St. Peter & Brother Jim cured an ailing farmer and received a lamb as thanks. Off they went again…

So we went on our way and came to a forest. The lamb was getting heavy for me to carry and I was getting hungry. So I said, “Look, here’s a nice place where we can cook the lamb and eat it.”

“All right,” answered St. Peter, “only I’m no good at cooking. If you want to cook, here is a kettle. I’ll walk up and down until it is done. But you must not start eating before I come. I’ll be back in good time.”

“You go along then,” I said. “I’m a good cook. I’ll cook this baby up real fine!”

And so St. Peter walked off and I slaughtered the lamb, lit a fire, threw the meat into the kettle, and let it cook. But the lamb was already done and the apostle hadn’t come back. So I took it out of the kettle, cut it up, and found the heart. “That’s supposed to be the best part,” I said. I tasted the heart and it was the best part! Before I knew it, I’d eaten the whole heart.

Finally, St. Peter came back and said, “You may eat the whole lamb by yourself, all I want is the heart. Give it to me.”

So I took my knife and fork and made as if I was searching through the meat but could not find the heart. In the end, I said calmly, “It’s not here.”

“It’s not? Well then, where could it be?” said the apostle. “How should I know?” I answered. “But look what fools we are, both of us, looking for the heart of a lamb. A lamb doesn’t have a heart!”

“Really?” said St. Peter. “That’s news to me. Every animal has a heart. Why shouldn’t a lamb have one?”

“No honestly, brother, a lamb does not have a heart. You think about it and it’ll come to you. It just doesn’t.”

“All right, let it go,” said the big guy, if there’s no heart, I don’t need any lamb. You can eat it by yourself.”

“Well, then what I can’t finish I’ll take along in my knapsack, ” I said. So I ate up half of the lamb and put the rest into my knapsack.”

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The Adventures of Brother Jim based on the story “Brother Gaily” from The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm.