Rebuke not the wicked lest you make an enemy. Having thus spent all his money he went to another town. There a man asked a scribe to write a petition, offer- ding a small coin. The scribe refused. The poor man remembering the maxim wrote the petition. The king greatly surprised and pleased with the beautiful writing appointed\ him scribe at Court. One day, going out of town with the King, he remembered that he had left his pen and ink at the palace. Returning to fetch it he found a Knight with the Queen. Remembering the other maxim he said nothing. The Queen, however, frightened tore her clothes and accused the scribe to the King of having abused her. The King sent him with a letter, as he said, to get a thousand Dinars from a certain lord to whom he had previously sent word to kill the first man that would come to him from the palace. On the way the scribe was invited to break his fast with a friend before going on his errand; remembering the other maxim he stayed there. Meanwhile, the wicked knight, knowing the order of the king went to the place, hoping to find that man killed, but being the first to come he was killed instead. When the scribe came he learned what had happened and returned to the King, who wondered at it until the man told all that had passed.
(cf. 320 and 345.)
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447 [Id. f. 14a]. Two men were travelling in the desert, each one carrying his own provisions. At the request of one, they first ate together the provisions of one man, after which the second refused to share and ran away. The man went up a mountain and tried to feed on herbs and fearing wild animals, went up to the top of a tree. In the night two demons came, brought the other man, slaughtered him and cooked him. Whilst they were eating they said to one another, “The leaves of this tree are a remedy for all kinds of illness/’ The other said, “The daughter of the king of Alexandria is insane, but the blood of a slaughtered spotted dog and tiger will heal her.” They departed and the man gathered a large quantity of the leaves and went along healing the sick. He became very rich. Then he cured the princess, acquired great wealth and married her.
448 [Ibid. f. 21 b]. When Moses went up to Heaven to receive the Law, an Angel refused him entrance, saying that this was not his place. He told him that once upon a time a star, curious to see the ways of the earth, came down from Heaven and spent some time upon the earth. After a while he went up to Heaven. But the stars refused him admission as he had lost his position. He however pleaded to be re-admitted. His case was brought before the highest Angels, and they decided that he should be re-admitted as his proper place was in the Heavens. Not so Moses who was earth-born. But Moses pushed him aside and entered the Heavens.
449 [Cod. G. 246 f. 35 b]. A pious man used to give alms to the poor until the people of his town decreed that whoever gave charity should either be cast into the sea or killed. The man grieved over the decree and then cast a loaf daily into the sea, interpreting the verse, “Cast thy bread upon the waters for in the length of days thou shalt find it” to mean “in the heart of the seas thou shalt find it.” On the eve of the Day of Atonement all the people went to the seashore to wash their clothes and to bathe in the sea, and the pious man did likewise. Suddenly a
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storm arose which blew the man into the sea. Seeing it, the people jeered, saying, "This is the man of pious actions. Now he has been drowned in that very sea of his." But when the man fell into the sea, all the fishes gathered round him and one said, "This is the man who fed us every day with a loaf of bread. What do you intend to do with him ?" The other fishes left him and that fish took the man down into the depths of the sea and showed him treasures of silver and gold and jewels and pearls. Then the fish said, "Choose either the silver and gold or the jewels and pearls, or I will teach you the seventy languages." The pious man replied, "Teach me the seventy languages," and the fish did so and them cast him up on to land. The man went his way and then lay down to sleep under a tree. Presently two crows appeared and one said to his companion, "Let us pick out the eyes of that man." But the other replied, "Do not do so, for he may only be asleep and then will catch you". But the first said, "It does not matter, for he will go on his way and presently come to a place where three roads meet. If he take the one to the right, wild beasts will meet him and he will let me go; if he take the middle one, he will come to rich treasures of gold and silver and then he will let me go, and if he take the one to the left, robbers will meet him and he will let me go." The man understood their language and everything happened as the bird had said. He took the middle road, found the treasure, let the bird free and returned to his town. The people were much surprised to see him, but he told them nothing, for the fish had only taught him the secret of the languages on condition that he related his adventures to no one; on the day he told anyone, he would die. Soon afterwards he married a woman who was very bad tempered and inquisitive and tried to force his secret from him. He told her why he could not reveal it but she did not care so long as she knew. Then he called his son and told him to prepare a meal for him as he was about to die. The lad went to the ox who said, "Peace be upon thee
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my master and teacher/' But the lad replied, “I cannot give thee the greeting of peace, for I am come to kill thee and give my father to eat of thy flesh". "And is there no one else to be found but me since all creatures are fed from the tread of my foot ? As it is said, ‘A multitude of produce from the strength of an ox’,” said the ox. Then the lad felt ashamed and went to the sheep who also gave him the greeting of peace. But the lad said, "I cannot give thee the greeting of peace, for I am come to kill thee and give my father to eat of thy flesh”. And the sheep said, "Have you found no one else but me, since Israel is likened unto me, as it is said, ‘Scattered sheep is Israel’!” Then the lad felt ashamed and went to the cock who gave him the greeting of peace. But the lad replied, "I cannot give thee the greeting of peace, for I am come to kill thee to give my father to eat of thy flesh before he dies.” Then the cock replied, "Why should you kill me ? I rule over many women and is your father to die because he has only one wife ? Let him divorce her, and if her dowry be ioo zuzim, then let him give her 200 and get rid of her, as it is said, ‘Drive away the mocker and strife shall cease’.” Then the son told his father what the cock had said, and the father acted upon the advice given, drove away his wife and lived in peace.
(Cf. 381.)
450 [Cod. G. 246 f. 109; 257 f. 4]. Akiba had a pious wife. She fed 500 pupils. Before death she asked her daughter to continue her work. Akiba married a bad woman. Jealous of her step-daughter, she paid the the washer-man to take the girl away and kill her and told the daughter to follow him with the clothes. At her request he saved her life but cut off her hands and feet. She dragged herself along to a solitary spot. A merchant passed by. Being the eve of Sabbath, he settled down, erected his tent and said his prayers. She answered "Amen” from behind the tent. Discovered by him, he took her home and married her, not knowing whose daughter she was. He made her hands of gold and feet of
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silver. A son was born and she urged him to go to R. Akiba to study. There the step-mother learned what had happened. She forged a letter in the name of the husband which she sent to his family, to take away her hands and feet of gold, to tie the baby on her back and to cast her out, being of low origin. They did so. Coming to a river, the baby wanted to drink. She was frightened lest it would slip into the water and wept. The prophet Elijah came, told her to put her stumps into the water and new hands grew. He told her to go to the next town, where she would find a treasure, and to buy a palace with it. She built an inn close by for all the travellers. The husband came and learning what had happened, went in search of his wife. He came to that place, was served with the others by his son, now a lad of nine years. He refused to eat and drink and asked the reason, told the story, was recognised by the wife and remained there, bringing his parents with him, where they lived in peace.
ADDITIONS & CORRECTIONS.
Nos. 145 (144) 177 and 187 have been inadvertently omitted and No. 316 too briefly told and is here amplified.
145 (144). Advancing age prevented R. Shimeon b. Ha- lafta from continuing his regular visits to Rabbi. When asked the reason he replied:—“The distant has become near and the near has become distant and two turned into three.” By this he meant: his sight had weakened so that he could no longer see far, his hearing had weakened so that he could only hear things near, while he had to use a stick to help his legs.