Note 32 — XIII. THE POUND OF FLESH.

“Quel est donc l’origine et la date de cette légende? Je la crois, comme celle du voile de sainte Véronique et généralement comme toutes les histoires relatives à la Passion, née vers le quatrième siècle, à Constantinople, et contemporaine de sainte Hélène et de la découverte de la vraie croix. Mais ces traditions sont restées longtemps orales.”—Revue des Deux Mondes, Dec. 1, 1833. Published as introduction to Quinet’s “Ahasuerus.” Goethe connects Saint Veronica with Ahasuerus in the plan of his intended work elsewhere given. Veronica, whose name means the true portrait (i.e. of Christ which was retained on the apron with which she wiped the sweat from his face), would be a natural counterpart of the man who refused all succour to the fainting sufferer. In enthusiasm about the true cross might be born a myth of the true image, and of a “witness” to both.