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THE TALE OF THE SEVEN BEGGARS* RABBI NAKHMAN OF BRATSLEV The Blind Beggar's Story
Once upon a time there was a king. And the king had an only son. Now the king wanted to give the prince his kingdom while he was still alive.I want to tell you1. So he threw a grand ball. And when the king throws a ball, why everything is gay and merry. And on this day, when he was giving the prince his kingdom while he was still alive, the joy was very great indeed. All the lords of the realm were there, and all the dukes and earls; and they were all having a marvelous time at the ball. The whole country was delighted that the king was giving the prince his kingdom while he was still alive. For this was a great honor from a king. The rejoicing was .great. There were all sorts of things for creating joviality, orchestras and plays and the like. Anything that could make for a celebration was there at the ball. And when everyone was very merry, the king stood up and said to his son: "I can read the stars, and I see that someday you will leave the kingdom, but make sure that you don't feel sad about leaving the kingdom, be cheerful. And if you're cheerful, then I'll be cheerful. But even if you're sad, I'll still be happy that you're not a king. For if you are the sort of man who cannot manage to be cheerful all the time, even when you leave the kingdom, then you're not fit to be king. However, if you're happy, then I'll be terribly happy." The young king took over the kingdom in a high-handed fashion. He created dignitaries and dukes and earls and an army. The young prince was extremely wise. He was very fond of wisdom, and he had many wise men around him. And any man who came to him with wisdom was greatly honored by him. And he would give him great honors and riches for his wisdom. Whatever the man wanted, the prince would give him. One man wanted money, so he gave him money. Another man wanted honor, so he gave him honor. And since wisdom was so greatly honored at his court, the people all turned to wisdom. The entire country was concerned only with wisdom. This man was concerned with wisdom because he wanted money, and that man was concerned with wisdom because he wanted honor. And because they were all concerned only with wisdom, they forgot all about warfare and military matters. They were all concerned only with wisdom, until all the men in the country became extraordinarily wise, and the unwisest man in the country was wiser than any wise man in another country. Now because of their wisdom, the wise men in the country turned to heresy. And they drew the prince into their doings. And he too became a heretic. The common people, however, were not harmed. They, didn't join the heresy. The wisdom of the wise men was so deep and subtle that the common people couldn't share it. Thus they remained unharmed and never turned to heresy. Only the wise man and the prince became heretics. And the prince, having the basis of goodness, for he had been born with
this basis of goodness, and had good and just traits in him, kept wondering
every day: "Where am I in the world? What am I doing?"
One day there was a mass flight from the country.
The Blind Beggar's StoryOnce upon a time, a whole bunch of people were sailing in ships on the sea. A gale arose and smashed the ships. But the passengers were saved. They came to a tower. They climbed up the tower, and there they found all kinds of food and drink and clothing, and everything they needed, and all kinds of good things and all the delights of the world: They decided that each one of them should tell an old tale, something he remembered from his earliest memory, from the time his memory first began. Now there were old people and young people among them. So they honored the eldest man among them, by asking him to tell the first tale. And the eldest man spoke as follows: "What shall I tell you? All I can remember is that they cut the apple off the branch.". No one understood what he was saying, but there were wise men present, and they said that this was really an old story. Next they honored the next-eldest man, who was younger than the first, and they asked him to tell a tale. The next-eldest man, who was not as old as the first, responded in a tone of amazement: "That's an old story?! I remember it too. But I also remember that the candle was burning." The others replied: "That story is even older than the first." And they were surprised that the next-eldest was younger than the first one and yet remembered an older story. Then they honored the third-eldest and asked him to tell a tale. And the third-eldest was even younger. And he replied: "I can remember when the development of the fruit began, that is to say, when the fruit first started becoming a fruit." The others replied: "That story is even older." Then the fourth-eldest, who was even younger, said: "I can remember how they brought the seed to plant the fruit." Then the fifth-eldest, who was even younger, said: "I can even remember the wise men who thought up the seed." Then the sixth-eldest, who was even younger, said: "I can remember the taste of the fruit before the taste even went into the fruit." Then the seventh said: "I can remember the fragrance of the fruit before it even went into the fruit." Then the eighth said: "I can remember the color of the fruit before it even came upon the fruit." And I, the blind beggar, who am telling you all this, I was still a child then. I was present also. And I said: "I remember all these tales, and I remember nothing." To which they replied: "That's a very old story - the oldest of all." And they were surprised that the child remembered more than anyone else. Meanwhile, a great eagle arrived, and. he knocked on the tower and said to them: "You are no longer poor! Return to your riches. Make use of your riches." And he told them to leave the tower in order of age, each in turn, with the eldest going out first. And he took them all out of the tower. First he cook out the child, for the truth was that the eldest of them was the child. And thus he took each younger one out first, and didn't take out the eldest man until last. For the younger any one of them was, the older he was, and the oldest of them was youngest of all. And the great eagle said to them: "I want to comment on all the tales that you all have told. "For the man who told you that he remembers how they cut the apple off the branch means that he remembers how they cut his navel string, that is to say, even the things that happened to him when he was born, when