The wandering Jew - Вечный жид
The legend of the wandering Jew appeared in the
13th century. It is based on a story connected with the
crucifixion of Jesus. The story goes that the door-keeper
of the judgement-hall, in the service of Pontius Pilate,
struck Jesus as he led him forth, saying, “Get on faster,
Jesus”, to which the latter replied, “ I am going, but
thou shalt tarry till I come ag a in ”.
Another legend has it that Jesus, pressed down with
the weight of his cross, stopped to rest at the door of
one Ahasuerus, a cobbler. The craftsman pushed him
away with curses. For that insult he was doomed to
wander over the earth, driven by fear and remorse, never able to find a grave.
Shelley in England, Schlegel and Goethe in Germany, Sue in France, Zhukovsky in Russia have turned
this legend to account.
In modern speech the w ords denote a re stless person,
a perpetual wanderer.
Выражение вечный жид возникло из средневековой легенды об Агасфере, обреченном на вечные скитания в наказание за то, что он отказался помочь Иисусу, когда тот шел на распятие. Трагический образ Агасфера широко использован в мировой литературе — Шелли, Шлегелем, Гете, Сю, Жуковским. Выражение обозначает вечного скитальца.