quarterly circuits. In April, May, and June, i.e.,
Nisan, Iyar, and Sivan, his circuit is between the mountains, in order
to dissolve the snow; in July, August, and September, i.e., Tamuz, Ab,
and Ellul, his circuit is over the habitable parts of the earth, in
order to ripen the fruits; in October, November, and December, i.e.,
Tishri, Marcheshvan, and Kislev, his circuit is over the seas, to
evaporate the waters; in January, February, and March, i.e., Tebeth,
Shebat, and Adar, his circuit is over the deserts, in order to protect
the seed sown from being scorched.

_Psachim_, fol. 94, col. 2.

Four persons are intolerable:--A poor man who is proud, a rich man who
is a liar, an old man who is incontinent, and a warden who behaves
haughtily to a community for whom he has done nothing. To these some add
him who has divorced his wife once or twice and married her again.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

Four things cancel the decrees of Heaven:--Alms, prayer, change of name,
and reformation of conduct. Alms, as it is written (Prov. x. 2), "But
alms (more correctly, righteousness) delivereth from death." Prayer as
it is written (Ps. cvii. 6). "Then they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses." Change of name,
as it is said (Gen. xvii. 15, 16), "As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt
not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name." And after this
change of name it is written, "And I will bless her, and give thee a son
of her." Reformation of conduct, as it is written (Jonah iii. 10), "And
God saw their works," and "God repented of the evil," etc. Some say also
change of residence has the effect of turning back the decree of Heaven
(Gen. xii. 1), "And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy
country;" and then it is said, "I will make of thee a great nation."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 16, col. 2.

Four things cause an eclipse of the sun:--When a chief magistrate dies
and is not mourned over with the due lamentation; when a betrothed
damsel calls for help and no one comes to the rescue; when the people
commit the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah; and when brother murders brother.

_Succah_, fol. 29, col. 1.

Four things cause an eclipse among the luminaries of heaven: The writing
of false documents; the bearing false witness; the breeding of small
cattle, such as sheep and goats, in the land of Israel; and the cutting
down of fruit-trees.

Ibid., fol. 29, col. 1.

There are four th