The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-02-19
Curious Legends.

| as CUEHOu8 LcB6mUSs
The Festival of the Asses, which has
been for long ages observed in Verona,
grew out of the following circum-
stances:
according to the legend, the young
ass on which our Savior entered Jeru-
salem was set at liberty Immediately
after. and profting by his opportunity,
| took to travelling in Palestine from
whence he made the tour of Egypt.
visiting every place of interest or note.
and nobody appears to have caught
| him Crossing the Mediterranean dry
shod, without the aid of any ship or
| bark whatsoever, he went to Cyprus,
Rhodes, Gambia, Malta and Sicily; he
then walked up the Adriatic to Venice,
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 resi-
dence, and where he died at very ripe
age. The pious and hospitable Vero-
nese placed his remains in q relquary
of the same shape and they kept it in
the church dedicated to "Saint Mary
! of the Organs; :" every year this inter
esting and valuable donkey was carried
in solemn procession through the town
of Verona; at the present date, the
Festival of the Asses has become a
mere name.
The:Geneese were fortunate enoughto
obtain the tail of the aforementioned
ass, and they kept it with great piety In
the Church of Saint Dominiok, 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 mummihcation by
making his exit from the thigh of the
saint, without having done any harm
during his residence within
Two lambs belonging to Saint Francis
OF Assist distinguished themselves im-
mensely by pious acts one of them
went early to wake a lady whom he
afterward conducted to mass, and the
other lamb attended mass every day,
remaining on his knees during the en-
tire service
La the curious legend of Saint Julian
encountering deer in wood, there is
a trace of the Eastern belief of trans
migration. 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
ancestors"
N0hAAb AsoCl13 OI IbOHU0, 10 always ROE-
trayed with dog in close company, to
commemorate the story, that, being
struck down with the plague when far
from all human aid in the wood, he was
discovered by his dog, who brought him
food every day till he was entirely re-
stored 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 beyond
the bulwark of the ship, intending to
show the crucifx in his hand to the
waves, but his hold relaxed and the
crucifx fell into the sea, whereupon, q
"saintly crab" as the legend calls him,
fastened after the vessel, politely offer
ing the recovered cruciix to Saint
Francis, and ssthe fresco shows this
courtly crustacean holding mp the re-
covered treasure in his claw.
The Cock of Saint Peter is said to
have been carried into Spain by the
Apostle James; feathers were sold at
great prices to the pilgrims who visited
Compostella. The poet Southey gives
the story in some unimportant variR-
tions in his humorous Pilgrimage to
Compostella." The name of that city
is said to be merely a corrupted pro-
nunciation of "Sanctus Jacobus Apos-
/ tolus."