1
One day the Madonna was carrying the Bambino through a lupin-field,
and the stalks of the lupins rustled so, that she thought it was
a robber coming to kill the Santo Bambino. [139] She turned, and
sent a malediction over the lupin-field, and immediately the lupins
all withered away and fell flat and dry on the ground, so that she
could see there was no one hidden there. When she saw there was
no one hidden there, she sent a benediction over the lupin-field,
and the lupins all stood up straight again, fair and flourishing,
and with tenfold greater produce than they had at the first.
2
One day when Jesus Christ was grown up, and went about preaching,
He came to a certain village and knocked at the first door, and said,
'Give me a lodging.' [140] But the master of the house shut the door
in his face, saying, 'Here is nothing for you.' He came to the next
house, and received the same answer; and the next, and the next,
no one in all the village would take Him in. Weary and footsore,
He came to the cottage of a poor little old woman, who lived all
alone on the outskirts, and knocked there. 'Who is there?' [141]
asked the old woman. 'The Master with the Apostles,' answered Jesus
Christ. The old woman opened the door, and let them all in. 'Have
you no fire?' asked Jesus Christ. 'No fire have I,' answered the old
woman. Then Jesus Christ blessed the hearth, and there came a pile of
wood on it, and a fire was soon made. 'Have you nothing to give us
to eat?' asked Jesus Christ. 'Nothing worth offering you,' answered
the old woman; 'here is a little fish' (it was a little fish, that,
not so long as my hand) 'and some crusts of bread, which they gave
me at the eating-shop in charity just now, and that's all I have;'
and she set both on the table. 'Have you no wine?' again asked Jesus
Christ. 'Only this flask of wine and water they gave me there, too;'
and she set it before Him.
Then Jesus Christ blessed all the things, and handed them round the
table, and they all dined off them, and at the end there remained
just the same as at the beginning. When they had finished, He said
to the old woman, 'This fire, with the bread, and the fish, and the
wine, will always remain to you, and never diminish as long as you
live. And now follow Me a little way.'
The Master went on before with His Apostles, and the old woman followed
after, a little way behind. And behold, as they walked along, all the
houses of that inhospitable village fell down one after the other,
and all the inhabitants were buried under them. Only the cottage
of the old woman was left standing. When the judgment was complete,
Jesus Christ said to her, 'Now, return home.' [142]
As she turned to go, St. Peter said to her, 'Ask for the salvation of
your soul.' And she went and asked it of Jesus Christ, and He replied,
'Let it be granted you!'
3
One day as He was going into the Temple, He saw two men quarrelling
before the door: a young man and an old man. The young man wanted to go
in first, and the old man was vindicating the honour of his grey hairs.
'What is the matter?' asked Jesus Christ; and they showed Him wherefore
they strove.
Jesus Christ said to the young man, 'If you are desirous to go in
first, you must accept the state to which honour belongs,' and He
touched him, and he became an old man, bowed in gait, feeble, and
grey-haired, while to the old man He gave the compensation for the
insult he had received, by investing him with the youth of the other.
4
In the days when Jesus Christ roamed the earth, He found Himself
one day with His disciples in the Campagna, far from anything like
home. The only shelter in sight was a cottage of wretched aspect. Jesus
Christ knocked at the door.
'Who is there?' said a tremulous voice from within.
'The Master with the disciples,' answered Jesus Christ. The man didn't
know what He meant; nevertheless, the tone was too gentle to inspire
fear, so he opened, and let them all in.
'Have you no fire to give us?' asked Jesus Christ.
'I'm only a poor beggar. I never have any fire,' said the man.
'But these poor things,' said Jesus Christ, 'are stiff with cold and
weariness; they must have a fire.'
Then Jesus Christ stood on the hearth, and blessed it, and there
came a great blazing fire of heaped-up wood. When the beggar saw it,
he fell on his knees in astonishment.
'Have you no food to set before us?' asked Jesus Christ.
'I have one loaf of Indian corn, [143] which is at your service,'
answered the beggar.
'One loaf is not enough,' answered Jesus Christ; 'have you nothing
else at all?'
'Nothing at all about the place that can be eaten,' answered the
beggar. 'Leastwise, I have one ewe, which is at your service.'
'That will do,' answered Jesus Christ; and he sent St. Peter to help
the man to prepare it for dressing.
'Here is the mutton,' said the beggar; 'but I cannot cook it, because
I have no lard.' [144]
'Look!' said Jesus Christ.
The beggar looked on the hearth, and saw everything that was necessary
ready for use.
'Now, then, bring the wine and the bread,' said Jesus Christ, when
the meat was nearly ready.
'There is the only loaf I have,' said the beggar, setting the polenta
loaf on the table; 'but, as for wine, I never see such a thing.'
'Is there none in the cellar?' asked Jesus Christ.
'In the cellar are only a dozen empty old broken wine-jars that
have been there these hundred years; they are well covered with
mould.' Jesus Christ told St. Peter to go down and see, and when he
went down with the beggar, there was a whole ovenful of fresh-baked
bread boiling hot, [145] and beyond, in the cellar, the jars, instead
of being broken and musty, were all standing whole and upright,
and filled with excellent wine.
'See how you told us falsely,' said St. Peter, to tease him.
'Upon my word, it was even as I said, before you came.'
'Then it is the Master who has done these wonderful things,' answered
St. Peter. 'Praise Him!'
Now the meat was cooked and ready, and they all sat down to table;
but Jesus Christ took a bowl and placed it in the midst of the table
and said, 'Let all the bones be put into this bowl;' and when they
had finished he took the bones and threw them out of the window,
and said, 'Behold, I give you an hundred for one.' After that they
all laid them down and slept.
In the morning when they opened the door to go, behold there were an
hundred sheep grazing before the door.
'These sheep are yours,' said Jesus Christ; 'moreover, as long as
you live, neither the bread in the oven nor the wine in the cellar
shall fail;' and He passed out and the disciples after Him.
But St. Peter remained behind, and said to the man who had entertained
them, 'The Master has rewarded you generously, but He has one greater
gift yet which He will give you if you ask Him.'
'What is it? tell me what is it?' said the beggar.
'The salvation of your soul,' answered St. Peter.
'Signore! Signore! add to all Thou hast given this further, the
salvation of my soul,' cried the man.
'Let it be granted thee,' [146] answered the Lord, and passed on
His way.
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