"Nay, thou errest there," answered Moses. "'Gittel was not a phoenix which alone ate not of the Tree of Knowledge and lives for ever. Women have no need to live as long as men, for they have not so many _Mitzvahs_ to perform as men; and inasmuch as"--here his tones involuntarily assumed the argumentative sing-song--"their souls profit by all the _Mitzvahs_ performed by their husbands and children, Gittel will profit by the _Mitzvah_ I did in bringing over my mother, so that even if she did die through it, she will not be the loser thereby. It stands in the Verse that _man_ shall do the _Mitzvahs_ and live by them. To live is a _Mitzvah_, but it is plainly one of those _Mitzvahs_ that have to be done at a definite time, from which species women, by reason of their household duties, are exempt; wherefore I would deduce by another circuit that it is not so incumbent upon women to live as upon men. Nevertheless, if God had willed it, she would have been still alive. The Holy One, blessed be He, will provide for the little ones He has sent into the world. He fed Elijah the prophet by ravens, and He will never send me a black Sabbath." "Oh, you are a saint, Méshe," said Malka, so impressed that she admitted him to the equality of the second person plural. "If everybody knew as much _Térah_ as you, the Messiah would soon be here. Here are five shillings. For five shillings you can get a basket of lemons in the Orange Market in Duke's Place, and if you sell them in the Lane at a halfpenny each, you will make a good profit. Put aside five shillings of your takings and get another basket, and so you will be able to live till the tailoring picks up a bit." Moses listened as if he had never heard of the elementary principles of barter. "May the Name, blessed be It, bless you, and may you see rejoicings on your children's children." So Moses went away and bought dinner, treating his family to some _beuglich_, or circular twisted rolls, in his joy. But on the morrow he repaired to the Market, thinking on the way of the ethical distinction between "duties of the heart" and "duties of the limbs," as expounded in choice Hebrew by Rabbenu Bachja, and he laid out the remnant in lemons. Then he stationed himself in Petticoat Lane, crying, in his imperfect English, "Lemans, verra good lemans, two a penny each, two a penny each!" CHAPTER IV. THE REDEMPTION OF THE SON AND THE DAUGHTER.