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Melchior, who presented them to our Saviour. On the flight into Egypt, the holy family were closely pursued by Herod's soldiers, and coming to a field where a man was sowing asked the way: when they had passed on, the corn miraculously sprang up; just afterwards Herod's soldiers arrived and inquired of the sower if he had seen our Saviour and his parents, but he told them that no one had passed since his corn was sown, on which the soldiers turned back and gave up the pursuit.
This legend is mentioned in the carol of the Carnal and the Crane. In the hurry of the flight the Virgin Mary dropped these pieces of money and the other gifts. They were found by a shepherd, who kept them by him, and in after years, being afflicted by some disease incurable by mortal aid, applied to our Saviour, who healed him, and he then offered these gifts at the high altar. They were subsequently paid to Judas by the priests as the reward of his perfidy. There are two reasons given for his requiring thirty pieces of money: one that he considered he had lost thirty pieces by the box of precious ointment not having been sold for 300 pence, of which he would have purloined the tenth part; and the other, that having been sent by our Saviour, on Holy Thursday, with this amount of money, to provide for the last supper, he fell asleep in the way and was robbed. In the midst of his distress the rich Jew, Pilate, met him, and he then agreed to betray his master for the amount he had lost.
In one of our ancient chronicles there is a legend of the life of Judas, before he became an apostle, very similar, in many respects, to the well-known history of QEdipus, which need not be repeated here. When, smitten by remorse, he returned the money to the priests, and destroyed himself: |
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