Legends That Every Child Should Know; a Selection of the Great Legends of All Times for Young People

"The other portals are of ebony. The windows are of crystal; the tables are partly of gold, partly of amethyst, and the columns supporting the tables are partly of ivory, partly of amethyst. The court in which we watch the jousting is floored with onyx in order to increase the courage of the combatants. In the palace, at night, nothing is burned for light but wicks supplied with balsam….Before our palace stands a mirror, the ascent to which consists of five and twenty steps of porphyry and serpentine." After a description of the gems adorning this mirror, which is guarded night and day by three thousand armed men, he explains its use: "We look therein and behold all that is taking place in every province and region subject to our sceptre.

"Seven kings wait upon us monthly, in turn, with sixty-two dukes, two hundred and fifty-six counts and marquises: and twelve archbishops sit at table with us on our right, and twenty bishops on the left, besides the patriarch of St. Thomas, the Sarmatian Protopope, and the Archpope of Susa….Our lord high steward is a primate and king, our cup-bearer is an archbishop and king, our chamberlain a bishop and king, our marshal king and abbot."

CHAPTER XII

THE WANDERING JEW

The year 1228, "a certain Archbishop of Armenia the Greater came on a pilgrimage to England to see the relics of the saints, and visit the sacred places in the kingdom, as he had done in others; he also produced letters of recommendation from his Holiness the Pope, to the religious and the prelates of the churches, in which they were enjoined to receive and entertain him with due reverence and honour. On his arrival, he came to St. Albans, where he was received with all respect by the abbot and the monks; and at this place, being fatigued with his journey, he remained some days to rest himself and his followers, and a conversation took place between him and the inhabitants of the convent, by means of their interpreters, during which he made many inquiries relating to the religion and religious observances of this country, and told many strange things concerning the countries of the East. In the course of conversation he was asked whether he had ever seen or heard any thing of Joseph, a man of whom there was much talk in the world, who, when our Lord suffered, was present and spoke to Him, and who is still alive, in evidence of the Christian faith; in reply to which, a knight in his retinue, who was his interpreter, replied, speaking in French, 'My lord well knows that man, and a little before he took his way to the western countries, the said Joseph ate at the table of my lord the Archbishop of Armenia, and he has often seen and conversed with him.'

"He was then asked about what had passed between Christ and the said Joseph; to which he replied, 'At the time of the passion of Jesus Christ, He was seized by the Jews, and led into the hall of judgment before Pilate, the governor, that He might be judged by him on the accusation of the Jews; and Pilate, finding no fault for which he might sentence Him to death, said unto them, "Take Him and judge Him according to your law"; the shouts of the Jews, however, increasing, he, at their request, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. When, therefore, the Jews were dragging Jesus forth, and had reached the door, Cartaphilus, a porter of the hall in Pilate's service, as Jesus was going out of the door, impiously struck Him on the back with his hand, and said in mockery, "Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker; why do you loiter?" and Jesus, looking back on him with a severe countenance, said to him, "I am going, and you shall wait till I return." And according as our Lord said, this Cartaphilus is still awaiting His return. At the time of our Lord's suffering he was thirty years old, and when he attains the age of a hundred years, he always returns to the same age as he was when our Lord suffered. After Christ's death, when the Catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus was baptised by Ananias (who also baptised the Apostle Paul), and was called Joseph. He dwells in one or other divisions of Armenia, and in divers Eastern countries, passing his time amongst the bishops and other prelates of the Church; he is a man of holy conversation, and religious; a man of few words, and very circumspect in his behaviour; for he does not speak at all unless when questioned by the bishops and religious; and then he relates the events of olden times, and speaks of things which occurred at the suffering and resurrection of our Lord, and of the witnesses of the resurrection, namely, of those who rose with Christ, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto men. He also tells of the creed of the Apostles, and of their separation and preaching. And all this he relates without smiling, or levity of conversation, as one who is well practised in sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward with dread to the coming of Jesus Christ, lest at the Last Judgment he should find Him in anger whom, when on His way to death, he had provoked to just vengeance. Numbers came to him from different parts of the world, enjoying his society and conversation; and to them, if they are men of authority, he explains all doubts on the matters on which he is questioned. He refuses all gifts that are offered him, being content with slight food and clothing.'"

