The Old Man and the Fig Tree

Hadrian, let his bones rot, was walking up from Tiberias to the Land of Israel when he saw an old man planting saplings. Said Hadrian: Old man, old man, up at sunrise free at sunset—had you toiled in your youth you would be free of toil in your old age. Said the old man: By your life sir, I have toiled sunrise and sunset and what He wants He does…