his bed and
swayed back and forth like a pendulum. His face became wrinkled and
seemed to have shrunk, and a drop of cold perspiration was hanging on
his nose, which had turned pale from his sufferings. Thus, swaying back
and forth and groaning for pain, he met the first rays of the sun, which
was destined to see Golgotha and the three crosses, and grow dim from
horror and sorrow.

Ben-Tovit was a good and kind man, who hated any injustice, but when his
wife awoke he said many unpleasant things to her, opening his mouth with
difficulty, and he complained that he was left alone, like a jackal,
to groan and writhe for pain. His wife met the undeserved reproaches
patiently, for she knew that they came not from an angry heart--and she
brought him numerous good remedies: rats' litter to be applied to his
cheek, some strong liquid in which a scorpion was preserved, and a real
chip of the tablets that Moses had broken. He began to feel a little
better from the rats' litter, but not for long, also from the liquid and
the stone, but the pain returned each time with renewed intensity.

During the moments of rest Ben-Tovit consoled himself with the thought
of the little donkey, and he dreamed of him, and when he felt worse he
moaned, scolded his wife, and threatened to dash his head against a rock
if the pain should not subside. He kept pacing back and forth on the
flat roof of his house from one corner to the other, feeling ashamed to
come close to the side facing the street, for his head was tied around
with a kerchief like that of a woman. Several times children came
running to him and told him hastily about Jesus of Nazareth. Ben-Tovit
paused, listened to them for a while, his face wrinkled, but then he
stamped his foot angrily and chased them away. He was a kind man and
he loved children, but now he was angry at them for bothering him with
trifles.

It was disagreeable to him that a large crowd had gathered in the street
and on the neighbouring roofs, doing nothing and looking curiously at
Ben-Tovit, who had his head tied around with a kerchief like a woman. He
was about to go down, when his wife said to him:

"Look, they are leading robbers there. Perhaps that will divert you."

"Let me alone. Don't you see how I am suffering?" Ben-Tovit answered
angrily.

But there was a vague promise in his wife's words that there might be a
relief for his toothache, so he walked over to the parapet unwillingly.
Bending his head on