Chapter 42 41. Jesus and Saint Peter in Friuli

1. St. Peter's chance encounter with Jesus Christ Once upon a time there was a poor man named Peter who lived by fishing.One day, he came home exhausted at night, but he didn't catch a single fish.To make matters worse, his wife didn't prepare dinner for him. "I looked everywhere for something to eat," she said, "and I found nothing all day. We have no money, you know." "But how can I go to bed without something to eat? Get me something to eat, quick!" "Peter, there's nothing to eat in the house. If you like, we'll go out into the field, where the cabbage grows so well, we can eat whatever we want."

"But I don't want to steal!" "Then we'll have to starve." "Cabbage you mean? Can we get it? The two of us together..." "Let's do this: in order not to attract attention, we two will go separately, one will go this way, and the other will go that way." Peter agreed to do it.The couple walked towards the field in two ways.On the way Peter met a man with chestnut hair and gray eyes.The man was sitting on the boundary stone beside the road. "What is this stranger doing here?" Peter wondered, and asked, "What is he doing, man?"

"I'm here to keep people from doing bad things..." said the stranger. Ah, my God!Peter thought, this is just for me! "...if they have done wrong, let them repent," said the stranger. The words were harsh, and Peter turned and left without finishing listening.However, the stranger's words kept echoing in his ears.As soon as he was in the field, he saw the figure of a woman walking. "The vegetable farmer's wife! The vegetable farmer's wife! I have to get out of here!" Peter ran, jumping and jumping over the rows of crops, ditches and hedges.He ran home in one breath, still thinking about the words "let them repent".As soon as he stepped through the door, he grabbed the handle of the broom and beat his wife. "Hmph, you're trying to call me a thief, aren't you? You bastard woman! You stinky bitch!"

"For God's sake, Peter, spare me!" cried the woman. "I didn't steal anything. Later, the owner of the vegetable field came, so I had to escape." "I was scared away by his wife! You bastard! You bitch! You want me to be a thief! That's why I'm leaving home to repent." He ran out of the house, hastily Going forward, I caught up with the stranger on the main road and told him everything that happened. "Yes, Peter, you were right to come to me," said the stranger, "and now, let me tell you, that what you saw was not the wife of the vegetable farmer, but your own; The owner of the vegetable land, but you. It was you who frightened her, and she frightened you. If you are guilty, you will not recognize people. Come with me, you will become my most important friend, my right-hand man. I am Christ."

2. Hare liver Once, when Jesus Christ and St. Peter were walking through the field, a hare suddenly jumped out of the vegetable bed and bumped into Christ. "Quick! Peter, open your bag and put it in." Peter pocketed the hare and said, "Christ, we haven't eaten for a long time, let's roast this hare." "Great idea, Peter! We've got some good food tonight. You're a good cook, so let's take care of the rabbits!" They came to a town, saw a wine curtain hanging at the door of an inn, and went in. "Hello, shopkeeper." "Hello, sir."

"Give us half a bottle of wine," said Christ, "Peter, go and roast rabbit now." Peter was good at everything he did.He took a large knife, sharpened it on the hook knife he carried with him, and skinned the rabbit, then cut the meat into pieces and put them in the frying pan.His mouth was drooling as he grilled the meat. "Fat and tender, delicious! Wait a minute, I have to taste some to see if it's done. Oh, it's delicious! Look, the rabbit's liver is done. Let me eat it with a slice of bread .Christ will never know." He picked up the rabbit liver with a fork and ate it.Then he called out, "Christ, the rabbit is ready! Serving it to the table?"

"Already ready? Bring it up." Holding the dinner plate in one hand and wiping the grease from his beard with the other, Peter came before Christ.He put half of the rabbit meat on Christ's plate and kept the other half for himself.The two began to eat.At this time, Christ looked carefully at his plate and asked: "Hey, Peter, where's the rabbit liver?" "My God, Christ, I don't know! I really don't see it, and it's not on my plate... Maybe this hare doesn't have a liver..." "Probably not," Christ smiled, picking up the fork again.

However, Peter couldn't eat any of it. "Eat! Peter, don't you have an appetite? Perhaps the rabbit liver has entered your stomach?" "Christ, me?" "But I don't blame you at all, just keep eating." "Christ, I can't eat. I'm choking on something. Let's have some wine first." That night, Peter didn't close his eyes at all.He had just dozed at dawn when Christ woke him up, and returned to the city before noon in order to be on his way early.After Peter got up, he was still thinking about the rabbit liver in his heart, for fear that Christ would know the truth.

