ABSTRACT
International Parallels: Stories of getting into heaven by the device of carrying a welcome person's luggage, or by pretending to do so, are infrequent in the published collections of English-language anecdotes. In several heaven's gate stories, including these, St. Peter is presented not merely as the rigorous guardian or porter of the heavenly gate but also much like a superior hotel desk clerk who welcomes deserving entrants but rejects the undeserving. This latter view of St. Peter probably developed from the tradition that he has to check the "Book” to see if the applicant does indeed have his place properly reserved. Since the whitebearded St. Peter has been at his task for centuries, folk tradition assumes that by now his eyesight has weakened, a fact tricksters use to their advantage.
