Great Throughts Treasury

"He who does not pursue ultimate goals is wasting his days."

"Man must lose himself in prayer and forget his own existence."

"Man's mind is his essence; he is where his thoughts are."

"Melancholy is a symptom of oncoming sickness."

"Everyone can raise himself, but only by his actions."

"Never fear spoiling children by making them too happy. Happiness is the atmosphere in which all good affections grow - the wholesome warmth necessary to make the heart-blood circulate healthily and freely; unhappiness - the chilling pressure which produces here an inflammation, there an excrescence and worst, of all, "the mind's green and yellow sickness" - ill temper."

"Repentance should be attained through joy."

"Where reason ends, faith begins."

"Gauge a country's prosperity by its treatment of the aged."

"I will tell you what I saw. And you tell your children. Someone was lying on the ground and around him people were sitting in a circle. Around this circle was another circle, and around that circle yet another, and so on - many circles. Then around them were sitting yet more people in no particular order. The one sitting in the middle was leaning on his side and moving his lips, and all those around were moving their lips after him. But when I looked again , the one in the middle was not there and all those sitting around were no longer moving their lips. "What is this?" I asked. They told me that he had become chilled and had expired and that he had stopped speaking. After this they all started to run and I ran after them. I saw two palaces - very fine, beautiful buildings. Sitting there were two commanders. Everyone ran to these two commanders and started arguing with them. "Why did you deceive us?" They wanted to kill them. The commanders fled outside. I caught sight of them and could see that they had very good natures . I ran after them and saw a beautiful tent in the distance . From there they cried out to the commanders: "Turn back and seek out all your merits. Take them in your hands and go to the light that hangs there, for there you will accomplish everything you want." The commanders turned back and took their merits - there were bundles of merits there - and ran to the light. I ran after them and saw a gleaming light suspended in the air. The commanders came and threw their merits to the light. From the light, sparks fell into their mouths. Then the lamp - NeR - turned into NahaR , a river. Everyone drank from the river, and creatures formed inside them. As they started to speak, these creatures came forth from them: I saw them running and returning. They were neither men nor any kind of animal - just creatures. After this they decided to go back to their place, but they said, "How can we go back to our place?" Someone said: "We should send to the one who stands there holding a sword that reaches from heaven to earth." "Who should we send?" they asked. They decided to send the creatures, and the creatures went there. I ran after them and I saw the one with the sword. He was terrifying. He was so tall that he reached from heaven to earth. In his hand was a sword reaching from heaven to earth. It had many blades. One of them was very sharp - for killing. Another inflicted poverty, while another sent weakness. There were many other blades to inflict different punishments. They began to plead with the one with the sword: " We have suffered at your hands for so long. Now help us and bring us to our place." "I cannot help you," he replied. They pleaded: "Give us the blade for death, and we will kill them." But he refused . They asked for a different blade, but he did not want to give them a single blade, and they returned. In the meantime they were ordered to kill the commanders, and they cut off their heads. The entire sequence of events then reverted to what it had been before: someone was lying on the ground surrounded by circles of people. then they ran to the commanders. everything as before. But this time the commanders did not throw their merits to the light. Instead, they simply took their merits and went to the light and broke their hearts, begging and entreating before the light. Sparks fell from the light into their mouths. They entreated more, and the light turned into a river, and the creatures were formed. They told me, "These will live!" The first ones deserved to be killed for having thrown their merits to the light without making entreaties like the later ones. I did not know what this meant. They said, "Go to that room, and they will explain it to you ." I went, and there sat an old man. I asked him about the matter. He took his beard in his hand and said to me, "My beard is the explanation of what happened." "I still don't know," I said. "Go to that room," he replied, "and there you will find the explanation." I went there and saw a room infinitely long and wide, entirely filled with writings. Wherever I opened, I saw the explanation of the story."

"The Lost Princess - I was on a journey, and I told a story that made everyone who heard it want to draw closer to God. And this is the story: There was once a king who had six sons and one daughter. This daughter was especially dear to him. He loved her greatly and took the utmost delight in her. One day when he was with her, he became angry with her. Suddenly the word s slipped out of his mouth: "Let the Evil One take you away!" That night she went to her room, but in the morning no-one knew where she was. Her father was very distressed and he went searching for her everywhere. Seeing how deeply troubled the king was, the Prime Minister rose and asked to be given an attendant, a horse and money for expenses, and he went off in search of her. He searched and searched for a very long time, until eventually he found her. This story is about how he searched for her until he found her. For a long, long time he went from one place to another - through wildernesses, fields and forests, searching and searching. While passing through a wilderness, he saw a path leading off to the side. He thought to himself: "I have been traveling in the wilderness for such a long time and I cannot find her. Let me try this path. Perhaps I will reach some habitation." He kept going for a long time. Finally, he saw a castle with many soldiers standing around it. The castle was very beautiful, and the troops were standing around it in fine order. He was afraid that the soldiers would not let him enter. But he thought to himself, "I'll go and try." He left his horse and went to the castle. They let him in without trying to stop him and allowed him to go from room to room. He came to a great hall and looked around. The king was sitting there with his crown. Before him were many soldiers and many singers with instruments. It was very, very beautiful there. Neither the king nor anybody else asked him anything. He saw good food and delicacies. He ate and then went to lie down in a corner to see what would happen. He saw the king give an order to bring the queen. They went to bring her, and there was a great commotion and great happiness. The musicians played and sang as they brought the queen. They placed a chair for her and seated her by the king. It was the princess! The Prime Minister saw her and recognized her. Afterwards the queen glanced and noticed someone lying in the corner. She recognized him. She rose from her throne and went over to him and touched him. "Do you recognize me?" she asked. "Yes," he replied, "I recognize you. You are the king's daughter, who was lost. How did you get here?" "Because my father the king let that word out of his mouth," she replied. " This is the place of evil." He told her that her father was in terrible pain and had been searching for her for many years. "How can I take you out?" he asked. "It will be impossible for you to take me out," she replied, "unless you choose yourself a place and stay there for a whole year. Throughout the entire year you must yearn to take me out. Whenever you have time, you must only yearn, long and wait to free me. And you must also fast. On the very last day of the year you must fast and you must not sleep for the entire twenty-four hours." He did as she said. At the end of the year, on the very last day, he fasted and did not sleep. He rose to go there. On the way he saw a tree with exceptionally beautiful apples. The sight was very tempting, and he stopped to eat. As soon as he ate the apple, he fell into a deep sleep. He slept for a very long time indeed. His attendant tried to rouse him, but he did not wake up. Eventually he awoke, and asked his attendant: "Where in the world am I?" The attendant told the Prime Minister what had happened. "You have been asleep for a very long time - for many years. I have been living off the fruits." The Prime Minister was very pained. He went and found the king ' s daughter , but she complained to him bitterly: "If you had come on that day you could have taken me out from here. And because of one day, you lost! It is true that not to eat is very hard indeed, especially on the last day, because then the evil urge attacks very strongly." The princess told him that she would now make it easier for him. He would not be required not to eat, because that is very hard to endure. "Go back and choose yourself a place and stay there for another year. On the last day you may eat. Only you must not sleep, and you must not drink wine so that you do not sleep, because the main thing is not to sleep!" He did as she said. On the last day he was on his way to her when he saw a flowing spring. It was red in color and had the smell of wine. "Have you seen this spring?" he asked the attendant. "It should be water but it's red in color and smells of wine!" He tasted from the spring and fell immediately into a deep slumber. He slept for many years - seventy years! Many troops passed by followed by their baggage trains and equipment. The attendant hid himself from the soldiers. Afterwards came carriages and a chariot, and there sat the king's daughter. She stopped next to him and stepped down. She sat at his side and recognized him. She tried very hard to arouse him, but he did not stir. She started lamenting over him. "He made such great efforts and tried so hard for so many years to free me, and because of that one day when he could have freed me, he lost his chance." She cried and cried. "It's a terrible pity for him and for me. I have been here for such a long time and I can't get out." Afterwards she took the scarf from off her head and wrote on it with her tears. She laid it by his side, rose, sat in her chariot and left. Afterwards he woke up. He asked the attendant: "Where in the world am I?" The attendant told him all that had happened - how many soldiers had passed by, and then a chariot. A woman had wept over him, crying out what a pity it was, both for him and for her. Meanwhile he noticed the scarf lying at his side. "Where is this from?" he asked. The attendant told him that she had written on it with her tears. He picked it up and raised it towards the sun. He began to see letters. Written there he could read all her complaints and laments. ".And now I am no longer in that castle. Instead you must search for a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls - there you will find me!" The Prime Minster left the attendant and went off alone to search for her. He traveled for many years searching for her. He thought to himself: "Certainly no mountain of gold with a castle of pearls exists in any inhabited area!" (He was familiar with geography.) "Therefore I will go to search in wildernesses!" He went searching for her in wildernesses for many years. Then he saw a huge man. He was so immense that he could not be considered a human being. He was carrying an enormous tree, the like of which would never be found in any inhabited area. "Who are you?" asked the giant. "I'm a man," he replied. The giant was very surprised. "I have been in the wilderness for such a long time and I have never ever seen a man here!" The Prime Minister told him the whole story and that he was searching for a mountain of gold with a castle of pearls. "Such a thing definitely does not exist," said the giant. He discouraged the Prime Minister and told him he had been tricked with complete nonsense. The Prime Minister began to cry and cry. "It definitely must exist somewhere !" However, the giant discouraged him, saying, "You have certainly been told complete nonsense." But the Prime Minister insisted that it definitely did exist. The strange giant said to the Prime Minister: "In my opinion this is nonsense. But since you are so stubborn. I am in charge of all the animals. For your sake, I will call all the animals, since they roam around the whole world. Perhaps one of them know s of this mountain and castle!" He called them all, from the smallest to the largest - all kinds of animals - and he asked them. But they all answered that they had not seen it. "You see!" he told the Prime Minister, "they told you complete nonsense. Listen to me and go back, because you will definitely not find it. There is no such thing in the world." But the Prime Minister persisted, saying, "It certainly must exist!" The giant said to the Prime Minister: " Deeper in the wilderness is my brother. He is in charge of all the birds. Perhaps they know since they fly high in the air. Perhaps they have seen that mountain and castle. Go to him and tell him that I sent you." The Prime Minister searched for him for many years . Again he found an immense giant carrying an enormous tree. He asked him the same questions and the Prime Minster told him the whole story and that his brother had sent him to him. The second giant also discouraged him. "Such a thing definitely does not exist". But the Prime Minister insisted. The second giant said to the Prime Minister: "I am appointed over all the birds. I will call them - perhaps they know." He called all the birds and asked all of them from the smallest to the largest. They answered that they knew nothing of such a mountain and such a castle. The giant said to the Prime Minister, "Can't you see? It quite definitely does not exist anywhere in the world! Listen to me and go back, for it certainly does not exist." But the Prime Minister pressed him and insisted that it definitely must exist somewhere in the world. The second giant said to the Prime Minister: " Deeper in the wilderness is my brother, who is in charge of all the winds. They blow over the entire world - perhaps they know." The Prime Minister searched for many years, and found a man who was also immense and also carrying an enormous tree. He asked him the same questions and the Prime Minister told him the whole story. He too discouraged him, but the Prime Minister persisted. The third giant said to the Prime Minister that for his sake he would call all the winds to come and ask them. He summoned them, and all the winds came. He asked all of them, but none of them knew of any such mountain or castle. "Can't you see?" said the giant to the Prime Minister. "They told you complete nonsense!" The Prime Minister began crying and crying. "I know that it definitely exists," he repeated. In the meantime, he saw that another wind had arrived. The captain of the winds was very angry with this wind. "Why have you come so late? Didn't I decree that all the winds must come? Why did you not come with them?" But the wind replied: "I was delayed because I had to carry a princess to a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls." The Prime Minister was overjoyed. The captain asked the wind, "What is precious there? What is considered valuable and important?" "There," he replied, "everything is very precious." The captain of the winds said to the Prime Minister: "You have been searching for her for such a long time and you've made so many efforts. In case you encounter any obstacle because of money, I am giving you a purse that you just put your hand into and take out money." He commanded the wind to take him there. The storm wind came and carried him there and brought him to the gate. There were soldiers standing there who would not let him enter the city, but he put his hand into the vessel and took out money and bribed them and went into the city. It was a very beautiful city. He went to one of the wealthy citizens and paid for board knowing that he would have to stay there, as it would require great wisdom and intelligence to take her out. How he freed her is not told, but in the end he took her out."

