. Legends of the Rhine . irgin, touched by the eld mans distress, daintilyraised her jewel-incrusted robe, and deftly kicked one of herlittle golden slippers into the tattered hat, which the oldfiddler had deposited on the pavement before her. Tremul-ous with gratitude at the unexpected charity, the old manfervently spoke his thanks, and hastening off to a neighbor-ing goldsmith, tried to sell the little golden shoe to obtainbread. The goldsmith questioned him, demurred, and finallyarrested him. A few hours later the poor old man, accusedof sacrilegious theft, was judged, sentenced to death, a
. Legends of the Rhine . irgin, touched by the eld mans distress, daintilyraised her jewel-incrusted robe, and deftly kicked one of herlittle golden slippers into the tattered hat, which the oldfiddler had deposited on the pavement before her. Tremul-ous with gratitude at the unexpected charity, the old manfervently spoke his thanks, and hastening off to a neighbor-ing goldsmith, tried to sell the little golden shoe to obtainbread. The goldsmith questioned him, demurred, and finallyarrested him. A few hours later the poor old man, accusedof sacrilegious theft, was judged, sentenced to death, andhurried off to the place of execution, accompanied by ahooting populace. As he was dragged past the cathedraldoor he implored permission to say a last prayer at theVirgins shrine, and was permitted to kneel before her, withhis hat and fiddle beside him. Tremulously the old fiddler implored Mary to open theGates of Paradise for him, and when he had ended againplayed his little hymn, declaring the last music he ever made. MAINZ. 255 would be in honor of the Blessed Virgin. While he wasplaying thus, his tearful eyes fixed upon the statue abovehim, the Virgin, in the presence of the assembled multitude,again lifted her robe, and deliberately kicked her secondgolden shoe down into the tattered hat. This second miracle, which all had seen, convinced thepeople that the minstrel had been unjustly condemned, andthe priest, coming forward, offered to redeem the shoes fora small pension which would give him food for the rest ofhis life. The fiddler accepted, and the priests, havingrecovered the precious shoes, carefully locked them up inthe treasury, lest the Virgin should again be tempted tobestow them upon some penniless beggar who prayed forher aid. Street*Svveeper, ONCE, when the French army occupied Mainz, and thecountry, devastated by war, was groaning under the harshrule of the invader, the young ladies of Mainz, instigated bythe beautiful young Countess of Stein, solemnly vowed
Size: 1289px × 1937px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidlegendsofrhi, bookyear1895
