.

The crew had been got together hastily.
There was not one Dutchman among them, and
there was not one of the crew who had not com-
mitted some crime. They were wicked men,
and, when the sailor told them of the gold that
was on board, they were ready for anything.

The ship drew nearer the Cape of Good Hope,
and the captain walked the deck with Diedrich,
and they both talked of the Holland to which
they were going, when suddenly they were seized
from behind and tightly bound. At the same
instant the officers of the ship, the mate and the
second mate, were seized, and now the ship was in
the hands of the mutinous crew.

These wicked men made short work. They
threw the captain and Diedrich and the two
mates, each bound hand and foot, into the sea.
" Dead men tell no tales," said the man at the
wheel. Then they sailed for the nearest port.
But as they sailed a horrible plague broke out on
board. It was a plague which made the men
crave water for their burning throats, and, as
they fought to get at the water-casks, they
spilled all the water thej had.

50 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

There they were, in the midst of the salt sea,
which only to look at made them wild with
thirst. Though they feared what might befall
them if they made for the land, they could not
stand the raging thirst, and they steered for the
nearest port.

But when they came into the port, the people
saw they had the plague, and they refused to
let them land.

" We have great store of gold," the crew cried
with their parched mouths. " Only give us
water ! " But the people drove them away. It
was the same when they went to the next port,
and the next. They turned back, away from
their homeward voyage, to the ports of the East.

Then a great storm arose and they were driven
far out to sea, and when the gale died down
they steered again for the land. And when
they drew near once more, another gale sprang
ap, and they were driven hither and thither.
And once more they were swept far away from
the shore.

That was years and years ago. But when
ships make the Cape of Good Hope, and are
rounding it, through the fog and mist and dark-
ness of the night they see a ghostly ship sailing,
Bailing, never reaching land, always beating up

LOOK! THERE IS THE FLYING DUTCHMAN*

THE FLYING DUTCHMAN 51

against the wind. Its sails are torn, the masts
are bleached, and there are pale figures moving
about on deck. Then the sailors whisper to
each other:—

" Look I there is the Flying Dutchman 1 w

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS

When Decius was Emperor of Rome, he hated
the Christians, and persecuted them. Now he
went on his travels and came to the city of
Ephesus. There he had altars built, and com-
manded that all the people should worship the
gods of the heathen. If there were any Chris-
tians there, they must worship these idols openly
or be put to death.

This caused great fright in the city, and there
were some who feared to die, and they did wor-
ship the idols though they had called themselves
by the name of Christian. But there were seven
young men who refused to worship the idols,
and remained in their houses praying and fast-
ing. When Decius heard this, he bade them be
brought before him ; and because they were fair
and good to look on, he gave them a little time
in which to make up their minds whether they
would worship the idols or be put to death.

So the seven got together, and, because they
were willing to die for the faith, they sold all
they had and gave the money to the poor of

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS 58

Ephesus, keeping only a few coins for them-
selves. Then, hoping to escape alive, they went
secretly from the city to Mount Celion, not far
away, where they found a cave, and there they
hid themselves.

By and by they were hungry, and one of their
number, Malchus by name, went back to the
town to buy some bread. He went disguised,
and when he reached Ephesus he heard every one
talking of the seven Christians who had fled.
The Emperor Decius was furious, and was send-
ing soldiers in every direction to hunt for them.

At that Malchus turned back, and managed to
reach the cave again without being seen. He
told his comrades what he had heard, and they
all fell a-weeping. But he gave them the loaves
he had brought, and they all ate, and then,
plucking up courage, they crept into the darkest
part of the cave, and, committing themselves to
God, lay down and fell asleep.

Decius was very angry that the seven young
men had escaped. * He called their parents, but
they could tell him nothing save that the seven
had sold all their goods and given them to the
poor, and then had disappeared. Decius sent in
every direction, but the seven could not be found.
Finally he gave orders that all the caves in the

54 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

neighborhood should be stopped with stones;
" for/' said he, " if they should chance to be
hiding in any one of them, there they should stay
till the end of the world." So the cavern in
which the seven were hid was blocked up, but the
seven sleepers within knew nothing, heard no-
thing, that was going on.

