Ketia bar Shalom Buys His World in a Single Hour

There was a certain Caesar who hated the Jews. He said to the notables of his kingdom: One who has a sore grown on his foot, should he cut it off and live, or leave it and suffer? They said to him: let him cut it off and live. Ketia bar Shalom said to him: First, you cannot destroy them all, for it is written, "for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of the heavens" (Zechariah 2:10). And further, you will be called a maimed kingdom. He said to him: You have spoken well; but whoever bests the king is to be thrown into a furnace full of [burning] reeds. As they were taking him away, a certain noblewoman said to him: Woe to the ship that sails without paying its toll. He fell upon his foreskin and cut it off, saying: I have paid my toll, I will pass and cross over. As they cast him in, he said: all my property to Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues. Rabbi Akiva went out and expounded: "and it shall belong to Aaron and to his sons" (Leviticus 24:9), half to Aaron and half to his sons. A heavenly voice went out and said: Ketia bar Shalom is destined for the life of the world to come. Rabbi wept and said: there is one who acquires his world in a single hour, and there is one who acquires his world in many years.