Much about the same date, Philip Mouskes, afterward Bishop of Tournay, wrote his rhymed chronicle (1242), which contains a similar account of the Jew, derived from the same Armenian prelate:

  "Adonques vint un arceveskes  De ca mer, plains de bonnes teques  Par samblant, et fut d'Armenie,"

and this man, having visited the shrine of "St. Tumas de Kantobire," and then having paid his devotions at "Monsigour St. Jake," he went on to Cologne to see the heads of the three kings. The version told in the Netherlands much resembled that related at St. Albans, only that the Jew, seeing the people dragging Christ to his death, exclaims:

  "Atendes moi! g'i vois,  S'iert mis le faus profete en crois."

Then

  "Le vrais Dieux se regarda,  Et li a dit qu'e n'i tarda,  Icist ne t'atenderont pas,  Mais saces, tu m'atenderas."

We hear no more of the wandering Jew till the sixteenth century, when we hear first of him in a casual manner, as assisting a weaver, Kokot, at the royal palace in Bohemia (1505), to find a treasure which had been secreted by the great-grandfather of Kokot, sixty years before, at which time the Jew was present. He then had the appearance of being a man of seventy years.

Curiously enough, we next hear of him in the East, where he is confounded with the prophet Elijah. Early in the century he appeared to Fadhilah, under peculiar circumstances.

After the Arabs had captured the city of Elvan, Fadhilah, at the head of three hundred horsemen, pitched his tents, late in the evening, between two mountains. Fadhilah, having begun his evening prayer with a loud voice, heard the words "Allah akbar" (God is great) repeated distinctly, and each word of his prayer was followed in a similar manner. Fadhilah, not believing this to be the result of an echo, was much astonished, and cried out, "O thou! whether thou art of the angel ranks, or whether thou art of some other order of spirits, it is well; the power of God be with thee; but if thou art a man, then let mine eyes light upon thee, that I may rejoice in thy presence and society." Scarcely had he spoken these words, before an aged man, with bald head, stood before him, holding a staff In his hand, and much resembling a dervish in appearance. After having courteously saluted him, Fadhilah asked the old man who he was. Thereupon the stranger answered, "Bassi Hadhret Issa, I am here by command of the Lord Jesus, who has left me in this world, that I may live therein until he come a second time to earth. I wait for this Lord, who is the Fountain of Happiness, and in obedience to his command I dwell behind yon mountain." When Fadhilah heard these words, he asked when the Lord Jesus would appear; and the old man replied that his appearing would be at the end of the world, at the Last Judgment. But this only increased Fadhilah's curiosity, so that he inquired the signs of the approach of the end of all things, whereupon Zerib Bar Elia gave him an account of general, social, and moral dissolution, which would be the climax of this world's history.

In 1547 he was seen in Europe, if we are to believe the following narration:

"Paul von Eitzen, Doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and Bishop of Schleswig, [Footnote: Paul v. Eitzen was born January 25, 1522, at Hamburg; in 1562 he was appointed chief preacher for Schleswig, and died February 25, 1598.] related as true for some years past, that when he was young, having studied at Wittemberg, he returned home to his parents in Hamburg in the winter of the year 1547, and that on the following Sunday, in church, he observed a tall man, with his hair hanging over his shoulders, standing barefoot, during the sermon, over against the pulpit, listening with deepest attention to the discourse, and, whenever the name of Jesus was mentioned, bowing himself profoundly and humbly, with sighs and beating of the breast. He had no other clothing, in the bitter cold of the winter, except a pair of hose which were in tatters about his feet, and a coat with a girdle which reached to his feet; and his general appearance was that of a man of fifty years. And many people, some of high degree and title, have seen this same man in England, France, Italy, Hungary, Persia, Spain, Poland, Moscow, Lapland, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, and other places.

"Every one wondered over the man. Now, after the sermon, the said Doctor inquired diligently where the stranger was to be found; and when he had sought him out, he inquired of him privately whence he came, and how long that winter he had been in the place. Thereupon he replied, modestly, that he was a Jew by birth, a native of Jerusalem, by name Aliasverus, by trade a shoemaker; he had been present at the crucifixion of Christ, and had lived ever since, travelling through various lands and cities, the which he substantiated by accounts he gave; he related also the circumstances of Christ's transference from Pilate to Herod, and the final crucifixion, together with other details not recorded in the Evangelists and historians; he gave accounts of the changes of government in many countries, especially of the East, through several centuries; and moreover he detailed the labours and deaths of the holy Apostles of Christ most circumstantially.