When I returned to the city, I saw that people were all stern and bowed their heads; the original happy and lively scene was gone. "What's going on here?" Peter wondered.Christ said to him, "Peter, go and find out." Peter asked a soldier about it.He said in a low voice that the king's daughter was so ill that the doctors were desperate.However, the king is recruiting famous doctors, saying that whoever can cure his daughter will reward him with a bag of gold coins. "Listen, Peter," said Christ, "I will let you have the bag of gold coins. Go to the palace and say you are a famous doctor. When you are alone with the king's daughter, cut off her head with a hook knife Come down, soak it in water for an hour, then take it out, put it on her again, and she will be cured."

Peter went straight to the king, and asked to be alone with the princess for an hour in her room.After everyone had left the room, he drew his knife and beheaded her, and the bed was immediately soaked in blood.He threw the princess's head into a bucket of water, and sat there waiting. Almost an hour later, someone knocked hard on the door. "Wait a minute!" replied Peter.He fished the head out of the water and put it on the girl's shoulder, but it didn't work, it wouldn't stick at all.At this moment, Peter was terrified. The knock on the door got louder.boom!boom!boom!

"Open the door, doctor!" ordered the king. "What to do? How to do this?" boom!People knocked open the door, and the king entered.Seeing the blood on the bed, he cried out, "Bastard, what have you done! You killed my daughter, and I will hang you! Come, tie him up, and drag him to the gallows!" " "Your Majesty, forgive me, forgive me!" "Drag him out immediately!" Peter was dragged down the street by the guards, thinking: Only Christ can save me. Just then, Christ stepped out from the crowd. "Help, Christ. Help me! Help me!" "Where are you taking him?" Christ asked the guards. "Gallows." "What crime did he commit?" "What crime do you ask him? He killed the king's daughter!" "That's not the case. Let him go. Instead, he should be taken to the king for a pocket of gold. The king's daughter is alive and well." The guards went back to see if this was the case.As soon as they got back to the palace, they saw the princess standing happily on the balcony.The king went to Peter and handed him a bag of gold coins with his own hands. Although Peter was old, he felt full of strength at this moment, and the heavy bag was as light as a goose feather when he lifted it.He slung the bag over his shoulder and returned to the crossroads, where Christ was waiting for him. "Do you understand, Peter?" "Christ, now you're going to call me an idiot." "Give me the money. Split it, as usual." Peter put down the money, and Christ divided up the piles. "These five crowns are for me, these five are for you, and these five are for someone else..." he continued to share them. "These five crowns are for me, these five are for you, and these five are for another..." Peter stared for a while, and then asked, "Christ, there are only two of us, how do you divide them into three piles?" "Peter, what are you talking about?" Christ continued to share, "This pile is mine, this pile is yours, this pile is someone else's..." "Who is the other person?" "He's the one who eats rabbit liver..." "Christ, Christ," Peter said quickly, "I am the one who eats rabbit liver!" "Aha, I've got you. Peter, you've done something wrong. I've disturbed you, and that's your punishment. I forgive you, but don't do it again." Peter promised never to do that again. 3. Hospitality Jesus and Peter walked a long way in the mountains. When it was dark, they came to a woman's house and asked for a night.The woman looked them over and replied, "I don't want to deal with bums." "Ma'am, please do me a favor!" However, the woman closed the door with a bang. Peter has always been short-tempered.At this moment he looked at Christ, meaning to say: He, Peter, knows how to teach this woman.But Christ ignored him, and walked on, until he came to a smokier, poorer house.Inside, a thin woman was spinning by the fire. "Madam, would you be so kind as to let the two of us stay here for the night? We've walked a lot today, and we can't walk anymore." "Why! Of course! Who wouldn't? Live here, gentlemen. Besides, it's so dark out there, where can you go? I'll do my best to make you feel comfortable here. Come on." , to warm up by the fire first. I think you must be hungry." "You're right," said Peter. The woman's name was Kating.She added some wood to the fire, and set about making supper.For dinner there is broth, tender beans.To Peter's particular pleasure, she took down and ate a bit of honey that had hung for a long time from the rafters.Then she led them to sleep in the hut. "What a nice woman!" Peter said, lying on the bed, very satisfied. Early the next morning Christ said good-bye to Katim, "Lady, what you start this morning will last you all day," and they went away. The thin woman immediately sat down to weave.She wove and wove, and wove, and wove, all day without a break.The shuttle flew back and forth on the loom, and the woven cloth filled the room, outside the door and outside the window, and piled up to the height of the eaves.In the evening, her neighbor Giacoma came to see her.Giacoma was the woman who turned away Jesus and St. Peter.Seeing the piles of cloth, she pestered Katim until the little woman told the whole story.She heard that it was the two strangers she blocked the door that made the neighbor rich, and she really wanted to kick herself a few times. "Did you know those two strangers were planning to come back?" she asked. "I think so. They say it's just a trip over the valley." "Well, if they come back, please