Page:Hebrew tales; selected and translated from the writings of the ancient Hebrew sages (1917).djvu/45

Rh On the Mood of Mind that will Render the Consequences of Improper Actions the Atonement for Them

men pass through life without meeting with many and various calamities. Under such circumstances, it behooves us to bear affliction with fortitude, and to resign ourselves to the will of God, who corrects as a kind father does his children, not with a view of inflicting pain, but for the purpose of amendment. This is what the royal moralist inculcated, and which Rabbi Nahum confirmed by his own conduct, under the severest sufferings.

It is related of this pious man that he was blind and lame, unable to use his hands, his whole body was distempered, and his feet were so sore that they were obliged to be immersed in a large basin of water, to keep off the insects. The house he lived in was in so ruinous a state that his disciples, fearing lest it should tumble