The story takes place on the 17th of Tammuz (july): Jews fast sunrise to sundown- in remembrance of when walls of Jerusalem were breached. As he rides along, he notices pastoral idyll: place of peace, harmony---everything is how it should be. He begins to have an internal debate about whether or not to observe the nature- “cheery light of day shouldn’t interfere with Fast day observance. He shows his good side vs bad side in conflict with one another. He also ponders Jews and their deep wisdom, customs and practices, and the quality amongst them which run most everything. He laments over how generally bad off they all are. All of the sudden, his cart crashes and he is laying on the roadside next to his cart. His horse was in a cruel state---looked about ready to drop. He soon realizes he crashed into a Jew who is all tangled up in his prayer shawl and his whip knotted up in his phylactery straps, kicking and flailing about. He begins whipping his mare and he begins whipping his own jade too. They are both larruping each other’s beasts, which are up on their hind legs and in a terrible lather. Then they leave the horses and make for each other instead. It is now that they realize they in fact know each other. They are both book peddlers and old acquaintances. As they converse civilly over business, a couple towheaded bucks from amongst that rowdy crowd were good enough to climb down from their carts to lend a hand. Once they get untangled, they continue on their own way.
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