Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
Religion
Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
Hebrew literature -- Translations into English
Solomon thereupon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, provided
with a magic chain and ring, upon both of which the name of God
was engraved. He also provided him with a fleece of wool and
sundry skins with wine. Then Benaiah went and sank a pit below
that of Ashmedai, into which he drained off the water and
plugged the duct between with the fleece. Then he set to and dug
another hole higher up with a channel leading into the emptied
pit of Ashmedia, by means of which the pit was filled with the
wine he had brought. After leveling the ground so as not to
rouse suspicion, he withdrew to a tree close by, so as to watch
the result and wait his opportunity. After a while Ashmedai
came, and examined the seal, when, seeing it all right, he
raised the stone, and to his surprise found wine in the pit. For
a time he stood muttering and saying, it is written, "Wine is a
mocker: strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise." And again, "Whoredom and wine and new wine
take away the heart." Therefore at first he was unwilling to
drink, but being thirsty, he could not long resist the
temptation. He proceeded to drink therefore, when, becoming
intoxicated, he lay down to sleep. Then Benaiah, came forth from
his ambush, and stealthily approaching, fastened the chain round
the sleeper's neck. Ashmedai, when he awoke, began to fret and
fume, and would have torn off the chain that bound him, had not
Benaiah warned him, saying, "The name of thy Lord is upon thee."
Having thus secured him, Benaiah proceeded to lead him away to
his sovereign master. As they journeyed along they came to a
palm-tree, against which Ashmedai rubbed himself, until he
uprooted it and threw it down. When they drew near to a hut, the
poor widow who inhabited it came out and entreated him not to
rub himself against it, upon which, as he suddenly bent himself
back, he snapt a bone of his body, and said, "This is that which
is written (Prov. xxv. 15), 'And a gentle answer breaketh the
bone.'" Descrying a blind man straying out of his way, he hailed
him and directed him aright. He even did the same service to a
man overcome with wine, who was in a similar predicament. At
sight of a wedding party that passed rejoicing along, he wept;
but he burst into uncontrollable laughter when he heard a man
order at a shoemaker's stall a pair of shoes that would last
seven years; and when he saw a magician at his work he broke
forth into shrieks of scorn.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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