The wife proved to be right.  The spectacle had diverted Ben-Tovit slightly—­perhaps it was the rats’ litter that had helped after all—­ he succeeded in falling asleep.  When he awoke, his toothache had passed almost entirely, and only a little inflammation had formed over his right jaw.  His wife told him that it was not noticeable at all, but Ben-Tovit smiled cunningly—­he knew how kind-hearted his wife was and how fond she was of telling him pleasant things.

Samuel, the tanner, a neighbour of Ben-Tovit’s, came in, and Ben-Tovit led him to see the new little donkey and listened proudly to the warm praises for himself and his animal.

Then, at the request of the curious Sarah, the three went to Golgotha to see the people who had been crucified.  On the way Ben-Tovit told Samuel in detail how he had felt a pain in his right jaw on the day before, and how he awoke at night with a terrible toothache.  To illustrate it he made a martyr’s face, closing his eyes, shook his head, and groaned while the grey-bearded Samuel nodded his head compassionately and said: 

“Oh, how painful it must have been!”

Ben-Tovit was pleased with Samuel’s attitude, and he repeated the story to him, then went back to the past, when his first tooth was spoiled on the left side.  Thus, absorbed in a lively conversation, they reached Golgotha.  The sun, which was destined to shine upon the world on that terrible day, had already set beyond the distant hills, and in the west a narrow, purple-red strip was burning, like a stain of blood.  The crosses stood out darkly but vaguely against this background, and at the foot of the middle cross white kneeling figures were seen indistinctly.

The crowd had long dispersed; it was growing chilly, and after a glance at the crucified men, Ben-Tovit took Samuel by the arm and carefully turned him in the direction toward his house.  He felt that he was particularly eloquent just then, and he was eager to finish the story of his toothache.  Thus they walked, and Ben-Tovit made a martyr’s face, shook his head and groaned skilfully, while Samuel nodded compassionately and uttered exclamations from time to time, and from the deep, narrow defiles, out of the distant, burning plains, rose the black night.  It seemed as though it wished to hide from the view of heaven the great crime of the earth.

THE SERPENT’S STORY

Hush!  Hush!  Hush!  Come closer to me.  Look into my eyes!

I always was a fascinating creature, tender, sensitive, and grateful.  I was wise and I was noble.  And I am so flexible in the writhing of my graceful body that it will afford you joy to watch my easy dance.  Now I shall coil up into a ring, flash my scales dimly, wind myself around tenderly and clasp my steel body in my gentle, cold embraces.  One in many!  One in many!

Hush!  Hush!  Look into my eyes!