Page:Hebrew tales; selected and translated from the writings of the ancient Hebrew sages (1917).djvu/108

104 Israelite was plunged into the deepest sorrow by this unexpected intelligence. He rent his clothes—strewed ashes on his head—and lamented the loss of a parent whom he tenderly loved, and whose memory he still revered. As soon as the first transports of grief were over, and the days allotted for mourning had passed, the young man began seriously to consider the situation in which he was left. Born in affluence, and grown up under the expectation of receiving, after his father's demise, those possessions to which he was so justly entitled, he saw, or imagined he saw, his expectations disappointed and his worldly prospects blighted. In this state of mind, he went to his instructor, a man eminent for his piety and wisdom, acquainted him with the cause of his affliction, made him read the will, and in the bitterness of distress, ventured to express his thoughts—that his father, by making such a strange disposition of his property, showed neither good sense nor affection for his only child. "Say nothing against thy father, young man," spake the pious instructor; "thy father was both a wise man, and an affectionate parent; the most convincing proof of which he gave by this very will." "By this will!" exclaimed the young man,—"by this will!—Surely, my honored master, thou art not in earnest. I can see neither wisdom in