'
'It is well said; it is well said,' exclaimed the congregation. The
applause was loud.
'Learned Zimri,' continued the African, 'it is written in the Gemara,
that there was a youth in Jerusalem who fell in love with a beautiful
damsel, and she scorned him. And the youth was so stricken with his
passion that he could not speak; but when he beheld her, he looked at
her imploringly, and she laughed. And one day the youth, not knowing
what to do with himself, went out into the desert; and towards night
he returned home, but the gates of the city were shut. And he went down
into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and entered the tomb of Absalom and
slept;[44] and he dreamed a dream; and next morning he came into the
city smiling. And the maiden met him, and she said, "Is that thou; art
thou a laugher?" and he answered, "Behold, yesterday being disconsolate,
I went out of the city into the desert, and I returned home, and
the gates of the city were shut, and I went down into the valley of
Jehoshaphat, and I entered the tomb of Absalom, and I slept, and I
dreamed a dream, and ever since then I have laughed." And the damsel
said, "Tell me thy dream." And he answered and said, "I may not tell my
dream only to my wife, for it regards her honour.
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