Kitabı oku: «Basque Legends; With an Essay on the Basque Language», sayfa 14

Jesus Christ and the Old Soldier

Once upon a time, when Jesus Christ was going with His disciples to Jerusalem, He met an old man, and asked alms of him. The old man said to Him:

“I am an old soldier, and they sent me away from the army with only two sous, because I was no longer good for anything. I have already given away one sou on the road; I have only one left, and I give that to you.”

Then our Lord says to him, “Which would you prefer, a sack of gold or Paradise?”

St. Peter gently nudges the old man in the ribs, “Say Paradise.”

“What! Paradise!” says the old soldier. “Afterwards we shall have Paradise as well. I prefer a sack of gold.”

And our Lord gives him the sack of gold, and He said as He gave it to him:

“When this sack is empty it will be sufficient to say, ‘Artchila murtchila! go into my sack,’ and everything you wish for will go into the sack.”

Our man takes the sack and goes on his road. When he had gone a little way he passed before the door of an inn, and sees a fine leg of mutton on the table. He was hungry, and, opening his sack, he said:

“Artchila murtchila! fine leg of mutton, come into my sack!” and in an instant it was in it; and in the same way he had everything he wished for.

One day the devil came to tempt this old man, but, as soon as he heard him, he opened his sack and said:

“Artchila murtchila! go into my sack!”

And the devil himself entered into the sack. He takes the sack with the devil in it to a blacksmith, and for a long time and very vigorously he pounded it with his sledgehammer.

When the old soldier died he went to Paradise. When he arrived there St. Peter appears, and says to him:

“Why are you standing there? And what are you asking for?”

“Paradise.”

“What! Paradise!! Did not you prefer to have a sack of gold when God gave you the choice? Be off from here. Be off to hell. There are the gates, there.”

Our old man, in deepest sadness, goes to the door of hell, and knocks; but as soon as the door was opened the devil recognised his soldier, and began to cry out:

“Don’t let him come in! Don’t let him come in! He will cause us too much trouble, and too many misfortunes. He is so very vicious!”

And he will not receive him; so he returns again to Paradise, and God commanded St. Peter to let this man enter who had been such a foe to the devil.

The Poor Soldier and the Rich Man

Like many others in the world, there was a man and his wife. They had an only son. The time for the conscription arrived. He went away with much regret. At the end of the seven years he was returning home with five sous in his pocket. As he was walking along a poor man came up to him, and asked charity in the Name of God. He gave him a sou, telling him that he had only five sous, but that he could not refuse at the Name of God. A moment after another poor man presents himself, and asks charity in the Name of God. He gives to him, telling him repeatedly:

“I, who had only five sous to take home after seven years of service—I have already given away one of them; but I cannot refuse you—I shall have still enough left to get a breakfast with.”

And he goes on, but a moment after comes another poor man, and he gives again. This poor man says to him:

“You will go to such a house, and you must ask charity of M. Tahentozen in the Name of God. He gives charity to no one; but he will ask you in from curiosity, and to hear the news. When you have told him all that you have seen, he will ask you where you have come from. You must say that you come from Heaven, but that you have seen nothing there but poor and maimed people, and that in hell there was nothing but rich men; and that at the gate of hell there are two devils sitting in arm-chairs, ‘and I saw one arm-chair empty, and I went and asked whom it was for; and there came two devils from the gate, limping as if they were lame, and they said: “This is for M. Tahentozen. He never gives anything in charity, and, if he does not change, his place is there.”’”

Our soldier goes as he has been told, and asks charity in the Name of God. But the servant, as she always did, sent him away. The master, having heard someone, asks the servant who is there. The servant answers that it is a soldier who asks for charity. He tells her to bring him up, in order to ask the news. Our soldier tells him all that the poor man had told him to say. And there upon the rich man begins to reflect, and he keeps the soldier at his house, and makes him rich, and the rest (of his money) he divides among the poor.

Gachina,

the Net-maker.

The Widow and her Son. ¹⁷³

Once upon a time, and like many others in the world, there was a widow who had a son. This son was so good to his mother that they loved one another beyond all that can be told. One day this son said to his mother that he must go to Rome. The mother was in the greatest distress, but she let him go. (At parting) she gave him three apples, and said to him:

“If you make acquaintance (with anyone) on the road, and if you are thirsty, give him one of these apples to divide; and he who will give you back the largest part, he will be a good friend to you for the journey.”

