Made a stranger and outcast, as each of my folk, Is there aught that ye know for which I can atone?

Must the woes of my fathers be also my yoke,

As I pass in and out here, scarce noticed, alone?" But the court, in its splendid and festal array, Was at loss for reply, although touched to the core,

And seemingly deaf to his resonant lay,

They saw him bow low and pass out at the door. With a heart that was sad, he strode forth from the

gate

Of the town that he loved, into woodland and

glen,

This minstrel of Judah, elected by fate.

To utter true songs to the children of men.

O Susskind of Trimberg! O Troubadour Jew!

The harp that was David's was held in thy hand! And the words thou hast chanted, tho' broken and

few,

Have sustained us and cheered us in far distant

lands.

Praise for Susskind, his country beloved as his home,

And for neighbors and kinsfolk-all peoples are

one.

The Father who formed us, to all does He come, And His blessing abides when a good deed is

done.

RABBI JOSEPH LEISER

145

THE RABBI'S DAUGHTER

"Canst thou say thy God was honest
To the man he made of clay,
When a rib, from Adam sleeping,
Scripture saith He stole away?"

Rabbi Gamliel would have answered,
But his daughter craved reply:
"Justice!" cried she, "even justice!
Let us to the judgment hie!

"Thieves into our house have broken,
And a pitcher rare and old
They have stolen, yet for silver
Hath been left a cruse of gold!

"Would that such a great misfortune Happened to me every day!"

Said the scorner, but the maiden, "See, the theft is cleared away!"

"Mean I not the rib exactly,

But the way in which 'twas done! Why could not the man have seen it— Gift and miracle in one?”

Then a piece of meat the maiden
Washed and salted in his sight,
Preparing for a feast to which

She the quibbler did invite.

Peace," said he, "I never relish
What before me is prepared."
Saith the maiden, now triumphant,
"Thus the ways of God are cleared!

"That which seeing maketh common,
From our eyes should be concealed;
Her whom Adam most should honor,
To him, perfect, God revealed!"

THE TALMUD

146 GIFTS

"Oh, World-God, give me Wealth!" the Egyptian cried.

His prayer was granted. High as Heaven behold Palace and Pyramid; the brimming tide

Of lavish Nile washed all his land with gold. Armies of slaves toiled ant-wise at his feet; World-circling traffic roared through mart and street;

His priests were gods; his spice-balmed kings, enshrined,

Set death at naught in rock-ribbed charnels deep. Seek Pharaoh's race to-day, and ye shall find Rust and the moth, silence and dusty sleep.

"Oh, World-God, give me Beauty!" cried the Greek.

His prayer was granted. All the earth became Plastic and vocal to his sense; each peak,

Each grove, each stream, quick with Promethean flame,

Peopled the world with imaged grace and light.
The lyre was his, and his the breathing might
Of the immortal marble; his the play

Of diamond-pointed thought and golden tongue. Go seek the sunshine-race; ye find to-day

A broken column and a lute unstrung.

"Oh, World-God, give me Power!" the Roman cried.

His prayer was granted. The vast world was chained

A captive to the chariot of his pride;

The blood of myriad provinces was drained To feed that fierce, insatiable red heart.

Invulnerably bulwarked every part

With serried legions and with close-meshed Code; Within, the burrowing worm had gnawed its home;

A roofless ruin stands where once abode

Th'imperial race of everlasting Rome.

"Oh, Godhead, give me Truth!" the Hebrew cried. His prayer was granted. He became the slave Of the Idea, a pilgrim far and wide,

Cursed, hated, spurned, and scourged with none

to save.

The Pharaohs knew him, and when Greece beheld,
His wisdom wore the hoary crown of Eld.
Beauty he hath forsworn, and Wealth and Power.
Seek him to-day, and find in every land;
No fire consumes him, neither floods devour;
Immortal through the lamp within his hand.

EMMA LAZARUS

147

THE MERCY OF GOD

They have a saying in the East:-
Two angels note the deeds of men,
And one is first, and one is least.
When men do right, one takes his pen
And magnifies the deed to ten.
This angel is at God's right hand,

And holds the other in command.
He says to him when men do wrong,
"The man was weak, temptation strong,-
Write not the record down to-day;
To-morrow he may grieve and pray.”
It may be myth; but this is sooth-
No ruth is lasting as God's ruth;
The strongest is the tenderest;
He who best knows us loves us best.

MATTHEW RICHEY KNIGHT