they cut his navel string - he can remember all that. "And the next one, who said he remembers that a candle was burning, means that when he crossed the high worlds, a candle was burning at his head. "For it is written in the Talmud that when a child is in its mother's belly, a light burns at its head. "And the one who said he remembers that he started to become a fruit - he means that he remembers the way his body started to develop when the child was first created: "And the one who remembers when they brought the seed to plant the fruit, he means that he can still remember when the seed was sown in conjugal union. "And the one who remembers the wise men who thought up the seed means that he remembers when the seed was still in the mind. "And the one who remembers the taste - that is the nefesh, the lowest aspect of the soul, the animal aspect. "And the fragrance is the ruakh, the moral element of the soul. "And the color is the neshamah, the highest degree of the soul, corresponding to the intellectual world. "And the child said he remembers nothing. For he is older than the others and he can even remember what there was before the nefesh, the ruakh, or the neshamah: the category of nothingness. "That is why he said he remembers nothing. That is, he remembers that there was nothing. He even remembers what was happening then, and that is earlier than anyone else." And now the great eagle said to them: "Return to your ship: these are your bodies, which were smashed. They shall be rebuilt." And he gave them his blessing. And to me, the blind man, who was only a child then, and who is telling you all this now, to me the great eagle said: "You, come with me. For you are like me. For you are very old and yet still very young. And you haven't even begun to live and yet you're already very old. And I am that way too. For I am very old and yet still very young." Thus, I received the approval of the great eagle for being very old and yet still very young; and now I am giving you my long life as a wedding present, so that you may be as old as I. And there was a great rejoicing and they were very happy. 2.The second day of the wedding week, the young couple remembered the second beggar, the deaf one, who had nourished them by giving them bread. And they missed him and wept for him: "Where can we find the deaf beggar who gave us nourishment?" Meanwhile, as they wept for him, he came in and said: "Here I am. And he fell upon them and kissed them and said to them: "Today I'm giving you a present that you may be as I am, that you may live a good life as I do. Earlier, I gave you my blessing and now I'm giving you my present: my good life as a wedding gift. Now you think that I'm deaf. I'm not deaf at all, but the whole world isn't worth my hearing its defects. For all the noise in the world is merely the sounds of its defects. Each man yells about his defect, that is to say, whatever he is lacking. And all the rejoicings of the world are merely the joys of defects. For each man is overjoyed about having what he lacked. But as. for me, the whole world isn't worth my hearing its faults, I live a good life with no lacks whatsoever. And I have approval to lead a good life in the land of riches." And his good life consisted in his eating bread and drinking water. And he told them the following story: The Deaf Beggar's StoryThere is a country where there are many rich men, they have great wealth. Now once, all these rich men gathered together, and each one started boasting about his good life, and each described the good life he was leading. Then I spoke up and said to them: "I live a good life that is much better than your good lives. The proof is that if you are living such good lives, then let me see whether you can help this country. "For there is a country where there used to be a garden. "And in that garden, there were fruits with all the tastes in the world. And there were also all the fragrances of the world, all the colors, all the hues, and all the blossoms of the worlds. Everything was there in that garden. "And there was a gardener there, a man who tended the garden. "And the people in that country lived a good life because of that garden. "But then the gardener vanished. "And everything that was in the garden was doomed, for the man who had taken care of it, . the gardener, who had looked after it, was no longer there to tend it, to do all the things that needed to be done for the garden. "Nevertheless, they could have lived from the things that grew by themselves, the things that sprouted from the fallings. "But then a cruel king came to the country. And the king couldn't do anything to them. "So he destroyed the good lives they were living because of the garden. "And not only did he destroy the garden itself, he also left three companies of his men in the country and told them to carry out his orders. "And thus they destroyed the sense of taste. "And because of their action, each man who wanted to taste Something, merely tasted carrion. "And they also destroyed the sense of smell, so that all fragrance would smell like manure. "And they also destroyed the sense of sight in carrying out the king's orders. For they made everything dark to the eyes as though the people were enveloped in clouds. "All these things were done by the three companies of soldiers in that country. "Now if you are living such good lives, let us see whether you can help these people! "And I tell you," (the deaf beggar had gone on to say to the country of the wealthy men who had boasted of living good lives), "if you don't help them, then the destruction in that country will bring damage to you, the corruption of sight, taste, and smell will also happen to you." The rich men got up and went to that country. And I went along with them. And on the way, each one of them lived his good life, for they were very wealthy. When they came to that country, a corruption began of their taste and everything else, that is to say, taste, sight, and smell. Whereupon I exclaimed: "If you haven't entered the country and have already lost your taste and sight and smell, what's going to happen once you enter the country? And just how will you manage to help the people?" I took my bread and my water and gave them to the rich men. And in my bread and water they could taste all tastes and smell all smells, and their senses, which had been destroyed, were now mended again. And the people of that country, where that garden was, and where the
inhabitants had lost their sense of taste, began looking for a way to restore
their lost sense of taste.
