But when he held it to the fading light of the window which opened upon the street where the woman called the prophetess had cursed him, the eyes of the child did not close, neither did their pupils diminish.
Then his limbs began to tremble, so that the midwife took the babe out of his arms and laid it again on its mother's bosom.
And Ruth wept over it, saying, "Even if it were a son never could it serve in the synagogue! Never! Never!"At that Israel began to curse and to swear.His enemies had now pushed themselves into the chamber, and they cried, "Peace! Peace!"And old Judah ben Lolo, the elder of the synagogue, grunted, and said, "Is it not written that no one afflicted of God shall minister in His temples?"Israel stared around in silence into the faces about him, first into the face of his wife, and then into the faces of his enemies whom he had bidden.Then he fell to laughing hideously and crying, "What matter? Every monkey is a gazelle to its mother!"But after that he staggered, his knees gave way, he pitched half forward and half aside, like a falling horse, and with a deep groan he fell with his face to the floor.
The midwife and the slave lifted him up and moistened his lips with water;but his enemies turned and left him, muttering among themselves, "The Lord killeth and maketh alive, He bringeth low and lifteth up, and into the pit that the evil man diggeth or another He causeth his foot to slip."