He set out then. When he has gone a little way he falls in with three men. They made acquaintance, and they told him that they were going to Rome. They went on, and on, and on, and as talking makes one thirsty, the widow’s son said to them:

“I have in my pocket an apple which my mother gave me at starting; we will eat it. Here, take and divide it.”

One of them divides it, and gives him the smallest part. When he saw that he made some excuse and quitted his companions. He goes travelling on, on, on, along the road, when he meets with three monks. They tell him that they are going to Rome, and offer to make their journey together. When they had gone a little way, they get thirsty also. The widow’s son says to them:

“I have an apple which my mother gave me at starting. Here it is; take and divide it.”

They, too, were no better comrades than the others. They give him only a small piece. Fortunately he remembers the advice of his mother, and he leaves them. He goes on a short way alone, and sees in the distance something shining under an oak; as he approaches he sees that it is a king. He tells him where he is going, and learns that he too is going to Rome. The king engages him to rest himself along with him, and he stays there a long time; and at length they get thirsty, and the son of the widow gives him the last apple, telling him that it is his mother who gave it him at starting. The king’s son divides it, and gives him the largest piece. The son of the widow is rejoiced that he has found a good comrade, and they vow great friendship under the oak. The son of the widow engages himself to bring the king’s son to Rome alive or dead, and the other binds himself to serve and aid him as long as he has a drop of blood in his veins. Resuming their journey they go on, and on, and on, and at length night surprises them, and they do not know where to go to. They meet a young girl who was going to the fountain. They ask her if shelter would be given them in the house which they see there.

She answers “Yes;” and then, lowering her voice, she adds, “Yes, to your misfortune.”

It was only the widow’s son who heard these last words. So they go there, and enter, and are very well received. They had a good supper given them, and a good bed on the third story. The widow’s son puts the prince on the outside of the bed, and he himself goes next the wall. The former falls asleep immediately, because he was very tired; but the widow’s son was kept awake by his fear, and, just as twelve o’clock struck, he hears someone coming up stairs, and sees the owner come into the bed-room with a large knife in his hand. The mistress held the light and the servant a basin. They come near and cut the throat of the king’s son, and carry him down stairs. While they are doing this the widow’s son gets out on the roof, and from there he shouts and cries out for the justice. When he had made himself heard, he told the people what had taken place. As they had never before heard anything like this of the people in the house, they would not believe him, and put him in prison. The next day he was condemned to death.

Before dying he asks one favour. It is granted him. He then asks for two blood-hounds to go and search the house with. They grant him that, and he goes with the servants of the justice. After having gone over the whole castle, without having found one drop of blood, they go down to the cellar. The dogs kept smelling about, but the master refused to open the door, saying there was nothing there but dirt and rubbish. They told him that he must open it all the same, and there they found the king’s son with his crown. This was all they wanted.

They set the widow’s son at liberty; and he asks for the body of the king’s son, and puts it into a sack. He takes the sack on his shoulders, and starts for Rome, where he arrives fatigued and worn out; but he has kept his word.

He goes to see the Holy Father, and told him all that had taken place, and what had happened to his friend.

Our Holy Father says to him, “To-morrow, at the moment of the Elevation, you will place the head on the body.”

He does so, and at the very same moment the body of the king’s son is seized with a trembling, and he calls out—

“Where am I?”

The widow’s son answers, “At Rome. Do you not remember how your throat was cut yesterday? And I myself have carried you, as I promised, to Rome.”

The king’s son went to pay his visit to our Holy Father, and (after that) they set out (home). And when they had gone a long way, they come to the oak where they had (first) made each other’s acquaintance, and it is there, too, that they must part.

They renew their promises (to each other). The king’s son takes off his ring, and gives it to the other as a keep-sake to remember him by. And the king’s son, on counting his money, remarks that he has just the same sum as he had when he was under the oak the last time. And they quit each other, each to go to his own home.