3.The third day, the bride. and groom recalled the beggars again and wept longingly and bitterly: "Where can we find the third-beggar, who was slow of speech?" And along he came and said: "Here I am." And he embraced and kissed them, and he said: "Earlier I blessed you that you might become like me. But today I am giving you as a wedding present that you may become like me. "Now you think," he went on, "that I am slow of speech. However, I am not slow of speech. It is just that the words of this world that do not praise the Lord God have no perfection." And thus he seemed slow of speech and stammering, for he did not wish to speak any word that did not laud God, for any word that does not laud God has no perfection. And that was why. he stuttered? . . . "In reality, I am not slow of speech. On the contrary, I am a wonderful orator, a fine speaker, and it is truly amazing that when I start speaking my poetry and my riddles there is not a creature in the world that will not listen. And my riddles and songs contain all wisdom. I have the approval for them from the great man who is known as the true Merciful Man. "And there is a whole story to that." The Stammering Beggar's StoryOnce, all the wise men were sitting together, and each one boasted about his wisdom. One sage boasted that with his wisdom he had brought iron into the world. That is to say, he had taught men how to make iron from the earth. He had brought that to the world. And another boasted that he had brought forth another kind of metal, tin or lead. And another boasted that with his wisdom he had brought forth silver, which is more important. And another boasted that he had found a way to make gold. Still another boasted that he had brought forth military weapons for waging war, muskets and cannon. And another boasted that he could make all these metals from other things than the ones they were usually made from. And another boasted about other wisdom, for there were many things that had been brought forth with wisdom, such as saltpeter and gunpowder and the like. And thus each one of them boasted about his wisdom. Now one of them spoke up and he said: "I am wiser than all of you, for I am as wise as the day." But they didn't understand what he was saying about being as wise as the day. And he said to them that all their wisdom could be put together and it would not make more than an hour. For though each wisdom of theirs were taken from another day, according to the creation of that day, still all their wisdom was interwined, that is to say, a mixture of several things in one, to make a thing. That was why the wisdom was taken from the day of the creation containing the combination. Nevertheless, wisdom could intertwine all their wisdom, and it would be nothing more than an hour. "But I am as wise as a whole day." That was how the lowest wise man boasted. So I, the stammering beggar, spoke up: "Which day are you as wise as?" The wise man said: "This man is wiser than I for he asks: 'Which day?' Well, I am as wise as any day you like." And now the question is: "Why is he who asks 'Which day?' wiser than the wise man? After all, the wise man was wiser than any day you like. Now there is a whole story to that. For this true Merciful Man is a very great man. And I, the stutterer telling you all this, I go about and gather all the pious men and bring them to this Merciful Man. And the main thing, when the time comes, for time itself, that is to say, when there is the year and the day in the world, is a creation after all, and only through true Merciful Men. And so I go about and gather all the Merciful Men and bring them to the true Merciful Man. And there is a mountain. And there is a rock on this mountain. And there is a spring that comes forth from this rock. And every object has a heart. And the world itself also has a heart. And the heart of the world is a perfect human figure, with a face, arms, and legs. Only the nail on the foot of the heart of the world is heartier than any other heart. And the mountain with the spring stands at one end of the world. And the heart of the world is at the other end of the world. And the heart is opposite the spring, and the heart yearns and longs to come to the spring. And the yearning and longing of the heart for the spring is very wild. It always screams in great yearning to come to the spring. And the spring yearns and longs for the heart. And the heart has two ailments. One ailment: Because the sun hurries after it and burns it for yearning and wanting to come to the spring. And the other ailment attacks the heart because it always yearns and longs with all its might for the spring. It always remains opposite the spring and screams for help in its longing and yearning for the spring. But when the heart has to rest a bit and breathe a bit, then a large bird comes flying and spreads its wings over the heart and conceals it from the sun. Now the heart can rest a bit. But even now, while resting, the heart looks at the spring and yearns for it. Yet why doesn't the heart go to the spring if it yearns so deeply for it? For if the heart is opposite the mountain, it can see the tip of the slope of the mountain, where the? spring is. But as soon as it tries to climb the mountain, it no longer sees the tip and it cannot look at the spring. For such is the nature of a high mountain. If you stand far away, you can see the tip, but when you walk up to it; you can no longer see the tip. And if the heart cannot look at the spring, then it will give up its soul, God forbid. For its very life comes from that spring. And