“Beloved wife! please advise me how am I to repay our debt to our
generous benefactor here?”
“Let me,” she cried, “settle accounts with him.” Turning to him she
said, “I will show thee how we have spent the fortune entrusted to our
care through thy kindness. Behold the account books.”
The kind stranger looked with deep interest at the long lists recording
the money spent in charity.
“You have, indeed,” he cried, “spent plenty of money.”
“But, good sir!” she added, “if thou dost believe for a moment that thy
money might be entrusted to better guardians, take away then thy gift.
If, on the other hand, thou art satisfied with the manner in which we
have used the wealth placed in our care, then let us continue to hold
our trust.”
Thereupon the stranger, who was Elijah the prophet, blessed the good
couple and bade them enjoy the wealth they knew so well how to use. In
a moment the prophet had departed and the happy couple kept his coins
and bequeathed them to their eldest son as a family heirloom.
Yalḳuṭ, Ruth §§ 607, 601.