Most donkey-drivers are wicked, but most sailors are pious. The best physicians are destined for hell, the most upright butcher is a partner of Amalek. Bastards are mostly cunning, and servants mostly handsome. Those who are well-descended are bashful, and children mostly resemble their mother's brother. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai bids us " kill the best of Gentiles (modern editions qualify this by adding, in time of war), "and smash the head of the best of serpents. "The best among women," he says, " is a witch. Blessed is he who does the will of God! Sophrim, chap. 15, hal. 10.