Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
On the way back to the Persian king the physician who had recommended
the milk cure dreamed a dream. All the organs of his body, his hands,
feet, eyes, mouth, and tongue, were quarrelling with one another, each
claiming the greatest share of credit in procuring the remedy for the
Persian monarch. When the tongue set forth its own contribution to the
cause of the king's service, the other organs rejected its claim as
totally unfounded. The physician did not forget the dream, and when he
appeared before the king, he spoke: "Here is the dog's milk which we
went to fetch for you." The king, enraged, ordered the physician to be
hanged, because he had brought the milk of a bitch instead of the milk
of a lion's dam. During the preliminaries to the execution, all the
limbs and organs of the physician began to tremble, whereupon the
tongue said: "Did I not tell you that you all are of no good? If you
will acknowledge my superiority, I shall even now save you from death."
They all made the admission it demanded, and the physician requested
the executioner to take him to the king. Once in the presence of his
master, he begged him as a special favor to drink of the milk he had
brought. The king granted his wish, recovered from his sickness, and
dismissed the physician in peace. So it came about that all the organs
of the body acknowledge the supremacy of the tongue. (97)
Besides Benaiah, Solomon's two scribes, Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons
of Shisha, deserve mention. They both met their death in a most
peculiar way. Solomon once upon a time noticed a care-worn expression
on the countenance of the Angel of Death. When he asked the reason, he
received the answer, that he had been charged with the task of bringing
the two scribes to the next world. Solomon was desirous of stealing a
march upon the Angel of Death, as well as keeping his secretaries
alive. He ordered the demons to carry Elihoreph and Ahijah to Luz, the
only spot on earth in which the Angel of Death has no power. (98) In a
jiffy, the demons had done his bidding, but the two secretaries expired
at the very moment of reaching the gates of Luz. Next day, the Angel of
Death appeared before Solomon in very good humor, and said to him:
"Thou didst transport those two men to the very spot in which I wanted
them." The fate destined for them was to die at the gates of Luz, and
the Angel of Death had been at a loss how to get them there. (99)
A most interesting incident in Solomon's own family circle is connected
with one of his daughters. She was of extraordinary beauty, and in the
stars he read that she was to marry an extremely poor youth. To prevent
the undesirable union, Solomon had a high tower erected in the sea, and
to this he sent his daughter. Seventy eunuchs were to guard her, and a
huge quantity of food was stored in the tower for her use.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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