“To laugh would not even occur to us!” I answered. “Be confident of that!”
“I have the feeling that today I shall again dream of my brother. Isn’t that funny?”
“By no means.”
“So, you believe that this is possible?”
“Certainly.”
“Secretively, what do you think?”
“Oh no! All too often, we men make the mistake of treating completely natural things as if they were mystical. In the course of today’s events, the picture of your brother has been shoved into your mind’s consciousness. Until now, you have held all of this tightly inside of you, and it’s become even more deeply embedded. Hence, it’s no wonder, and indeed very understandable, that you would dream about him as you preoccupy yourself with your return home. Whenever we perceive something as wonderful, be certain that in spite of all our experiences, we misguidedly label the obvious things in nature as inconceivably miraculous.”
As we now rolled on towards Rachel’s Tomb and to the Prophet Elijah’s memorial, we soon arrived in Jerusalem—at precisely the moment when nightfall tenderly entered the Holy City. Whatever was intended for me to learn in Hebron, I hadn’t yet grasped it. As we would plainly see tomorrow, this here-to-fore unknown would turn out to be quite different and infinitely better. So it seems that life always takes care of things. If we are somehow denied some external, material wish, or if an unexpected grief gets in the way of the joy we were hoping for, our ignorance does not hesitate to quarrel with destiny. That which we were denied on the outside may now become an inner victory. Although this last truth may not be apparent if we oppose it like some kind of enemy, be quite certain that it still knocks on our door. Usually afterwards, we realize that we have gained life’s less-valued, quite inexpensive gifts that we so very much long for. Concerning the saddle, this was also true. I was sure about my desire for it, but my wish to own it had to rely upon earlier circumstances that were directed otherwise. Looking back on those past events, we are most often too short-sighted and impatient to grasp the meaning of these things.
The next morning, we had barely risen and sat down to drink some coffee, when we heard a knock on our door. Who stepped in? It was Thar. European style, he stretched out his hand and greeted us: “Good morning!” We gave him our thanks and approvingly saw how he was fully dressed in fresh, spotlessly pure white clothes. “You are probably surprised, right?” he said. “The colors are no longer stylish. Our lady here first spoke about heroism that is authentic and doesn’t need to be painted up. Since then, I’ve wanted to be a real hero—no artificial coloring. Secondly, you also heard how my new girlfriend Schamah yelled out ‘Phooey!’ when I wanted to paint my body with bold blue, green, red and yellow colors. What she said to me is worth more than past advice you have offered. I’ve definitely decided, that in the future, I’ll lay aside the superficial paint and only deal with things that don’t need artificial coloring. By the way, I’m only here on account of Schamah. If she and I are permitted to drink coffee, why then are your cups bigger than ours?”
He got what he wanted, so he sat down and continued to talk: “Next, I want you to know that as long as Schamah stays in Jerusalem, I’m withdrawing from all four clubs: the Lions, the Elephants, the Hippos, and the Whales. For this mission, I’ve now dressed in white in order to inform each of the clubs that I may no longer associate with beasts—at least for the time being. Schamah is so polite, and if I’m not nice too, then I’ll feel ashamed of myself. She said ‘Phooey!’ much too readily. Well then, you must be aware of the fact that she’s coming to Jerusalem today.”