Two great sages, Rav Ami and Rav Assi, sat one day in the company of Rabbi Isaac Naphcha, and the three men fell into conversation. One of them turned and said, "Rabbi, tell us a beautiful aggadah." The other, in the same breath, said, "No — explain to us instead a fine point of halakhah."
Rabbi Isaac looked at them. If he began the legend, he would offend the lawyer. If he began the law, he would offend the storyteller. So he smiled, and he told them a parable.
"I am like the man who had two wives," he said. "One was young, and one was old. The young wife, who wanted him to look young, plucked out all his gray hairs. The old wife, who wanted him to look old, plucked out all his black hairs. Between the two of them, the man went bald. And so it is with me, between you."
Then, not wishing to leave either disappointed, Rabbi Isaac gave them both what they wanted at once — a piece of law wrapped in a piece of legend. "It is written (Exodus 22:6): If a fire break out and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn be consumed, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restoration. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I must both sit as judge and also pay the damages, for I Myself kindled the fire in Zion, as it is written (Lamentations 4:11): He hath kindled a fire in Zion, and hath devoured the foundations thereof."
Even God, when His wrath burns, owes Himself the verdict. Judgment and payment, the sage taught, can live in the same hand.