nging by a cord poured a dim light upon him where
he sat, while the walls remained in shadow. He studied with ardor, with
enthusiasm, only his enthusiasm was not for beholders, it was all
within; he swayed slowly to and fro, and his shadow swayed with him, and
he softly chanted the Gemoreh. By degrees his voice rose, his face
kindled, and his eyes began to glow, one could see that his very soul
was resolving itself into his chanting. The Divine Presence hovered over
him, and he drank in its sweetness. And in the middle of his reading, he
got up and walked about the room, repeating in a trembling whisper,
"Lord of the World! O Lord of the World!"

Then his voice grew as suddenly calm, and he stood still, as though he
had dozed off where he stood, for pure delight. The lamp grew dim, and
still he stood and stood and never moved.

Awe fell on the travellers behind the stove, and they cried out. He
started and approached them, and they had to close their eyes against
the brightness of his face, the light that shone out of his eyes! And he
stood there quite quietly and simply, and asked in a gentle voice why
they had called out. Were they cold?

And he took off his cloak and spread it over them.

Next morning the travellers told all this, and declared that no sooner
had the cloak touched them than they had fallen asleep, and they had
seen and heard nothing more that night. After this, when the whole town
had got wind of it, and they found out who it was that night in the
house-of-study, the people began to believe that he was a Tzaddik, and
they came to him with Petitions, as Chassidim to their Rebbes, asking
him to pray for their health and other wants. But when they brought him
such a petition, he would smile and say: "Believe me, a little boy who
says grace over a piece of bread which his mother has given him, he can
help you more than twenty such as I."

Of course, his words made no impression, except that they brought more
petitions than ever, upon which he said:

"You insist on a man of flesh and blood such as I being your advocate
with God, blessed is He. Hear a parable: To what shall we liken the
thing? To the light of the sun and the light of a small lamp. You can
rejoice in the sunlight as much as you please, and no one can take your
joy from you; the poorest and most humble may revive himself with it, so
long as his eyes can behold it, and even though a man should sit, which
God forbid, in a dungeon with clo