"The Humble King - There was a certain king who had a wise man. The king said to the wise man: "There is one king who signs himself as being 'mighty, great and a man of truth and humility'. As for his being mighty, I know he is mighty because his kingdom is surrounded by the sea and in the sea stands a fleet of warships with cannons, which will not allow anyone to draw near. Inland from the sea is a deep moat that goes around the whole kingdom. To get in, there is only one tiny pathway wide enough for only one man, and there too stand cannons. If someone comes to make war, they fire with the cannons. It is impossible to get near. "However, as for his signing himself 'a man of truth and humility', I don't know. I therefore want you to bring me a portrait of that king." This was because this king had portraits of all the kings, but there was no portrait of that king in any king's collection. The reason was that he was hidden from everybody. He sat behind a veil, remote from the people of his country. The wise man went to the country. He realized that he needed to find out the nature of the country. How do you find out the nature of a country? You find it out through the people's humor. When you want to know something, you should find out how people laugh and joke about it. There are different kinds of jokes. Sometimes a person may really want to hurt another with words, but when the other takes exception to his words, he says, "I only meant it as a joke". "Like one who exerts himself to cast firebrands and arrows. and then says, I am only joking" (Proverbs 26:18-19) . There are other times when a person may say something that is truly intended as a lighthearted joke, yet his friend is hurt by his words. Thus there are various different kinds of jokes and humor. And among all the different kingdoms there is one kingdom that includes all kingdoms. In that kingdom is one city that includes all the cities of the entire kingdom that includes all kingdoms. In that city is one house which includes all the houses of the whole city that includes all the cities of the kingdom that includes all kingdoms. And there is one man who includes everything in that entire house. And there is also someone who produces all the mockery and joking of the kingdom. The wise man took with him a large sum of money and went there and saw how they were mocking and joking in various ways. From the humor, he understood that the entire kingdom was full of lies from beginning to end. He saw the way they would joke about how people defrauded and deceived others in business, and how the injured party would sue in the lower courts where everything was lies and bribery. He would then go to a higher court, where everything was also lies. They used to put on comedies about all these kinds of things. Through their humor the sage understood that the entire kingdom was filled with lies and deceptions and that there was no truth anywhere. He did some business in the kingdom, allowing himself to be defrauded in the transaction. He took the case to court, but the court was all lies and bribes. One day he would give them a bribe but the next day they would not recognize him. He went to a higher court, and there too it was all lies. Eventually he came before the Supreme Court, but they too were full of lies and bribery. Finally he came to the king himself. When he came to the king, he said, "Who are you king over? The whole kingdom is full of lies from beginning to end and there's no truth in it." He began enumerating all the lies in the kingdom. When the king heard his words, he turned his ear to the veil to hear what he was saying. The king was surprised that there was anyone who knew about all the lies in the kingdom. The ministers of state who heard what he was saying were very angry with him. Yet he went on telling about all the lies in the kingdom. "It would be proper to say," declared the wise man, "that the king too is like them - that he loves falsehood just as his kingdom does . But from this I see that you are a man of truth: you are far from them because you cannot stand the falsehood of the country." The wise man began to praise the king greatly. But the king was very humble, and "in the place of His greatness, there is His humility" ( Megilah 31a) . Such is the way of the humble person. The more he is praised and magnified , the smaller and humbler he becomes. Because of the sage's great praise, extolling and magnifying him, the king reached the utmost humility and smallness until he became literally nothing. He could not contain himself, and he threw aside the veil to see who this wise man was that knew and understood all this. His face was revealed, and the sage saw it and brought his portrait back to the king."

"The Fly and the Spider - This is a story about a certain king who endured many hard wars. He was victorious and took many captives. Now do you think that if I tell you everything you will understand? The king made a great banquet and ball every year on the anniversary of his victory. All the ministers of state and all the nobles attended the ball, in accordance with the custom of kings. There were comic performances in which fun was made of all the different peoples, including the Ishmaelites They would mimic the styles and customs of each of the different nations, and presumably they also made fun of the Jews. The king gave an order to bring him the book inscribed with the customs and conduct of all the different nations. Wherever he opened the book, he read about the customs and culture of each nation exactly as the comedians were mimicking them. Presumably the producer of the comedy had also looked in this book. As the king sat reading the book, he noticed a spider creeping over the edge of the pages. On the other side there was a fly. And where does a spider go? To the fly! But as the spider crawled towards the fly, a breeze came and lifted up the page from the book, and the spider couldn't reach the fly. The spider retreated, slyly pretending it was going away and no longer wanted to catch the fly, and the page went down and rested in its place. The spider again started advancing towards the fly. Again the page arose and would not allow it. The spider retreated again. This happened several times. Afterwards the spider again started advancing towards the fly. It crept forward until it succeeded in getting one leg up onto the page. But the page rose again, and now the spider was already partially on it. The page then settled back in its place, leaving the spider beneath it trapped, between two pages. The spider tried to move but was pinned down under the page, until eventually nothing was left of it. As for the fly, I won't tell you what happened to it. The king watched all this in amazement. He realized that this was no trivial matter: he was being shown something. All the noblemen saw the king looking at this in amazement. The king began wondering what it might mean and dozed off over the book. He dreamt that he held a diamond in his hand. As he looked at it, streams of people were coming out of it. He cast the diamond from his hand. Kings customarily have their portrait hanging above them with a crown over the portrait. The men streaming from the diamond were taking the portrait and cutting off its head. They then took the crown and threw it into the mud. The king saw all this in his dream. The men were running towards him to kill him. But a page from the book on which he was lying arose to protect him, and they were unable to harm him and went away. The page then went back to its place. Again they ran towards him to kill him, but the page again lifted itself up. This happened several times. The king greatly longed to see which page was protecting him and which people's customs were inscribed on it. But he was afraid to look. He started screaming, "Woe! Woe!" All the noblemen sitting there heard and wanted to wake him up. However, it is not proper to shake the king. Instead they started banging all around him in order to awaken him, but he did not hear. Meanwhile a tall mountain approached him and asked: "Why are you crying so much? I have been asleep for such a long time and nothing has woken me up - nothing! And now you have woken me up!" "How could I not scream?" replied the king. "They are coming to kill me, but this page is protecting me." "If this page is protecting you," said the mountain, "you have nothing to fear. Many enemies arise against me also, but this page protects me. Come and I will show you." The mountain showed the king tens of thousands of enemies standing all around it, feasting and rejoicing. Instruments were playing and people dancing. All their happiness and joy was due to some or other group among them having worked out a plan to reach the mountain. They would make a huge celebration and hold a banquet with entertainers. So it was with each and every group among them. "But this same page with these same customs that protect you is also protecting me!" On the summit of the mountain was a tablet inscribed with the customs of the nation that were inscribed on the page protecting him, but because the mountain was so high, it was impossible to read the writing. Down below, however, was a tablet on which it was written, "Whoever has all his teeth can ascend the mountain." But God had made a certain herb grow in the place leading up to the mountain which made the teeth of anyone who came there fall out. It made no difference whether he was on foot or riding, or whether he traveled in a carriage drawn by animals: all their teeth would fall out. Lying there were mountainous heaps of teeth like mountains and mountains. Afterwards the same men that had come out of the diamond returned and replaced the portrait as it had been at first. They took the crown, washed it and hung everything in its right place. The king awoke and immediately looked at the page that was protecting him to see which nation's customs were inscribed on it. Written there he saw the customs of Israel . He began looking at the page carefully and he understood the real truth. He reflected, and decided that he himself must certainly become an Israelite. But what could be done to bring everyone to repent and bring them to the truth? The king decided to go traveling in search of a wise man who could explain the real meaning of the dream. He took two men with him and traveled the world not like a king but as an ordinary person. He traveled from city to city and from country to country, asking how he could find a wise man capable of explaining the true meaning of the dream. He was told of such a sage in a certain place. He traveled there, came to the wise man and told him the truth - that he was a king who had won wars - and he related the whole episode at the ball. He asked the wise man to explain his dream. The wise man answered: "I myself am unable to provide the explanation. However, there is a time on a certain day in a certain month when I gather all the incense spices and blend them together. The person breathes in the smoke of this incense and thinks internally what he wants to see and know. Then he will know everything." Having spent so much time on his quest, the king decided to wait until the day and month in question. The wise man did as he said and made him inhale the smoke of the incense. He began to see even what had happened to him before birth, when he was a soul in the higher world. He saw how his soul was borne through all the worlds, with the bearers proclaiming, "Let anyone who has any accusations against this soul come." But there was nobody to make any accusations against it. Meanwhile someone came running and crying. "Master of the World! Hear my prayer! If this one comes into the world, what will there be left for me to do? Why did you create me?" This was the Angel of Death. But the answer came: "This soul certainly must go down into the world. As for you, work out some plan!" And he left. The soul was conducted further through the worlds until it was brought before the Heavenly Court of Law to administer the oath in order that the soul might come down into the world. That man had still not arrived. They sent a messenger for him, and he came bringing an old man bent over like a very old man that he had already known for a long time. He laughed and said, "I already have a plan. The soul may go down into the world." They allowed the soul to go down into the world. The king saw all that had happened to him from beginning to end - how he had became king, the wars he fought, the many captives he had taken, including a beautiful woman who had every kind of charm in the world, though it was not her own but came from the diamond hanging on her... No-one can ascend that mountain except for the wise and the wealthy. I will not tell you any more, but there is very much more in this. Psalm 3: "A song of David when he fled. O God! How many are my enemies, many arise against me. And You, O God, are a shield for me, my Glory, Who raises my head. I call out with my voice to God, and He answers me from His holy mountain" (this is the mountain in the story). "I lay down and slept, and I awoke" (as told of the king in the story). "I shall not fear the tens of thousands of people. For You have smitten all my enemies on the jaw, You have broken the teeth of the wicked" (because all their teeth fell out when they wanted to go up to the mountain). "Upon Your people is Your blessing. Selah!""

"The Rabbi's Only Son - There was once a rabbi who had no children. Eventually he had an only son, and he raised and married him off . The son would sit in a room upstairs studying Torah, as was the way with those who were better off. He would constantly study and pray. But he felt a certain lack within himself, though he didn't know what it was. He felt no real taste in his studies and prayers. He told this to two of his young friends, who advised him to visit a particular Tzaddik. Now this son had performed a certain mitzvah that brought him to the level of the Small Light. The son told his father that he felt no taste in his prayers and studies and that something was missing, though he didn't know what it was. Because of this, he wanted to visit that Tzaddik. "What reason could you have to travel to him ?" asked his father. "Surely you are more learned than he is and you come from a better family. It is not proper for you to go to him. Don't follow this path." He thus prevented him from going, and the son returned to his studies. Yet he still felt the same lack. Again he took counsel with the same friends, who advised him, as before, to go to the Tzaddik. Again he went to his father, but the father dissuaded him and prevented him from going. The same thing happened several times. The son felt he was lacking something, and he greatly yearned to satisfy his need, even though he did not know what it was. He came again to his father and pressed him to the point that the father had no option but to travel with him since he did not want to let his only son go alone . The father said to him: "You see! I will go with you. I will prove to you that there is nothing of any substance in him." They prepared the carriage and set off on their journey. "I am going to make a test," said the father. "If everything goes smoothly, it means this journey has been ordained by Heaven. But if not, it means it is not ordained by Heaven and we shall go back." They journeyed until they came to a small bridge. One of the horses fell , the carriage overturned and they almost drowned. "You see!" said the father to his son. "Things are not going smoothly, and this journey is not ordained by Heaven." They turned back. The son returned to his studies, but again he felt that something was missing without even knowing what it was. He went back to his father and pressed him, and he was forced to go with him a second time. As they set off, the father once again set a test like the first time: "If everything goes smoothly." During the journey, it happened that two of the axles of the wheels of the carriage broke. "You see!" said the father to his son, "Things are not going right. We are not supposed to make this journey. Is it natural for both axles to break? How many times have we traveled in this carriage and nothing like this has ever happened." They turned back. The son went back to his studies and once again felt that something was missing . His friends advised him to travel to the Tzaddik, and he went back to his father and pressed him until he was forced to travel with him again. The son told him that this time they should not set any tests unless there was a very clear, visible sign, as it was quite natural for a horse to fall sometimes or for the axles to break . They journeyed until they came to an inn for the night. A merchant got into conversation with them , as merchants do. They did not reveal their destination, because the rabbi felt ashamed to say he was traveling to that Tzaddik. They discussed a variety of mundane topics, until the conversation came around to the subject of Tzaddikim and where they are to be found. The merchant spoke about a certain Tzaddik in one place and others in various other places, until they started to talk about the Tzaddik to whom they were traveling. "Him?" said the merchant. "He's a lightweight. I am now on my way back from him. I was there when he committed a sin!" The rabbi said to his son: "Do you see what this merchant is saying quite spontaneously without our even asking? Is he not on his way from there?!?" They turned back and went home. The son died. Afterwards he came to his father, the rabbi, in a dream. The father saw him standing there in great anger. "Why are you so angry?" asked the father. The son answered that he should journey to the same Tzaddik that he had wanted to visit. "He will tell you why I am angry!" The father awoke and said it was pure chance. Afterwards he had the same dream again but he said that this too was a meaningless dream. Until it happened a third time and he realized that this was no empty matter, and he journeyed there. On his way he met the same merchant that he had met previously when traveling with his son. He recognized him. "Aren't you the one I saw in that inn?" he asked. "You certainly did see me," replied the merchant. He opened his mouth wide and said to him, "If you wish, I will swallow you up!" "What are you talking about?" asked the rabbi. "Do you remember when you journeyed with your son?" replied the merchant. "First a horse fell on the bridge and you went back. Afterwards the axles broke. After that you encountered me, and I told you he is a lightweight. "Now that I have eliminated your son, you are free to travel. For he was on the level of the Small Light, while that Tzaddik is the Great Light. If they had met together, the Mashiach would have come. Now that I have got rid of him, you may travel." As he was speaking he disappeared, and the rabbi had nobody to talk to. The rabbi journeyed to the Tzaddik crying, "Woe! Woe! Woe for what is lost and cannot be found!" May God quickly bring back our lost ones! Amen! This merchant was the Angel of Death himself. He took on the guise of a merchant and deceived them. Afterwards, when he encountered the rabbi a second time, he himself rebuked him for listening to his advice. For that, as we know, is his way. May God protect us! "

