Siman 97

(17.) Once there was a man who was a great wealthy man, and was sitting in a shop with many kinds of merchandise, as the way of shopkeepers. And robbers came and stole from him his wealth and property, and he became very impoverished. And he went and gathered what remained of the remnant and established himself [a business] and returned and bought merchandise and became a shopkeeper again. And they returned and robbers came and stole even the remaining remnant and his wealth that was left. And he returned and gathered again from the small remnant that remained for him and from the jewelry of his wife, and returned and established himself some business in the shop to sustain his household. And they returned and robbers came and stole even the remaining remnant — until he became very impoverished and his house remained empty of everything. And he went and gathered a very small sum and bought small merchandise, and went to the villages in the manner of paupers who carry bundles with needles and pipes and similar small things. And he was going to the villages in order to give bread to his household. And he was exchanging with the gentiles — needles for fowl and eggs and the like, in the manner of such paupers. Once he was going from the villages, carrying with him a small amount of his merchandise and some kinds of food, and a robber encountered him, riding a horse and carrying two large bundles. And he wanted to rob him and [the man] began to weep and plead with him. And he paid no attention to this and robbed even this small amount he had, and he was left completely empty of everything. And he went weeping greatly, and his soul was very bitter — for it was not enough that he had become so impoverished from such great wealth, but now even his small livelihood was torn from him. Meanwhile he looked and saw that the aforementioned robber had fallen from the horse, and he wanted to get up — and the horse stood upon him and trampled him with his hooves on his head, and the robber fell and was killed. And the robbed man went there and saw that his robber was lying dead on the ground, and he opened the bundles and found much money there. And he took from the money. And then he gave much charity and became again a great wealthy man. And the man told this before several people and he was very joyful while telling it. And he said the story a few times with great joy. And he made a great impression of joy on the listeners, to the extent that everyone was aroused to joy as well.