Book of Delight

The Book of Delight (Sefer sha‘ashu‘im), a humorous and highly entertaining work written in Hebrew rhymed prose interspersed with poems, has been called a protonovel. It is a first-person tale written in the voice of the real author, Joseph Ibn Zabara, a physician living in Barcelona, and dedicated to a real patron, Sheshet ben Benveniste. It tells a fantastical story, however, of a mysterious visitor who takes the narrator on a lengthy journey and reveals himself at the end to be a demon. The narrative also provides a frame for the characters to tell stories—parables, animal fables, and more—and to expound on medical and scientific topics. The first section excerpted here is from the beginning of the story, in which Joseph meets the demon, while the second section is from the end, when the demon reveals himself.