l, indeed, in the eyes of these who only listened to
him, but those who asked him questions perforce held him as nought.
He had a miraculous flock of words, but they were contemptible in
meaning and quite void of reason. When he kindled a fire, he filled
his house with smoke and illumined it not at all. He was a tree
which seemed noble to those who gazed upon its leaves from afar,
but to those who came nearer and examined it more closely was
revealed its barrenness. When, therefore, I had come to this tree
that I might pluck the fruit thereof, I discovered that it was
indeed the fig tree which Our Lord cursed (Matthew xxi, 19; Mark
xi, 13), or that ancient oak to which Lucan likened Pompey, saying:

"... he stands, the shade of a name once mighty,
Like to the towering oak in the midst of the fruitful field."
(Lucan, "Pharsalia," IV, 135.)

It was not long before I made this discovery, and stretched myself
lazily in the shade of that same tree. I went to his lectures less
and less often, a thing which some among his eminent followers took
sorely to heart, because they interpreted it as a mark of contempt
for so illustrious a teacher. Thenceforth they secretly sought to
influence him against me, and by their vile insinuations made me
hated of him. It chanced, moreover, that one day, after the
exposition of certain texts, we scholars were jesting among
ourselves, and one of them, seeking to draw me out, asked me what I
thought of the lectures on the Books of Scripture. I, who had as
yet studied only the sciences, replied that following such lectures
seemed to me most useful in so far as the salvation of the soul was
concerned, but that it appeared quite extraordinary to me that
educated persons should not be able to understand the sacred books
simply by studying them themselves, together with the glosses
thereon, and without the aid of any teacher. Most of those who were
present mocked at me, and asked whether I myself could do as I had
said, or whether I would dare to undertake it. I answered that if
they wished, I was ready to try it. Forthwith they cried out and
jeered all the more. "Well and good," said they; "we agree to the
test. Pick out and give us an exposition of some doubtful passage
in the Scriptures, so that we can put this boast of yours to the
proof." And they all chose that most obscure prophecy of Ezekiel.

I accepted the challenge, and invited them to attend a lecture on
the very