"Now when Doctor Paul v. Eitzen heard this with profound astonishment, on account of its incredible novelty, he inquired further, in order that he might obtain more accurate information. Then the man answered, that he had lived in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, whom he had regarded as a deceiver of the people, and a heretic; he had seen Him with his own eyes, and had done his best, along with others, to bring this deceiver, as he regarded Him, to justice, and to have Him put out of the way. When the sentence had been pronounced by Pilate, Christ was about to be dragged past his house; then he ran home, and called together his household to have a look at Christ, and see what sort of a person He was.

"This having been done, he had his little child on his arm, and was standing in his doorway, to have a sight of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"As, then, Christ was led by, bowed under the weight of the heavy cross, He tried to rest a little, and stood still a moment; but the shoemaker, in zeal and rage, and for the sake of obtaining credit among the other Jews, drove the Lord Christ forward, and told Him to hasten on His way. Jesus, obeying, looked at him, and said, 'I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt go till the last day.' At these words the man set down the child; and, unable to remain where he was, he followed Christ, and saw how cruelly He was crucified, how He suffered, how He died. As soon as this had taken place, it came upon him suddenly that he could no more return to Jerusalem, nor see again his wife and child, but must go forth into foreign lands, one after another, like a mournful pilgrim. Now, when, years after, he returned to Jerusalem, he found it ruined and utterly razed, so that not one stone was left standing on another; and he could not recognise former localities.

"He believes that it is God's purpose, in thus driving him about in miserable life, and preserving him undying, to present him before the Jews at the end, as a living token, so that the godless and unbelieving may remember the death of Christ, and be turned to repentance. For his part he would well rejoice were God in heaven to release him from this vale of tears. After this conversation, Doctor Paul v. Eitzen, along with the rector of the school of Hamburg, who was well read in history, and a traveller, questioned him about events which had taken place in the East since the death of Christ, and he was able to give them much information on many ancient matters; so that it was impossible not to be convinced of the truth of his story, and to see that what seems impossible with men is, after all, possible with God.

"Since the Jew has had his life extended, he has become silent and reserved, and only answers direct questions. When invited to become any one's guest, he eats little, and drinks in great moderation; then hurries on, never remaining long in one place. When at Hamburg, Dantzig, and elsewhere, money has been offered him, he never took more than two shillings (fourpence, one farthing), and at once distributed it to the poor, as token that he needed no money, for God would provide for him, as he rued the sins he had committed in ignorance.

"During the period of his stay in Hamburg and Dantzig he was never seen to laugh. In whatever land he travelled he spoke its language, and when he spoke Saxon, it was like a native Saxon. Many people came from different places to Hamburg and Dantzig in order to see and hear this man, and were convinced that the providence of God was exercised in this individual in a very remarkable manner. He gladly listened to God's word, or heard it spoken of always with great gravity and compunction, and he ever reverenced with sighs the pronunciation of the name of God, or of Jesus Christ, and could not endure to hear curses; but whenever he heard any one swear by God's death or pains, he waxed indignant, and exclaimed, with vehemence and with sighs, 'Wretched man and miserable creature, thus to misuse the name of thy Lord and God, and His bitter sufferings and passion. Hadst thou seen, as I have, how heavy and bitter were the pangs and wounds of thy Lord, endured for thee and for me, thou wouldst rather undergo great pain thyself than thus take His sacred name in vain!'

"Such is the account given to me by Doctor Paul von Eitzen, with many circumstantial proofs, and corroborated by certain of my own old acquaintances who saw this same individual with their own eyes in Hamburg.

"In the year 1575 the Secretary Christopher Krause, and Master Jacob von Holstein, legates to the Court of Spain, and afterward sent into the Netherlands to pay the soldiers serving his Majesty in that country, related on their return home to Schleswig, and confirmed with solemn oaths, that they had come across the same mysterious individual at Madrid in Spain, in appearance, manner of life, habits, clothing, just the same as he had appeared in Hamburg. They said that they had spoken with him, and that many people of all classes had conversed with him, and found him to speak good Spanish. In the year 1599, in December, a reliable person wrote from Brunswick to Strasburg that the same mentioned strange person had been seen alive at Vienna in Austria, and that he had started for Poland and Dantzig; and that he purposed going on to Moscow. This Ahasverus was at Lubeck in 1601, also about the same date in Revel in Livonia, and in Cracow in Poland. In Moscow he was seen of many and spoken to by many.

"What thoughtful, God-fearing persons are to think of the said person, is at their option. God's works are wondrous and past finding out, and are manifested day by day, only to be revealed in full at the last great day of account.