The Emperor Decius died, and all the people
of Ephesus died, and time went on. Little by
little, and sometimes by great leaps, Christianity
became the religion of the empire, and in three
hundred and sixty years after this time Theo-
dosius was emperor and Christianity was the
established religion.

One day a shepherd, who had his hut on the
side of Mount Celion, wished to make a wall
about his sheepf old, and he began drawing stone
from a large pile. As he drew away one stone
after another, he saw that they stopped the mouth
of a cavern. At last he had drawn them all
away, and the cavern was open to the light
and air.

With this the seven sleepers, who had slept
soundly for three hundred and sixty years,
awoke. They rubbed their eyes and sat upright,
and began talking over the affairs of yesterday,

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS 55

for they had no thought except that they had
slept a night.

" What," they asked Malchus, " do you think
Decius will now do ? "

"He will surely hunt us down, to force us
to worship the idols/' said Malchus. But they
nil agreed they would sooner die first. Never-
Iheless, as the day wore on, they were hungry
enough, and Malchus, taking a few coins from
their little store, said he would go again to the
city to buy bread, and learn what he could of
the emperor's doings.

When he left the cavern he saw a heap of
atones lying beside the mouth, for the shepherd
had not carried all away. He was puzzled, and
called his comrades to look at them. They
could not any of them remember to have seen
them before. Then Malchus went on his way to
the city, and when he came to one of the gates
he looked up and saw a cross above the gate.
He was disturbed, for he thought something
must ail his eyes. He went around and came to
another gate, and there also he saw a cross.

"Am I in a dream?" he asked himself; but
he entered the city, and made his way to a bak-
er's shop. The city had changed. The houses
looked curiously older, and there were some he

56 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

did not remember to have seen before, though
he had lived in Ephesus since he was a boy.
But what amazed him most was to hear one and
another say, as they passed him, " The Lord be
with you," " May Jesus bless you." What ! why}
yesterday, no one dared pronounce aloud the
name of the Saviour !

He entered the shop and laid a piece of money
on the counter and asked for bread. The baker
answered him : it was his own language, and yet
it was not. The baker took up the coin and
looked at it curiously. Then he looked at
Malchus, and began whispering to some who
stood by.

At that Malchus was sure they had discovered
him, and would take him to the emperor. He
begged them to let him alone. He would give
them his money if only they would not take him
to the emperor, and would let him go back to
his friends. The baker said : —

" Not so. It is clear that you have found a
treasure. Show us where it is ; show us where
the money is that is hidden, from which you took
this piece, and we will share it with you, and
then we will see that no harm comes to you."
For you must know that in old times, when
there were many wars, people used to hide their

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS 57

gold and silver in some secret place, meaning to
go and dig it up again when the war was over.
But often it happened that the people who hid
their treasure were killed in the war, and never
came back for it. So, all over the East, men
were always hoping they should find these hid-
den treasures, which hundreds of years before
had been secretly put away.1

Now Malchus heard this and knew not what to
say ; he was amazed and he was afraid, for above
all he wished not to be made known. So he held
his peace. But the baker and those who stood
by became angry, and they put a rope round his
neck and dragged him out into the market-place.
They could not hold their tongues, and soon the
news spread that the young man had found a hid
treasure.

A great crowd gathered in the market-place,
and Malchus looked about to find some friend
who would speak a good word for him. But
though he scanned all the faces before him, he
could not find a man or woman he ever had seen
before, and it was all as if he were in a dreadful
dream.

1 So in the Bible, Matthew xiii. 44 : " The kingdom of heaven
is like unto a treasure hid in a field : the which when a man
hath found, he hideth [that is, keeps secret from others], and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
that field."

68 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

Word came to the ears of the governor of
Ephesus that there was a great crowd in the
market-place, and a strange man among them;
and the governor and the bishop sent to have
Malchus brought before them, together with the
baker and the baker's men. They heard the
story that the baker told, and they looked at
the money. They asked Malchus where the
treasure was which he had found.

