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 a thousand pounds of silver?—What human sight was ever blessed with the vision of such a mass of treasure?—Not within the walls of York, ransack my house and that of all my tribe, wilt thou find the huge sum of silver that thou speakest of."

"I am reasonable," answered Front-de-Bœuf, "and if silver be scant, I refuse not gold—At the rate of a mark of gold for each six pounds of silver, thou shalt free thy unbelieving carcase from such punishment as thy heart has never even conceived."

"Have mercy on me, noble knight!" said Isaac, "I am old, and poor, and helpless. It were unworthy to triumph over me—It is a poor deed to crush a worm."

"Old thou may'st be," replied the knight; "more shame to their folly who have suffered thee to grow grey in usury and knavery—Feeble thou may'st be, for when had a Jew either heart or hand—But rich it is well known thou art."

"I swear to you, noble knight," said the Jew, "by all which I believe, and by all which we believe in common"—