e could give, and it
would at once be granted him. The officer considered that if he asked
the king for gold and silver and precious stones, these would be given
him in abundance; then he thought that if he had a more exalted station
it would be granted; at last he resolved to ask the king for his
daughter, since with such a bride both riches and honours would also be
his. In like manner did Solomon pray, "Give thy servant an understanding
heart," when the Lord said to him, "What shall I give thee?" (1st Kings,
iii, 5, 9.)

But perhaps the most beautiful and touching of all the Talmudic parables
is the following (Polano's version), in which Israel is likened to a
bride, waiting sadly, yet hopefully, for the coming of her spouse:

_Bride and Bridegroom._

There was once a man who pledged his dearest faith to a maiden beautiful
and true. For a time all passed pleasantly, and the maiden lived in
happiness. But then the man was called from her side, and he left her.
Long she waited, but still he did not return. Friends pitied her, and
rivals mocked her; tauntingly they pointed to her and said: "He has left
thee, and will never come back." The maiden sought her chamber, and read
in secret the letters which her lover had written to her--the letters in
which he promised to be ever faithful, ever true. Weeping, she read
them, but they brought comfort to her heart; she dried her eyes and
doubted not. A joyous day dawned for her: the man she loved returned,
and when he learned that others had doubted, while she had not, he asked
her how she had preserved her faith; and she showed his letters to him,
declaring her eternal trust. [In like manner] Israel, in misery and
captivity, was mocked by the nations; her hopes of redemption were made
a laughing-stock; her sages scoffed at; her holy men derided. Into her
synagogues, into her schools, went Israel. She read the letters which
her God had written, and believed in the holy promises which they
contained. God will in time redeem her; and when he says: "How could you
alone be faithful of all the mocking nations?" she will point to the law
and answer: "Had not thy law been my delight, I should long since have
perished in my affliction."[93]

[93] Psalm cxix, 92.--By the way, it is probably known to
most readers that the twenty-two sections into which
this grand poem is divided are named after the letters
of the Hebrew alphabet; but from the translation g