Then they came to a peasant’s house inside which they heard loud
lamentations and cries; so they went in, and there the husband was
lying sick unto death, and very near his end, and his wife was crying
and weeping quite loudly. “Stop that howling and crying,” said St.
Peter, “I will make the man well again,” and he took a salve out of his
pocket, and healed the sick man in a moment, so that he could get up,
and was in perfect health. In great delight the man and his wife said,
“How can we reward you? What shall we give you?” But St. Peter would
take nothing, and the more the peasant folks offered him, the more he
refused. Brother Lustig, however, nudged St. Peter, and said, “Take
something; sure enough we are in need of it.” At length the woman
brought a lamb and said to St. Peter that he really must take that, but
he would not. Then Brother Lustig gave him a poke in the side, and
said, “Do take it, you stupid fool; we are in great want of it!” Then
St. Peter said at last, “Well, I will take the lamb, but I won’t carry
it; if thou wilt insist on having it, thou must carry it.” “That is
nothing,” said Brother Lustig. “I will easily carry it,” and took it on
his shoulder. Then they departed and came to a wood, but Brother Lustig
had begun to feel the lamb heavy, and he was hungry, so he said to St.
Peter, “Look, that’s a good place, we might cook the lamb there, and
eat it.” “As you like,” answered St. Peter, “but I can’t have anything
to do with the cooking; if thou wilt cook, there is a kettle for thee,
and in the meantime I will walk about a little until it is ready. Thou
must, however, not begin to eat until I have come back, I will come at
the right time.” “Well, go, then,” said Brother Lustig, “I understand
cookery, I will manage it.” Then St. Peter went away, and Brother
Lustig killed the lamb, lighted a fire, threw the meat into the kettle,
and boiled it. The lamb was, however, quite ready, and the apostle
Peter had not come back, so Brother Lustig took it out of the kettle,
cut it up, and found the heart. “That is said to be the best part,”
said he, and tasted it, but at last he ate it all up. At length St.
Peter returned and said, “Thou mayst eat the whole of the lamb thyself,
I will only have the heart, give me that.” Then Brother Lustig took a
knife and fork, and pretended to look anxiously about amongst the
lamb’s flesh, but not to be able to find the heart, and at last he said
abruptly, “There is none here.” “But where can it be?” said the
apostle. “I don’t know,” replied Brother Lustig, “but look, what fools
we both are, to seek for the lamb’s heart, and neither of us to
remember that a lamb has no heart!” “Oh,” said St. Peter, “that is
something quite new! Every animal has a heart, why is a lamb to have
none?” “No, be assured, my brother,” said Brother Lustig, “that a lamb
has no heart; just consider it seriously, and then you will see that it
really has none.” “Well, it is all right,” said St. Peter, “if there is
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