על צאצאי קין מ״בOn the Posterity of Cain and his Exile 42
א׳
1[139] The man had said “Give me a little water to drink.” She does not put her answer in a form corresponding to his request, and say “I will give thee to drink,” but says “Drink.” And she speaks quite correctly, For her saying “Drink” showed that she was making manifest the Divine abundance which has been poured forth for all to enjoy who are worthy and able to do so. To have said “I will give thee to drink” would have been to profess that she would teach him. And virtue eschews all that smacks of profession.
ב׳
2[140] He goes on to portray with great skill the method followed by the teacher who wants to do her pupils good. “She hastened,” he says, “and let down the pitcher on to her arm.” By the “hastening” her keenness to do a kindness is brought out, a keenness which comes of a disposition from which envy has been utterly expelled. By the “letting down” on to her arm we are shown how the teacher comes down to the learner and attentively studies him as one with whom he is intimately concerned.
ג׳
3[141] For teachers who when they set about giving their lessons keep in view their own great superiority and not the capacity of their pupils, are simpletons, who are not aware how vast is the difference between a lesson and a display. For the man who is giving a display uses to the full the rich yield of the mastery which he possesses, and without let or hindrance brings forward into the open the results of hours spent in labour by himself at home. Such are the works of artists and sculptors. In all this he is trying to gain the praise of the public. The man, on the other hand, who is setting out to teach, is like a good doctor, who with his eyes fixed not on the vastness of his science but on the strength of his patient, applies not all that he has ready for use from the resources of his knowledge—for this is endless—but what the sick man needs, seeking to avoid both defect and excess.