"The Sophisticate and the Simpleton - Once there were two householders living in the same city. They were very wealthy and had large houses. Each had a son, and the two boys learned in the same school. One was very intelligent, while the other was simple. Not that he was foolish, but he had a straightforward, humble way of thinking. These two boys loved each other greatly, despite the fact that one was sophisticated while the other was simple with a very humble mind. As time passed, the two householders went into decline. They sank lower and lower until they lost everything and became poor. All they had left were their houses. The boys were growing, and their two fathers said to them: "We do not have the means to support you. Go and do whatever you choose." The Simpleton went and learned to be a shoe-maker. However the Sophisticate, who was highly intelligent, did not want to engage in such a simple craft. He decided to go out into the world and look around before deciding what to do. He was wandering in the main street when he saw a large carriage drawn by four horses rushing through. "Where are you from?" he cried to the merchants. "From Warsaw ," they replied. "Where are you going?" "To Warsaw !" He asked them if they needed an attendant. They saw that he was intelligent and eager, and agreed to take him with them. He traveled with them and served them very well on the journey. On arrival in Warsaw he thought to himself, since he was very intelligent: "Now that I'm already here in Warsaw , why should I remain tied to those merchants? Maybe there is somewhere better. Let me go and see what I can find." He went to the market and made enquiries about the men who had brought him and whether there might be some better opportunities. He was told that the merchants were decent and that it would be good to stay with them, but it would be hard, because their business took them to very distant places. He went further and noticed the clothing-shop assistants going about with their stylish mannerisms, gait and clothing, their elegant hats and long pointed shoes. Being sharp and intelligent, he found this very appealing, particularly since one could stay in the same place without having to travel. He went to the men who had brought him and thanked them politely, telling them that he preferred not to remain with them. As for their having brought him, he had paid them with his service on the journey. He took a position with a shopkeeper. New shop assistants had to accept low wages at first and do heavy work. Only later did they reach higher levels. The shopkeeper made him work very hard. He had to carry merchandise to wealthy customers the way shop assistants had to carry it, bending their hands under their elbows in order to hang the garment over their arm and shoulder. He found this work very onerous. Sometimes he had to carry heavy loads up steep flights of stairs, and the work was very hard for him. With his intelligent, philosopher's mind, he thought to himself: "What do I need this work for? The ultimate goal is to get married and make a living. But I don't need to think about that yet. There will be time enough for that in years to come. The best thing for me now will be to travel the earth, visit different countries and feast my eyes on the world." He went to the market and saw merchants traveling in a big wagon. "Where are you going?" he asked. "To Lagorna!" they replied. "Will you take me there?" "Yes!" They took him with them, and from there he went to Italy and then on to Spain . Several years passed and he became even cleverer, having been in many countries. He thought to himself: "Now I should focus on the main goal." With his philosophical mind he began to think what to do. He decided it would be a good thing to learn to work with gold. This was a prestigious and attractive craft requiring skill and wisdom, and it was also one that could bring wealth. Being highly intelligent and a philosopher, he did not need many years to learn the craft. In no more than a quarter of a year he acquired the necessary skill and became an outstanding craftsman. He was even more expert than the craftsman who taught him. Afterwards he thought to himself: "Even though I have such a skill in hand, it is still not enough for me. Today this craft is prestigious, but perhaps at some other time another craft will be prestigious." He took a position with a gem-cutter, and because of his deep understanding he learned this craft too in very little time - a quarter of a year. Then he began philosophizing: "Even though I have two crafts in my hands, who knows? Perhaps neither of them will be prestigious. It would be good for me to learn a skill that will always be important. Using his intelligence and philosophy to examine the matter, he decided to study medicine since this is always in demand and prestigious. To learn medicine, one first had to learn Latin and how to write it , as well as science and philosophy. With his quick mind he learned this too in very little time - a quarter of a year - and he became a great doctor and philosopher and an expert in all fields of knowledge. Afterwards the whole world came to be as nothing in his eyes, for because of his great wisdom as a master craftsman, sage and doctor, everyone else in the world seemed to him like nothing. He decided to pursue the main goal - to get married - but he said to himself: "If I marry a woman here, who will know what has become of me? Let me go back home so that they will see what has become of me. I was a small boy, and now I have achieved such greatness!" He journeyed home, but suffered greatly on the way. Because of his great wisdom, he had nobody to talk to. He could not find satisfactory accommodation, and he suffered very greatly. Let us now set aside the story of the Sophisticate for a while and tell the story of the Simpleton. The Simpleton learned how to make shoes, but because he was simple, it took him a long time before he grasped it. Indeed, he was not completely proficient in his craft, but he married and made a living from his work. Being simple, however, and not too proficient in his work, his living was very scanty. He did not even have time to eat since, not being fully proficient, he had to work constantly . As he worked busily, driving the awl through the leather, inserting the thick thread and drawing it through in the way shoemakers do, he would take a bite of bread. He was always happy: he was simply full of joy all the time. He possessed every kind of food, drink and clothing. He would say to his wife: "My wife! Give me to eat!" She would give him a piece of bread and he would eat it. Afterwards he would say: "Give me beans and gravy." She would cut him another slice of bread and he would eat it, praising the food. "This gravy is so beautiful! It is so good!" He would ask her to give him meat and other good foods. For every kind of food that he requested, she would give him a piece of bread. He would take the most exquisite delight in it, highly praising the food - "So tasty! So good!" - as if he was actually eating that very food. And the truth is that when he ate the bread, he actually did taste each kind of food that he wanted, all because of his great simplicity and joy. Likewise he would say to his wife: "Give me liquor!" She would give him water, and he would praise it highly. "What beautiful liquor this is! Give me honey mead!" She would give him water, and he would praise the mead. "Give me wine!" She would give him water, and he would enjoy it and praise it as if he was actually drinking the drink he had requested. As for their clothes, he and his wife possessed one single thick sheepskin coat which they had to share. When he needed to wear an overcoat to go to the market, he would say, "My wife, give me the overcoat!" and she would give it to him. When he needed to wear a fine fur coat to make a social visit, he would say, "My wife, give me the fur coat!" She would give him the sheepskin and he would take great delight in it, praising it lavishly: "What a beautiful fur coat this is!" When he needed a caftan to go to the synagogue, he would say to his wife, "Give me the caftan!" She would give him the sheepskin and he would praise it saying, "What a fine, beautiful caftan this is!" Similarly, when he needed to wear a silk coat, she would give him the sheepskin. He would praise it and take the utmost delight in it: "What a lovely, beautiful silk coat!" He was simply filled with joy and delight at all times. When he finished making a shoe, it would all too often turn out triangular as he was not fully proficient in his craft. But he would take the shoe in his hand and praise it greatly. He would take enormous delight in it, saying: "My wife, how beautiful and wonderful this shoe is. How sweet this shoe is. This shoe is pure honey and sugar!" "If so," she would ask, "why do the other shoemakers take three gold coins for a pair of shoes while you only receive one and a half?" "What do I care?" he would answer. "That is their work and this is my work! Besides , why do we need to speak about others? Let us work out how much clear profit I make on this shoe. The leather costs such and such; the glue, the thread , the filling cost such and such. In the end I make a profit of ten groschen! Why should I mind when I make such a profit." He was simply filled with joy and delight at all times. Most people considered him ridiculous and found him the perfect target for their scorn and derision, because he seemed like a madman. People would approach him and start a conversation for the sole purpose of ridiculing him. The Simpleton would say, "As long as you don't mock!" If they spoke without mocking, he would listen to what they had to say and engage in conversation. He never tried to probe people's intentions too deeply, for this itself is a form of mockery. He was a simple person. If he saw that their intention was to mock, he would say, "So what if you are cleverer than me? Surely you will then be nothing but a fool. Am I so important that it is a great thing to be cleverer than me? If you are cleverer than me, you are a fool!" All these were the ways of the Simpleton. Now let us return to the main story. One day there was a huge commotion, for the Sophisticate was on his way home with great pomp and deep wisdom. The Simpleton also ran to meet him with tremendous joy. "Quick!" he called to his wife. "Give me the silk coat - I must go to meet my dear friend!" She gave him the sheepskin and he ran to meet him. The Sophisticate was traveling in a horse-drawn carriage in magnificent style, and the Simpleton came to meet him full of joy, lovingly asking him how he was. "My dear brother! How are you? Praise be to God for bringing you and granting me the privilege of seeing you!" In the eyes of the Sophisticate, the entire world was as nothing - all the more so a man like this, who seemed like a madman. Still, because of their great boyhood love, he was friendly to him and journeyed with him into the city. Now the two householders, the fathers of these two sons, had died during the time the Sophisticate had been traveling from country to country, but their two houses remained. The Simpleton, who had stayed at home, entered his father's house and inherited it. However, because the Sophisticate had been away, there had been no-one to take care of his father's house, which was in complete ruins. Nothing was left of it and he had nowhere to go when he arrived. He went to an inn, but he suffered there because the inn was not to his taste. Now the Simpleton found a new occupation. He would run from his house to the Sophisticate, filled with love and joy. He could see how much he was suffering at the inn. The Simpleton said to the Sophisticate: "My brother! Come to my house and stay with me! I will put everything I have into one corner and the whole house will be at your disposal." The Sophisticate liked the idea, and moved into the Simpleton's house and stayed with him. The Sophisticate was constantly full of pain and suffering. He had a reputation for being an outstanding sage, a master craftsman and a doctor. A certain nobleman came and ordered a gold ring. The Sophisticate made a very wonderful ring engraved with extraordinary designs including an amazing tree. But when the nobleman came, he did not like the ring at all. The Sophisticate suffered terribly, because he knew that in Spain such a ring with a tree like this would be considered quite outstanding. Another time a great nobleman arrived bringing a very expensive jewel from a far-off land. He also had another precious stone engraved with a certain design, and instructed him to engrave the same design on the jewel he had brought. The Sophisticate engraved exactly the same design on the jewel except that he made one change that nobody besides himself could possibly notice. The nobleman came and took the stone and was delighted, but the Sophisticate suffered terrible pain because of his mistake. "I have attained such a level of wisdom - how could I accidentally make a mistake?" He also suffered in his medical practice. When he visited a patient, he would prescribe a medicine which he knew for certain would definitely cure the patient if he had any chance of survival, because it was an exceptional remedy. But if the patient afterwards died, people would say it was because of the medicine, and he suffered greatly because of this. Conversely he would sometimes treat a patient and the patient would be cured, but people said it was mere chance. Thus the Sophisticate was constantly full of misery. It was the same when he needed a garment. He would summon the tailor and go to great lengths to explain to him how to make the garment exactly as he wanted in accordance with his deeper understanding. The tailor did exactly as the Sophisticate instructed him, making the garment just as he wanted it, with the exception of one lapel, where he went slightly wrong and failed to follow the instructions exactly. The Sophisticate suffered terrible pain as a result. He knew that even though the garment was considered beautiful here, this was only because the local people had no understanding of tailoring. "If I was in Spain with this lapel, I would be the laughing stock of all!" Thus it was that he was constantly full of suffering. Each time the Simpleton would come running to the Sophisticate full of joy, only to find him miserable and wracked with pain. "Why should someone as wise and wealthy as you are endure constant suffering?" asked the Simpleton. "Look at me - I am constantly full of joy!" However in the eyes of the Sophisticate, the Simpleton was ridiculous and seemed like a madman. "If most people ridicule me," said the Simpleton, "surely they are the fools. For if they are wiser than me, on the contrary - they are fools. This applies all the more to a wise man like you. What will it make you if you are wiser than me? If only." concluded the Simpleton, ".if only you could reach my level!" "It is quite possible," replied the Sophisticate, "that I could come to your level - if Heaven forbid my intelligence was taken from me or if I became ill, in which case I might go mad. For what are you if not a madman? But for you to come to my level would be quite impossible. There is no way that you could become wise like me." But the Simpleton replied: "For God, everything is possible. It might be that I could reach your level in the wink of an eye!" The Sophisticate simply laughed at him. In the wider world these two friends were known as the Sophisticate and the Simpleton. Although the world contains many sophisticated and many simple people, nevertheless the traits of sophistication and simplicity were particularly evident in the case of these two. They were both from the same place and had learned together. One had become exceptionally wise and sophisticated while the other was exceptionally simple and straightforward. In the Population Registry, where everyone is inscribed with his family name, the one was registered as "The Sophisticate" and the other as "The Simpleton". Once the king paid a visit to the Population Registry and found these two individuals registered respectively as "The Sophisticate" and "The Simpleton". The king had a great desire to see them. He thought to himself: "If I suddenly send for them to appear before me, they will be very frightened. The Sophisticate will be tongue-tied and unable to express any of his arguments, while the Simpleton might go out of his mind through fear." The king decided to send a sophisticated messenger to the Sophisticate and a simple messenger to the Simpleton. The problem was how to find a simple person in the capital city, where people are mostly very sophisticated. Only the officer over the treasuries is chosen specifically for his simplicity and honesty, since nobody wants a sophisticate in charge of the treasuries. His very sophistication and intelligence could lead him to waste all the resources. For this reason a simple, honest person is chosen as the officer in charge of the treasuries. The king summoned a sophisticated individual together with the simpleton who was in charge of the treasuries and he sent them to the Sophisticate and the Simpleton. The king gave letters to each of the two messengers together with a letter to the governor of the local province under whose jurisdiction the two lived. In his letter to the provincial governor, the king gave instructions to send the letters to the Sophisticate and the Simpleton under the governor's name, in order that they should not panic. He was to write to them that there was no urgency and the king was not specifically ordering them to come. It was up to them to do as they wished. If they so desired, they were to come - but the king wished to see them. The two messengers, one sophisticated and the other simple, traveled to the local province and gave the letter to the governor . The governor enquired about the Sophisticate and the Simpleton. He was informed that the Sophisticate was exceptionally wise and very wealthy, while the Simpleton was extremely simple and straightforward, having only one sheepskin to serve for every kind of dress. The governor realized that it would certainly not be proper to bring him before the king wearing the sheepskin, so he had proper clothes made for him which he placed in the carriage that was to collect the Simpleton. He gave the messengers the letters and they traveled there and handed them the letters. The sophisticated messenger delivered his letter to the Sophisticate, while the simple messenger gave the Simpleton his. On receiving the letter, the Simpleton immediately said: "But I don't know what's written in it - read it to me!" "I'll tell you what it says," replied the messenger. "The king wants you to come to him." "As long as you're not joking," said the Simpleton. "Certainly not," said the messenger. "It's true! No joking." The Simpleton was immediately filled with joy and ran to tell his wife. "My wife, the king has sent for me!" "Why?" she asked. "For what purpose?" But the Simpleton had no time to answer her and rushed away happily to set off with the messenger. He climbed into the carriage and sat down. When he discovered the clothes, he was even happier. In the meantime information about misdemeanors on the part of the governor reached the king, who removed him. The king came to the conclusion that it would be best to have a simple, honest person as governor since such a person would run the province truthfully, knowing nothing of sophistication and deceit. The king decided to appoint the Simpleton as governor, and issued a decree to that effect. In any case the Simpleton had to travel via the provincial capital. They were to wait for him at the gates of the city. On his arrival they were to stop him immediately and inaugurate him as governor. They waited at the gates and as soon as the Simpleton arrived, they stopped him and told him that he had been appointed governor. "You're not joking?" he asked. "Certainly not - no joking!" they replied. The Simpleton immediately took up the position of governor with all force and strength. And now that his fortune was on the rise - and good fortune makes a person wise - he attained greater understanding, even though he did not make use of his wisdom at all, conducting himself with his usual simple honesty . He governed the province sincerely and honestly, truthfully and fairly, without a trace of corruption. To run a province, there is no need for great intelligence and sophistication but only fairness, simplicity and sincerity. When two people appear ed before him in a law case, he would declare, "You are guilty and you are innocent," in simple honest truth without craftiness or deceit. He conducted himself truthfully and honestly in everything. The people of the province adored him, and he had advisers who truly loved him. Out of love, one of them gave him some advice: "You will quite definitely be called to come before the king. He has already summoned you, and in any case the governor is obliged to appear before the king. Although you are very honest and run the province without any trace of corruption, the way of the king is to steer the conversation to deep ideas and foreign languages. Out of propriety and politeness you ought to be able to answer him. It would be a good idea for me to teach you some philosophical ideas and foreign languages." The Simpleton saw that this was a good suggestion, and said, "Why should I mind if I learn some deep ideas and languages?" He immediately recalled that his friend the Sophisticate had told him it would be quite impossible for him ever to reach his level - yet now he had already attained his wisdom. Even so, despite his already having attained a grasp of sophisticated wisdom, he made no use of sophisticated ideas at all. He conducted himself in all things with his usual honest simplicity. Afterwards the king summoned the Simpleton-Governor. He traveled to the king, who discussed with him the government of the province. The Simpleton made a very good impression on the king, who saw that he governed with great justice and truth and without any corruption or deceit. The king then began discussing deep ideas and foreign languages. The Simpleton gave the appropriate answers, which particularly impressed the king, who said, "I see that he is so very wise, yet even so he governs with such honest simplicity." This found very great favor in the eyes of the king, who appointed the Simpleton as Minister-in-Chief over all his other ministers. The king designated a special place for his residence, giving instructions to build him a fitting palace of great beauty and splendor. He gave him a written certificate attesting to his appointment as Minister-in-Chief over all the other ministers. And so it was: they built him a residence in the very place the king had designated, and he became very great and powerful. As for the Sophisticate, when the king's letter arrived, he said to the sophisticated messenger who brought it: "Wait! Stay here tonight and we will give the matter careful consideration." That evening he made him a great feast, during which the Sophisticate applied his wisdom and philosophy with the utmost sophistication. "What is this?" he asked. "The king has sent for me ? For a lowly creature like me??? What am I that the king should send for me? The king is so great and powerful. I am lowly and despicable compared with such a great and awesome king. It makes no sense that such a king should send for a lowly creature like me. If I say it is because of my wisdom, what am I compared to the king? Does the king not have wise men? Moreover, the king himself must certainly be very wise. Why would the king send for me?" The Sophisticate was very perplexed. He said to the king's sophisticated messenger: "Mark my words. In my opinion it is quite logical and obvious that there really is no king in the world at all. Everyone is mistaken about this nonsense, because they think there is a king. Consider: how is it possible that all the people in the world would subject themselves to one man to be their king? Without any doubt, there is no king over the world at all." "But did I not bring you a letter from the king?" replied the sophisticated messenger. "Did you yourself actually receive the letter from the hand of the king himself?" asked the Sophisticate. "No," replied the messenger, "Someone else gave me the letter in the king's name." "You see!" cried the Sophisticate. "What I'm saying is right: there is no king at all." He questioned him further: "You yourself come from the capital city - you grew up there and you've lived there all your life. Tell me: have you ever seen the king in your whole life?" "No," replied the messenger - because the truth is that not everyone gets to see the king, who appears only very rarely. "You see!" cried the Sophisticate. "You see! What I am saying is perfectly correct. There is definitely no king at all. Even you have never seen the king." "If so," asked the sophisticated messenger, "who runs the country?" "I will explain that to you quite clearly," replied the Sophisticate, "because I am the right person to ask as I have traveled in many countries. I was in Italy , where they have seventy advisory ministers, each of whom governs the country for a set period of time. This way everyone in the land has a turn at running the country, one after the other." His words began to penetrate the ears of the sophisticated messenger until they both agreed and declared that "There is certainly no king over the world at all!" "Wait until morning," cried the Sophisticate. "I will give you proof after proof that there is no king in the world at all." The Sophisticate rose early the next morning and woke up his friend the sophisticated messenger, saying: "Come outside with me. I will prove to you clearly that the entire world is in error. The truth is that there is no king at all and they are all greatly mistaken." They went to the market and saw a soldier. They grabbed him and asked him: "Who m do you serve?" "The king," he replied. "Have you ever seen the king in your life?" "No." "You see!" said the Sophisticate. "Is there any greater folly?" Next they approached an army officer and entered into a conversation with him. "Who m do you serve?" they asked. "The king," he replied. "Have you ever seen the king?" "No." "You can see it with your own eyes," cried the Sophisticate. "It is perfectly clear that they are all mistaken and there is no king in the world at all." They both agreed that there was no king at all. "Come!" cried the Sophisticate. "Let us travel the world and I will give you further proof that the whole world is greatly mistaken." They went off and traveled the world. Wherever they went, they found everyone to be in error. They started using the idea of the king as an example. Wherever they found people to be mistaken about anything, they cited the idea of the king as an example. "This misconception is as true as the idea that there is a king!" They continued traveling until they had used up everything they had. First they sold one horse and then another, until they had sold them all and were forced to go on foot. They were constantly questioning everyone and finding them to be in error. They went about on foot, impoverished, disrespectable beggars to whom no- one paid any attention. They went around until they came to the city where the Minister - the Simpleton - lived. In the same town lived a true miracle worker, who was very highly respected as he performed extraordinary wonders. He was even known and respected by the leading ministers. When these two sophisticates arrived in the town, they wandered around until they came to the house of the miracle worker. They saw numerous carriages waiting there, as many as forty or fifty, with sick people. The Sophisticate inferred that it must be the house of a doctor. He wanted to enter and make his acquaintance, as he himself was a great doctor. "Who lives here?" he asked. "The miracle worker," they replied. The Sophisticate burst out laughing and said to his friend, "This is a most exceptional falsehood and error. This is even more foolish than the mistake about the king. My friend, let me explain what a lie this is and how greatly mistaken the world is about such deceit." Meanwhile they became hungry. They found that they still had three or four coins, so they went to a cook shop where one could get food for as little as three or four coins. They ordered, and the food was brought to them. As they ate, they chatted and joked about the lie and error about the miracle worker. The owner of the cook shop heard what they were saying and became very angry, because the miracle worker was highly respected there. "Finish your food," he cried, "and get out of here." Afterwards the miracle worker's son arrived. They continued joking about the miracle worker in front of his son. The owner of the cook shop scolded them for joking about the miracle worker in front of his son. He gave them a good beating and threw them out of his house. They were extremely angry and wanted to sue the man who beat them. They decided to go to the owner of their lodgings, where they had left their bundles of belongings, to ask him how to start legal proceedings. They told him that the owner of the cook shop had given them a severe beating. When he asked them why, they told him that they had spoken against the miracle worker. "It is certainly not right to beat people," replied the owner of the lodgings. "But you did not do the right thing at all in speaking against the miracle worker. He is very highly respected here." They saw that the owner of the lodgings was a nothing and that he too was in error. From there they went to the town clerk, who was a gentile. They told him the story of how they had been beaten. "Why?" he asked. They answered that they had spoken against the miracle worker. The town clerk also gave them a severe beating and threw them out of his house. They went from one officer to the next, higher and higher, until they came to the Minister-in-Chief. Troops were standing guard in front of his house. The minister was informed that a man needed to see him and he gave orders for him to enter. As soon as the Sophisticate entered, the Minister recognized him as his friend the Sophisticate. However, the Sophisticate did not recognize the Simpleton now that he had attained such greatness. The Minister immediately said to him: "See where my simplicity has brought me - to such greatness. And where has your wisdom brought you?" "As to your being my friend the Simpleton," replied the Sophisticate, "let us talk about that later. But now I demand justice, because they beat me." "Why?" asked the Minister. "Because I spoke out against the miracle worker," replied the Sophisticate, "because it's a lie and a big deception". "So you still hold by your sophisticated ideas?" said the Simpleton-Minister. "You see! You said that you could easily attain my level but that I could not attain your level. Yet I have already reached your level of wisdom, whereas you have still not reached my level. I see that it is harder for you to attain my simple honesty!" Even so, since he knew him from before when he was at the height of his greatness, the Minister gave orders to give him clothes and invited him to eat with him. As they ate they started talking, and the Sophisticate began proving his opinion that there is no king at all. The Minister rebuked him. "Haven't I myself seen the king?" The Sophisticate answered him with a laugh. "Do you really know that it was the king? Did you recognize him? Did you know for sure that his father and grandfather were kings? How do you know that this was the king? People told you this was the king - they deceived you with a lie." The Simpleton was very angry over the Sophisticate's denial of the king's existence. In the meantime someone came and said: "The Devil has sent for you." The Simpleton was extremely shaken. He ran in great trepidation to his wife to tell her who had sent for him. She advised him to send for the miracle worker. He did so, and the miracle worker came and gave him amulets and other protection, telling him that he now had no reason to fear. The Simpleton had great faith in this. The Simpleton carried on sitting with Sophisticate, who asked him: "What made you so frightened?" "It was because of the one that sent for us." The Sophisticate laughed at him. "Do you really believe there is such a thing as the Devil?" "If not, then who sent for us?" "It must be my brother!" replied the Sophisticate. "He wants to see me and he played this trick to send for me." "If so," asked the Simpleton, "how did he get through all the guards?" "He must have bribed them, and they are all lying, saying they never saw him at all." Meanwhile someone else came and said the same thing: "The Devil has sent for you." The Simpleton was now unshaken. He was not afraid at all because of the protection given by the miracle worker. "Now what do you say?" he asked the Sophisticate. "I must inform you," replied the Sophisticate, "that I have a brother who is angry with me. He is playing this trick in order to frighten me." The Sophisticate stood up and said to the messenger who came for them: "What does he look like - the one who sent for us? What kind of face does he have? What kind of hair.?" The messenger described him. "See!" cried the Sophisticate. "That is exactly what my brother looks like." "Will you go with them," asked the Simpleton. "Yes!" replied the Sophisticate. "Just give me some soldiers to go with me so that they don't hurt me." The Minister provided him with an escort of soldiers, and the Sophisticate and his friend, the sophisticated messenger, went off with the man who had summoned them. Afterwards the soldiers returned. "Where are those sophisticates?" asked the Minister. The soldiers replied that they had disappeared - they had no idea how. For the Devil had kidnapped these two sophisticates and brought them to the muddy bog. The Devil sat on a throne in the bog and threw the sophisticates into the mud. The mud was thick and sticky like clay. As the two sophisticates were tortured, they screamed out: "You wicked villains! Why are you torturing us? Does such a thing as the Devil really exist? You are wicked villains, torturing us for nothing!" These sophisticates still did not believe that such a thing as the Devil really exists. They thought that evil men were torturing them for no reason. The two sophisticates lay there in the thick mud trying to understand what was happening. "They are nothing but wild ruffians we quarreled with once, and now they are torturing us so much!" They suffered terrible tortures for many years. Once the Simpleton-Minister was passing by the miracle worker's house and he remembered his friend the Sophisticate. He came before the miracle worker and bowed, as noblemen do. He asked him if it would be possible for him to see the Sophisticate and if there was a way to release him. "Do you remember the Sophisticate that the Devil summoned and took away?" he asked. "I have not seen him ever since." "Yes," replied the miracle worker. The Minister asked him to show him where he was and to release him. The miracle worker replied: "I can certainly show you where he is and take him out, but no- one must go except me and you." They went together and with the miracle worker' s help they came to the place. There they were, lying in the thick mud and quicksand. When the Sophisticate saw the Minister, he screamed out: "My brother! See how these wicked villains are beating and torturing me so terribly over nothing!" The Minister rebuked him. "You still cling to your sophisticated ideas and you don't believe in anything. According to you, these are human beings. Now see! Isn't this the miracle worker that you denied? Yet he, and only he, has the power to release you. He will show you the truth." The Minister asked the miracle worker to take them out and show them that this was the Devil and his cohorts, and not human beings. The miracle worker released them , and they were left standing on dry land. There was no mud there at all. The destroying angels turned into mere dust. The Sophisticate saw it all, and he was forced to admit to the truth, that there is a king."

