8 My neighbors made fun of me and said to each other, “Tobit had to go into hiding once, when the king tried to have him arrested and put to death for burying people like this one. You would think Tobit would be afraid to do the same thing again.”
9 That night after I washed, I went into my courtyard and lay down next to the wall. The night was so hot that I wanted to sleep under the open sky.
10 I didn't know that some sparrows were perched on the wall above me. Their fresh droppings fell right into my eyes, and a film of white spots started covering the clear part of my eyes.I went to doctors and looked for a cure, but the more medicine they smeared on my eyes, the worse the white spots became, until at last I could not see a thing and was completely blind for four years. All my relatives felt sorry for me, and for two of those years, Ahikar gave me money to live on, but then he had to move to Elymais.
11-12 After Ahikar left Nineveh, my wife worked at home. She would weave a piece of cloth, and when it was finished, she would send it to the owners of the weaving business, and they would pay her. Then, on the seventh day of the month of Dystrus, my wife finished a piece of cloth and sent it to the owners. They gave her the regular payment, and they also gave her a young goat, so we could have a feast.
13 When she came back, the goat was going, “baa, baa.” So I yelled at her and said, “Where did you get that goat? You must have stolen it! Take it back to its owner. We shouldn't eat something that is stolen—it just wouldn't be right.”
14 She replied, “That goat was given to me as a gift along with the usual payment for my work!”But I didn't believe her, and my face was red with anger as I told her to return the goat to its owners.She answered, “Tobit, why have you changed so much? You used to be so kind, and, as everyone knows, you always did the right thing!”