"Dated, Revel, August 1st, 1613.

"D. W.

"D.

"Chrysostomus Duduloeus,

"Westphalus."

* * * * *

In 1604 he seems to have appeared in Paris. Rudolph Botoreus says, under this date, "I fear lest I be accused of giving ear to old wives' fables, if I insert in these pages what is reported all over Europe of the Jew, coeval with the Saviour Christ; however, nothing is more common, and our popular histories have not scrupled to assert it. Following the lead of those who wrote our annals, I may say that he who appeared not in one century only, in Spain, Italy, and Germany, was also in this year seen and recognised as the same individual who had appeared in Hamburg, anno MDLXVI. The common people, bold in spreading reports, relate many things of him; and this I allude to, lest anything should be left unsaid."

J. C. Bulenger puts the date of the Hamburg visit earlier. "It was reported at this time that a Jew of the time of Christ was wandering without food and drink, having for a thousand and odd years been a vagabond and outcast, condemned by God to rove, because he, of that generation of vipers, was the first to cry out for the crucifixion of Christ and the release of Barabbas; and also because soon after, when Christ, panting under the burden of the rood, sought to rest before his workshop (he was a cobbler), the fellow ordered Him off with acerbity. Thereupon Christ replied, 'Because thou grudgest Me such a moment of rest, I shall enter into My rest, but thou shalt wander restless.' At once, frantic and agitated, he fled through the whole earth, and on the same account to this day he journeys through the world. It was this person who was seen in Hamburg in MDLXIV. Credat Judaeus Apella! I did not see him, or hear anything authentic concerning him, at that time when I was in Paris."

A curious little book, written against the quackery of Paracelsus, by Leonard Doldius, a Nurnberg physician, and translated into Latin and augmented, by Andreas Libavius, doctor and physician of Rotenburg, alludes to the same story, and gives the Jew a new name nowhere else met with. After having referred to a report that Paracelsus was not dead, but was seated alive, asleep or napping, in his sepulchre at Strasburg, preserved from death by some of his specifics, Labavius declares that he would sooner believe in the old man, the Jew, Ahasverus, wandering over the world, called by some Buttadaeus, and otherwise, again, by others.

He is said to have appeared in Naumburg, but the date is not given; he was noticed in church, listening to the sermon. After the service he was questioned, and he related his story. On this occasion he received presents from the burgers. In 1633 he was again in Hamburg. In the year 1640, two citizens, living in the Gerberstrasse, in Brussels, were walking in the Sonian wood, when they encountered an aged man, whose clothes were in tatters and of an antiquated appearance. They invited him to go with them to a house of refreshment, and he went with them, but would not seat himself, remaining on foot to drink. When he came before the doors with the two burgers, he told them a great deal; but they were mostly stories of events which had happened many hundred years before. Hence the burgers gathered that their companion was Isaac Laquedem, the Jew who had refused to permit our Blessed Lord to rest for a moment at his door-step, and they left him full of terror. In 1642 he is reported to have visited Leipzig. On the 22d July, 1721, he appeared at the gates of the city of Munich. About the end of the seventeenth century or the beginning of the eighteenth, an impostor, calling himself the Wandering Jew, attracted attention in England, and was listened to by the ignorant, and despised by the educated. He, however, managed to thrust himself into the notice of the nobility, who, half in jest, half in curiosity, questioned him, and paid him as they might a juggler. He declared that he had been an officer of the Sanhedrim, and that he had struck Christ as he left the judgment hall of Pilate. He remembered all the Apostles, and described their personal appearance, their clothes, and their peculiarities. He spoke many languages, claimed the power of healing the sick and asserted that he had travelled nearly all over the world. Those who heard him were perplexed by his familiarity with foreign tongues and places. Oxford and Cambridge sent professors to question him, and to discover the imposition, if any. An English nobleman conversed with him in Arabic. The mysterious stranger told his questioner in that language that historical works were not to be relied upon. And on being asked his opinion of Mahomet, he replied that he had been acquainted with the father of the prophet, and that he dwelt at Ormuz. As for Mahomet, he believed him to have been a man of intelligence; once when he heard the prophet deny that Christ was crucified, he answered abruptly by telling him he was a witness to the truth of that event. He related also that he was in Rome when Nero set it on fire; he had known Saladin, Tamerlane, Bajazeth, Eterlane, and could give minute details of the history of the Crusades.

