R. Phinehas the son of Yair went to ransom captives. On his way he came to a river called Ganai. R. Phinehas said: "Ganai, divide your waters in twain and let me pass through."

And the river replied: "You are going to do the will of God and I also am doing the will of God. It is not certain whether you will succeed in ransoming the captives, but it is quite certain that I am performing God's command, for I am sure to reach the sea. Therefore I will not divide."

Then R. Phinehas said: "If you refuse to divide, I will decree that no water should ever, again flow into you."

When the river heard this, it divided, and he passed through dry-shod. When he had crossed the river, there came a man who carried wheat for Passover, which he was taking to the mill to grind. Then R. Phinehas said again to the river: "Divide your water for this man too, for he is also going to perform a divine command for Passover."

Thereupon the river divided again for the man to cross. There went with him also an Arab merchant. He had met R. Phinehas on the way and they traveled together as companions. R. Phinehas said: "Divide also for the sake of the Arab, so that people should not say, 'Two companions traveled together, and the one left the other behind.'

Then the water divided again.

R. Jose said: "What a worthy man was this Phinehas son of Yair! He is even greater than our teacher Moses, for when God divided the sea in his time, He did it for the sake of all Israel and the water divided only once, while in this case there were no more than three people, yet the water divided three times."

Going on his way, R. Phinehas came to an inn. The innkeeper put barley in the crib for the ass, .but the animal refused to eat. Thereupon the innkeeper winnowed the barley once more, for he thought that the ass refused to eat the barley because there was too much chaff, and he poured it again into the crib, but the ass again refused to eat. When the innkeeper saw this, he told Rabbi Phinehas that the ass refused to eat though the barley was quite clean.

Then R. Phinehas said to the innkeeper: "Maybe the barley has not been tithed."

The innkeeper then tithed the barley, and the animal ate it.

R. Phinehas turned to the innkeeper and said to him: "Behold, this poor beast refuses to eat untithed barley, observing her Creator's command, while you give her barley that is not tithed."

When Rabbi heard that R. Phinehas had come, he went out to meet him and said to him: "I pray you, come and take a meal with me."

R. Phinehas replied: "Yes, I will take a meal with you."

The face of Rabbi flushed red for joy because R. Phinehas accepted his invitation.

R. Phinehas then said to Rabbi: "Rabbi, you must think that I have taken an oath not to partake of the food of any Jew. It is true that I do not like to accept an invitation of an Israelite to eat with him, for this reason: Israelites are a holy people and there are some who are eager to invite others to dine with them although they cannot afford it. There are others who can easily afford it, but are not eager to invite people to dine with them. It is written: 'You shall not eat with him who is not glad to see you eat. Some invite people to dine with them, but their heart is not in it' (Prov. 23.6). I know that you can afford it and are hospitable, but I cannot eat with you now, for I must hasten on my way to perform a pious deed and cannot tarry. But on my return I will eat with you."

When he came back he went to the house of Rabbi and wanted to put his ass in Rabbi's stable. But he saw that Rabbi had white mules in his stables, which are dangerous animals. So he said to himself: "How can I take a meal with Rabbi, when the angel of death is hovering over his stable?"

When Rabbi heard that R. Phinehas had come, he went out to meet him and took him into the house and said to him: "I have heard what you said, but let not this worry you, for I will sell the mules."

Then Rabbi Phinehas replied: "The Bible says: 'Thou shalt not put a stumbling

block before the blind' " (Lev. 19.14).

Then Rabbi replied, "Very well, I will let them loose in the field."

R. Phinehas said: "They will do more harm than before, because no one will take care of them."

Then Rabbi said: "I will lame them so that they will not be able to kick."

Then R. Phinehas said: "That would be cruelty to animals, which is forbidden."

Then Rabbi replied: "I will cut off their hoofs, which is not painful." Then R. Phinehas replied: "It is written: 'Thou shalt not destroy' (Deut. 20.19), and to do that would also be a sin."

Then Rabbi asked him to have the meal with him as he had promised on his last visit. Thereupon a miracle happened. The Lord caused a mountain to grow up between Rabbi and Rabbi Phinehas so that they could not meet.

R. Hanina says: "There is no remedy for the bite of a white mule." It is told of R. Phinehas that from the day that he was able to think he never uttered a blessing over a meal that was not his own, for he would not profit from the property of another, nay, he would not even partake of his own father's food.