The Jews have been preëminently inhabitants of towns; their very admission into Poland was based on the supposition that they would be instrumental in creating towns and cities, from which the agricultural Slavs kept aloof. Centuries of city life have incapacitated them for any other occupation than commerce and artisanship, and have entirely estranged them from nature. On the other hand, their civil disabilities and oppression have led them to cling more closely to the Bible and their religious lore than was customary among their coreligionists in other lands. It was in these Slavic countries that the Talmud was rediscovered and that it was introduced to the rest of Judaism. All these circumstances developed in them a strong retrospective spirit, so that in the centre of their intellectual horizon stands man in all his varying moods and vicissitudes of fortune. Consequently all their folksongs[38] have more or less of a lyrical tinge, and the consideration of nature is almost entirely absent from them; occasionally a flower, a natural phenomenon, finds a passing mention in them, but these are never used for their own intrinsic interest. Outside of himself, the Jew knows only his duties to God and his duties to man, as flowing from his duties to God. Not feeling himself as a constituent part of a nation, having no other union with his fellow-men except that of religion, he could never rise to the appreciation and formation of an epic poem, although the material for such a one was present in the very popular legend of the one-day king, Saul Wahl.[39] The cradle songs reflect this spirit.[40] While babies of Gentiles hear meaningless nursery rhymes or comical ditties, Jewish infants are early made acquainted with the serious aspects of life. They are told of the ideal of their future occupation, which is commerce, they are spurred on to 'Tōre,' which is learning, mainly religious, and they are reminded that they must remain an 'ehrlicher,' _i.e._ an orthodox, Jew. The following poem is, probably, the most popular song in Judeo-German, as it is sung from Galicia to Siberia, and from the Baltic provinces to Roumania: Hinter Jankeles Wiegele Stēht a klār-weiss Ziegele: Ziegele is' gefāhren handlen Rožinkelach mit Mandlen. Rožinkelach mit Mandlen Sanen die beste S-chōre,-- Jankele wet lernen Tōre, Tōre wet er lernen, Briewelach wet er schreiben, Un' an ehrlicher Jüd' Wet er af tomid verbleiben. Behind Jacob's cradle there stands a clear white goat: the goat has gone a-bartering raisins and almonds. Raisins and almonds are the best wares,--Jacob will study the Law, the Law he will study, letters he will write, and an honest Jew he will forever remain.