Story of Tobia and Tobiola," is the story of
Tobit and Tobias, taken from the apocryphal book of Tobit. The Sicilian
story differs in the names only.

There are several other Sicilian legends the heroes of which are pious,
simple youths, the religious counterparts of Giufa. One (Pitre, No.
112), called "The Poor Boy," tells the story of a simple youth who asked
the priest the way to paradise, and was told he must follow the strait
and narrow way. He took the first one he came to, and reached a convent
church during a festival, and imagined he had reached paradise. He was
found in the church when all had departed; but he persisted in
remaining, and the superior sent him a bowl of soup, which he put on the
altar; and when he was alone he began to converse confidentially with
the Lord on the crucifix, and said: "Lord, who put you on the cross?"
"Your sins!" and so the Lord responded to all his questions. The youth,
in tears, promised he would sin no more, and invited the Lord to descend
and partake of his repast with him. The Lord did so, and commanded him
to tell the monks in the convent that they would be damned unless they
sold all their property and bestowed it on the poor. If they would do so
and come and confess to the Lord himself, he would hear their confession
and give them the communion, and when it was finished they would all
die, one after the other, and enter the glory of paradise. The poor
youth went to the superior and gave him the Lord's message. The superior
sold the property of the convent, and everything turned out as the Lord
had said. The monks all confessed and died, and all who were present or
heard of the event were converted and died in the grace of God.[17]

This legend leads quite naturally to another, in which intercourse with
the other world is represented as still occasionally permitted to
mortals. It is found only in Sicily, having, curiously enough, parallels
in the rest of Europe, but none in Italy. It is called:

LXII. THE BAKER'S APPRENTICE.

There was once a baker who every morning loaded an ounceworth of bread
on a horse that came to his shop. One day he said: "I give this
ounceworth of bread to this horse and he renders me no account of it."
Then he said to his apprentice: "Vincenzo, the horse will come to-morrow
and I will give him the bread, but you must follow him and see where he
goes." The next day the horse came and the baker loaded him, and gave
the apprentice a piece of br