if the heart were to perish, God forbid, then the world would go under. For the heart contains in itself the life of every object, and how could the world go on without the heart? And that is why the heart cannot go to the spring, but instead faces it and yearns for it and screams. And the spring has no time whatsoever. For it does not live in time. It is beyond the time of the world. But how then can the heart be in the world? For in the world, no thing can be without time. The time of the spring is only what the heart gives as a day. And the time of this day comes, so that it may end and vanish, and when the day shall be gone, the spring shall have no more time: the spring will then pass away from the world. And when the spring is gone, the heart shall likewise perish, God forbid, and then all the world will pass away, God forbid. They start to take leave of one another, the heart and the spring, and they start telling riddles and songs to one another, wonderful riddles and songs, with great love and great yearning. And that true Merciful Man is in charge of all this. And when the day comes to its very end and is about to pass away, then the true Merciful Man comes and gives another day to the heart. And the heart gives the day away to the spring. And thus the spring once more has time. And when the day comes from the place it comes from, it comes with riddles and wondrous songs containing all wisdom. And there is a difference between the days. For there is a day for Sunday and a day for Monday, and so on for all the days of the week. And likewise there are days for new moons and for holidays. And whatever day it may be, those are the songs it brings. And all the time that the true Merciful Man has comes from me, the stammerer, who is telling you all this. For I go and gather all the true Merciful Men who come forth with time. And that is why the stammerer is even wiser than the wise man who boasted that he was as wise as any day we like. For all time and all days only come forth through me, the stammerer, and I gather all the truly pious, whose time is there, and I bring them to the true Merciful Man, and he gives a day to the heart, and the heart gives the day to the spring, which lets the whole world go on living. And thus, everything, time, with the riddles and songs, and all the wisdom contained in them, all exist because of me, the stammerer. Therefore, I have permission from the true Merciful Man to speak songs and riddles containing all wisdom, for all time, time, the poems and hymns are due to him. And now I give you this, as a wedding present, that you may be as I. When the stammerer had finished his story, there was great rejoicing and reveling. When the merrymaking of that day was over, they slept all night, and
in the morning they remembered and longed for the beggar with the crooked
neck.
The Story of the Beggar with the Crooked NeckThere is a country where all the people know the art of music, that is, the art of playing and singing. And all of them practice it. Even The Tale of the Seven Beggars 685 the little children. There isn't a child in all the country that cannot play some instrument. And the very least man in this country would be the greatest musician in another country. And the musicians, and the king of this country, and the orchestras, are the greatest of musicians. x Now once the musicians of this country were sitting together, and each one boasted of his musicianship. One man boasted that he could play one instrument, and another boasted that he could play another instrument. And still another boasted that he could play several instruments. One boasted that his voice could imitate one instrument, and another boasted that his voice could imitate another instrument. And still another boasted that his voice could imitate several instruments. And another one boasted that his voice could imitate the beating of a drum. And still another boasted that he could imitate the booming of cannon. And I, too, was sitting there, I, the man with the crooked neck, who am telling you all this. So I spoke up and said to them: "My voice is better than your voices. "And here is the proof: "If you are such great musicians, help those two countries. For there are two countries and they lie a thousand leagues apart. And there, in the two countries, no one can sleep when night comes. For when night comes, all begin moaning and lamenting, men, women, and children. If a rock stood there, it would melt away. For at night, you can hear a great wailing, and that is why all the people start lamenting. "Now if you are really such great musicians, let us see whether you can help these two countries or at least imitate the wailing they can hear there." And the musicians said to me, the man with the crooked neck: "Will you take us there?" So I said: "Yes, I'll take you there." And all of them agreed to go. And they traveled and they came to one of the two countries. And when they arrived and the night came, it was as it always was in that country, all the people began moaning. And the musicians also moaned. And thus they saw that they could not help this country. And I, the man with the crooked neck, said to the musicians: "At any rate, tell me where this lamenting comes from, which you can hear. Where does the sound come from?" They said to me: "Do you know?" And I, the man with the crooked neck, said to the musicians: "Of course, I know! "For here are two birds. "One is a male. "And one is a female. "And they are the only pair of these birds left in the world. "And the female disappeared. "And the