Benaiah asked Ashmedai why, when he saw the blind man straying, he so promptly interfered to guide him? " Because,8 he replied, " it was proclaimed in heaven that that man was perfectly righteous, and that whosoever did him a good turn would earn a title to a place in the world of the future. ** "And when thou sawest the man overcome with wine wandering out of his way, why didst thou put him right again? ** Ashmedai said, " Because it was made known in heaven that that man was thoroughly bad, and I have done him a good service that he might not lose all, but receive some good in the world that now is.8 "Well, and why didst thou weep when thou sawest the merry wedding-party pass? ** " Because, ** said he, " the bridegroom was fated to die within thirty days and the bride must needs wait thirteen years for her husband's brother, who is now but an infant ** (see Deut. xxv. 5-10).
"Why didst thou laugh so when the man ordered a pair of shoes that would last him seven years?8 Ashmedai replied, " Because the man himself was not sure of living seven days.8 "And why,8 asked Benaiah, " didst thou jeer when thou sawest the conjuror at his tricks?8 " Because,8 said Ashmedai, " the man was at that very time sitting on a princely treasure, and he did not, with all his pretension, know that it was under him.**