122.

338( 61)[ f. 338 b]. A rich man and his beautiful wife wereboth very bad. There was a court with four walls, withone door leading to Hell. He asked his wife not to approachthat door, but in his absence she did so. A hand appeared,dragged her inside after which the door closed. Husbandsearched for her. In the forest a huge black man told himto send a faithful servant and he would show him his wife.He was led into Hell where he saw her in a golden apart-ment with a golden table and beautiful food. It was explainedto him that everything was burning red hot. No one couldsave her as she had no son to say Kaddish and Baruh Hu,and she had more over committed every sin. She gave theservant her ring, which he brought to the husband whowas deeply moved, repented and was saved.

C.- COD. GASTER 66.-

[ Only a selection of the stories contained in the MS. are here given as most of thegivenothers are parallels to those above.]

339( 1). Learned and pious man left son, Rabbi Isaac,more learned and pious than himself and a Dayyan.The dead man appeared to his son in a dream on theEve of New Year and ordered him to be converted nextday. He was troubled, put on sackcloth and fasted threedays. On Eve of Kippur, the father again appeared, andreproved him for not obeying. The son argued. Fatheragain told him to convert himself the next day( Kippur).He did not sleep and wept all next day. Congregationnoticed it and asked him the reason. After long persuasionhe told them that he had decided to become converted.Congregation wept, as there would be no one left to speakfor them and defend them. They fasted and wept. RabbiIsaac went to the king, and said he would be converted oncondition that he could return to his own religion whenever he chose. The king consented. The king was very old.There was a mighty prince whose three sons strangled theking's only son, who was heir to the throne. The Jews wereaccused of the murder. Rabbi Isaac proved to the kingat the cemetry who the murderers were by making the