"The Exchanged Children - This is a story about a certain king who had a maid in his palace who attend ed the queen. Obviously a mere cook would not have been allowed in to the king, but this maid was an attendant of low rank. The queen gave birth and this maid also gave birth at the same time. Then the midwife went and switched the babies around - just to see what would happen and how it would turn out. She took the king's son and put him beside the maid, and she placed the maid's son beside the queen. As time went on these children began to grow. The "king's son" (the one who grew up with the king because they thought he was the king's son) was helped to rise from level to level, becoming ever greater until he was a most important personage. The "maid's son" (who was really the king's son, but he grew up with the maid) was raised in the servant's house. Nevertheless, the two boys learned together in the same school. The king's true son, who was known as the "maid's son", was naturally drawn to royal behavior even though he grew up in the servant's house. Conversely, the maid's true son, who was called "the king's son", was naturally drawn to a different kind of behavior unlike that of royalty. But having grown up in the king's palace, he was forced to conduct himself royally because that was how he was raised. Now the midwife - since women can be light-headed - told someone the secret of how she had switched the children. "Every friend has a friend," and the secret passed in the usual way from one person to another until everyone was whispering about how the king's son had been exchanged. It was impossible for anyone to talk about it openly in case the king found out. It was quite impossible to let the king find out. What would he be able to do? There was no solution. It was impossible to give credence to a mere rumor - it might be false. In any case, how could they switch the two sons back into their proper positions? They therefore could not reveal the matter to the king. Yet people continued talking about it among themselves. One day somebody revealed the secret to the "king's son" (who was in reality the maid's son), telling him that people were saying he had been exchanged. "But you cannot investigate this," said the man who told him the secret. "It would be beneath your dignity. You therefore cannot go into the matter at all. I am only telling you this in case there is a conspiracy against you one day that might gain strength because of this rumor. People will say they want to take the king's son as king - the one they say is the king's true son. You will have to think about how to deal with him and see how to remove him." Wherever this story speaks about the "king's son", it refers to the one who grew up with the king and was called the "king's son" though in fact he was the maid's true son. Conversely, the one that grew up as the "maid's son" was really the king's true son. The "king's son" began making trouble for the servant who was regarded as the "father" of the other son although in fact he was his own true father. The "king's son" fired every kind of trouble in his direction, one after the other, in order to force him to flee together with his son. As long as the king was alive, his "son" did not have much power yet was still able to cause him troubles. Eventually the king became old and died, and the "king's son", who was the maid's true son, took over the kingdom. He then caused even more trouble for the servant who was regarded as the "father" of the other son. He sent trouble after trouble - but craftily, so that people would not understand that he was the one causing the trouble, since this would not look good in the eyes of the people. He therefore hid what he was doing but caused him constant troubles. The servant realized that the king was causing him troubles because of the rumors about the exchange. The servant explained the whole story to his "son" (who was in reality the king's true son) . He told him that he g reatly pitied him. "However you look at it, if you are my son, I certainly have pity on you. And if you are the king's true son, you deserve even greater pity, because he wants to remove you completely, heaven forbid. For this reason you have no option but to move from here." He felt very bad about this. However the king was constantly shooting his evil arrows one after the other, and the other son decided to move away. His "father" gave him a sum of money and he left. He felt very bad indeed about having been driven from his own country for nothing. "Why do I deserve to be banished?" he asked himself. "If I am the king's son I certainly don't deserve it. And even if I am not the king's son, I also don't deserve to have to flee for no reason. What sin did I commit?" He felt very bad about it. He started drinking and visiting the brothel. He wanted to spend all his days getting drunk and following his heart's desires after having been banished for nothing. Meanwhile the king took up the reins of power with great force. Whenever he heard that people were whispering and talking about the exchange, he took vengeance and punished them very severely, ruling with power and strength. One day the king went on a hunting expedition with his ministers. They came to a beautiful place with a flowing river. They stayed there to rest and stroll around. The king lay down to rest, and began thinking about how he had banished the other son for nothing. Whichever way you looked at it, if he was really the king's son, wasn't it enough that he had been exchanged? Why should he be banished too? And if he was not the king's true son, he did not deserve to have been banished - for what had he done wrong? The king was thinking about this and regretting his sin and the great wrong he had committed. But he had no idea what he could do about it. It was a subject he could not discuss or seek advice about from anyone. He became very worried and anxious and told his ministers to turn back as he had some issues on his mind and saw no purpose in strolling around any more. They went home, and once the king was back in his palace much business awaited him. He became preoccupied with his affairs and forgot about the matter. Meanwhile the banished son who was the king's true son continued as before and wasted his money. Once he went out alone for a stroll. He lay down to rest and began thinking about what had happened to him. "What has God done to me?" he wondered. "If I really am the king's son, it is certainly not fair to me. And if I am not the king's son I also don't deserve to be a fugitive and an exile." Then he thought: "On the other hand, if it is true that God could really do such a thing and exchange the king's son and make him endure all this, is what I have done right? Was it proper for me to have behaved the way I have?" He began to feel very sorry and regretted the bad things he had done. Afterwards he returned home and went back to his drinking. But having started to feel regret, he was constantly disturbed by thoughts of regret and repentance. Once he lay down to rest. He dreamed that in a certain place there was to be a fair on a certain date. He was to go there and accept the very first paid work he was offered, even if it was beneath his dignity. When he woke up, the dream was engraved in his mind. Sometimes dreams pass straight out of the mind, but this dream and its message were strongly fixed in his mind. Even so, it was very hard for him to carry it out, and he turned to drink even more. He had the same dream again several times, and it greatly disturbed him. Once they were saying to him in the dream: "If you want to have pity on yourself: do it !" and he was forced to fulfill the dream. He went and gave his remaining money to his landlord, leaving his fine clothing behind in his lodgings. All he took for himself was a simple merchant's robe, and he made his way to the place of the fair. Early next morning he went to the fair, where he met a merchant who said to him, "Do you want a job?" "Yes," he replied. "I need someone to drive animals," said the merchant. "Do you want me to hire you ?" He needed no time to think about it because of the dream. He answered immediately: "Yes." The merchant hired him at once and immediately started giving him work to do, ordering him about the way a master orders his servants. He began wondering what he had done. Menial work like this certainly did not befit him. He was a gentle person but now he would have to drive animals and be forced to go on foot side by side with the animals. But it was too late for regrets. The merchant was ordering him about like a master. "How am I supposed to go on my own with the animals?" he asked the merchant. "I also have other cattle drivers for my animals," he replied. "Go with them." The merchant gave him some animals to drive, and he took them outside the city. Gathered there were the other cattle drivers who were going to take the animals, and they went together. He drove his animals while the merchant rode at the side on a horse. The merchant rode his horse cruelly and showed extra cruelty to him. He was extremely afraid of the merchant, seeing the great cruelty he displayed towards him. He was afraid he would give him one blow with his stick and kill him instantly as he was so gentle and tender. He went along with the animals and the merchant at their side. They came to a certain place and took the sack containing the bread for the drivers. The merchant gave them to eat, and he was also given some of this bread. Afterwards they passed a very thick forest where the trees were very close together. As they went, two of the animals entrusted to the king's true son, who had become the merchant's driver, strayed. The merchant shouted at him and he chased after them to try to catch them, but they ran away even further and he went chasing after them. The forest was so thick that as soon as he went in he could not see his companions and they could not see him. He chased after the animals, which ran further away. He chased them until he came into the thick depths of the forest. "Either way I will die," he thought. "If I go back without the animals I will die at the hands of the merchant." So great was his fear of the merchant that he was convinced he would kill him if he came back without the animals. "But if I stay here, I will also get killed by the wild animals in the forest. Why should I go back to the merchant? How can I go back to him without the animals?" He was very frightened of him. He carried on chasing the animals, but they kept running further away. In the meantime night fell. Never before had it happened to him that he would have to spend the night alone deep in such a thick forest. He heard the cries and moans of the wild animals. He decided to climb up a tree and spend the night there. All he could hear were the cries and roars of the wild animals. In the morning he looked down and saw his animals standing nearby. He climbed down from the tree and went to catch them but they ran off. The further he chased them, the further they fled, until they found some grass and stood grazing. He tried to catch them but they fled. Every time he went after them, they ran away until he came into the thickest depths of the forest. Here there were animals that have no fear of men at all, being so remote from human civilization. Once again night fell. He heard the cries and roars of the animals and became very afraid. He noticed a very great tree standing there, and saw that a man was lying there. He was afraid, but it was some consolation that he had found a man there. Each asked the other: "Who are you?" "A man - who are you?" "A man." The man lying by the tree asked him, "How did you come to be here?" He did not want to tell him what had happened, so he simply said, "Because of the animals. I was driving animals, and two animals strayed in here, and that's why I came here." He asked the man he found by the tree, "How did you come to be here?" "I came here because of my horse. I was riding on the horse and I stopped to rest and the horse went off and strayed into the forest. I was chasing after it trying to catch it, and the horse ran further away until I came here." They decided to join up and keep together, and agreed that even when they returned to civilization they would remain together. They spent the night there and heard the terrible howling, moaning and roaring of the animals. Towards morning he heard loud laughter ringing through the whole forest. The sound of the laughter was spreading through the entire forest. The laughter was so loud that the tree was shaking and swaying with the sound. He was very shocked and frightened, but the man he had found by the tree said, "This no longer frightens me at all as I've already slept here the last few nights. This laughter is heard every night just before dawn, until all the trees tremble and shake. Nevertheless, the king's true son was very shaken. He said to his friend: "Evidently this is the place of the demons, because no such laughter is ever heard in settled areas. Who has ever heard the sound of such laughter over the entire area?" Day broke soon afterwards . They looked down and saw this one's animals and the other one's horse standing there. They climbed down from the tree and started chasing after their respective animals. The cattle ran further and further away, and he chased after them, while the other pursued his horse, which ran away until the two men were far apart and lost their way. Meanwhile he found a sack of bread. This was priceless there in the wilds. He took the sack on his shoulder and went after his cattle. Suddenly he encountered a man. At first he was worried, but at least it was some comfort that he had found a man there. "How did you get here?" asked the man. "And how did you get here?" he asked. "Me? My fathers and fathers' fathers grew up here. But what about you ? How did you come to be here? For no human beings from civilized areas ever come here." He found this answer very disturbing because he understood that this was not a human being at all since he had told him that his fathers' fathers had grown up there and that nobody from inhabited areas ever came there. Nevertheless he did not harm him in any way but treated him in a friendly way. The man of the forest said to the king's true son, "What are you doing here?" He replied that he was chasing after the animals. "Stop chasing after your sins," he said, "These are not animals at all. It is only your sins that are leading you on this way. Enough! You have already had what you deserve - you have already received your punishment. Stop chasing after them. Come with me and you will attain what befits you." He accompanied him but was afraid to talk to him or ask any questions, because someone like this might open up his mouth and swallow him. Meanwhile he found his friend who had gone chasing after his horse. The moment he saw him, he made signs as if to say, "Know that this is not a human being at all. Have nothing at all to do with him, because this is not a human being at all!" He then went over and whispered in his ear that this was not a human being. The man with the horse looked and saw the sack of bread on his shoulder, and he started begging him. "My brother, I haven't eaten for days - give me bread!" "Here in the wilderness nothing will help you," replied the king's true son, "My life comes first and I need the bread for myself." The man with the horse started begging and pleading with him. "I'll give you whatever I have." But in the wilderness bread is worth more than any gift or bribe. "What will you give me?" replied the man with the cattle, who was the king's true son. "What can you give me in exchange for bread in the wilderness?" "I will give you my very self!" said the man with the horse. "I will sell myself to you for bread." The man with the cattle considered the matter. "To buy a man, it's worth giving him some bread." He bought him as his eternal slave. The man with the horse swore a solemn oath to him that he would be his servant for ever, even when they returned to civilization. In exchange he would give him bread. They would eat from the sack together until the bread was finished. They went together after the man of the forest. Having been bought as his slave, the man with the horse followed the man with the cattle as they went after the man of the forest. As a result things became a little easier for the king's true son, because if he had to lift anything or needed something done for him he would order his slave to do it. They went together after the man of the forest until they came to a place full of snakes and scorpions. He was very afraid. Out of fear he asked the man of the forest, "How will we get across here?" "Do you think that is so hard?" asked the man of the forest. "How are you going to enter my house?" He showed them his house, which was standing in the air. "How will you get inside my house?" They went with the man of the forest, who carried them safely across and brought them inside his house. He gave them to eat and drink, and left. The true son of the king - the one with the cattle - was now making use of his slave for all his needs. The slave was very unhappy over having sold himself as a slave because of the short time he was in need of bread. Now they had food. Because of one brief period , would he have to remain a slave forever? He sighed and groaned. "How have I come so low as to be a slave?" The true son of the king, who was now his master, asked him: "What was your earlier greatness that you now sigh over having come to such a level?" The other man began to tell him that he had been a king, but people spread rumors that he had been exchanged. For this man with the horse was none other than the king of whom we spoke earlier, who was really the son of the maid. He told him how he had banished the other son, but later it entered his mind that he had not done right and he began to regret it. He was constantly beset by regrets over his evil crime against his friend. Once he dreamed that his remedy would be to throw off the kingship and go wherever his eyes would take him. This was how his sin would be rectified. However he did not want to do such a thing. Yet he was constantly disturbed by these dreams telling him to do it. He threw off the kingship and went away, until eventually he came here. And now he would have to be a slave!" The king's true son listened to all this in silence. "I'll think it over," he said to himself. "I'll see how to deal with him." That night the man of the forest came and gave them to eat and drink and they spent the night there. Towards morning they heard the same sound of terribly loud laughter that made all the trees quake and tremble. The slave persuaded his master, the king's true son, to ask the man of the forest what this was. "What is this sound of great laughter just before morning?" "This laughter," replied the man of the forest, "is when the day laughs at the night. Because the night asks the day, 'Why do I not have a name when you arrive?' Then the day laughs very loudly , and day breaks - and that is the sound of this laughter." He found this very amazing - for it really is an amazing idea that the day laughs at the night. In the morning the man of the forest left again, while they remained there eating and drinking. That night he came back, and they ate and drank and lay down to sleep. During the night they heard the cries of the animals, all roaring and moaning in strange voices. All the animals and birds were crying. The lion roared, the lioness growled in a different voice, the birds chirped and chattered. All of them sang and cried in different voices. At first the two men were very shaken by all this. They were so afraid that they paid no attention to the actual sounds. Later they listened carefully, and heard that it was a most amazing, awesome song. Hearing this song was the ultimate delight, making all other delights in the world pale into insignificance . They agreed that they should stay here since they would have food and drink and could enjoy this most amazing delight. The slave persuaded his master, the king's true son, to ask the man of the forest what it was, and he did so. "This," replied the man of the forest, "is because the sun made a garment for the moon. All the animals of the forest said that the moon greatly benefits them since their main time of dominion is at night. Sometimes they need to enter inhabited areas, but they are unable to do so during the day. Since their main time of dominion is at night, the moon does them a great favor by shining to them. They therefore agreed to create a new melody in honor of the moon, and this is the melody you hear." Now they listened to the melody even more carefully and they could hear that it was a most wonderful and profoundly pleasing melody. "Do you consider this to be such a novelty?" asked the man of the forest. "I possess an instrument which I received from my fathers, which they inherited from their fathers' fathers. This instrument is made of special leaves and colors, and as soon as you place it on any animal, beast or bird, it immediately starts to sing this melody." Afterwards the same laughter rang through the forest, and day broke . The man of the forest left, and the king's true son went in search of this instrument. He searched the whole room but did not find it, and he was afraid to go any further. The king's true son, the master, and his slave, the maid's true son, were afraid to ask the man of the forest to take them to civilization. But afterwards he told them he would take them back to civilization. He brought them to a human habitation and took the instrument and gave it to the king's true son. "I am giving you this instrument as a gift," said the man of the forest. "As for this one," he continued, indicating his slave, the maid's true son who had become king because of the exchange: ".as for him, you will know how to deal with him." "Where should we go?" asked the king's true son. He told them to look for a country called "The Foolish Country with the Wise King". They asked him in which direction they should go to start asking how to find this country. The man of the forest pointed with his finger and said to the king's true son: "Go to that country. There you will attain your greatness." They left and went on their way. They had a strong desire to find some animal on which to test the instrument to see if it would make it sing. As yet they had not seen any kind of animal, but later they approached a settlement and found an animal. They placed the instrument on the animal, which began singing the same melody. They continued their journey until they reached the Foolish Country with the Wise King. The country had a wall around it and the only way to enter was through one gate. They had to go around for many miles before they came to the gate to enter the country. When they arrived, they were not allowed to enter. The king of the country had died and his son had become king. The old king had left a will saying, "Until now they called this 'The Foolish Country with the Wise King'. But now they should call it the opposite: 'The Wise Land with a Foolish King'. Whoever succeeds in changing the name back to the ' Foolish Land with the Wise King' should be the king." Only someone who would undertake to achieve this was allowed to enter the country. That was why they did not want to admit him. They said to him, "Are you able to undertake this task and restore the country to its original name?" It seemed quite impossible for anyone to undertake such a task, and they could not enter. The slave tried to persuade his master to return home, but he was unwilling to go back as the man of the forest had told him he should go to this country and there he would achieve greatness. In the meantime another man arrived on horseback, but he was refused entry for the same reason. The king's true son noticed the man's horse standing there, and took the instrument and placed it on the horse, which started singing the most amazing melody. The owner of the horse pleaded with him to sell him the instrument, but he was unwilling to do so. "What could you give me in exchange for such an amazing instrument?" he asked. "What will you be able to do with this instrument?" asked the owner of the horse. "The most you will be able to do will be to play it in some musical performance and earn a little money. I know something far superior to your instrument: I possess knowledge that I received from my fathers' fathers through which it is possible to understand one thing from another. For example, if someone makes a casual remark, this tradition enables one to deduce something else from his remark. Until now I have never revealed this knowledge to anyone in the world. But if you will give me this instrument, I will teach you this tradition." The king's true son realized that it would indeed be truly wonderful to be able to understand one thing from another. He gave the instrument to the owner of the horse, who taught him how to understand one thing from another. Now that the king's true son knew how to understand one thing from another, he went to the gate into the country. He deduced that it must be possible to restore the country to its original name, because he already had the power to understand one thing from another. He understood that it was possible to do it even though he did not yet know how. He decided to tell them to let him enter and he would undertake the task of restoring the country to its original name. What did he have to lose? He told the men who were barring entry to all except one who would undertake this task that they should let him in. They admitted him and informed the ministers that there was a man who wanted to undertake to restore the country to its original name. They brought him to the ministers of state, who said: "You must understand that we too are far from being foolish, heaven forbid. However, the old king was such an outstanding sage that compared to him, we are considered foolish. That is why the country used to be called the Foolish Country with the Wise King. Afterwards the king died and his son became king. He too is wise, but compared to us he is not wise at all. Therefore the country is now called the opposite: 'The Wise Country with the Foolish King'. "The old king left a will stating that if someone can be found who is so wise that he can restore the kingdom to its original name, he should be made king. The old king instructed his son to give up the kingship in favor of such a man. Whoever is so outstandingly wise that everyone else is foolish compared to him will be the king. For he will be able to restore the kingdom to its original name, 'The Foolish Kingdom with the Wise King,' as they will all be foolish compared to him. You should therefore understand the mission on which you are embarking." The ministers of state told the king's true son all this. "The test to see if you are sufficiently wise," they continued, "is as follows. The old king left an amazing garden. All kinds of instruments made of different metals grow there. Some are of silver and some of gold. The garden is most awesome and amazing, but it is impossible to enter it. As soon as anyone goes inside, he immediately starts being chased. They chase him and he screams, but he has no idea what is going on and does not see who is chasing him. This way they pursue him until they drive him out of the garden and force him to flee. Let us see if you are sufficiently wise to be able to enter this garden." "Do they beat the person who enters?" he asked. "The main thing , " they replied, "is that they chase him. He has no idea at all who or what is chasing him, and he flees in terrible panic." This was what people who had entered the garden had told them. The king's true son approached the garden and saw that it had a wall around it. However, the gate was open and there were no guards, since obviously such a garden did not need to be guarded. As he looked around he saw a statue of a man standing beside the garden. Above the statue was a tablet stating that this man had been king hundreds of years earlier and that peace had reigned in his time. Prior to this king there had been wars, as there were after him, but in the days of this king there was peace. He pondered the matter. Having acquired the ability to understand one thing from another, he understood that everything depended on this man. On entering the garden, as soon as one began to be pursued, there was no need to flee at all. One had only to stand by the side of this man to be saved. Moreover, if they were to take this man and stand him inside this garden, everyone would then be able to enter peaceably into the garden. The king's true son could understand all this because of his ability to deduce one thing from another . He entered the garden, and as soon as they began chasing him, he immediately went to stand by this man who stood outside next to the garden. This way he was able to leave in peace without being harmed at all. Other people who had entered the garden had fled in terrible panic as soon as they were chased. They were hurt and injured because of their very panic. But by going to stand by this man he left in peace and tranquility. The ministers watched, amazed that he had left safely . The king's true son then gave instructions to take this man and place him inside the garden. They did so, and then all the ministers were able to enter the garden and leave safely without coming to any harm. "Even so," said the ministers, "despite the fact that we have seen you perform such a feat, it would not be proper to make you king because of only one feat. We will give you one more test. "There is a throne that came from the old king. The throne is very high. By its side stand all kinds of animals and birds carved out of wood. In front of the throne stands a bed. By the bed stands a table, and on the table stands a lamp. Extending from the throne in all directions are well-trodden, walled pathways. But no-one has the least understanding of the connection between the throne and these pathways. "After a certain distance along these pathways, by the side of one of them stands a golden lion. If any man approaches that lion, it opens its mouth and devours him. The path then continues beyond where this lion stands. After a certain distance along the second pathway that extends from the throne in a different direction, there stands another kind of beast - a leopard made of a different metal, which it is also impossible to approach. Afterwards the path extends further. The same applies to all the other paths. They spread through the entire country, but nobody understands the purpose of the throne or the objects standing by it or these paths. Your test will be if you can understand the purpose of this throne." They showed him the throne and he saw that it was very high indeed. He went up to the throne and examined it. He realized that this throne was made of the same wood as the instrument which the man of the forest had given him. He noticed that a certain rose was missing from the top of the throne. If the throne had this rose, it would have the same power as the instrument that had the power to play when placed on any animal, beast or bird. He carried on looking, and saw that the rose missing from the top of the throne was lying on the ground . It would be necessary to lift it up and place it on top so that the throne would have the power of the instrument. For the previous king had devised everything with the utmost wisdom so that no-one would be able to understand it until the arrival of an outstanding sage who was able to change everything around and realign it properly. He understood that it would be necessary to move the bed a little from its present position, and so too the table and the lamp. Likewise the birds and animals needed to be moved around. A bird would have to be taken from one place and moved to another, and the same applied to the other birds . For the king had made everything with the utmost wisdom and subtlety so that no-one would understand it, until a sage came who could deduce how to order everything properly. The lion standing by the pathway extending from the throne had to be moved elsewhere, as did all the other animals. The king's true son gave instructions to arrange everything properly - to take the rose from below and fix it up above, and to arrange everything else in the proper order. Then they all began singing the most amazing song and all the different things performed their proper function. The king's true son became king. Then he said to the maid's true son: "Now I understand that I am the king's true son and you are the maid's true son." "

