'You know, of course, about St. Peter, when they put him in the
prisons here; he found a way of escaping through the "catacomboli,"
and just as he had got out into the open road again he met Jesus Christ
coming towards him carrying His cross. And St. Peter asked Him what
he was doing going into the "catacomboli." But Jesus Christ answered,
"I am not going into the 'catacomboli' to stay; I am going back by
the way you came to be crucified over again, since you refuse to die
for the flock." Then St. Peter turned and went all the way back,
and was crucified with his head downwards, for he said he was not
worthy to die in the same way as his Master.'
[Counterparts of these stories abound in the collections of all
countries; in the Norse, and Gaelic, and Russian, more of the pagan
element seems to stick to them. In Grimm's are some with both much
and little of it. From Tirol I have given two, which are literally
free from it, in 'Household Stories from the Land of Hofer;' and I
have one or two picked up for me by a friend in Brittany, of which
the same may be said. On the other hand, we meet them again in another
form in that large group of strange compounds, of which 'Il Rè Moro,'
p. 97, &c., are the Roman representatives, and 'Marienkind,' pp. 7-12,
'Grimm Kinder und Hausmährchen,' ed. 1870, the link between them. In
the minds of the Roman narrators, however, I am quite clear no such
connexion exists. See also p. 207 infra.
One of the quaintest legends of this class is given in Scheible's
'Schaltjahr.' It is meant for a charm to drive away wolves.]
'Lord Jesus Christ and St. Peter went in the morning out.
As our Lady went on before she said (turning about),
"Ah, dear Lord! whither must we go in and out?
We must over hill and dale (roundabout).
May God guard the while my flock (devout).
Let not St. Peter go his keys without;
But take them and lock up the wild dogs' [152] snout,
That they no bone of them all may flout."'