Once upon a time there lived a Jewish tax gatherer who was a wicked man. On the day of his death, there died also a very worthy and pious scholar and the whole population of the town came to attend the funeral of the scholar, following the body to the cemetery. When both bodies had been brought to the cemetery and were about to be buried, enemies invaded the grounds, and the people ran away in fear and left the bodies as they were on the burial ground. But there was a life-long pupil of the scholar there who would not forsake the body of his master, but sat down quietly by the coffin.

The next morning the people of the town returned to bury the two bodies. But they mistook the body of the tax gatherer for that of the scholar and proceeded to bury him with great honor.

The young man who was sitting by the bed of the master called out to the people and said: "You are taking the wrong coffin, you are burying the body of the tax gatherer."

But they would not listen. The friends of the tax gatherer on the other hand, took the body of the scholar and buried it in the grave prepared for the tax gatherer. Whereupon the student was much troubled in his mind, and asked himself what

kind of pious deed the tax gatherer had performed in his lifetime that he should have been carried to his grave with so much honor.

That same night the master appeared to him in his dream and said to him: "Dear son, do not grieve on my account, come and I will show you my place in paradise, and I will show you at the same time the tax gatherer sitting in hell, his ear serving as a socket for the hinges of the door as it turns to and fro. I will also explain to you the reason why such shame has been put upon me at my burial. I once heard some one slandering a scholar and sat by quietly without protesting, though I could have done so, therefore have I been put to such shame. I will also tell you the good deed which the tax gatherer had done, which won for him so much honor at his burial. Once upon a time he had prepared a banquet for the governor of the town, but the governor did not come. So the tax gatherer took the food and distributed it among the poor of the town. Therefore God paid him his reward in this world."

Then the pupil asked his master: "How long must the tax gatherer remain in hell and suffer this terrible torture?"

The master replied: "Until the death of Rabbi Simeon ben Shetah, who will take his place."

Then the pupil said: "Why should R. Simeon be so severely punished? He is, such a worthy man."

The master replied: "It is because R. Simeon ben Shetah allows the witches in Ascalon, who are all Jewish, to live and does not have them burned or condemned to death."

The next morning the pupil went to Rabbi Simeon ben Shetah and told him what he had heard from his master in the night.

What did Rabbi Simeon do? He gathered together eighty strong youths on a rainy day and gave to each a big jar in which he had put a white garment, saying to them: "On your life, beware of the witches, for there are eighty of them. When you enter their abode, let everyone of you get hold of a witch and lift her up from the ground; she will then lose her power, otherwise we shall not be able to overcome them."

R. Simeon entered the house of the witches alone, having said to his pupils: "Remain outside until I give you the sign, then come in and do as I have instructed you."

When he came into their house, the witches asked him : "Who are you?"

He replied: "I am a magician and can perform as much witchcraft as you."

They said to him: "What kind of witchcraft can you perform?"

"I will bring in," he said, "eighty strong young men, each one wearing a dry mantle in spite of the rainy weather."

"Let us see it," they said.

He went to the door and quickly made a sign to his youths. They came in, having taken out their mantles from the jars and put them on. And as they went in, each one took one of the witches and lifted her from the ground, so that she could do no harm. Then they carried them out of the house and hanged them all on one tree.

When the relatives of the witches heard what had happened, they grew very angry and conceived a deep hatred against Rabbi Simeon because he had caused their relatives to lose their lives. A few days later two of them brought a capital charge against the son of R. Simeon, and he was condemned to death by stoning.

Thereupon the son of R. Simeon ben Shetah said: "If I have committed the crime of which I stand accused, then may my death not atone for my sins; but if I am innocent, may my present death be an atonement for me and may you who are testifying against me die a violent death."

The witnesses, knowing that they had borne false testimony, withdrew their accusation and explained that the reason why they had brought a false charge was because R. Simeon b. Shetah had put their relatives, the witches, to death. But nevertheless the sentence was not withdrawn and he was stoned to death, for the sentence had been passed and could not be recalled, the rule being that once a witness has given his testimony he cannot withdraw it. Thus the son of R. Simeon ben Shetah was put to death, though innocent, through false testimony.

May the Lord, blessed be He, avenge his blood on them.