THE CLEVE& MBBI 583
and swear to it as a fact ! What does my lord suppose we are likely to think of such people? We know that they swear falsely and a false oath is of all things the worst."
The Count was touched to the heart by these words, and these two men, being both upright and without guile, believed one the other.
The Count believed the Jew, that is, he believed that the Jew did not know the truth of the matter, because he was poor and untaught, while the Eabbis all the time most certainly used blood at Passover, only they kept it a secret from the people. And he said as much to the Jew, who, in his turn, believed the Count, because he knew him to be an honorable man. And so it was that he began to have his doubts, and when the Count, on different occasions, repeated the same words, the Jew said to himself, that perhaps after all it was partly true, that there must be something in it the Count would never tell him a lie !
And he carried the thought about with him for some time.
The Jew found increasing favor in his master's eyes. The Count lent him money to trade with, and God pros- pered the Jew in everything he undertook. Thanks to the Count, he grew rich.
The Jew had a kind heart, and was much given to good works, as is the way with Jews.
He was very charitable, and succored all the poor in the neighboring town. And he assisted the Eabbis and the pious in all the places round about, and earned
