אמתטריקס

17. The Grain of Madness Once the king said to his beloved, the viceroy: – Since I read the stars, I have seen through astrology that whoever eats of this year's grain will be seized by madness. So, give me counsel, my friend: what shall we eat this year? The viceroy answered and said: – This is my counsel, my lord the king. Give an order to prepare for us enough of last year's grain for our needs, and we will not eat at all of this year's crop. The king spoke again: – But what have you gained, wise man, by your remedy? What good is it if we alone are clear-minded and all the rest of the creatures are mad? Why, everyone will say that we are the mad ones, and not they. You might say: let us prepare last year's grain for others too — we do not have enough. – Then what is your counsel, my lord the king? – asked the viceroy. The king answered and said: – My counsel, my dear friend, is that we have no choice but to eat this year's grain as well and to be mad together with the whole world. Only my wish is that the two of us be distinguished from the rest of the creatures in this: that we will at least know that we are mad, whereas the others do not. The viceroy asked: – Let my lord the king teach me how we shall do this. The king answered and said: – For this I have a counsel. Come, let us engrave on our foreheads a sign of madness. And every time I look at you and you look at me, we will know that we are mad. Translated from the Hebrew sources page "מקורות- פרק ג’/2- פקיחת עיניים- יציאת מצרים" by Roni Ayalon-Hirsch.

Sources – Chapter C/2 – Opening the Eyes – the Exodus from Egypt