"I have found no treasure/' said he. "I
have nothing but this coin and one or two
others/' which he took from his pocket.

" Where do you come from? " they asked him.

"I am a native of Ephesus/' said he. " I
have been away from the town but a night, and
have returned to-day. I needed some bread,
and I went to the shop of this man," pointing
to the baker.

"If you are a native of Ephesus," said the
governor, "tell us the names of your parents^
and where they live." Then Malchus told their
names and the street where they lived. The
governor and the bishop looked at each other.

" There are no such people living in Ephesus/*
said the governor ; " and, what is more, there is
no street by that name. There was one once,
many years ago, but it was long since destroyed
to make room for the cathedral. And this

THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS 59

money ! why, it was coined in the reign of the
Emperor Decius. Now we see plainly that you
are not speaking the truth. Tell us where you
found the treasure, or it shall go hard with you."

Then Malchus burst forth : —

"I implore you, in the name of God, answer
me a few questions, and then I will answer
yours. Where is the Emperor Decius? Is he
still in Ephesus ? or has he left the city ? "

" My son," said the bishop, " you speak
strange words. The Emperor Decius has been
dead these three hundred and fifty years or
more."

" I am sore perplexed," said Malchus. u But
what I say is true. There are seven of us who
fled from the city yesterday to escape persecu-
tion by the emperor. We went and hid our-
selves in a cave on the side of Mount Celion yon-
der. Come with me. I will show you the cave
and my comrades, if indeed I be not still in a
dream."

" The hand of God is here," said the bishop
to the governor. So they followed Malchus and
a great crowd went with them. And when
they came to the cavern, Malchus called joy-
fully to his comrades ; and they came out, much
amazed to see Malchus returned, and with him
so great a multitude.

66 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

Now when the bishop and the governor saw
the seven sleepers, who had thus awaked, they
saw they had fresh, ruddy faces, as those who
had slept well and were in perfect health. And
the bishop and the governor and all the people
fell down and praised God for this great won-
der. Then a messenger was sent straightway
for the Emperor Theodosius. When he came
and heard the strange news, he too was greatly
amazed, and Malchus said, speaking for the
seven : —

"You behold us here whom men counted as
dead, and behold we have risen from the dead.
So shall it be with all those who fall asleep in
Jesus. They shall rise again, as if they had
passed the night in sleep, without suffering and
without dreams."

And when he had said this, the seven sleepers
bowed their heads, and their souls returned to
their Maker. The emperor bent over them,
weeping. And he would have had them en-
closed in golden caskets, to be kept in the cathe-
dral. But that night they appeared to him in a
dream, and said that hitherto they had slept in
the earth, and that in the earth they desired to
sleep on, till God should again awaken them f or*
ever.

THE LITTLE THIEF

Ik one of the beautiful cities of Italy there
stood a tall marble column, and on the top of
the column was a statue of bronze, which shone
in the sun. It was a statue of Justice, and Jus-
tice held in one hand a pair of scales ; that was
to say that every deed would be weighed in the
balances : and in the other hand Justice held a
sword ; that was to say that when a man was
weighed in the balances and found wanting,
Justice was ready with a sword to put him to
death.

Now for many years this statue stood for the
government of the city. Justice was done to
every one. The law was observed by the rulers,
who were fair in their dealings with men, and up-
right. But in course of time the rulers became
evil. They no longer governed justly, and the
poor did not feel that they were treated by the
law as the rich were treated, and this story is
meant to show it.

In one of the palaces of the city there was a
poor maid-servant whom we will call Martha*

62 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

She went in and out about her duty, and was a
faithful little thing. Although there were many
jewels and pieces of money in her lady's cham-
ber, she never took anything, and no one thought
her any other than a good, honest girl.

