Then Enan introduces his own especial friend. "He is good and wise," said
Enan, "despite his tall stature. He shows his goodness in hating the wise
and loving fools; he is generous, for he will give a beggar a crust of
dry bread, and make him pay for it; he knows medicine, for he can tell
that if a man is buried, he either has been sick, or has had an accident;
he knows astronomy, for he can tell that it is day when the sun shines,
and night when the stars appear; he knows arithmetic, for he can tell
that one and one make two; he knows mensuration, for he can tell how many
handbreadths his belly measures; he knows music, for he can tell the
difference between the barking of a dog and the braying of an ass." "But,
said I," continues Joseph, "how canst thou be the friend of such a one?
Accursed is he, accursed his master." "Nay," answered Enan, "I love him
not; I know his vile nature: 'tis his daughter that binds me to him, for
she, with her raven locks and dove's eyes and lily cheeks, is fair beyond
my power to praise." Yet I warned him against marrying the daughter of an
uneducated man, an Am ha-Arez. Then follows a compilation of passages
directed against ignorance. "Ah!" cries Enan, "your warning moves me. My
love for her is fled. Thou fearest God and lovest me, my friend. What is
a friend? One heart in two bodies. Then find me another wife, one who is
beautiful and good. Worse than a plague is a bad woman. Listen to what
once befell me with such a one."
Thereupon Enan introduces the last of the stories incorporated into the
book: