OUR LADY'S CHILD
Hard by a great forest dwelt a wood－cutter with his wife, who had an only child, a little girl three years old. They were so poor, however, that they no longer had daily bread, and did not know how to get food for her. One morning the wood－cutter went out sorrowfully to his work in the forest, and while he was cutting wood, suddenly there stood before him a tall and beautiful woman with a crown of shining stars on her head, who said to him 'I am the virgin mary, mother of the child jesus. You are poor and needy, bring your child to me, I will take her with me and be her mother, and care for her.' The wood－cutter obeyed, brought his child, and gave her to the virgin mary, who took her up to heaven with her. There the child fared well, ate sugar－cakes, and drank sweet milk, and her clothes were of gold, and the little angels played with her. And when she was fourteen years of age, the virgin mary called her one day and said 'dear child, I am about to make a long journey, so take into your keeping the keys of the thirteen doors of heaven. Twelve of these you may open, and behold the glory which is within them, but the thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, is forbidden you. Take care not to open it, or you will be unhappy.' The girl promised to be obedient, and when the virgin mary was gone, she began to examine the dwellings of the kingdom of heaven. Each day she opened one of them, until she had made the round of the twelve. In each of them sat one of the apostles in the midst of a great light, and she rejoiced in all the magnificence and splendor, and the little angels who always accompanied her rejoiced with her. Then the forbidden door alone remained, and she felt a great desire to know what could be hidden behind it, and said to the angels 'I will not open it entirely, and I will not go inside, but I will unlock it so that we can see just a little through the opening.' 'Oh'no, said the little angels, 'that would be a sin. The virgin mary has forbidden it, and it might easily cause your unhappiness.' Then she was silent, but the desire in her heart was not stilled, but gnawed there and tormented her, and let her have no rest. And once when the angels had all gone out, she thought 'now I am quite alone, and I could peep in. If I do, no one will ever know.' She sought out the key, and when she had got it in her hand, she put it in the lock, and when she had put it in, she turned it round as well. Then the door sprang open, and she saw there the trinity sitting in fire and splendor. She stayed there awhile, and looked at everything in amazement, then she touched the light a little with her finger, and her finger became quite golden. Immediately a great fear fell on her. She shut the door violently, and ran hi there. But her terror would not quit her, let her do what she 'Yes, said the girl, for the second time. Then she perceived the finger which had become golden from touching the fire of heaven, and saw well that the child had sinned, and said for the third time 'have you not done it.' 'No, said the girl for the third time. Then said the virgin mary 'you have not obeyed me, and besides that you have lied, you are no longer worthy to be in heaven.' Then the girl fell into a deep sleep, and when she awoke she lay on the earth below, and in the midst of a wilderness. She wanted to cry out, but she could bring forth no sound. She sprang up and wanted to run away, but whithersoever she turned herself, she was continually held back by thick hedges of thorns through which she could not break. In the desert, in which she was imprisoned, there stood an old hollow tree, and this had to be her dwelling－place. Into this she crept when night came, and here she slept. Here, too, she found a shelter from might, and her heart beat continually and would not be still, the gold too stayed on her finger, and would not go away, let her rub it and wash it never so much. It was not long before the virgin mary came back from her journey. She called the girl before her, and asked to have the keys of heaven back. When the maiden gave her the bunch, the virgin looked into her eyes and said 'have you not opened the thirteenth door also.' 'No, she replied. Then she laid her hand on the girl's heart, and felt how it beat and beat, and saw right well that she had disobeyed her order and had opened the door. Then she said once again 'are you certain that you have not done it.' |
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