now.

'No matter,' he said. 'But, credit me, my Prince saw peace or war
decided not once, but many times, by the fall of a coin spun between a
Jew from Bury and a Jewess from Alexandria, in his father's house, when
the Great Candle was lit. Such power had we Jews among the Gentiles. Ah,
my little Prince! Do you wonder that he learned quickly? Why not?' He
muttered to himself and went on:--

'My trade was that of a physician. When I had learned it in Spain I went
to the East to find my Kingdom. Why not? A Jew is as free as a
sparrow--or a dog. He goes where he is hunted. In the East I found
libraries where men dared to think--schools of medicine where they dared
to learn. I was diligent in my business. Therefore I stood before Kings.
I have been a brother to Princes and a companion to beggars, and I have
walked between the living and the dead. There was no profit in it. I did
not find my Kingdom. So, in the tenth year of my travels, when I had
reached the Uttermost Eastern Sea, I returned to my father's house. God
had wonderfully preserved my people. None had been slain, none even
wounded, and only a few scourged. I became once more a son in my
father's house. Again the Great Candle was lit; again the meanly
apparelled ones tapped on our door after dusk; and again I heard them
weigh out peace and war, as they weighed out the gold on the table. But
I was not rich--not very rich. Therefore, when those that had power and
knowledge and wealth talked together, I sat in the shadow. Why not?

'Yet all my wanderings had shown me one sure thing, which is, that a
King without money is like a spear without a head. He cannot do much
harm. I said, therefore, to Elias of Bury, a great one among our people:
"Why do our people lend any more to the Kings that oppress us?"
"Because," said Elias, "if we refuse they stir up their people against
us, and the People are tenfold more cruel than Kings. If thou doubtest,
come with me to Bury in England and live as I live."

'I saw my mother's face across the candle flame, and I said, "I will
come with thee to Bury. Maybe my Kingdom shall be there."

'So I sailed with Elias to the darkness and the cruelty of Bury in
England, where there are no learned men. How can a man be wise if he
hate? At Bury I kept his accounts for Elias, and I saw men kill Jews
there by the tower. No--none laid hands on Elias. He lent money to the
King, and the King's favour was about him. A King will not take the life