אפס כי לא תהיה תפארת הממנות נמשכת—עוד מעט ויצאה רוח אלהים לבזור רכושיך—ויהיו כלא היו חמשים אלפי זהב אשר בקנינם מכרת נפשך• תתהפך הזמן כמעט רגע לקחת חן וכבוד מעל ראשך—תרד אש האלהים מן השמים ותאכל אותך ואת חמשיך• “By no means let thy pride in thy wealth endure, for at any moment a blast may come from God, which will scatter and disperse all thy treasures. Then will vanish as naught the fifty thousand ducats for which thou hast bartered thy soul, and thy former honour and glory will likewise depart at thy sudden reverse of fortune. Or a fire may come down from heaven, and devour thee along with thy five myriads of ducats.” Here it will at once be seen how cleverly the author uses for his own purpose certain phrases found in the second chapter of 2 Kings in connexion with the prophet Elijah, and how ingenious the play on the word ‪חמשיך‬ is. As this peculiar mode of composition is a marked feature of the _Bechînath Olam_, a few more examples of a somewhat different kind may be given here for the sake of illustration. In chapter IV we read as follows^[74-1]:— Thy belongings in sooth are but passion and lust, Thy strength sinks asunder like light crumbling dust; Thy treasures, like thorns, are surrounded with stings, Thy most precious possessions are but worthless things, Thy pride is enkindled like flames in the night, Thy riches, like insects, soon hasten to flight. And again, in chapter XI, the author gives the following description of the four seasons of the year:— The lovely Spring gives me no peace, For constant cares disturb my ease. The Summer, too, is full of pain, Its glow and heat are but my bane. The Autumn has no charms for me, From cold and ills I ne'er am free. When Winter brings its snow and frost, Oh, then I am undone and lost^[75-1]. Another conspicuous feature of the _Bechînath Olam_ is its frequent use of poetical metaphors, which the author employs with great aptitude and force. The eighth chapter of the book in question, beginning with the words: ‪התבל ים זועף‬ may fitly serve as an illustration of this, and the following free English translation of it will afford the reader at the same time an insight into the general contents of the whole poem. It runs as follows:—