Chapter 170 197. San Antonio Brings Fire to Mankind

Long, long ago, there was no fire in the world at all.The people felt so cold that they could bear it no longer, so they went to San Antonio in the desert and begged him for help.San Antonio sympathized with the people and decided to go to Hell to get some fire to give to the people, because fire is only found in Hell.San Antonio was a swineherd before he became a saint.Among the pigs he let out, there was a little pig who was reluctant to leave him, and has been following him until now.So San Antonio, with the stick in his hand, and the little pig, came to the gate of hell.He knocked on the door and said, "Open the door, please. I'm cold and I want to come in and be warm."

The devil at the gate immediately recognized that this man was not a sinner but a saint, and said, "No, no, we know you, you can't come in!" "Let me in, I'm freezing cold," pleaded San Antonio, his piggy also in the arch. "The little pig can come in, but you can't." After the devils had finished speaking, they opened the door just enough for the little pig to get in.But as soon as San Antonio's piglets are in Hell, they run around and hoot around and make a mess of it.The devils chased after the little pig, picked up the firewood it had left everywhere, picked up the broken pieces of wood on the ground, picked up the trident that it had knocked down, and put back the forks and torture tools in their place.They could take it no longer, but they could neither catch up to the pig nor drive him out.

At last they had to come to the saint standing at the door, and say, "Your wicked pig is making a mess of us here! Come in and drag him out." San Antonio went into hell and patted the pig with his stick, and it immediately fell silent. "Since I'm here," said San Antonio, "I'd better sit here a while and warm up!" He sat on a bag of sawdust, and stretched out his hands to warm the fire. Every now and then a devil ran past him to report to the devil that he had seduced so-and-so in the world to sin.Each time, San Antonio hit the devil on the back with his stick.

"Put down your stick! We don't like jokes like that," said the Devil. San Antonio leaned on one end of the baton and landed on the other end.A devil ran and shouted: "The devil! You got another soul." Before he finished speaking, the devil tripped over his teaching stick and fell to the ground. "Enough! Your stick has hurt us enough," said the devils, "and now we must burn it." They snatched the stick, and thrust the end into the fire. At this moment, the little pig began to scurry about in the hell again, making the inside dusty, and knocking the hooks and torches in the hell upside down. "If you want me to tell it to be quiet, you have to give me back the stick," San Antonio said.

The sticks are made of fennel wood, which has a spongy substance in it.Therefore, if a spark gets in, it will continue to burn quietly inside, and it will not be seen from the outside.Therefore, the devils were unaware that San Antonio had hidden the fire in the stick.San Antonio exhorted the devil a few words, took the stick, and led the piglet out of hell.The devils breathed a sigh of relief As soon as San Antonio came back to earth, he raised his scepter, turned the flaming end outward, and waved it.Sparks radiate in all directions, as if blessing mankind.He sang: "Fire, fire, spread everywhere,

spread throughout the world, Happy fire! " Since then, there has been fire on the earth, and people are very happy.However, San Antonio returned to the desert and continued to practice. (Logudoro area)