And Papus replied:—
"Joy, joy, to thee, that thou art imprisoned for studying God's law; but woe, woe is mine that I am here through vanity."
When Rabbi Akiba was led forth to execution, it was just at the time of the morning service.
"'Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God, the Lord is one,'" he exclaimed in a loud and firm voice.
The torturers tore his flesh with pointed cards, yet still he repeated, "The Lord is one."
"Always did I say," he continued, "that 'with all thy soul,' meant even though life should be demanded of thee, and I wondered whether I should ever be able to so observe it. Now see, to-day, I do so; 'the Lord is one.'"
With these word he died.
Elishah ben Abuyah, a most learned man, became in after-life an apostate. Rabbi Meir had been one of his pupils, and he never failed in the great love which he bore for his teacher.