mother who had a son named Joseph; and
because he never told a lie she called him Truthful Joseph. One day when
she was calling him, the king happened to pass by, and hearing her call
him thus, asked her: "Why do you call him Truthful Joseph?" "Because he
never tells a lie." Then the king said that he would like to have him in
his service, and set him to keeping his cows. Every morning Joseph
presented himself to the king, and said: "Your Majesty's servant." The
king answered: "Good morning, Truthful Joseph. How are the cows?" "Well
and fat." "How are the calves?" "Well and handsome." "How is the bull?"
"The same." So he did every morning. The king praised him so highly in
the presence of all his courtiers that they became angry at him; and one
day, to make Joseph a liar, they sent to him a lady, who was to induce
him by her words to kill the bull. Joseph was urged so strongly that he
consented; but afterwards he was in great perplexity as to what he
should tell the king. So he put his cloak on a chair and pretended that
it was the king, and said: "Your Majesty's servant. Good morning,
Truthful Joseph. How are the cows? Well and fat. How are the calves?
Well and handsome. How is the bull? The same. But no; that will not do!
I am telling a lie! When the king asks me how the bull is, I will tell
him that it is dead."

He presented himself to the king and said: "Your Majesty's servant."
"Good morning, Truthful Joseph. How are the cows?" "Well and fat." "How
are the calves?" "Well and handsome." "How is the bull?" "Your Majesty,
a lady came and with her manners made me kill the bull. Pardon me." The
king answered: "Bravo, Truthful Joseph!" He summoned his courtiers and
showed them that Joseph had not yet told any lie. And so Joseph remained
always with the king, and the courtiers were duped, because they gained
nothing that they had expected.[37]

CHAPTER IV.

LEGENDS AND GHOST STORIES.

The Italian people possess an inexhaustible store of legends which they
have inherited from the Middle Ages. With the great mass of these
stories--legends of the saints or local legends--we have at present
nothing to do. It is enough to say that they do not differ materially
from the legends of the other Catholic peoples of Europe. The class to
which we shall devote our attention in this chapter is that of popular
legendary stories which have clustered around the person of our Lord and
his disciples, and around other favorite ch