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Let him, then, speedily begin his office; I shall fetch all things necessary, for he is in haste to depart." He smiled bitterly as he said these words, looking at the Rabbi, and left the room, followed by the nurse. When Jochonan and the lady were alone, she turned in the bed towards him, and said, "Unhappy man that thou art! knowest thou where thou hast been brought?"
Among them, to the astonishment of Jochonan, hung the keys of his own house those which he had put to hide when he came on this miserable journey and he gazed upon them intently. "What dost thou see," said the Demon, "that makes thee look so eagerly? Can he who has refused silver and gold and diamonds be moved by a paltry bunch of rusty iron?" "They are mine own, my lord," said the Rabbi.
On entering the room, Jochonan saw that it was of solid silver floor, ceiling, walls, even to the threshold and the door-posts; and the curiously carved roof and borders of the ceiling shone in the torchlight as if they were the fanciful work of frost. In the midst were heaps of silver money, piled up in immense urns of the same metal, even over the brim.
"For thee only, Rabbi Jochonan, whom some call the Wise, but whom others call Rabbi Jochonan the Miser, was I sent. Here is gold," said he, taking out a purse of sequins; "I want not thy labour for nothing. I adjure thee to come, in the name of the living God." So the Rabbi thought upon the vow he had just made, and he groaned in spirit, for the purse sounded heavy.
His hospitable board was open to the stranger, and his purse was at the service of all who needed to share it. His life was a perpetual act of benevolence, and the blessings showered upon him by all were returned bountifully upon him by the hand of God. But people wondered, and said, "Is not this the man who was called Rabbi Jochonan the Miser? What hath made the change?"
Jochonan arose, dressed himself, and accompanied the stranger, after having carefully locked up all the doors of his house, and deposited his keys in a secret place at which the stranger smiled. "I never remember," said the Rabbi, "so dark a night. Be thou to me as a guide, for I can hardly see the way." "I know it well," replied the stranger with a sigh.
Be no more Rabbi Jochonan the Miser." The Rabbi bowed to the ground, and blessed the Lord for his escape. "But how," said he, "am I to return, for I know not the way?" "Close thine eyes," said the Demon. He did so, and, in the space of a moment, heard the voice of the Prince of the Mazikin ordering him to open them again.
You have yet another chamber to see," said he to Jochonan, who had closed his eyes, and was praying fervently to the Lord, beating his breast. Far different from the other chambers, the one into which the Rabbi was next introduced was a mean and paltry apartment without furniture. On its filthy walls hung innumerable bunches of rusty keys of all sizes, disposed without order.
But Jochonan refused again, and the Prince of the Mazikin opened the door of a third chamber, which was called the Hall of Diamonds. When the Rabbi entered, he screamed aloud, and put his hands over his eyes, for the lustre of the jewels dazzled him, as if he had looked upon the noonday sun.
And he offered him daintier meats. And Jochonan felt a strong desire to eat, but he prayed inwardly to the Lord, and the temptation passed, and he answered, "Excuse thy servant yet a third time, my lord, that I eat not. I have renewed my vow." "Be it so, then," said the other: "arise, and follow me."
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