"There was once a mass flight of people from a certain country: everyone fled. As they were on their way they passed through a forest, and a boy and a girl got lost. One person lost a boy and another lost a girl. They were still little children of about the age of four or five. They had nothing to eat, and they cried and screamed because they were hungry. Suddenly a beggar appeared with bags in which he was carrying bread. The two children approached him and began to follow him. He gave them bread, and they ate. "How did you come to be here?" he asked. "We don't know," they replied - they were only little children. When he was about to leave, they asked him to take them with him. "But I don't want you to go with me," he said. They noticed that he was blind. They wondered how he was able to find his way if he was blind. The fact that they wondered about this is itself unusual since they were only small children, but they were intelligent. The beggar blessed them that they should be like him - that they should be elders like him - and then he left them some more bread and went on his way. The two children understood that God was watching over them and that He had sent them this blind beggar here in the forest to give them food. When all the bread was finished, they again started crying for food. Night fell and they slept. In the morning they had nothing to eat, and they cried and screamed. Again, a beggar appeared. He was deaf. They started talking to him, but he signaled with his hands that he could not hear. He also gave them bread and left. They wanted him to take them with him but he would not do so. He blessed them that they should be like him and also left them some bread and went on his way. When all the bread was finished, they started to cry again. Along came a beggar with a speech defect. They started talking to him, but he stammered so badly that they did not know what he was saying. He could understand what they were saying but they didn't know what he was saying. He too gave them bread to eat and went on his way, blessing them that they should be like him. Afterwards came a beggar with a crooked neck, and the same thing happened. Then a hunchback beggar came, and then a beggar with no hands, and then a beggar with no legs. Each one gave them bread and blessed them that they should be like him. When all the bread was finished, they started making their way to an inhabited area. They came to a road and followed it until they came to a village. The children went into one of the houses, and the people had pity on them and gave them bread. They went into another house, where the people also gave them bread. They went from door to door and saw that they were having success. They decided to stay together always. They made big beggars' sacks for themselves and went from door to door and attended all the celebrations - circumcisions and weddings. They then decided to move on and went to the larger cities, where they went from door to door. They went to the fairs and sat with the other beggars on the pavement with their charity plates. The two children became well known to all the beggars. They all knew them as the children that were lost in the forest. Once there was a great fair in a large city. The beggars journeyed there and the young pair went with them. It occurred to the beggars that they should make a match between the pair and have them marry. As soon as the beggars began discussing the idea they all thought it a very good idea and agreed on the match. But how were they to make the wedding? Since the king's birthday banquet was to be held shortly, they decided that all the beggars should go, and from the meat and bread they would beg for themselves they would make the wedding. And so it was: all the beggars went to the king's birthday celebrations and begged for bread and meat. They also collected all the leftover meat and party rolls from the feast. They went and dug a great pit large enough to hold a hundred people. They covered it with reeds, earth and dung and all went inside. There they made the wedding for these two children. They brought them under the marriage canopy and everyone was very happy. "

