Question

Who came knocking at the door of the old woman? Why was he there?

Answer 1

Hint: The context of the above question is given in the ballad ‘A Legend of the Northland’ written by Phoebe Cary. Ballads have been significant in folk cultures where they were narrated orally from generation to generation. This ballad is a narration of the legend of an old lady whose greed and selfishness angered Saint Peter.

Complete answer:
Saint Peter came knocking at the door of the old woman.

Saint Peter would walk around the world preaching to people and giving religious speeches. One day while travelling he came across the cottage of the old lady. It was evening time and he had been fasting for the entire day. He was very hungry and had started to feel weak due to fasting. In the cottage, the old lady was baking cakes, so he asked the lady to give him a cake. But it happened so that the woman could not give her cakes to the saint. Every time she baked for him she felt that she was parting away with a large piece of cake while whenever she baked cakes for herself she found the cake small. Due to her greed, she did not give the cake at all.

Note: However, the poet does not find the legend true, its narration is primarily done to teach a valuable lesson of life. The moral is that we must not be greedy. Whenever the character of saints is used in a story or poem, it is often to teach people ways of living a simple and better life.