It is everywhere widespread legend of Jesus disguised as a beggar, knocking on the door of the first comer and chastising or rewarding a guest, depending on whether he was poorly or well received by him.
The beggar
Jacinto Verdaguer recounts that in Barbazan, in the Catalonia, a beggar arrived during a stormy night and, going from door to door, looked for a shelter to spend the night sheltered from the wind and rain; everywhere they pushed him back and he began to believe that he would not find a single compassionate soul, when, knocking at the last door of the village, he was received by two brave peasants who fed him and prepared a good fire for him.
The beggar was none other than Jesus. He destroyed the unhospitable village, respecting the only house where he had received a warm welcome. A lake today occupies the village square of Barbazan (reminiscence of the sad adventure of Sodom and Gomorrah). Many stories are told in Roussillon legends Of this genre.
For example, this one.
A poor fellow was going one day through the countryside seeking refuge from the bad weather. He was walking, he was still walking, when he arrived in a village: full of shame he knocked on the door of a rich house. The mistress of the house was a wicked housewife; she would have sent the poor man away without the intervention of the husband who, more compassionate, made him lie on a pile of straw, under the stairs, in the kennel.
But during the night the mistress suffered violent stomach pains and they were obliged to seek out the best doctor in the village; while she was being treated, her husband went to inquire about the beggar, brought him near the fire and told him of his wife's illness. The beggar then kicked three times, saying: “Stomach ache, go into the earth, it is Our Lord who commands it. » Immediately the sick woman was healed.
The host prostrated himself at the feet of the beggar, who was none other than Our Lord himself, and thanked him for this miracle. But Our Lord raised him up and told him that this miracle should teach his wife to have pity on poor people who ask for charity.
