No. His eyes saw clearly. A wondrously beautiful naked girl at the top of a palm tree.
He could not believe his eyes, but there was the girl looking down at him, smiling at him so enticingly, intoxicating him with the pearly whiteness of her teeth.
She was so beautiful and entrancing that the sun had forgot its wedding-procession. It had stopped in its path—this shining star—and had enfolded the maiden’s naked body in its rays, colouring it a rosy red and filling its veins with red wine.
Rabbi Akiba, too, stopped in his path, unable to move from the spot, unable to tear himself away from the dazzling vision. His heart palpitated, his body burned, his tongue became dry. He stood dumbfounded, and could not himself hear how he barely managed to utter, “Who are you?”
And the vision upon the tree laughed seductively down to him.
“Come up and I will tell you.”
“What are you doing there?”
“Come up, and you shall see.”
“Are you gathering dates?”
“What need have I of them? I feed myself and feed others with my own sweetness. Do you not wish to taste it?”