Whether this wandering Jew was found out in London or not, we cannot tell, but he shortly after appeared in Denmark, thence travelled into Sweden, and vanished.

CHAPTER XIII

KING ROBERT OF SICILY

  Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane  And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine,  Apparelled in magnificent attire,  With retinue of many a knight and squire,  On St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat  And heard the priests chant the Magnificat.  And as he listened, o'er and o'er again  Repeated, like a burden or refrain,  He caught the words, "Deposuit potentes  De sede, et exaltavit humiles";  And slowly lifting up his kingly head  He to a learned clerk beside him said,  "What mean these words?" The clerk made answer meet,  "He has put down the mighty from their seat,  And has exalted them of low degree."  Thereat King Robert muttered scornfully,  "'T is well that such seditious words are sung  Only by priests and in the Latin tongue;  For unto priests and people be it known,  There is no power can push me from my throne!"  And leaning back, he yawned and fell asleep,  Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep.  When he awoke, it was already night;  The church was empty, and there was no light,  Save where the lamps, that glimmered few and faint,  Lighted a little space before some saint.  He started from his seat and gazed around,  But saw no living thing and heard no sound.  He groped toward the door, but it was locked;  He cried aloud, and listened, and knocked,  And uttered awful threatenings and complaints,  And imprecations upon men and saints.  The sounds reechoed from the roof and walls  As if dead priests were laughing in their stalls.  At length the sexton, hearing from without  The tumult of the knocking and the shout,  And thinking thieves were in the house or prayer,  Came with his lantern, asking, "Who is there?"  Half choked with rage, King Robert fiercely said,  "Open:'tis I, the King! Art thou afraid?"  The frightened sexton, muttering, with a curse,  "This is some drunken vagabond, or worse!"  Turned the great key and flung the portal wide;  A man rushed by him at a single stride,  Haggard, half naked, without hat or cloak,  Who neither turned, nor looked at him, nor spoke,  But leaped into the blackness of the night,  And vanished like a spectre from his sight.  Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane  And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine,  Despoiled of his magnificent attire,  Bareheaded, breathless, and besprent with mire,  With sense of wrong and outrage desperate,  Strode on and thundered at the palace gate;  Rushed through the courtyard, thrusting in his rage  To right and left each seneschal and page,  And hurried up the broad and sounding stair,  His white face ghastly in the torches' glare.  From hall to hall he passed with breathless speed;  Voices and cries he heard, but did not heed,  Until at last he reached the banquet-room,  Blazing with light, and breathing with perfume.  There on the dais sat another king,  Wearing his robes, his crown, his signet-ring,  King Robert's self in features, form, and height,  But all transfigured with angelic light!  It was an Angel; and his presence there  With a divine effulgence rilled the air,  An exaltation, piercing the disguise,  Though none the hidden Angel recognised.  A moment speechless, motionless, amazed,  The throneless monarch on the Angel gazed,  Who met his look of anger and surprise  With the divine compassion of his eyes;  Then said, "Who art thou? and why com'st thou here?"  To which King Robert answered with a sneer,  "I am the King, and come to claim my own  From an impostor, who usurps my throne!"  And suddenly, at these audacious words,  Up sprang the angry guests, and drew their swords;  The Angel answered, with unruffled brow,  "Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester, thou  Henceforth shalt wear the bells and scalloped cape,  And for thy counsellor shalt lead an ape;  Thou shalt obey my servants when they call,  And wait upon my henchmen in the hall!"  Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers,  They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs;  A group of tittering pages ran before,  And as they opened wide the folding-door,  His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms,  The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms,  And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring  With the mock plaudits of "Long live the King!"  Next morning, waking with the day's first beam,  He said within himself, "It was a dream!"  But the straw rustled as he turned his head,  There were the cap and bells beside his bed,  Around him rose the bare, discolored walls,  Close by, the steeds were champing in their stalls,  And in the corner, a revolting shape,  Shivering and chattering sat the wretched ape.  It was no dream; the world he loved so much  Had turned to dust and ashes at his touch!  Days came and went; and now returned again  To Sicily the old Saturnian reign;  Under the Angel's governance benign  The happy island danced with corn and wine,  And deep within the mountain's burning breast  Enceladus, the giant, was at rest.  Meanwhile King Robert yielded to his fate,  Sullen and silent and disconsolate.  