What torments rack my heart and head!
Would I were dead! would I were dead,
And buried in the ground!

He falls down and writhes as though eaten by worms. Hell opens,
and SATAN and ASTAROTH come forth and drag him down.

VII. JESUS AT PLAY WITH HIS SCHOOLMATES

JESUS.
The shower is over. Let us play,
And make some sparrows out of clay,
Down by the river's side.

JUDAS.
See, how the stream has overflowed
Its banks, and o'er the meadow road
Is spreading far and wide!

They draw water out of the river by channels and form little
pools. JESUS makes twelve sparrows of clay, and the other boys do
the same.

JESUS.
Look! look how prettily I make
These little sparrows by the lake
Bend down their necks and drink!
Now will I make them sing and soar
So far, they shall return no more
Unto this river's brink.

JUDAS.
That canst thou not! They are but clay,
They cannot sing, nor fly away
Above the meadow lands!

JESUS.
Fly, fly! ye sparrows! you are free!
And while you live, remember me,
Who made you with my hands.

Here JESUS shall clap his hands, and the sparrows shall fly away,
chirruping.

JUDAS.
Thou art a sorcerer, I know;
Oft has my mother told me so,
I will not play with thee!

He strikes JESUS in the right side.

JESUS.
Ah, Judas! thou hast smote my side,
And when I shall be crucified,
There shall I pierced be!

Here JOSEPH shall come in and say:

JOSEPH.
Ye wicked boys! why do ye play,
And break the holy Sabbath day?
What, think ye, will your mothers say
To see you in such plight!
In such a sweat and such a heat,
With all that mud upon your feet!
There's not a beggar in the street
Makes such a sorry sight!

VIII. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL

The RABBI BEN ISRAEL, sitting on a high stool, with a long beard,
and a rod in his hand.

RABBI.
I am the Rabbi Ben Israel,
Throughout this village known full well,
And, as my scholars all will tell,
Learned in things divine;
The Cabala and Talmud hoar
Than all the prophets prize I more,
For water is all Bible lore,
But Mishna is strong wine.

My fame extends from West to East,
And always, at the Purim feast,
I am as drunk as any beast
That wallows in his sty;
The wine it so elateth me,
That I no difference can see
Between "Accursed Haman be!"
And "Blessed be Mordecai!"

Come hither, Judas Iscariot;
Say, if thy lesson thou hast got
From the Rabbinical Book or not.
Why howl the dogs at night?

JUD