Once upon a time R. Samuel, the Pious, came to Cologne on the Rhine, begging alms, for he owned very little. He went to the community of Cologne and asked them to help him, as he was in very bad circumstances and had a large family.

The community appointed two scholars to go about and collect money from the rich people in order to help R. Samuel the Pious. In this way they collected seventy florins.

While they were thus engaged, the two rabbis came to the house of a very rich man who was a great miser, and asked him for a contribution. But he grew very angry and, taking out a penny, threw it on the ground and told the two scholars to pick it up and give it to R. Samuel the Pious.

The scholars were very much annoyed with him and left the penny on the ground. Then they went to R. Samuel and gave him the money which they had collected from among the members of the community. They told him also of the Parnas who had thrown the penny on the ground and asked them to pick it up, but that they had declined to do so. Then the pious man said to the two scholars: "My dear brothers, go

and pick up the penny and give it to me; for since the Lord, blessed be He, has decreed that I must unfortunately depend upon the gifts of others, I must not reject anything, whether it be small or large."

The two scholars went to the rich man and told him what the pious man had said. When the Parnas heard it, he was filled with deep regret for having done such a thing,

and went to the pious man and asked him humbly for forgiveness. And at the same time he gave him a large sum of money, as was proper.

The biblical verse says: "To a pious man his food comes from a distant land" (cf. Prov. 31.13).