Dressed in the motley garb that Jesters wear,  With look bewildered and a vacant stare,  Close shaven above the ears, as monks are shorn,  By courtiers mocked, by pages laughed to scorn,  His only friend the ape, his only food  What others left—he still was unsubdued.  And when the Angel met him on his way,  And half in earnest, half in jest, would say,  Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feel  The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel,  "Art thou the King?" the passion of his woe  Burst from him in resistless overflow  And, lifting high his forehead he, would fling  The haughty answer back, "I am, I am the King!"  Almost three years were ended; when there came  Ambassadors of great repute and name  From Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine,  Unto King Robert, saying that Pope Urbane  By letter summoned them forthwith to come  On Holy Thursday to his city of Rome.  The Angel with great joy received his guests,  And gave them presents of embroidered vests,  And velvet mantles with rich ermine lined,  And rings and jewels of the rarest kind.  Then he departed with them o'er the sea  Into the lovely land of Italy,  Whose loveliness was more resplendent made  By the mere passing of that cavalcade,  With plumes, and cloaks, and housings, and the stir  Of jewelled bridle and of golden spur.  And lo! among the menials, in mock state,  Upon a piebald steed, with shambling gait,  His cloak of fox-tails flapping in the wind,  The solemn ape demurely perched behind,  King Robert rode, making huge merriment  In all the country towns through which they went.  The Pope received them with great pomp and blare  Of bannered trumpets, on Saint Peter's square,  Giving his benediction and embrace,  Fervent, and full of apostolic grace.  While with congratulations and with prayers  He entertained the Angel unawares,  Robert, the Jester, bursting through the crowd,  Into their presence rushed, and cried aloud,  "I am the King! Look, and behold in me  Robert, your brother, King of Sicily!  This man, who wears my semblance to your eyes,  Is an impostor in a king's disguise.  Do you not know me? does no voice within  Answer my cry, and say we are akin?"  The Pope in silence, but with troubled mien,  Gazed at the Angel's countenance serene;  The Emperor, laughing, said, "It is strange sport  To keep a madman for thy Fool at court!"  And the poor, baffled Jester in disgrace  Was hustled back among the populace.  In solemn state the Holy Week went by,  And Easter Sunday gleamed upon the sky;  The presence of the Angel, with its light,  Before the sun rose, made the city bright,  And with new fervour filled the hearts of men,  Who felt that Christ indeed had risen again.  Even the Jester, on his bed of straw,  With haggard eyes the unwonted splendour saw,  He felt within a power unfelt before,  And, kneeling humbly on his chamber-floor,  He heard the rushing garments of the Lord  Sweep through the silent air, ascending heavenward.  And now the visit ending, and once more  Valmond returning to the Danube's shore,  Homeward the Angel journeyed, and again  The land was made resplendent with his train,  Flashing along the towns of Italy  Unto Salerno, and from thence by sea.  And when once more within Palermo's wall,  And, seated on the throne in his great hall,  He heard the Angelus from convent towers,  As if the better world conversed with ours,  He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher,  And with a gesture bade the rest retire;  And when they were alone, the Angel said,  "Art thou the King?" Then, bowing down his head,  King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast,  And meekly answered him: "Thou knowest best!  My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence,  And in some cloister's school of penitence,  Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven,  Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul be shriven!"  The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face  A holy light illumined all the place,  And through the open window, loud and clear,  They heard the monks chant in the chapel near,  Above the stir and tumult of the street:  "He has put down the mighty from their seat,  And has exalted them of low degree!"  And through the chant a second melody  Rose like the throbbing of a single string:  "I am an Angel, and thou art the King!"  King Robert, who was standing near the throne,  Lifted his eyes, and lo! he was alone!  But all apparelled as in days of old,  With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold;  And when his courtiers came, they found him there  Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer.INTERLUDE  And then the blue-eyed Norseman told  A Saga of the days of old.  "There is," said he, "a wondrous book  Of Legends in the old Norse tongue,  Of the dead kings of Norroway—  Legends that once were told or sung  In many a smoky fireside nook  Of Iceland, in the ancient day,  By wandering Saga-man or Scald;  'Heimskringla' is the volume called;  And he who looks may find therein  The story that I now begin."  And in each pause the story made  Upon his violin he played,  As an appropriate interlude,  Fragments of old Norwegian tunes  That bound in one the separate runes,  And held the mind in perfect mood,  Entwining and encircling all  The strange and antiquated rhymes  With melodies of olden times;  As over some half-ruined wall,  Disjointed and about to fall,  Fresh woodbines climb and interlace,  And keep the loosened stones in place.