"I told thee that it was not my place to serve the food, nevertheless
when thou didst insist I did the best I could, and I think I have
succeeded. Thyself, thy wife, and one pigeon make three; thy two sons
and one pigeon make three; thy two daughters and one pigeon make three;
and myself and two pigeons make three also, therefore is it fairly done.
As regards the chicken, I gave to thee and thy wife the head, because ye
are the heads of the family; I gave to each of thy sons a leg, because
they are the pillars of the family, preserving always the family name; I
gave to each of thy daughters a wing, because in the natural course of
events they will marry, take wing, and fly away from the home-nest. I
took the body of the chicken because it looks like a ship, and in a ship
I came here and in a ship I hope to return. I am the son of the merchant
who died in thy house; give me the property of my dead father."
"Take it and go," said the landlord. And giving him his father's
possessions the young man departed in peace.
* * * * *
A certain man, a native of Athina (a city near Jerusalem), visited the
city of Jerusalem, and after leaving it, ridiculed the place and its
inhabitants. The Jerusalemites were very wroth at being made the
subjects of his sport, and they induced one of their citizens to travel
to Athina, to induce the man to return to Jerusalem, which would give
them an opportunity to punish his insolence.
The citizen thus commissioned reached Athina, and very shortly fell in
with the man whom he had come to meet. Walking through the streets
together one day, the man from Jerusalem said, "See, the string of my
shoe is broken; take me, I pray, to the shoemaker."
The shoemaker repaired the string, and the man paid him a coin more in
value than the worth of the shoes.
Next day, when walking with the same man, he broke the string of his
other shoe, and going to the shoemaker, he paid him the same large sum
for repairing that.
"Why," said the man of Athina, "shoes must be very dear in Jerusalem,
when thou payest such a price but for repairing a string."
"Yes," answered the other; "they bring nine ducats, and even in the
cheapest times from seven to eight."
"Then it would be a profitable employment for me to take shoes from my
city and sell them in thine."
"Yes, indeed; and if thou wilt but let me know of thy coming I will put
thee in the way of customers."
So the man of Athina, who had made merry over the Jerusalemites, bought
a large stock of shoes and set out for Jerusalem, informing his friend
of his coming. The latter started to meet him, and greeting him before
he came to the gates of the city, said to him:--
"Before a stranger may enter and sell goods in Jerusalem, he must shave
his head and blacken his face. Art thou ready to do this?"
"And why not," replied the other, "as long as I have a prospect of large
profits; why should I falter or hesitate at so slight a thing as that?"
So the stranger, shaving the hair from his head and blackening his face
(by which all Jerusalem knew him as the man who had ridiculed the city),
took up his place in the market, with his wares spread before him.