On The Day of the Crucifixion

Ben Tovit était un homme bon et gentil qui détestait toute injustice sauf quand il était sa femme.

Ben Tobit was a good and kind man who hated any injustice but when his wife awoke he said many unpleasant things to her opening his mouth with difficulty and he complained that he was left alone, like a jackal to groan and writhe for pain. His wife met the undeserved reproaches patiently for she knew that they came not from an angry heart and she brought him numerous good remedies: rats litter to be applied to his cheek, some strong liquid in which a scorpion was preserved, and a real chip of the tablets that Moses had broken. He began to feel a little better from the rats litter, but not for long also from the liquid and the stone but the pain returned each time with renewed intensity.

During the moments of rest Ben Tobit consoled himself with the thought of the little donkey and he dreamed of him and when he felt worse he moaned scolded his wife and threatened to dash his head against a rock if the pain should not subside. He kept pacing back and forth on the flat roof of his house from one corner to the other feeling ashamed to come close to the side facing the street for his head was tied around with a kerchief like that of a woman. Several times children came running to him and told him hastily about Jesus of Nazareth. Ben Tobit paused listened to them for a while his face wrinkled but then he stamped his foot angrily and chased them away. He was a kind man and he loved children but now he was angry at them for bothering him with trifles.