But one day, when she came to help her lady
dress for a great ball, she could not find a pearl
pecklace. It had been laid on the table, her
lady said, and now it was not there. Martha
looked everywhere, but could not find it. It was
a warm night, the window was open, and she
looked out. She did not think the necklace
could have been blown out, but she had looked
everywhere else.

No, there was no sign of it. It had not
fallen upon the stone ledge below the window.
Not far away was the bronze figure of Justice,
and in the darkness there was a curious sight.
She could not see the stone pillar, but the bronze
figure stood out against the sky as if it were
flying through the air. This curious sight kept
her looking, and made her forget for a moment
what had happened.

" Martha ! " called her lady sharply, and Mar-
tha drew her head in and turned red as she
thought of what she had been doing. Herlady
looked at her keenly.

THE LITTLE THIEF 63

"Martha/' said she, suddenly, "you took
the necklace. You are a little thief ! "

Martha was frightened at these words. She
had never been called by such a name before,
and she was confused, and knew not what to
say. So she looked down and said nothing.
The lady was angry.

"I know you are a thief!" she said again,
"a little thief!"

"I am not," cried Martha, but the lady had
made up her mind to it, and, as the necklace
could not be found, she was certain Martha had
taken it.

Poor Martha ! She had no friends now, and
she could not prove she had not taken the neck-
lace. She could only say she had not. To be
sure, it was not in her little box, nor in any
dress she had, nor anywhere in the little room
where she slept. They only said she must have
been very cunning to hide it away so carefully.

And now Martha was put in prison, and the
evil judges were more afraid of displeasing the
great lady of the palace than of doing an unjust
deed. They tried Martha, they found her guilty,
and they condemned her to be put to death.

Jt was a strange comment on the great bronze
figure of Justice that the gallows on which Mar-
tha was to be hanged should be placed just

64 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

under the figure, at the foot of the columne
Yet so it was, and the day came for Martha to
be hanged. The cruel judges gave her no hope.

The day came, and it was dark and lowering.
It was almost as if the heavens frowned on the
city. The people gathered and Martha mounted
the platform on which the gallows stood. Low
mutterings were heard. The skies grew black.
There was a sudden blinding light and a great
crash. A bolt of lightning had plunged down.
For a moment the people were stunned. Poor
Martha thought she had been struck.

But she had not been struck. The lightning,
however, had come so near that it had struck the
arm of Justice that held the scales, and down
had come the scales to the ground. The scales
fell, indeed, at Martha's feet, and when she could
see, oh joy ! there lay the gleaming necklace of
pearls ! It was twined in the clay of a nest !

The secret was out. A magpie had stolen
the necklace from the table in the palace, had
flown with it out of the window to the nest he
was building in the scales in the hand of Jus-
tice. Perhaps he was working it into the nest
at the very moment when Martha was looking
at the bronze figure.

At any rate, justice was done at last to little
Martha, though men had been unjust.

THE FAIR MELUSINA

There was a king who ruled over Albania,
and he was very sad for his wife had died. He
kept by himself, and would not be comforted ;
but at last his courtiers coaxed him to go a-hunt-
ing, and so dearly did he love the chase that he
forgot his grief.

Now one day in the woods he was thirsty, and
drew near a spring to quench his thirst. And
as he drew near, he heard a sweet voice singing,
and it was none other than the voice of the fairy
Pressina. He was alone, and he sat long listen-
ing to her song.

That was how at first he came to know the
fairy. And she was so sweet and gentle that
by and by he persuaded her to be his wife. It
was not a very wise thing for a fairy to wed a
mortal, and Pressina promised only on condition
that he should never come to see her when she
had children.

The king gladly promised, and meant to keep
his word ; but one day, the king's son by his for-
mer wife came hastily to him, and told him that

66 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

Pressina had given birth to three daughters.
The king was overjoyed. He forgot his promise
and flew to her chamber, where he found her
bathing her three daughters.

Pressina cried bitterly that he had broken his
word, and he should see her no more. She took
her three daughters and disappeared. Where
did she go? Why, to the Lost Island. That
was so called because it was only by chance that
one ever found it, and even if one found it once,
he might easily lose it, and never find it again.
Here she reared her children, and when they were
grown, she took them every day to the top of a
mountain, whence they could look down upon
Albania.