When the widow’s son reaches home, the mother is delighted to see her son again, and the son also (to see his mother). But the next day he was covered with a frightful disease, which was very like leprosy, and it had an infectious smell; but, fortunately, the mother did not smell it. The poor mother did all that she could to cure her son, but nothing relieved him. She heard that there was a monk in the neighbourhood, a great saint, who cured diseases. She sends for him, and the widow’s son relates to him his journey to Rome, and all that had taken place there, and he tells also the promises which they had made to each other.

Then the monk says to him, “If you wish to be cured, there is only one remedy—you must wash yourself in the blood of this king.”

This news made the young man very sad, but his mother would start the very next day; and they set out on their journey in an old carriage. Everyone where they passed stopped their noses, and said, “Pheu! pheu!” After some time they came to the king’s house. The mother asks leave to speak to the king, but a servant drives her far away, because of the smell, telling her not to approach nearer. So she could not say anything to the king. But one day the king goes out, and sees the carriage, and he asks what it is. They tell him that it is a sick man, who smells like putrid fish, and who wishes to see the king. The king is angry because they had not told him of it before.

Now this king was married, and already he had a son. He orders the people in the carriage to come to him, and the widow’s son told him who he was, and showed him the ring which he had formerly given him. Without paying the least attention to his malady, the king takes him in his arms and embraces him. The widow’s son tells him the grief that he had felt at what the monk had told him.

The king goes to find his wife, and tells her what has happened about the sick man at the gate, and how this sick man had already restored him to life, and that now it was his turn, and that he could not be cured except by washing in his blood; and (he bids her) choose between her child and himself. This poor mother sacrifices her son. They kill him. The sick man washes himself immediately (in the blood), and is cured at the same instant. The queen, in her grief, goes into her child’s bedroom, and there she finds her son full of life again. Overflowing with joy, she takes up her son, and goes out crying to everyone, and showing them her infant. Judge what a delight for them all! The widowed mother and her son lived in the king’s palace so happily, and never left him more.

Catherine Elizondo.

The Story of the Hair-Cloth Shirt (La Cilice)

Once upon a time, like many others in the world, there was a gentleman and a lady. They had no children, but they longed for one above everything. They made a vow to go to Rome. As soon as they had made the vow, the woman became pregnant.

The husband said to her, “We shall do well to go there at once.”

The wife said, “We have not time enough now; we can go afterwards just as well.”

The lady was confined of a boy. The boy grows up and he sees that his father is constantly sad, and he finds him often crying in all the corners. The little boy was now seven years old, and the mother had not yet decided to go to Rome. One day this young boy goes into his father’s bed-room, and finds him weeping again. He therefore said to him:

“What is the matter with you, father?”

But he will not answer him, and the child takes a pistol, and says to his father:

“If you will not tell me what is the matter with you, I will shoot first you and myself afterwards.”

The father then said that he would tell him, (and he told him) how that his mother and he had made a vow to go to Rome if they had a child, and that they had never been there.

The child said to him, “It is for me that this vow was made, and it is I who will go and fulfil it.”

He says “Good-bye,” and sets out.

He was seven years on the road, and begged his bread. At last he comes to the Holy Father, and tells him what has brought him there. Our Holy Father puts him in a room alone for an hour.

When he comes out, he says to him, “Oh, you have made a mistake; you have made me stay there two hours at least.”

Our Holy Father tells him “No!”—that he has been there only one hour. And he puts him into another room for two hours.

When he came out from there he said, “You have made me stop more than two hours.”

He says to him, “No,” and puts him in another room for three hours.

When he came out of that he said, “You have only left me there three minutes.”

And he said to him, “Yes, yes, yes; you have been there three hours.”

And our Holy Father told him that the first room was Hell; that the second was Purgatory; and that the last was Heaven.¹⁷⁴

The child says to him, “Where am I? I in Paradise! And my father?”

“In Paradise too.”

“And my mother?”

“In hell.”

The boy was grieved, and said to him, “Can I not save my mother? I would let my blood flow for her for seven years long.”

Our Holy Father tells him that he can, and he puts on him a hair-cloth shirt with a padlock, and throws the key into the water.

And our Holy Father says to him, “When you shall find this key, your mother will be saved.”

