" The apostle, thus
rebuked, returned to martyrdom; the Master vanished, but left, as
a perpetual memorial, his footprint in the solid rock.
Another legend accounts for a curious mark in a stone at Jerusalem.
According to this, St. Thomas, after the ascension of the Lord, was
again troubled with doubts, whereupon the Virgin Mother threw down
her girdle, which left its imprint upon the rock, and thus
converted the doubter fully and finally.
And still another example is seen at the very opposite extreme of
Europe, in the legend of the priestess of Hertha in the island of
Rugen. She had been unfaithful to her vows, and the gods furnished
a proof of her guilt by causing her and her child to sink into the
rock on which she stood.[[213]]
Another and very fruitful source of explanatory myths is found in
ancient centres of volcanic action, and especially in old craters
of volcanoes and fissures filled with water.
In China we have, among other examples, Lake Man, which was once
the site of the flourishing city Chiang Shui--overwhelmed and sunk
on account of the heedlessness of its inhabitants regarding a
divine warning.
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