" My children," she would say, " you see that
distant, beautiful country. There your father
lives. He is king of the land, and there you
might now be living happily if he had not bro-
ken his word to me, and I could no longer live
with him, for I had warned him of this, and a
fairy may not break her word."

This went on year after year, and at last when
they were fifteen years old, Melusina, who was
the first to be born, begged her mother to tell
them what was the word their father gave, and
how he came to break it. And when she heard

THE FAIR MELUSINA 67

the story, she was filled with wrath, and laid a
plot with her sisters for revenge upon their
father.

The three maidens said nothing to Pressina,
but secretly set out for Albania. As they were
half fairies, they could use the fairies' charms, and
this they did. They seized the king their father,
and shut him up forever in the heart of a moun-
tain. Then they went back in triumph, and told
their mother what they had done.

But Pressina was not at all pleased. She did
not wish the king, her husband, thus put out of
the way, and she punished her children for what
they had done. The other two she punished
lightly, but she condemned Melusina to become,
every Saturday, a serpent from her waist down-
ward. The only escape for her was to find a
husband, who would promise never to look upon
her on a Saturday, and who would keep his word.
So long as he was faithful, all would be well.

The fair Melusina now began to roam through
the world in search of this faithful husband.
She was most beautiful to behold, and had every
grace to make her winsome ; but it was long be-
fore she could meet the man of her search. She
passed through the Black Forest, and at last came
to a place known as the Fountain of the Fairiesy

68 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

for there were many fairies about the place ; it
was called also the Fountain of Thirst.

It chanced that Count Raymond strayed that
way one moonlight night, and there he saw three
fairies dancing, but the most beautiful of the
three was the fair Melusina. She was so sweet
and gentle that he fell madly in love with her,
and begged her to marry him.

The fair Melusina knew that she had at last
found the man for whom she had been waiting
and looking. Yes, she would marry him, but on
one condition only. He must never look upon
her on a Saturday. And Count Raymond sol-
emnly promised that he never would.

All went well- for a while. They were happy
together, but the evil that the fair Melusina had
done lived on. For as each child was born into
the world, it was crooked and ill to look on.
Yet this did not lessen Count Raymond's love
for the fair Melusina. All might still have gone
well had not some one whispered to the count
that it would be wise for him to see what Melu-
sina was doing on Saturday.

It was a foolish count. He became more and
more curious, and at last one Saturday he hid
himself where he could see, and not be seen, and
thus he watched for Melusina in her chamber.

THE FAIR MELUSINA 69

0 pity of pities ! He saw her, the fair Melu-
*ina, but from the waist down she was a serpent,
with silvery scales, tipped with white. He cov-
ered his eyes. It was too late, and he was seized
with horror, not so much at what he had seen as
at the thought of how he had broken his faith.

Perhaps he might yet have kept silence. But
a great evil fell upon him. One of his sons had
cruelly killed a brother, and Count Raymond was
beside himself with grief. Suddenly he thought
how all his children had been born crooked, and
how it must have been because of some wicked
thing their mother had done. And as he was
thus weeping and wailing in the midst of his
courtiers, the fair Melusina came in to comfort
him.

When he saw her, he burst into a rage, and
cried out aloud : —

" Away ! out of my sight, thou hateful ser-
pent ! thou wicked woman ! "

Down to the ground dropped the fair Melusina
in a swoon ; and when she came to herself, she
looked with sad eyes on her lord. She knew, then,
that her time had come, and that she could not
escape her punishment. The man she had been
faithful to had not kept his word.

u Farewell ! farewell 1 " she moaned. u Ala*

70 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

for the misery I am in. I had hoped that thou
hadst been faithful, and that I might escape my
doom. It may not be. The mortal in me dies,
but in my fairy life I must forever fleet about
the earth as a poor lost spirit."

