Jewish Parody and Allegory in Medieval Hebrew Poetry in Spain r 221drinking (l. 333). There seems to be no further play among them, however,
which may be a harbinger of future events, as we shall see. The only posi-
tive opinion Masos seems to contribute to this ménagerie is, like Yefefia’s
previous advice to Yemima, his suggestion that Yoshefe should continue
to string together individual words in his prose tale to fashion a truly
beautiful necklace of poetry (ll. 365–66).^47 It would appear that Jacob
ben Elazar is truly as interested in song as in love, in keeping with his
intent of entertaining his readers and restoring the beauty of the Hebrew
language.
The unexpected arrival of messengers from Yoshefe’s father disrupts
the enlarged household as they announce the restoration of the family’s
wealth and authority, the return of craftsmen to their trades, the return of
high society to its former station, and the overthrow of the evildoers, who
had caused Yoshefe to embark on his voyage of self-discovery (ll. 341–56).
Yoshefe decides to return to his native land, much to Masos’s chagrin as
he bewails the sorrow that this parting (perud) will cause, since he and
Yoshefe have formed a love pact (berit ’ahava, l. 376) which parting will
sever. One wonders what kind of relations exist between the two men,
since Masos refers to Yoshefe as dod (ll. 382–84), beloved, rather than
yedid, friend, much like the love poetry written by men for men, their
̔ofer or sevi.^48 Magnanimous Yoshefe invites Masos to join him on his
home journey and promises him that he will give him his young, pure,
chaste sister, Sippor (Birdie), as an ’ama, (attendant?) so that Masos may
“sit and chirp” (tashov ve-tispor, l. 391) with Sippor.^49 Now it is Masos’s
parents’ turn to give him presents for his journey (ll. 394–97) to the Sippor
he loves, sight unseen (l. 394). The four leave Egypt for Hasar Susa, Yo-
shefe’s hometown, where they are joyously greeted. Handsome Masos
takes Sippor as his ’ama, and following a grand feast and the exchange
of gifts, Masos falls in love (now for real!) with Sippor and does not leave
her side for an entire year. Yoshefe, meanwhile, sits with his two young
loves, Yefefia and Yemima, all singing songs, posing puzzles, telling tales,
experiencing events, passing out parcels of clothing and other gifts as be-
fits [Jewish] women, and performing righteous acts of loving-kindness.
No rivalry or jealousy bothers them, as is customary among friends (ke-
mishpat haverim, l. 411), which is a subtle touch of irony, as we shall see.
Needless to say, Jacob ben Elazar is subliminally indoctrinating his read-
ers with Jewish morals and ethics.