aracters of mediaeval fancy,
such as Pilate, The Wandering Jew, etc. To these may be added tales
relating to the other world and stories which are of a legendary nature.
The first stories which we shall mention are those referring to mythical
journeys of our Lord and his apostles.

The first, "St. Peter and the Robbers" (Pitre, No. 121), relates that
once while the Master was journeying with the apostles they found
themselves at night out in the fields, and took shelter in a cabin
belonging to some shepherds, who received them very inhospitably and
gave them nothing to eat. Soon after, a band of robbers attacked the
flock and robbed the shepherds, who ran away. The robbers came to the
cabin, and when they heard from the apostles how shabbily they had been
treated, gave them the supper that the shepherds had prepared for
themselves, and went their way. "Blessed be the robbers!" said St.
Peter, "for they treat the hungry poor better than the rich do."
"Blessed be the robbers!" said the apostles, and ate their fill.

This story, as can easily be seen, is a tradition of the robbers who
pretend to have been blessed by Christ. St. Peter is the hero of several
stories, in which he plays anything but a dignified role. In one (Pitre,
No. 122), he is sent to buy some wine, and allows himself to be
persuaded by the wine merchant to eat some fennel-seed. After this he
cannot distinguish between good and bad wine, and purchases an inferior
kind. When the Master tasted it he said: "Eh! Peter! Peter! you have let
yourself be deceived."[J] Peter tasted it again and saw that it was
sour. Another apostle was sent to get some good wine, and "hence it is
that when you have to taste wine to see whether it is good, you must not
eat fennel-seed."

[Footnote J: This story is an attempt to explain the origin of the word
_'nfinucchiari_ (_infinocchiare_) to impose on one, by the word
_finocchio_, fennel-seed.]

L. THE LORD, ST. PETER, AND THE APOSTLES.

Once, while the Master was on a journey with the thirteen apostles, they
came to a village where there was no bread. The Master said: "Peter, let
each one of you carry a stone." They each took up a stone--St. Peter a
little bit of a one. The others were all loaded down, but St. Peter went
along very easily. The Master said: "Now let us go to another village.
If there is any bread there, we shall buy it; if there is none, I will
give you my blessing and the stones will become bread."

The