He starts off, begging his way as before, and takes seven more years before arriving in his own country. He goes from house to house asking alms. His father meets him and asks him where he comes from. He says, “From Rome.” He asks him if he has not seen on the road a boy of his own age. He says to him, “Yes, yes,” and tells him that he has gone on walking for seven years, shedding his blood to save his mother. And he keeps on talking about his son. His mother comes out on the staircase and tells her husband to send that poor man away—that he must be off from there. But he pays no attention to her. He brings him in, and tells her that he is going to dine with them. His wife is not pleased. He sends the servant to market, telling her to buy the finest fish that she can find. When the young girl comes back, she goes to the poultry yard to clean the fish. The young man follows her, and as she was cleaning the fish she found a key inside it.

The young man said to her, “That key belongs to me.”

And she gives it to him.

The lady could not endure this young man, and she gives him a push, and he falls into the well. All on a sudden the water of the well overflows, and the young man comes out all dripping. The husband had not seen that his wife had pushed him into the well, and the young man told him that he had fallen into it. This poor man wishes to give him some clothes, but he will not accept them, saying that he will dry himself at the fire. At table the lady is not at all polite to him. The young man asks her if she would recognise her son.

She says, “Yes, yes; he has a mark between his two breasts.”

And the young man opens his clothes, and shows the mark. At the same time he gives the key to his mother that she may open his hair-cloth shirt, and the mother sees nothing but blood and gore. He has suffered for her. The three die. And the servant sees three white doves fly away. I wish I could do like them in the same way.

Gachina,

the Net-maker.

The Saintly Orphan Girl

There was a young girl who lived far from the world, alone, in sanctity. Every day a dove brought her her food.

One day she saw a young girl whom two gens-d’armes were taking to prison or to execution. The orphan said to herself:

“If she had lived like me, they would not have taken her to prison.” And thereupon she had a thought of pride, and from that day the dove no longer brought her anything to eat. She goes to seek a priest, and tells him what has happened, and since when she does not receive any more food. This priest tells her that she has been punished on account of that thought, and that she must be present at the birth of three children, and see what their gifts would be. The first was the son of a king. She asks the queen permission to remain in the bed-chamber, no matter in what corner; all would be the same to her if she would only give her leave. She consents to it. When this queen gives birth to a boy, the infant has round its neck a white cord, and this orphan understood that he would be guillotined¹⁷⁵ when he was eighteen years old. She sees the birth of another child; a girl with a red cord round her neck, and she sees that she will turn out badly, and that she would go to ruin. She sees a third; this was a boy, and he had blue cord on, which meant that he would be very good.

After having seen that this orphan goes back to the house of the queen. There she lived happily, busying herself especially about this child. As she caressed it she often used to say in a sad tone:

“Poor child!”

The mother remarked that, and one day she said: “One would say that this child was very unfortunate. Do you always act thus when you caress a child, as if it were very wretched, or as if something were going to happen to it?”

She said that to her more than once. And when the (fated) age was drawing near, this orphan told the queen what must happen at the age of eighteen. I leave you to judge of the distress of this queen. She told it to her husband, and the father and mother told it to their son; and he said that he must leave the house immediately. He goes then a long way off to another town. And as he was a pretty good scholar, he got a place in a house where there was a large shop. They sold everything there; and as this lad was very good everybody loved him. They heard him go out of the house every night, but they did not know where. The master was curious (to learn this), and he made a hole above the shop, for he went there too in the night. He sees him take a wax candle, and put the price of this candle into the cash-box by the hole, counting the money aloud. Taking the candle with him he falls on his knees, and went a considerable distance to a chapel, walking still on his knees. The master follows him during a whole week, and the boy did always the same thing; and on the eighth day the master looks through the key-hole of the chapel, and sees an angel descend and throw a chain to our lad, and the angel lifted him up in the air. A moment after he comes down again, and goes back to his master’s house.

The master tells him that he has seen all, and the boy says that his penance is also finished, and that he must go home. The master does not wish it.

“You shall go afterwards, if you wish it; but first you must marry my daughter.”

He tells him that he has a father and mother, and that he cannot do it without telling them; but if they wish it, he will do so willingly.

He starts home then at once. You may imagine what joy for the king and the queen. They were constantly trembling lest they should hear that their dearly loved son had been hanged. They did not know what to do for joy. He told them how he had done penance, and that without doubt the good God had pardoned him; and how his old master wished him to marry his daughter. He does so, and all live happily and die well.

Louise Lanusse.