THE EXEMPLA OF THE RABBIS.

I.

ANCIENT COLLECTIONS OF AGADOTH.

1. The pages of the Talmud and Midrash with theirfathomless depth of thoughts and ideas, are studded withgolden gems of poetry, like unto the sky with its fathom-less mysterious depth studded with the golden lights of thestars. Tales and legends, often of a wondrous nature, areskillfully woven into the legal disquisitions and homileticinterpretations. A discussion which may resemble the plough-ing of the sand on the sea- shore is interrupted by a livelyanecdote or by a pathetic tale. In some places these legen-dary portions cluster together, in others they are onlysparsely strewn, only short references and allusions, but noTreatise of the Talmud is devoid of them, nor are theywanting in any of the ancient expositions of the Bible,known by the name of Midrash.

2. They are of a manifold character, like the flowersblooming in rich and variegated colours in the field. Morethan one person renowned for his piety or his valour ischosen as the central figure round which the love and ad-miration of a nation weaves a cycle of legends. The stead-fastness and heroism of the martyr, the wisdom and keenintellect of the wise, the renunciation by the ascetic of thevanities of this world, are all subjects for the myth- creatingfancy of the people. The arrogance and presumption ofRoman and Eastern potentates, who assumed the positionof gods, claiming worship and adoration is satirised in anallegorical manner. And so we are led through an infinitevariety of subjects by those legends and tales.

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