The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-03-05
A Curious Tradidition OF Jerusalem.

The story says that in the days of
Omar, one of the faithful pilgrims
went to the well to draw a bucket of wa
ter. His bucket fell to the bottom and
he went down to get it. To his great
surprise, door opened before him, and
he found himself in beautiful fragrant
gardens. in which he walked for some
time with great satisfaction. Before
leaving the delightful place, he pluck
q leaf from one of the many trees,
stuck it behind his ear, and SO ascended
to the upper earth without difficlty, but
there is no record of whether he brought
his bucket up OF not. OF course the
story spread, until at last it reached the
ears of Omar, but only as an impudent
invention, for no door could be found by
any investigating travellers. Omar, how
ever treated the rumor with respect. and
said there was a prophecy that one of the
faithful should enter Paradise alive.
Everything depended on whether the
leaf retained its verdure, and SO could
claim to have grown upon a tree of Par
adise This test was triumphantly
passed, for the leaf was green as ever,
and so the story has lived to this day,
and is always told on the brink of the
'sWell of the Leaf'' The Mohamedans
seem fond of tests. If the true believer
can pass between two columns, outside
of the Mosque Ell Aksa, standing very
close together, he leaves all his sins be-
hind him. Now, the thinnest of our
party could just manage to squeeze
through, and fat Mussulmans must as
suredly find it difficult. A still more diff
fcu}t test is at another place, a little be-
yond this same mosque, where Solo
mons temple once stood. Here hangs
visible only to the eyes of the faith thful
land even they must wait for deatl to
unseal their vision the bridge, thin as
hair and sharp as a sword, between the
earth and Paradise. Beneath it yawns
the abyss of Gehena, and the faithless
long into it's depths, while the true be-
lever crosses the bridge easily and swift
ly Passing still along the wall, we came
to the garden gate. Within are some
beautiful carvings and some fine pillars,
said to have been brought from GAIA by
the Queen of Sheba, as present to Sol
omon It was quite the afternoon when
we reached the Church of the Holy Sep
ulchre, which occupies the site of the
| church built by Constantine over our
Lords tomb. Just inside the door is
slab on which it is supposed the body of
Christ was laid in order to be snnointed
and it is worn quite into holes by the
kisses of devout pilgrims. It is quite
touching to see the faith these poor crea-
lures place in every possible and impos-
sible site. Many Of the peasants of the
south of Russia save up their money for
half lifetime in order to make this
journey, which they make in the most
economical way possible. They travel
as deck passengers on board ship, in all
weathers, and walk when they are on
land. When, at last, Jerusalem is
reached they take up their abode in the
Russian hospice, and there the wretched
priests never let them go till they have
stripped them of their uttermost farthing,
SO that they literally have to beg their
way back, and often starve on the road
side.-Corr. Philadelphia Telegraph.