And at that, with a little faint cry, her body
fell again, but there was a rustling in the air as
the fair Melusina set forth on her lone wander-
ing. Count Raymond and those about him saw
her no more. But whenever in after years there
was a new lord over the castle, the country folk
said that she hovered about the Fountain of
Thirst, a poor forlorn wraith.

THE BRAZEN HEAD

There was once a wise man named Roget
Bacon. In his day the wise men were almost
always members of some religious order, and
Roger Bacon was of the order of Friars, and so
came to be known as Friar Bacon.

It was a time when learned men were trying
to do all manner of vain things. They thought
to discover some wonderful draught which would
make men live forever. They tried to find some
means by which they could turn lead or iron into
gold, and they fancied there was a kind of powder
which would do this ; this powder they called the
Philosopher's Stone.

So they mixed all kinds of powders and liquids;
they were forever at work over their charcoal
fires, and as each one wished to be the great dis-
coverer, they all worked in secret chambers and
behind closed doors.

Thus they came to be thought of as workers
in magic, and people looked curiously at them,
and were rather afraid of them. These wise men
needed servants to fetch and carry for them, and

72 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

they sometimes chose servants who were dull, for
they did not wish any one who was near to them
to know just what they did.

Friar Bacon worked much in his cell, and he
had a friend, Friar Bungey, whom he trusted.
He had also a merry fellow for a servant, named
Miles. Friar Bungey knew what Friar Bacon
was doing, but Miles never bothered his head
about his master's work.

Now Friar Bacon had a great love of England,
his country. And as he read in old histories, he
saw that more than once people had come across
the waters and conquered England. He be-
thought himself how he could defend the country,
and thought if he could only build a great brass
wall about England he could defend it.

As he thought longer, this did not seem very
possible ; and then he thought if he could station
a brass man here and there, here and there, at
points where soldiers would land; and if he could
make the brass man speak, he might defend it in
this way, for anybody would be afraid who eame
near the coast and saw a brass man, and heard
the brass man shout.

So he and Friar Bungey set to work and made
a Brazen Head. They fashioned jaws, and
tongue, and teeth, and all other parts of the in-

THE BRAZEN HEAD 73

side of a head, and set them carefully within the
Brazen Head. But though there was everything
with which to speak, the Brazen Head said never
a word.

They were sore perplexed ; they read and they
studied, but could find out nothing. So theg
they did what the wise men of those days did
when everything else failed. They went by
night into a wood, and there all by themselves
they called on the Evil Spirit to come out of the
darkness and tell them what they were to do.

I do not know why they should call on the
Evil Spirit, and not on the Good Spirit, but that
is the way the story runs. So after they had
coaxed and threatened the spirit, they got this
answer. They were to take six herbs, or simples
as they were called, and make a hot fire and
steam these simples till there was a strong fume,
and this fume they were to let rise into the
Brazen Head.

This they were to do, and to watch the fume
steadily. Some time or other, perhaps in a month
or less, the fume would work and the Brazen
Head would speak, and then they would know
how it was done.

So back to their cell went the two friars.
They got the precious simples and steamed them(

74 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

and watched the hot fumes night and day, night
and day. But after about three weeks of this,
they grew terribly sleepy, and though they tried
to keep each other awake, it was plain that they
might both be asleep when the Brazen Head
should speak. That would never do ; so Friar
Bacon called his servant Miles.

"Miles," said he, "sit you here and watch.
This Brazen Head is about to speak, but Friar
Bungey and I have watched so long that we must
needs sleep. We look to you to take our place.
Have no fear, but the moment you hear the
Head speak, on that instant come quickly and
wake us."

Miles was a faithful fellow, and he promised
Friar Bacon he would do as he was bid. So the
two friars lay down, and in a twinkling were fast
asleep. Miles now was left to himself, and to
keep awake he played on a fiddle he had and be-
gan singing a song, which he made up as he
went along.

So he kept awake, and by and by there was a
great rumble and quaking sound, and the Brazen
Head opened its mouth and spoke just two words,

Time is.

