ho and what the young man is, and the esteem in
which he and his father are held by men--"

"I know well," interrupted Apollodorus, "and my house has never been so
highly honored as in your visit."

"And notwithstanding," continued the Rabbi, "we must return home as we
came; and indeed this will not only suit you best, but us too, and my
brother, whose ambassador I am, for after what I have learnt from you
within this last hour we must in any case withdraw our suit. Do not
interrupt me! Your Ismene scorns to veil her face, and no doubt it is a
very pretty one to look upon--you have trained her mind like that of a
man, and so she seeks to go her own way. That may be all very well for
a Greek woman, but in the house of Ben Akiba the woman must obey her
husband's will, as the ship obeys the helm, and have no will of her own;
her husband's will always coincides with what the law commands, which
you yourself learnt to obey."

"We recognize its excellence," replied Apolloderus, "but even if all the
laws which Moses received on Sinai were binding on all mortals alike,
the various ordinances which were wisely laid down for the regulation of
the social life of our fathers, are not universally applicable for the
children of our day. And least of all can we observe them here, where,
though true to our ancient faith, we live as Greeks among Greeks."

"That I perceive," retorted Gamaliel, "for even the language--that
clothing of our thoughts--the language of our fathers and of the
scriptures, you have abandoned for another, sacrificed to another."

"You and your nephew also speak Greek."

"We do it here, because the heathen, because you and yours, no longer
understand the tongue of Moses and the prophets."

"But wherever the Great Alexander bore his arms Greek is spoken; and
does not the Greek version of the scriptures, translated by the seventy
interpreters under the direct guidance of our God, exactly reproduce the
Hebrew text?"

"And would you exchange the stone engraved by Bryasis that you wear
on your finger, and showed me yesterday with so much pride, for a wax
impression of the gem?"

"The language of Plato is not an inferior thing; it is as noble as the
costliest sapphire."

"But ours came to us from the lips of the Most High. What would you
think of a child that, disdaining the tongue Of its father listened only
to that of its neighbors and made use of an interpreter to be able to
understand its parents' command