Rabbi Meir left the synagogue one afternoon earlier than usual. His colleagues noticed. Rabbi Meir was not a man who cut services short. When he finally explained himself, the story that emerged was one of the strangest in Gaster's collection.
The Snake's Mission
Rabbi Meir had overheard a snake speaking as he walked. The snake was saying, "I am sent on a mission to kill Rabbi Judah the Antoti and his whole family, because he has never given alms."
Rabbi Meir ran. He reached the river before the snake did, and conjured it by the Name not to cross until he gave permission. Then he covered his face, made his way to Rabbi Judah's house, and asked for shelter.
Rabbi Judah's household did not recognize him. They suspected him of being a thief. He was forced to hide in the stables until dinner. When he came to the table, the family treated him coldly — refusing to let him share the meal until he insisted. He asked for a loan as an act of charity. They answered him rudely.
The Unveiling
Then Rabbi Meir put out the lamp. He uncovered his face — and his face was so luminous with Torah that the room filled with light.
The family recognized him and prostrated themselves. Rabbi Meir ordered Rabbi Judah immediately to send his wife and each of his children to different hiding places in the village. He himself remained in the house with Rabbi Judah and warned him: "Do not open the door, no matter who calls, until morning."
After two hours he gave the snake permission to come. It entered the house and threatened Rabbi Judah. Rabbi Meir stood in its path and rebuked it: "I have just been fed in this house. I have just received charity from this man. The decree against him is voided."
The Snake's Tricks
Frustrated, the snake coiled around the house outside. It pretended to be Rabbi Judah's wife, crying to be let in — she was freezing. Rabbi Meir kept the door locked. It pretended to be the eldest son, terrified of wild beasts. The door stayed locked. It pretended to be all the children at once. The door stayed locked.
Its mission frustrated, the snake threw itself down from a great height and died.
In the morning, the family returned. None of them had come to the house during the night. Rabbi Meir showed Rabbi Judah the dead snake. Rabbi Judah — who had never given a coin to a poor man — promised from that day forward to give alms profusely.
This exempla from the Ben Attar collection preserves a folk-theological truth the Sages hammered repeatedly: the world contains decrees against the stingy, and the only reliable way to cancel such decrees is the one Rabbi Judah learned the hard way.