"g152v10" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ebers Georg)

"'And I,' cried another broad-winged angel, 'for ten years I walked with
the crutches that were made for me from the nut-tree by the Fresh Spring,
and old Conrad, below on the earth, is still using them.'

"'And mine also,' another continued, 'were of the same wood. I had
lain for a long time on my back; but after I got them, I learned to walk
with them and they enabled me to stand before the loom, and to earn bread
once more for my family. That man yonder from Hochdorf has had the same
experience, and the wooden leg of William, the toll-gate keeper, who
entered here shortly before me, was made of wood from the nut-tree.'

"'I owe it a debt of gratitude, too, but for an entirely different
service,' said a beautiful angel, as it bowed its crowned head reverently
before the Son of God. 'My lot below was a very hard one. I was early
left a widow, and I supported my children entirely by the work of my
hands. By dint of great effort I brought them up well, and my three sons
grew to be brave men, who took care of themselves, and helped their
mother. But all three, my Master, were lost to me, taken away by the
unfathomable wisdom of the Father. Two fell in war, the third was killed
by the machinery while at his work. That broke my strength, and when
they brought me to the hospital I was on the verge of despair, and life
seemed a greater burden than I could bear. Your image, my Saviour, had
just been finished by a sculptor, who had carved it from the wood of the
nut-tree by the Fresh Spring. They put it up opposite to my bed. It
represented you, my Lord, on the cross, and your head bowed in agony,
with its crown of thorns, was a very sorrowful sight. Yet I paid but
small heed to it. One morning, however--it was the anniversary of the
death of my two dear sons, who had lost their lives, fighting bravely
side by side for their Fatherland--on that morning the sun fell upon your
sad face, and bleeding hands pierced by the nails, and then I reflected
how bitterly you had suffered, though innocent, that you might redeem us,
and how your mother must have felt to lose such a child. Then a voice
asked me if I had any right to complain, when the Son of God himself had
willingly endured such torments for our sake, and I felt compelled to
answer no, and determined then to bear patiently whatever might be laid
upon me, a poor, sinful woman. Thenceforth, my Lord, was your image my
consolation and, since the wood of which it was made came from the tree
planted by Hannele near the Fresh Spring, I owe beyond doubt the better
years that followed, and the joy of being with you in Paradise, my
Saviour, to the nuts which that condemned woman gave to the child.'

"Humbly she bowed her head again. The Son of God turned to St. Peter,
saying: 'Well, Peter?'

"The latter called to the guardians of Hell: 'Let her go free, the gates
of Heaven are open to her. How rich and manifold, O Lord! is the fruit
that springs from the smallest gift offered in true love!'

"'You are right,' answered the Saviour, gently, and turned away."