The students asked him: What is the letter ד? He replied: What is this like? Ten kings were in a certain place. All of them were wealthy, but one was not quite as wealthy as the others. Even though he is still very wealthy, he is poor (דַּל) in relation to the others.
They said to him: What is the letter ה? He grew angry and said: Did I not teach you not to ask about a later thing and then about an earlier thing? They said: But ה comes after. He replied: The order should be ג-ה. Why is it ג-ד? Because it must be ד-ה. And why is the order ג-ד? He said to them: ג is in the place of ד; on its head, it is in the place of ד.ה, with its tail, is in place of the ה.