Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1875-02-04
CURIOUS LEGENDS.

The Festival of the Asses, which has
been for long ages observed in Verona
grew out of the following circumstances
According 10 the legend, the young
ass on which our Saviour entered Je
rusalem was set at liberty Immediately
after, and, profiting by his opportuni
ty, took to travelling in Palestine, frtm
whence he made the tour of Egypt, Wis
iting every place of interest or note
and nobody appears to have caught
him Crossing the Mediterranean dry
shod, without the aid of any ship OF
! bark whatsoever, he went to Cyprus,
Rhodes, Gambia, Malta, and Sicily hs
then walked up to the Adriatic to We
nice, which city, by the way, was not
then in existence; but he seems not to
have liked the little island, for soon he
passed on TO Verona, where he fixed
his residence, and where he died at a
very ripe age. The piOus and hospita-
BILE Veronese placed his remains in q
reliquary of the same shape, and they
kept it in the church dedicated to
saint Mary of the Organs;" every
year this interesting and valuable dom
key was carried in solemn procession
through the town of Verona; al the
present date, the Festival of the Asses
has become mere name. a
The GenOese were fortunate enough
to obtain the tail of the eabove-mention-
ed ass, and they kept it with great pie
ty in the Church of st. .Dominick,
which stood where the Theater Carlo
Felice was afterward built.
In the city of Constance, on the lake
of the same name, among the relics
may be seen the spider swallowed by
Saint Conrad, when taking the wine at
mass, the spider seems to have made
good his claim to mummificatiOn by
making his exit from the thigh of the
saint, without having done any harm
during his residence within!
Two lambs belonging to Saint Fran
els of Assist distinguished themselves
immensely by piOuS acts; one of them
went early to wake lady who he af-
terward conducted to mass, and the
other lamb attended mass every day,
remaining ON his knees during the en-
tire service! -
In the curious legend of Saint Julian
encountering deer in wood, there is
trace of the Eastern belief in transmit.
grafton. The saint went hunting deer
in forest, when suddenly the animal
he was following stood at bay and
spoke thus "DO not kill me, for, in SO
doing, thou wouldst kill thine ances-
tors" M seaa as
Saint Roch, or Rogue, is always por-
trayed with dog in close company. to
commemorate the story, that, being
struck down by the Plague when far
from all human aid in a wood, he was
discovered by this dog, who brought
him food every day till he was entirely
restored to health. ~
The crab of Saint Francis Xavier has
been rendered more notorious by some
curious old frescoes in Sienna, than by
the printed histories which relate that
the saint, being desirous to calm sud-
den squall, reached his hand out be-
yond the bulwark of the ship, intend
ing to show the crucifix in his hand to
the waves, but his hold relaxed and
the crucifix fell into the sea, wherenpon,
"saintly crab," as the legend calls
him, hastened after the vessel, politely
offering the recovered crucifiX to Saint
Francis, and the fresco shows this
cOurtly crustacean holding up the re-
covered treasure in his claw. f "a
The Cock Of Saint Peter is said to
have been carried into spain by the
Apostle James: feathers we're sold at
great prices to the pilgrims who visit
ed COmpostella. The poet Southey
gives the story with some unimportant
variations in his humorous Pilgrimage
to Compostella.' The name of that city
is said to be merely corrupted pro-
nunciation of "Sanctus Jacobus Apos-
tolus. - 'Etchings;' Scribner's for
February.