nor domesticated animals; there are no wild animals, no flies, no foxes, no vermin, no serpents, no dogs, and in general, nothing which does harm; they have only sheep and cattle, which bear twice a year.  They sow and reap; there are all sorts of gardens, with all kinds of fruits and cereals, viz.:  beans, melons, gourds, onions, garlic, wheat and barley, and the seed grows a hundred fold.  They have faith; they know the Law, the Mishnah, the Talmud and the Agadah; but their Talmud is in Hebrew.  They introduce their sayings in the name of the fathers, the wise men, who heard them from the mouth of Joshua, who himself heard them from the mouth of God.  They have no knowledge of the Tanaim (doctors of the Mishnah) and Amoraim (doctors of the Talmud), who flourished during the time of the second Temple, which was, of course, not known to these tribes.  They speak only Hebrew, and are very strict as regards the use of wine made by others than themselves, as well as the rules of slaughtering animals; in this respect the Law of Moses is much more rigorous than that of the Tribes.  They do not swear by the name of God, for fear that their breath may leave them, and they become angry with those who swear; they reprimand them, saying, ’Woe, ye poor, why do you swear with the mention of the name of God upon your lips?  Use your mouth for eating bread and drinking water.  Do you not know that for the sin of swearing your children die young?’ And in this way they exhort every one to serve God with fear and integrity of heart.  Therefore, the children of Moses, the servant of God, live long, to the age of 100 or 120 years.  No child, be it son or daughter, dies during the lifetime of its parent, but they reach a third and a fourth generation, and see grandchildren and great-grandchildren with their offspring.  They do all field work themselves, having no male or female servants; there are also merchants among them.  They do not close their houses at night, for there is no thief nor any wicked man among them.  Thus a little lad might go for days with his flock without fear of robbers, demons or danger of any other kind; they are, indeed, all holy and clean.  These Levites busy themselves with the Law and with the commandments, and they still live in the holiness of our master, Moses; therefore, God has given them all this good.  Moreover, they see nobody and nobody sees them, except the four tribes who dwell on the other side of the rivers of Cush; they see them, and speak to them, but the river Sambatyon is between them, as it is said:  ‘That thou mayest say to prisoners, Go forth’ (Isaiah xlix., 9).  They have plenty of gold and silver; they sow flax and cultivate the crimson worm, and make beautiful garments.  Their number is double or four times the number that went out from Egypt.