Once upon a time R. Samuel the Pious went to a mill to grind the Passover wheat for his father R. Kalonymos, and while he was in the mill grinding the wheat, there was a cloudburst and the waters rose so high that the asses could not carry the flour home without getting it wet and unfitting it for the use of Passover. R. Samuel was very much vexed and at first did not know what to do. Then he made use of the mystical name of God and there appeared a huge lion, bigger than a camel. He put the sack of flour on the back of the lion, sat down on the top, and thus rode through the water on the lion's back until he came home to his father's house.

When his father saw him coming home on the lion, he understood that his son must have used the sacred name. So he grew very angry and said to him: "You have committed a grave sin in having created the lion by means of the mystical name, and as a punishment for this great sin you will never have any children."

R. Samuel was very much grieved, for he did not know that he had committed so grave a sin. Two days later he went to his father again and said to him: "Dear father, you say that I have committed a grave sin, I pray you to impose a penance upon me and I will gladly accept it."

Then his father said to him: "Dear son, the penance which I ought to impose upon you would be far too heavy and you would not be able to carry it out."

The son replied: "Dear father, I will do everything that you impose upon me."

The father said: "My dear son, if you desire to receive atonement for the sin which you have committed, you must wander continuously for seven years, and must never stop more than one night in the same place, except on Sabbath and festivals. If you carry out this penance properly, I assure you that your sin will be forgiven, and you will have pious children."

So he took the penance upon himself and wandered for seven years uninterruptedly, spending his time in study as an exile. Some say that he spent nine years as an exile so as to make up for the Sabbaths and festivals.

One day he came to the house of a widow and said to her: "Sell all that you have and buy corn, for there will be great scarcity next year, such as has not been within the memory of man."

The poor woman followed the advice which the pious man gave her and, selling

everything she possessed, she bought corn. When the people in the town saw that the poor widow was selling all her property and buying corn, they asked her why she did it, and she told them that she was doing it on the advice of the pious man who had been staying with her, for he had told her, she said, that next year there would be a great scarcity, such as had not been within the memory of man.

When the people heard these words of the poor widow, they sold all their possessions also and bought corn with the money. But it turned out that the next year was a very prosperous one, such as had not been known in many years, and corn was so cheap that the people lost much money in the corn that they had bought. The pious man grieved very much for having caused the people to lose their money. For he really thought that the year would be one of famine.

So he imposed upon himself two more years of exile as an atonement for his sin. The following year, however, a great famine was in the land and the people suffered hunger. After that year of famine there came a year of plenty.

When he had completed his penance, he returned home to his father and to his wife and begat children. His wife gave birth to twin sons, one of whom was called R. Eliezer and the other R. Abraham, who became great masters of the Law. Then he begat R. Judah the Pious. May the Lord grant us the benefit of his merits.

Amen.