« Well, well," quoth Miles to himself, "that's

THE BRAZEN HEAD 75

no news. I '11 not wake master for that." " Go
to, old Brazen Head ! " said he aloud. u Hath
the great Friar Bacon worked at thee all these
months, and this is all that comes of it? Time
is ? I '11 warrant thee, old Boy : —

6 Time is for some to eat,
Time is for some to sleep,
Time is for some to laugh,
Time is for some to weep.' "

So honest Miles sang to the tune of his fiddle,
and made up verse upon verse, wagging his head,
and laughing at that great Brazen Head. A
half an hour more, and the mouth opened again,
and there came forth the words,

Time was.

"Sure enough," said Miles scornfully ; "and
d' ye think I would wake my master to tell him
that great piece of news? Time was, indeed!
Away with ye !

* Time was when thou a kettle
Wert filled with better matter :
But Friar Bacon did thee spoil
When he thy sides did batter/ "

And so did merry Miles sing to another jolly
tune.

Another half hour passed. Then there came

76 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

a deep rumbling and grumbling sound, and the
Brazen Head opened its mouth once more and
clanged out,

Time is past,

and thereat it fell over on its face and brake all
to bits. And there was a terrible noise, and
there were great flashes of fire, so that poor Miles
was half dead with fear. He dropped his fiddle
and fell on his knees, and the room was full of
smoke.

Now the noise and the smoke were so horrible
that Friar Bacon and Friar Bungey suddenly
waked. They rushed into the cell, and there
they saw Miles beating his breast and crying out,
and on the floor lay the Brazen Head all in bits.

" What is this ! what is this ! " cried Friar
Bacon. " What hast thou done ? "

" Sure, it fell down all of itself ! " shouted Miles.

" And did he not speak ? Did he say no-
thing?"

" Nothing at all, at all," quoth Miles, " but
just some senseless words. A parrot could say
more."

" Out upon you ! " said Friar Bacon, lifting
his hand to strike the wretch. "If you had
called us when it spake, we should all have been
great men, for we should have done that which

TEE BRAZEN HEAD 77

would have saved England from all her foes.
What did the Brazen Head say ? "

" It just said, i Time is/ the first time," quoth
Miles.

" Ah," said Friar Bacon, " you have undone
us. Had you called us then, we should have
been in time. Did it speak again ? "

" Ay, sir, that it did, half an hour afterward,
and it just said, ' Time was.' "

" Woe, woe ! if thou hadst but called us then,"
said Friar Bungey, shaking his head.

" Sure, sir," said Miles, u I thought it would
be telling some long tale, and then I would have
waked ye, but it kept quiet for half an hour, and
then it blabbed out, ' Time is past/ and fell down
head first, and there was such a clatter that I
had no need to wake ye. The old beast would
have waked the dead."

Then Friar Bacon was wroth, and would have
let his hand fall heavy upon poor Miles, but Friar
Bungey told him it was a shame to strike such
an ignorant man. So Friar Bacon withheld his
hand, but he made Miles dumb for the space of
a month, in punishment, though to be sure there
was not much that Miles had to say.

So nothing came of the Brazen Head, and
England had to content herself with live men
to guard her gates.

THE MONK AND THE BIRD

There was an old monk who had led a holy
life, doing good all his days. And one reason
why he had done good was because he lived
much with God.

Early in the morning, before others had risen,
he was on his knees praying to the Father of all,
giving thanks for all his mercies, and asking for
grace to lead a holy life that day. And late at
night, when others slept, he lingered long on his
knees, talking with God as with his dearest friend.

Not only did this monk pray in the chapel,
and by the side of his narrow bed, but as he
walked about doing good deeds his lips moved,
and he scarcely saw any one else, for he was pray-
ing in silence. He was always glad to escape
from himself to the thought of God.

So when he was an old, old man, he was one
day in the garden of the monastery. He was
too old and feeble now to go away amongst the
poor and sick ; but the poor and sick, young
and old, were glad when they could come to
him, and receive his blessing.