"A visitor entered a house and asked the head of the house: "From what do you make a living?" "I don't have a fixed livelihood at home," his host replied, "but the world provides me with what I need to live." The guest asked him, "What do you study?" The host answered, and they continued talking together until they spoke in real earnest, heart to heart. The host began to feel a tremendous yearning to know how to reach a certain level of holiness. "I will study with you," said the guest. The host was surprised and began to think, "Perhaps this isn't a human being at all." But he looked again and saw that he was talking to him normally like a human being. Directly after this he felt a strengthening of his faith and resolved to believe in the guest and began calling him "my teacher" . He said to the guest, "First of all, I would like you to teach me how to show the proper respect for beings like yourself. Not, I need scarcely add, that I could really detract from your true glory, God forbid! Even so, it is hard for humans to be as meticulous as they ought to be in these matters. That is why I want you to teach me how to behave with due respect." " I haven ' t time at the moment ," he answered, " but I will teach you this another time . Right now I must leave ." "Well, I also need to learn something else from you," said the host. "How far do I have to go when I accompany you on your way , as the host is bound to do when his guests depart?" "Till outside the entrance," he replied. The host thought to himself, "How can I go out with him. At the moment I am with him among ordinary beings, but if I go out with him alone - who knows who he is?" The host said to the visitor, "I am afraid to go out with you." "If I can learn with you just like this," he replied, "then who is going to stop me doing anything I want to you ? The host escorted him outside . All of a sudden he seized him and started to fly with him. The host was cold , so the other gave him a garment. "Take this garment," he said, "and it will be good for you. You will have food and drink and everything will be good and you will live in your house." He continued flying with him. Meanwhile the host suddenly noticed that he was in his house. He couldn't believe that he was actually in his own house. But he looked carefully, and sure enough he was speaking with ordinary human beings and eating and drinking normally. But then he again noticed that he was flying like before. Then he looked again, and lo and behold! He was in his house! Again he noticed that he was flying... and so it went on for quite some time. After a time he was set down in a valley between two mountains. There the man found a book in which there were various combinations of letters: aleph , zayin , chet , dalet . Inside the book were drawings of various vessels containing letters. Also within the vessels were the letters related to the vessels: through these letters it was possible to make the vessels themselves. The man had a tremendous desire to study the book. But then he noticed that he was back in his house. He took another look and he was back in the valley. He decided to ascend the mountain to see if he could find some kind of habitation there. When he came to the mountain, he saw a tree of gold standing there with golden branches. Hanging from the branches were vessels like those drawn in the book, and inside the vessels were other vessels through which these first vessels could be made. He wanted to take the vessels from there, but he was unable to do so because they were entangled in the branches. Meanwhile he noticed that he was in his house. It was extraordinary. How was it that one moment he could be here and the next moment there? He wanted to speak about it to other human beings, but how can one explain something incredible like this to other people - they would find it hard to believe. At this moment he looked through the window and saw the same visitor. He started begging him to come in, but the visitor said, "I don't have time because I'm on my way to you." "This in itself is something amazing to me," said the man. "I'm right here. What do you mean that you are on your way to me?" He answered: "As soon as you showed yourself willing to accompany me beyond the entrance, I took the neshamah -soul, from you and gave it a garment from the lower Garden of Eden. The nefesh - ruach -spirit remains with you. This is why when you attach your thought to that place you are there and you draw the radiance of that place over yourself. Then when you return here, you are here." I do not know from which world he is. But this much is certain: he is from a world of good. So far it is not finished. It is not completed."

