Page:Jewish Fairy Book (Gerald Friedlander).djvu/71

Rh nail. Whenever he struck the head of the nail with the hammer, the ground outside his street-door began to give way. When a person came to vex the Rabbi and began to knock at the door, the Rabbi fetched his hammer and knocked the head of the nail in his study. The unfortunate man at the street-door felt the ground beneath his feet beginning to give way and he hastened away as quickly as his legs would carry him. The device worked so splendidly that at last the Rabbi was left alone.

One winter's night when the snow was on the ground the Rabbi was alone in his study. Outside his door stood the King with two of his attendants. The King had long determined to take the Rabbi by surprise so as to discover what sort of lamp he used. The King knocked at the door. Rabbi Jechiel paid no heed and went on reading the Zohar, the great book of the Kabbalists. Again the King knocked and this time as loudly as he could.

"Ah!" cried Jechiel, "some of my old customers have come to-night; they know that I have given my pupils a holiday and they think I have nothing better to do than to show them my lamp. Where's my hammer? Here it is"; and he picked it up, and struck the nail on its head. "Now be off, idle busy-bodies!"

Meanwhile the King and his attendants began to sink into the ground. With an effort the King managed once again to knock at the door and to cry aloud