My gentle words and my friendliness gave Yuedel great encouragement. The poor fellow, with whom not one of "them" has as yet spoken kindly! When he saw that I meant it, he began to scratch his head; it seemed as if in that minute he forgave me all my "heresies," and he looked at me kindly, and as if with pity. Then, seeing that I awaited an answer, he gave a twist to his earlock, and said gently and sincerely: "You wish me to tell you the truth? You insist upon it? You will not be offended?" "You know that I never take offence at anything you say. Say anything you like, Yuedel heart, only speak." "Then I will tell you: the town and everyone else is very angry with you on account of your Palestinian earth: you want to do something new, buy earth and plough it and sow--and where? in our land of Israel, in our Holy Land of Israel!" "But why, Yuedel dear, when they thought I was buying Palestinian earth to bestrew me after death, was I looked upon almost like a saint?" "E, that's another thing! That showed that you held Palestine holy, for a land whose soil preserves one against being eaten of worms, like any other honest Jew." "Well, I ask you, Yuedel, what does this mean? When they thought I was buying sand for after my death, I was a holy man, a lover of Palestine, and because I want to buy earth and till it, earth in your Holy Land, our holy earth in the Holy Land, in which our best and greatest counted it a privilege to live, I am a blot on Israel. Tell me, Yuedel, I ask you: _Why_, because one wants to bestrew himself with Palestinian earth after death, is one an orthodox Jew; and when one desires to give oneself wholly to Palestine in life, should one be 'one of them'? Now I ask you--all those Palestinian Jews who came to me with their bags of sand, and were my very good friends, and full of anxiety to preserve my body after death, why have they turned against me on hearing that I wished for a bit of Palestinian earth while I live? Why are they all so interested and such good brothers to the dead, and such bloodthirsty enemies to the living? Why, because I wish to provide for my sad existence, have they noised abroad that I am a missionary, and made up tales against me? Why? I ask you, why, Yuedel, why?" "You ask me? How should I know? I only know that ever since Palestine was Palestine, people have gone there to die--that I know; but all this ploughing, sowing, and planting the earth, I never heard of in my life before."