The Talmud preserves a strange journey. Benaiah son of Jehoiada has captured Ashmedai, the king of the demons, and leads him bound toward Solomon's court. Along the road, the demon does peculiar things — and every one is a lesson in what the living cannot see.
They pass a palm tree. Ashmedai rubs against it and uproots it. They pass a hut. The poor widow inside runs out and begs him not to lean on her wall. Ashmedai bends back so sharply that he snaps one of his own bones. "This," he mutters, "is what the verse means — a gentle answer breaks the bone" (Proverbs 25:15).
He sees a blind man wandering off the road and turns him back toward the path. He does the same for a drunkard staggering toward danger. A wedding party passes, rejoicing. Ashmedai weeps. A man stops at a shoemaker's stall and orders a pair of shoes built to last seven years — and Ashmedai bursts into helpless laughter. A magician performs his tricks, and Ashmedai howls in scorn.
The demon sees what humans cannot. The bride and groom have only a short time together. The man ordering seven-year shoes will not live out the week. The magician is pretending to command powers that would eat him alive if he met them. The widow's kindness hit Ashmedai harder than the chain.
Even the king of the demons bows to a soft word from a poor woman.