On the way back the prince turned to the Jew and said, You surely remember that a while back you came to me as a messenger of an elderly Rabbi who was then in your house.
Yes, I remember that incident quite vividly, replied the Jew.
Therefore, I will now reveal to you what he said to me in the privacy of his room as I still don't understand his intent, said the prince. The Rabbi said, I am going to ask you for a small favor. When the authorities request that you sign off on their decision to kill this Jew, reply that before you do so, you need him to go to the fair to purchase horses. At the same time inform them that when you return you will fulfill their request.
When I received the judgement against you, I realized that this Rabbi has the spirit of his G-d in him, and I was thinking that without a doubt your salvation will come from your being at this fair. Now we are returning, and I promised the judges that I would hand you over to them to confirm your sentence and I will sign it. So tell me what did that Rabbi accomplish through his request of me?