"The Story of the First Day - The Blind Beggar - The bride and groom were also very happy indeed. They started remembering God's kindnesses to them when they were in the forest. With tears of longing in their eyes, they wished that the first blind beggar who gave them bread in the forest could attend their wedding. Just as they were longing and yearning for the blind beggar, he suddenly appeared and said: I'm here! I've come to be with you at your wedding. And my wedding gift to you is that you should be old like me. At first I blessed you with this, but now I am giving it to you as an outright gift - that you should live a long life like me. You think I'm blind, but I'm not blind at all. It is only that all the time in the whole world counts as no more than the blink of an eye for me. (That was why he appeared blind, because he did not look at the world at all since all the time in the world did not count as more than the blink of an eye for him. Therefore the concept of looking at this world simply did not apply to him.) I am very old, but I'm young - I am still a suckling child! I haven't even started to live at all. But even so, I am very old. Not only I say this. I have the agreement of the Great Eagle! Let me tell you the story. Once, some men went out to sea in many boats. A great storm wind smashed the boats, but the men were saved. They came to a tower and they went inside. There they found all the food, drink, clothes and everything else they needed. They were provided with all the delights of the world. They decided that each one should tell the oldest story he could remember - his earliest memory. There were old and young men there, and they honored the oldest among them by asking him to speak first. "What can I tell you?" he said. "I remember when they cut the apple from the branch." Nobody knew what he was talking about. However, there were some wise men there who said, "This is certainly a very old story." Next they honored the second oldest, who said: "Is that such an old story? I too remember that, but I also remember when the lamp was burning." Some of the people there said, "This story is older than the first." They found it remarkable that this second one, who was younger than the first, remembered an older story. Then the third oldest said, "I remember when the construction of the fruit started, when the fruit first began to form." "This is an even older story," they said. The fourth, who was still younger, said, "I also remember when they brought the seed to plant the fruit." The fifth, who was even younger, said, "I also remember the sages who thought up and invented the seed." The sixth, who was still younger, said, "I remember the taste of the fruit before the taste entered the fruit." The seventh said, "I remember the smell of the fruit before it entered the fruit." The eighth said, "I remember the appearance of the fruit before it was drawn into the fruit." And I. - said the blind beggar who was telling all this - .I remember all these stories, and I also remember complete nothingness." "This is a very old story," they said, "older than all the others." They found it amazing that the baby remembered more than all of them. Suddenly the Great Eagle came and knocked on the tower and said to them, "Stop being poor! Go back to your treasures!" The Great Eagle told them to leave the tower in order of seniority. Whoever was older was to leave first. He conducted them all out of the tower, taking the baby out first. This was because in truth he was older than all of them. Whoever was younger, he took out first, while he took out the oldest of all last. This was because whoever was younger was older, while the oldest of them was younger than all of them! The Great Eagle said to them, "Let me explain to you the stories each one told. The one who said he remembers when they cut the apple from the branch was saying that he could remember when they cut his umbilical cord. His earliest memory went back to the moment he was born, when they cut his umbilical cord. "The second one, who said he remembered when the lamp was burning, could remember when he was in the womb, when a lamp burned over his head. "The one who said he could remember when the fruit began to form could remember when the body began to form, when the embryo first came into being. "The one who remembered when they brought the seed to plant the fruit could remember when the drop came forth at the time of union. "The one who remembered the sages who invented the seed could remember when the drop was still in the brain. For it is the brain that produces the drop. The one who remembered the taste was remembering the Nefesh-soul. The one who remembered the scent remembered the Ruach-spirit. The one who remembered the appearance was remembering the Neshamah-soul. "And the baby who said he remembered complete nothingness is higher than all the others, because he remembers even what came before the Nefesh-Ruach-Neshamah, which is nothingness. "Go back to your boats," said the Great Eagle. "They are your bodies, which were broken. They will be rebuilt. Now go back to them." He blessed them. And to me, said the blind beggar who was telling all this, who had then been a baby, the Great Eagle said, "You come with me, because you are like me: you are very old but you are still very young, and you have not begun to live at all yet, even though you are very old. I am also like this, because I am very old yet I am still a suckling babe." Thus I have the Great Eagle' s promise of a long life. And now I am giving you my long life as a wedding gift. This brought tremendous joy and happiness at the wedding celebration."

"The Story of the Second Day - The Lost Gardener - On the second day of the seven-day wedding celebration, the couple remembered the second beggar, the deaf man who had saved their lives and given them bread. With tears of longing in their eyes, they wished they could have the deaf beggar with them at their wedding celebration. At the very moment when they were longing for him to be there, he suddenly appeared and said, "Here I am!" He fell on them and kissed them, saying: Now I am giving you as a gift that you should be like me - that you should live the good life, just like me. At first I blessed you with this, and now I am giving you my good life as an outright gift in honor of your wedding. You think I'm deaf? I'm not deaf at all. It is just that for me, the entire world doesn't amount to anything, so why should I listen to what they want? People cry and scream only because they want or lack something. Each person cries out over what he lacks. Even people's enjoyment is only because of some prior lack the fulfillment of which makes them happy. But for me the entire world doesn't amount to anything, so why should I let their deficiencies enter my ears ? I live the good life, and I lack nothing. Moreover, I have the agreement of the Land of Wealth that I live the good life. His good life consisted of eating bread and drinking water. The deaf beggar began to tell his story: There is a land of great wealth and enormous treasures. Once the people gathered and everyone started boasting about the good life he lived. Each one gave a detailed account of his good life. And I stood up and said to them: The good life I live is better than your good life. If you live such a good life, let me test you to see if you can save a certain country that had a garden in which there were fruits with all the tastes in the world. The garden also contained all the scents in the world and all kinds of sights with all the colors and all the flowers in the world. They were all in that garden. In charge of the garden was a gardener, and it was because of him that the people in the country lived the good life. However, the gardener disappeared and everything in the garden was spoiled, because without him there was no-one to take care of it. Nevertheless, the people were still able to live off the wild plants that grew in the garden. A cruel king then attacked the land. He was unable to harm the people directly, but he ruined the good life they enjoyed on account of the garden. He did not destroy the garden itself but he left three bands of slaves in the land and gave them orders what to do. They ruined all the tastes, so that everything tasted of putrid dead flesh. They ruined all the scents, so that everything had the foul stench of galbanum. And they ruined all the sights by darkening everyone's eyes, as if thick, heavy clouds were hanging over everything. The slaves accomplished all this by following the cruel king's instructions. The deaf beggar continued: I said to the people of the Land of Wealth , "If you live the good life, let me see if you can save the country with the garden. And I am telling you: if you cannot save them, you too may suffer harm." The people of the Land of Wealth journeyed there, and I went with them. During the journey, they all lived their good life because of their treasures. However, as soon as they approached the country with the garden, they felt a marked deterioration in everything they tasted, smelled and saw. I said to them, "If now, before you have even entered the country, the tastes, smells and sights have already been spoiled, how will it be if you actually go in? How can you possibly save them?" I gave them some of my bread and water, and in them they could once again taste all the delicious tastes they had enjoyed before they were spoiled. The people of the country with the garden began to investigate what they could do to heal the ruined tastes, smells and sights. They came to the conclusion that the lost gardener through whom they had enjoyed the good life must be from one and the same root as the people of the Land of Wealth , who also enjoyed the good life. They therefore decided to send emissaries to the people of the Land of Wealth , who would surely save them. On their way to the Land of Wealth these emissaries encountered the very people from that Land who were on their way to their own country. "Where are you going?" asked the people of the Land of Wealth . "We are on our way to the Land of Wealth to ask them to save us," replied the emissaries. "That is where we are from," they answered, "and we are on our way to you!" The deaf beggar continued: I said to them, "You surely need me, because you will not be able to get there to save them. Stay here and let me go with the emissaries to save them." I went with them to the country and entered a city. I saw how a few people would gather and start making witty remarks. More would join them, until there would be quite a gathering. They would tell jokes, until everyone was laughing and giggling. I listened carefully and heard that their jokes were obscene. One of them would make an obscene remark and then a second would give it an even subtler twist, while others would laugh and enjoy the fun. I went to another city and saw two men quarreling over some business affair. They went to court, and the court ruled in favor of one and against the other. But as soon as they left the court, they started quarreling again and said they did not like this court's decision but wanted to go to a different court. They argued their cases in the second court, but then one of them got into an argument with somebody else and went with him to yet another court. Everybody there was arguing and quarreling and they chose all kinds of different courts, until the whole city was full of law courts. I looked carefully and saw that this was because there was no truth there. One day a judge would show favor to one side, but afterwards a different judge would show favor to the other side, because they all took bribes and there was no truth anywhere. Then I saw that they were immersed in sexual immorality to the point that it had become totally permissible in their eyes. I told them that this was why all the tastes, scents and sights had been spoiled for them. The three bands of slaves left by the cruel king were destroying the country. They were going around talking obscenely among themselves, thereby spreading obscenity. This obscenity is what ruined all the tastes, so that everything had the foul taste of putrid dead flesh. Similarly, they were spreading bribery in the country, as a result of which their eyes were darkened and all the sights were spoiled, for "the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise" (Exodus 23:8) . Likewise they were spreading immorality all over the country, which spoiled the scents. "You must therefore cleanse the country of these three sins. Hunt down those slaves and drive them out. When you rectify these three sins, not only will your taste, sight and smell be healed, but you will also be able to find the lost gardener." They started cleansing the country of these three sins and searched for the wicked king's slaves. They would seize someone and ask him, "Where are you from?" As soon as they identified the wicked slaves, they drove them out and cleansed the country of those sins. Meanwhile there was a commotion. A madman was going around saying that he was the gardener. Everyone thought he was insane, and they threw stones at him to drive him away. Could it possibly be that he really was the gardener? He was brought before the people who were in charge of cleansing the country, and I too was there, continued the deaf beggar. And I said, "Certainly, this is the true gardener!" Thus I have the agreement of the Land of Wealth that I live the good life, as I was able to rectify the country with the garden. And now I am giving you my good life as an outright gift. This caused tremendous joy and delight at the wedding celebration."