invite them to my house, and then they can help me get rich." "OK." Therefore, the next evening, when the two passers-by came to his door again, Kating said, "To tell you the truth, my house is too crowded. I can't keep you tonight. However, you can go to my neighbor's house." Go to Giacoma's house, her house is over there. She will do her best to make your life as comfortable as possible." Hearing these words, Peter, who had a good memory, grimaced, and was about to say what he thought of Giacoma when Christ motioned him to be silent.So they walked towards another house.This time, the woman welcomed them warmly. "Ah, good evening! good evening! Are you gentlemen enjoying your journey? Come in! We are poor, but we are generous! Come, come and warm yourself by the fire! I'll go and get supper for you right away." ..." And so, with excessive hospitality, Christ and St. Peter dined and spent the night at Giacoma's.When they were about to leave the next morning, the woman sent them off with a bow. "Ma'am," said Christ, "whatever you start this morning, you will work all day." And with that they went away. "Now, I'll show you how much I can do!" Giacoma said, rolling up her sleeves and giggling. "I'll knit twice as much as Katyn." Before she sat down to knit, however, she decided to go to the bathroom to relieve herself so she wouldn't get up again later.When she got to the bathroom, she began to relieve herself—she thought, she must finish it soon—but she had diarrhea and couldn't stop it. "Why! What's the matter with me! Why can't I stop? Have I had a diarrhea from something? Oh, God! But, . . . but, it can't be . . . " After half an hour, she left the toilet.Go back to the loom.Of course, she had to run back to the toilet soon.She squatted in the toilet all day.What Giacoma and Kating got are completely different things! 4. Buckwheat As the sun was setting, three sweaty and dusty passers-by came to a small village.At this time, people were threshing the last rice of the day in the yard, and the chaff was flying in the air. "The hostess of this house!" The three shouted to the woman who was raising the valley.The hostess is a widow.She invited three passers-by into the house, gave them food and drink, and told them that if they would help her thresh the next day, they would sleep in the hayloft.These three passers-by are Christ, St. John and St. Peter.They slept all night in the hayloft.At dawn Peter heard the rooster crowing, and said, "Let's get up quickly. We have eaten other people's food, and we must go to work." "Don't talk, go to sleep," said Christ.St. Peter rolled over and fell asleep on the other side.No sooner had they fallen asleep than the widow came with a stick in her hand. "Okay, I'll feed and drink you guys! Do you want to spend time in bed until the end of the world?" She slapped Peter hard on the back and stormed off. "Look, I'm right!" Peter said, rubbing his back, "Come on, get up and work, otherwise, that nasty woman is going to beat us up again." Again Christ said: "Don't talk, go to sleep." "That's all right. But if she comes again, I'll be beaten again!" "If you are so afraid of a woman," replied Christ, "come here and let John sleep in your place." They switched places, and then the three fell asleep again. The widow was very angry and came back with a stick. "What! Still sleeping?" To be fair, she hit the person who slept in the middle this time, but it was Peter again! "It's always me!" moaned Peter.To calm Peter, Christ changed places with him, and said, "Your place is the safest place to sleep now. Don't talk, go to sleep." The widow is back. "It's your turn this time!" Another stick hit Peter.Peter jumped down from the haystack. "No matter what Christ says, I'm not staying here." He ran out into the yard and got the threshing beat to work, but he kept as far as he could from the dreadful woman. After a while, Christ and St. John also came.They also took up the threshing beats, but Christ said, "Bring me a burning log." He motioned the others not to be alarmed, and set fire to the four corners of the threshing floor.In an instant, the raging fire engulfed many bundles of rice.One might have thought that when the fire went out there was nothing but a heap of ashes.In fact, on the contrary, after the fire is extinguished, rice stalks are on the right side of the threshing floor, rice leaves are on the left side, chaff is flying in the air, and a large pile of rice is in the middle.The millet has been beaten, shining brightly, as if it has been lifted and sifted.All the millet had been threshed, but the beat of the threshing was not moved. The three of them continued on their way without waiting for others to say thank you.But the always proud and greedy widow, after cleaning the threshing floor and putting the millet aside, spread out the rice bundles again.The widow untied the bundles of rice one by one, took a burning firewood, and lit a fire.This time the fire really started, and the rice crackled like pancakes in a frying pan. The widow was so anxious that she grabbed her hair with both hands, and ran out of the village as if flying, chasing passers-by.As soon as she overtook them, she fell on her knees and told of the unfortunate thing that had happened.Now that she was indeed repentant, Christ said to Peter: "Go and rescue her, and show her what it means to repay evil with good." St. Peter arrives at the threshing floor and crosses himself.The fire died out, and the half-burnt grains stuck together.The rice was burnt black, deformed, burst, and looked out of shape.However, thanks to St. Peter's blessing, the millet is still full of white powder.This kind of dark, angular grain is the first batch of buckwheat that appeared in the world. (Friuli region)