104. "His Birthright for a Mess of Pottage"
"His Birthright for a Mess of Pottage"
Pottage is another very common dish in the Bible Lands. The people call it kool. It is much like gruel and is made of various kinds of grain, which have been beaten in a mortar. The red pottage is made of kurakan and other grains, but it is not superior to the other. For such a mess Esau sold his birthright! When a man has sold his fields for an insignificant sum, the people say, the fellow sold his land for pottage." Does a father give his daughter in marriage to a low-caste? "He has given her for pottage." Has a learned man stooped from what was expected of him?"He has fallen into the pottage-pot." Of a man in great poverty, they say, "Alasl he cannot get pottage." And Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.