The Princess and the Emperor's Order

The royal princess was drawn to the scene. When she saw the handsome Rebbi Yishmael, she told the executioner to wait, ran to her father and asked him to spare Rebbi Yishmael. “What do you see in that Jew?” asked the emperor. “He has the most beautiful face I have ever seen,” the princess answered.

The emperor ordered that Rebbi Yishmael be skinned alive and that the skin of his face be mounted and preserved. As they skinned his face, they reached the place on his head where he used to wear his tefillin, and he gave a loud scream and died.