"The Story of the Sixth Day - The Beggar With No Hands - On the sixth day, as they celebrated happily, they longed to have the beggar with no hands with them. All of a sudden he appeared and said, "Here I am! I have come to join you at your wedding." He kissed them and said: You think there's something wrong with my hands. But there's nothing in the least wrong with my hands. The truth is that I have great power in my hands. It's just that I don't use the power in my hands in this world, because I need it for another purpose. And I have the agreement of the Water Castle about this. Once a number of men sat together, each boasting about the power he had in his hands. One of them boasted that he possessed such and such a power in his hands. Another boasted that he had a different power in his hands. Each one boasted about the unique power he had in his hands. One boasted that he had such a mighty power in his hands that when he shot an arrow, he was able to draw it back to himself. Even after shooting the arrow, he could still bring it back. I asked him, "Which kind of arrow can you bring back?" For there are ten kinds of arrows, because there are ten kinds of poisons. When someone wants to shoot an arrow, he smears it with some kind of poison. When the arrow is smeared with one kind of poison, it does one sort of damage, but when it is smeared with the second kind, it causes worse damage. Each of the ten kinds of poison is worse than the one before it, causing greater damage. This in itself is why there are ten kinds of arrows. The arrows themselves are basically all of one kind, but because of the different poisons smeared on them, they are called ten kinds of arrows. That was why I asked him, "Which kind of arrow can you bring back?" I also asked if he could draw the arrow back only before it reached its intended victim or if he could also bring it back even after it had struck the victim. To this he replied that he could still bring the arrow back even after it had reached its target. But when I asked him what kind of arrow he could bring back, he answered that he could only bring back one particular kind. The beggar with no hands continued: I said to him: "If so, you are unable to heal the queen's daughter, because you can only turn back and draw out one kind of arrow." Another boasted that he had such a power in his hands that whenever he took or received from another, he was actually giving to them. His very taking and receiving were his way of giving, making him a master of charity. I asked him, "What kind of charity do you give?" For there are ten kinds of charity. He replied that he gave a tenth as his tithe. "If so," I told him, "you cannot heal the queen ' s d aughter since you are quite unable to reach her place , because you can penetrate only one of the fortified walls surrounding the place where she is . " One boasted that he had a unique power in his hands, because the world has officers, all of whom require wisdom, and he had the power to confer wisdom upon them by laying his hands on them. "What kind of wisdom can you confer with your hands?" I enquired, since there are ten kinds of wisdom. "Such and such a kind," he replied. "If so," I told him, "you cannot heal the queen ' s d aughter since you cannot take her pulse, because you only recognize one pulse. There are ten kinds of pulses, yet you recognize only one of them since you can confer only one kind of wisdom with your hands." Another boasted that he had such a power in his hands that when a storm-wind blew, he could use his hands to restrain it and make it blow in moderation. "Which wind can you hold in your hands?" I enquired, because there are ten kinds of winds. "Such and such a wind," he replied. "If so," I said, "you cannot heal the queen ' s d aughter , because you can play her only a single melody." There are ten kinds of melody, and she is healed through melody. But you can play only one of the ten melodies. "And what power do you possess?" they all asked. "I can do what you cannot do," I replied. "All the nine tenths that each of you is incapable of accomplishing, I have the power to accomplish." For once a certain king desired the queen's daughter. He tried everything possible to capture her , until eventually he succeeded. Once the king had a dream in which she stood over him and killed him. He awoke and the dream went deep into his heart. He called all the dream interpreters and they gave the obvious interpretation: that she would kill him. The king did not know what to do with her. The thought of killing her pained him, yet the thought of sending her away hurt him even more, because he had made such efforts to capture her and now someone else would take her. Moreover, if he sent her away and she passed into someone else's hands, his dream about her killing him was even likelier to come true as she would be with someone else. Yet he was also afraid to keep her with him because of the dream. The king had no idea what to do to her, and meanwhile his love for her turned ever more sour every time he thought about the dream. Likewise the love she had for him turned ever sourer until she came to hate him, and she fled. The king sent after her to try to find her. He was informed that she was now in the Water Castle - a castle with ten walls, one inside the other, all made of water. Even the floor of the Castle was made of water. There were trees and fruits there, all made of water. There is no need to describe the unique beauty of this castle. A castle made of water is certainly quite unique. To enter the castle would be quite impossible, since anyone who tried to enter would drown. When the queen's daughter fled, she reached this Water Castle and began circling around it. The king was informed that she was circling the castle, and he went with his army to capture her. When the queen's daughter saw this, she decided to run inside the castle. She preferred to drown than to allow the king to catch her and force her to stay with him. There was also a chance that she might succeed in entering the Water Castle and be saved. When the king saw her fleeing to the water, he said, "So be it!" and gave instructions to shoot her. "If she dies, she dies!" They shot at her and all the ten kinds of arrows smeared with the ten kinds of poisons struck her. She fled to the castle and went inside. There were gates in the fortified walls of water. She passed through until she had penetrated all ten walls of the Water Castle . She came deep inside and then collapsed, sapped of all strength. The beggar with no hands continued: And I heal her! Someone who does not have all the ten kinds of charity in his hand cannot penetrate the ten fortified walls, because he will drown. The king and his army pursued her and drowned. But I have the power to penetrate all ten fortified walls of water. These walls of water are the waves of the sea that "stood like a wall" (Exodus 14:29 ) . The winds lift the waves of the sea, making them stand. These waves, which are the ten walls, are there constantly, but it is the winds that lift them and keep them standing. I can enter all ten fortified walls, and I have the power to draw out all the ten kinds of arrows from the queen's daughter. With my ten fingers, I can recognize all the ten kinds of pulses: each of my ten fingers knows one of the ten kinds of pulses. And I can heal her with the ten kinds of melody. Thus it is that I heal her. This is proof that I have such great power in my hands. And now I am giving you this as a gift! This created the greatest happiness and rejoicing. "

"A little is also good."

"A number of blind people can all take hold of one sighted person and follow him trustingly. A blind man trusts his stick and follows it even though he sees nothing. How much more should you follow your own self - because the light did shine on you previously, arousing and inspiring you to serve God."

"A person must long to attain the highest possible level. And he must not allow himself to fall from even the smallest level."

"A person needs holy arrogance, holy chutzpah. He should be bold as a leopard against the people who are preventing him and mocking him. He shouldn?t subjugate himself before them, and he shouldn?t be embarrassed in front of them at all. Even though it seems that they are tzaddikim and they are better than him, and even if it is true that they are better than him, even so, since his intentions are for heaven, and they want to confuse him, and block him from the path of life, he needs to strengthen himself with holy arrogance against them. And even against one?s own Rabbi a person needs this boldness, in order to be strong to say whatever he needs to and not be embarrassed. On this it is said, ?a timid person cannot be a learned person.?"

"A holy melody can bring you to the level of prophecy. Music is the foundation of true attachment to God."

"A Jewish heart should be so strongly drawn to God that every heartbeat is a flame yearning for God."

"A person needs to scream to his father in heaven with a powerful voice from the depths of his heart. Then God will listen to his voice and turn to his outcry. And it could be that from this act itself, all doubts and obstacles that are keeping him back from true service of Hashem will fall from him and be completely nullified."

"A person of understanding who wants the truth will be led by God in the path of truth, and he will learn how to practice Hitbodedut and offer words of grace and sound arguments to persuade God to bring him to true service."

"A person should be so honest that when he performs the mitzvot in all their fine points, he does it for God's sake and not merely to impress others. Even if he is completely alone with no- one watching, he should still carry them all out with the same care."

"A person should find himself within the words of tehillim. Tehillim was written with Divine Inspiration and includes within it each individual?s personal struggle, whatever he may be going through at any given time."

"A person should never let his own smallness insignificance and humility cover up his true greatness. For sometimes a person downgrades himself to excess and forgets that he still has many amazing attributes."

"A person takes time from Torah and prayer to struggle to earn money in order to support his family. After earning the money, should he become a luckless shlim mazelnik and not take care of it?"

"A person who always wants to win the argument is very intolerant of truth. The truth may be staring him in the face, but because he is determined to win at all costs, he ignores it completely."

"A person's ability to show love depends on his level of Godly awareness. One who has Godly awareness will have compassion. For anger, the opposite of compassion, is rooted in foolishness: "Anger rests in the bosom of fools" ( Ecclesiastes 7:9) . Accordingly our Rabbis said, "It is forbidden to show compassion to anyone who lacks understanding" ( Berachot33a) . This is because a person who lacks understanding is necessarily lacking in compassion (since "anger rests in the bosom of fools"). This is why it is forbidden to have compassion on him, because "Everyone who shows love for God's creatures is himself shown love", but if a person lacks compassion, it is impossible to have compassion on him."

"A Rav must have in him the two powers that there are in the torah, that is, ?a drug of life and a drug of death? (Yoma 72), in order that it will be possible for those who come close to him to receive according to their own will, as in the Torah ?the righteous will walk and the wicked will stumble? (Hosea 14). If he yearns for true service of Hashem he can receive from the Rav a straight path to serve Hashem, but if his heart isn?t pure, he can also find in the Rav something impure and be led completely astray. There are those who connect to the Tzaddik and become complete apostates."

"A true Israelite is one who constantly advances from level to level. Each advance to greater holiness can be accomplished only through the holiness of the land of Israel . Likewise our prayers ascend only through the land of Israel ."

"According to the law, even today the original form of prayer remains primary. Besides following the order of prayers established by the Men of the Great Assembly, it is extremely beneficial to make a regular practice of offer ing your own prayers and requests from the depths of your heart in the language you understand best, asking God to help you serve Him truly. This is the essence of prayer, and this is the way all the Tzaddikim attained their high levels."

"Accordingly, by playing the musical instrument with one's hand, one sifts, purifies and elevates the good spirit and separates it from the bad. This is the way to overcome the evil spirit of folly that seeks to spoil and upset the good, prophetic spirit. The bad spirit is dissipated through the joy that comes through the hand of the player."

"Accordingly, even if you are sunk in the very lair of evil on the lowest of all levels, even if you believe you are so far from God that it is impossible for you to draw closer, you can still find Godliness in the very place to which you have sunk. There too you can attach yourself to Him and repent with all your heart. Even there, God is not far away. It is just that the veils are thicker."

"Accustom yourself to learn quickly without too much attention to detail. This way you will truly acquire the Torah and cover enormous ground. You will be able to complete the Talmud, Codes, Bible, Midrash, Zohar and other Kabalistic texts and all the other sacred works."

"After heartbreak comes joy. Being happy later on is a true sign of having a broken heart."

"Afterwards, however, the suffering is lightened and we can derive a measure of consolation from the new spiritual insights achieved through the suffering. The reason suffering leads to spiritual insight is that suffering brings one to self-transcendence. Subsequently , even though one returns from self-transcendence to normal consciousness, a trace of it still remains, and from this trace comes Torah insight. This is because in the state of self-transcendence, nullified in the ultimate goal, one realizes that one's pain and suffering are actually of very great benefit. This fills one with joy, which is the "vessel" for receiving new Torah insights."

"Again thieves came and robbed him of whatever was left, and he became so impoverished that his house was completely empty. He went and collected together a miserable sum, bought a few bits and pieces, and went around the villages like the poor tinkers who travel about with bundles of goods, needles, pipes and similar small items. He went from village to village trading needles for chickens and eggs among the gentiles, and this was how he earned the family bread."

"All business dealings are really Torah. For example, the law relating to a person who exchanges a cow for a donkey is Torah, and when a person actually performs such a transaction this is certainly Torah. Accordingly, when engaged in any business transaction, you must bind your thoughts only to the Torah teachings and laws contained within the transaction in question."

"All my teachings are only introductions, [the main part is up to you to discover]."

"All physical medicines are bitter, and the same is true in healing the soul: the soul is healed through bitterness. You may have to overcome many obstacles and endure much suffering in order for your soul to be healed."

"All scientific discoveries and inventions come from above. Without inspiration from above, they could never be discovered."

"All the more so when one finishes a whole word: the word pleads and entreats in the same manner, caressing and embracing the soul, refusing to let the soul move on. Yet the truth is that one must go on: there are many more words to be said and many more blessings and prayers to be recited before the conclusion of the service."

"All the obstacles and temptations standing in the way of true fear of heaven are illusory walls. Be courageous and strong-hearted! All the apparent obstacles, such as financial and other material constraints or opposition from others, will disappear if you are determined and courageous in your quest for God."