Legends -- France; Legends -- Germany; Legends -- Rhine River Valley
The hellish gold was piously expended in finishing the cathedral, but
nevertheless, when the building was completed, splendid though it was,
the whole town was filled with fear and alarm at the sight of it. The
fact was that, although the magistrates had promised by bond and oath
not to trust the secret to anybody, one had prated to his wife, and she
had made it a market-place tale, so that one and all declared they would
never set foot within the walls. The terrified council now consulted the
clergy, but the good priests hung their heads. At last a monk cried
out: "A thought strikes me. The wolf which has so long ravaged the
neighbourhood of our town was this morning caught alive. This will be a
well-merited punishment for the destroyer of our flocks; let him be cast
to the devil in the fiery gulf. 'Tis possible the arch hell-hound may
not relish this breakfast, yet, nolens volens, he must swallow it. You
promised him certainly a soul, but whose was not decidedly specified."
The monk's plan was plausible, and the magistrates determined to put the
cunning trick into execution. The day of consecration arrived. Orders
were given to bring the wolf to the principal entrance of the cathedral,
and just as the bells began to ring, the trap-door of the cage was
opened and the savage beast darted out into the nave of the
empty church. Master Urian from his lurking-place beheld this
consecration-offering with the utmost fury; burning with choler at
being thus deceived, he raged like a tempest, and finally rushed forth,
slamming the brass gate so violently after him that the ring cracked in
twain.
This fissure commemorates the priest's victory over the devices of the
Devil, and is still exhibited to travellers who visit the cathedral.
A Legend of Bonn
The city of Bonn is one of the most beautiful of all those situated on
the banks of the Rhine, and being the birthplace of no less celebrated
a composer than Beethoven, it naturally attracts a goodly number of
pilgrims every year, these coming from many distant lands to do homage
at the shrine of genius. But Bonn and its neighbourhood have older
associations than this--associations which carry the mind of the
traveller far into the Middle Ages--for hard by the town is Rolandseck;
while a feature of the district is the Siebengebirge (Seven Mountains),
a fine serried range of peaks which present a very imposing appearance
when viewed from any of the heights overlooking Bonn itself, and which
recall a justly famous legend.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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