THE MONK AND THE BIRD 79

It was a lovely morning hour in early summer,
and the garden was sweet with odors of roses.
The air was soft and still. The old monk had
been helped out to a garden-bench, and there
left. He was in perfect peace, and when he was
alone he sank upon his knees by the bench, and
lifted his peaceful soul in prayer and praise.

As he prayed there came a sweet, pure note
to his ear. It did not disturb him. He knew it
for the voice of one of God's happy creatures,
and as he prayed, he listened with a smile to
this bird singing in one of the rose trees in the
garden. He thought he never had heard any-
thing so liquid as the song of this bird.

The notes so filled his soul that he rose from
his knees to listen to the song. He rested his
hands on his stout stick and listened. Then he
drew near the rose tree from which the song
came.

As he drew near, the little bird continued sing-
ing and then fled to a grove farther away, and
again began calling with its sweet note. The
old monk, forgetting everything else, eagerly
pressed forward. It was as if he heard some
bird of God.

0 rapture ! he neared the bird again and heard
the pure notes sounding clearer and clearer.

80 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

Once more the bird filled his soul and he lis*
tened, listened. Then away flew the bird, and
led him by its song to a farther grove. Still the
old man pressed on.

Thus hour by hour the heavenly bird sang,
and hour by hour the old monk listened intent.
He would not lose a note. But at last the bird's
song grew gentler, until it ceased altogether.
The day was nearing its close.

Then the happy old man set his face westward,
and made his way back toward the monastery,
carrying the memory of the song which mingled
with his prayer, so that he scarce knew whether
he were praying or listening to the music.

It was nightfall when he found himself once
again within the garden ; but it was not yet dark,
and in the evening light he looked about him at
the old scene. He was perplexed at the appear-
ance of things. There was the convent, there
was the garden, and yet nothing looked quite as
when he had left the place.

As he stood wondering, a brother monk drew
near. He wore the familiar dress, yet his face
seemed strange. Well as our old monk knew
all the brethren, this newcomer he could not re-
member ever to have seen. But he must needs
speak to him, and he asked : —

THE MONK AND THE BIRD 81

" What has happened ? Why is it that every*
thing looks so changed since morning ? What
has taken place? But perhaps you have only
just come. Is Brother Andrew within ? "

The monk looked at him as he spoke, and he
wondered as he looked. " Why/' said he, " there
has been no change here to-day, no, nor for
many years. I have myself been here ten years
come Michaelmas. There is no Brother Andrew
amongst us. But you ? pray, who art thou ? and
whence earnest thou ? This is the dress of the
order, though somewhat old, but I have never
seen thee before ? What is thy name, good bro-
ther?"

The old monk, much wondering, told his name,
and said further : " It was only this morning,
early this morning, that I left the garden, for I
heard the song of a bird, and it was like a song
let down from heaven to draw me up."

Now when the younger monk heard the name,
he fell on his knees, and took the robe of the
other in his hand, and bowed over it. Then he
told him how it was written in the books of the
monastery that a holy man of that name had
strangely disappeared out of their sight two
hundred years ago.

" And it was written," he said, " that like as

82 THE BOOK OF LEGENDS

the Lord God buried his servant Moses and no
man knew where he was buried, so did he hide
from our sight this holy brother."

At that, a smile spread over the face of the
old monk, and he lifted up his voice and said :
"My hour of death is come. Blessed be the,
name of the Lord for all his mercies to me/' and
so he breathed out his spirit.

Then all the monks in the monastery were
called to witness this strange sight; and the
young monk who had held converse with the
old man turned to his brethren and said : —

" God be merciful to me a sinner ! When
this old man drew near to me I was thinking to
myself, how can I bear the thought of an eter-
nity of happiness ? shall I not weary of endless
peace ? but lo ! our brother heard a bird of God
for but a single day as he thought, and it was
two hundred years. Surely a thousand years in
His sight are but as yesterday, and as a day that
is past."

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY

Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

DEC 1 1947
FEB 21 1948

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