Then he who sat in the place of honor on the judges’ bench, turned to the rich man and said: “Do you dare to swear on oath that this poor woman has not already paid you?”
Then the rich man answered: “Lord, I am a rich man. Would I take the trouble to demand my money from this poor widow, if I did not have the right to it? I swear to you that as certain as that no one shall ever walk through Righteousness’ Gate does this woman owe me the sum which I demand.”
When the judges heard this oath they believed him, and doomed the poor widow to leave him her daughters as slaves.
But the little boy sat close by and heard all this. He thought to himself: What a good thing it would be if some one could squeeze through Righteousness’ Gate! That rich man certainly did not speak the truth. It is a great pity about the poor old woman, who will be compelled to send her daughters away to become slaves!
He jumped upon the platform where the two pillars towered into the heights, and looked through the crack.
“Ah, that it were not altogether impossible!” thought he.
He was deeply distressed because of the poor woman. Now he didn’t think at all about the saying that he who could squeeze through Righteousness’ Gate was holy, and without sin. He wanted to get through only for the sake of the poor woman.
He put his shoulder in the groove between the two pillars, as if to make a way.
That instant all the people who stood under the portico, looked over toward Righteousness’ Gate. For it rumbled in the vaults, and it sang in the old pillars, and they glided apart—one to the right, and one to the left—and made a space wide enough for the boy’s slender body to pass between them!
Then there arose the greatest wonder and excitement! At first no one knew what to say. The people stood and stared at the little boy who had worked so great a miracle.