'I can enrich thee for thy services, Jew, and thou sayest that it is for
wealth, that it may be poured into the general coffers of thy tribe, that
thou traversest the globe. Name thy sum, and so it be not beyond reason, I
will be bound to pay thee in good Roman coin.'

'This is to be thought of. Doubtless thou wouldst reward me well. But
consider how large this sum must be. I fear me thou wilt shrink from the
payment of it, for a Roman noble loves not money less than a poor Jew. My
trade in Ctesiphon I lose. That must be made up. My faithful dromedary
will be worn out by the long journey: that too must be made good. My plan
will require an attendant slave and camel: then there, are the dangers of
the way--the risk of life in the city of the Great King--and, if it be not
cut off, the expenses of it. These, to Isaac, are not great, but I may be
kept there long.'

'But thou wilt abate somewhat of the sum thou hast determined upon, out of
love to thy kind. Is the pleasure of doing a good deed nothing to thee?'

'Not a jot will I abate from a just sum--not a jot.' And why should I?
And thou art not in earnest to ask the abatement of a feather's weight.
What doth the Jew owe the Roman? What hath the Roman done to the Jew? He
hath laid waste his country with fire and sword. Her towns and villages he
hath levelled with the ground. The holy Jerusalem he hath spoiled and
defiled, and then driven the plough over its ruins. My people are
scattered abroad among all nations--subject every where to persecution and
death. This thou knowest is what the Roman hath done. And what then owe I,
a Jew--a Jew--to the Roman? I bear thee, Piso, no ill will; nay, I love
thee; but wert thou Rome, and this wheaten straw a dagger, it should find
thy heart! Nay, start not; I would not hurt a hair of thy head. But tell
me now if thou agreest to my terms: one gold talent of Jerusalem if I