Once upon a time the son of Rabban Gamaliel fell ill. So he sent two sages to Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa to pray that his son might recover from his illness.

As soon as Hanina beheld the two men, he quickly ran up to the loft of the house and began praying that the fever might disappear, and as soon as he had finished he came down to them and said to them: "Return home, for he is better now and his fever has left him."

They replied: "Who told you this? Are you a prophet?"

R. Hanina replied: "I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I have it as a tradition from my father's father that if a prayer runs smoothly, then it is a sign that it has been heard; my prayer Just now ran smoothly without any hindrance, therefore I am sure that it has been heard."

They noted down the time when he had told them that the patient was better, and when they returned to Rabban Gamaliel, they told him the exact time when the turn for the better had set in and showed him the note which they had taken.

R. Gamaliel swore by the Lord that this was the very time when the fever had left the boy and he asked for a drink.