Gaster's exemplum No. 414, drawn from Rabbenu Nissim Gaon's 11th-century Chibbur Yafeh Me-HaYeshuah, tells the story of a rich man who decided to conduct an experiment on despair.

He was weary of his wealth and resolved to give it away. But he refused to distribute it among the poor of his town, because, he reasoned, the poor still had hope. They would use the money, spend it, pray for more. He wanted to give his money only to someone who had completely given up — someone for whom money could mean nothing, because the future had already closed.

He went outside the town and found a poor man sitting in the dust, dressed in rags. The rich man offered him the entire fortune, explaining his logic: "I want to give my money to one who has lost all hope in this world."

The poor man refused. "I cannot take your money on those terms. The Holy One, blessed be He, is merciful. He forsakes no one who breathes. Only the dead have truly lost hope. Give it to them if you must."

The rich man took the answer literally. He went to the cemetery and buried his wealth among the graves. Only the dead, by his count, had finally given up.

Years passed. His fortune spent in other ways, the rich man fell on hard times himself and became poor. At last, remembering the buried treasure, he went to the cemetery at night to dig it up. The watchmen caught him in the act. He was arrested on charges of stripping the dead and hauled before the governor.

The governor looked up at the accused. He was none other than the same poor man who had once refused the fortune. He had been, it turned out, of noble family, and after years of misfortune had been elected to the governorship.

He recognized the man. The prisoner did not recognize him. The governor let the man tell the whole story — the despair experiment, the burial among graves, the years of his own ruin. Then the governor revealed himself.

"You said once that you wanted to give your fortune to the only person without hope. I told you that no living person is without hope. Look: I sat in rags in the dust, and now I sit in the governor's seat. You buried your fortune among the dead because you did not believe the Holy One still worked in the living. Now take your money back, and learn the lesson I gave you years ago: al tityaesh. Never despair."

The rich man went home wealthier in coin, and incomparably wealthier in understanding.