male wandered about looking for her. "And she looked for him. "And they looked for one another for a long time and became gloomy when they saw they could not find one another. "So they stopped where they were and each built a nest. "The male built a nest not far from one of these two countries. And not quite near, but the voice of the bird makes him sound as if he were near. For, in this country, his voice can be heard from the place where he built his nest. "And the female also built a nest not far from the other country. And not quite near, but her voice can be heard from there. "And when the night comes, the two bird's start lamenting in loud voices, for each is wailing for the beloved. He wails for her, and she wails for him. And that is the lamenting that can be heard in the two countries. And the people moan about the lament and they cannot sleep." And that is what I told them, I, the man with the crooked neck. But they wouldn't believe me, and they said: "Will you take us there?" "Yes," I said. "I can take you. But how will we get there? If you cannot bear the lament here, and all of you wail about it, then if you come there, then you certainly won't be able to stand the noise. "We cannot get there by day, for we will not be able to endure the rejoicing. "For by day, birds come flying to each of these birds, both to him and to her. And they comfort them and cheer them with their great rejoicing. They speak words of solace saying: 'It's still possible for you to find one another.' And they make them very cheerful. "And by day it is not possible to endure the great rejoicing there. "And the noise of the rejoicing birds cannot be heard. You can only hear it once you arrive. However, the lamenting of the bird can be heard from afar. "That is why you cannot get there." And so they said to me, the man with the crooked neck: "Can you fix that?" And I replied: "Yes, I can fix it, for I can imitate any sound in the world. And I can also throw my voice, that is, I can throw any sound. And wherever I throw my voice, it will not be heard, but it can be heard far away. And so I can throw the voice of the birds, that is to say, I can throw her voice to him, the voice that I imitate will come close to him. And I can also throw his voice and bring it close to her, and in this way I can bring them together again, and everything will be all right." But who would believe me? And I led them into a forest. And they heard someone opening a door and closing it with a bang of the latch, and then shooting a musket, and sending out the dog to bring back what was shot, and the dog ran and hopped about in the snow. And the musicians heard this and looked about. But they didn't see anything, and they didn't hear anything. But I, the man with the crooked neck, threw my voice and made those sounds. And they saw that I could imitate all kinds of sounds and throw my voice. Thus, I have the agreement. of that country that I have a fine voice and can imitate all the sounds in the world, and now I give you this as a wedding present, that you may be as I am. 4.On the fifth day, they also made merry. Then the bridegroom remembered the beggar who had a hunched back. And they longed for him: "Where can we find that beggar? If he were here, we would be very merry, and the rejoicing would re. ally be great!" And along he came, and said: "Here I am. I've come to your wedding." And he hugged them and kissed them, and said to them: "I once blessed you that you might become as I. Today, as a wedding present, I give you that you may be as I am. I am not hunchbacked. On the contrary, my back and shoulders are a little that contain a lot (as it is written in the Talmud). And I have approval." The Hunchback's StoryOnce, some people in a conversation were boasting about that very thing, for each of them was boasting that he had a little which contained a lot. They all laughed at one of them. And the others, who boasted of having a little that contained a lot. But my category of a little that contains a lot is greater than all of them. For one of them boasted that his brain is a little that contains a lot, for it carried tens of thousands of human beings with all their needs, their behaviors, their gestures and actions. His brain carried all these things. That was why he had a little that contained a lot. For it was something of a brain that could carry so many people with all their things. And they laughed at him and said: "You don't exist, and neither do your people." And one of them spoke up and said: "I once saw a little that contained a lot. For once I saw a mountain with a great deal of filth and dirt lying on top. I was very surprised. Where did all that filth and dirt come from. There was a man next to the mountain, and he said to me: 'It all comes from me.' For he sat next to the mountain and threw everything on top of it, his excrements and the garbage from his food and drink. And so much dirt and filth collected on the mountain. Thus, man is a little that contains a lot, for so much filth can come from one man. And that's how it is." Another boasted that he had a little which contained a lot. For he had a bit of land that brought forth a great deal of fruit. If someone added up the fruits that the bit of land brought forth, he would see that bit of land could not have such an area as the total of the fruits. Hence, that was a little that contained a lot. Everyone liked what he said, for this was really a little that contained a lot. And one man said: "He has a garden, a lovely garden with fruit, and many people go there. For it is a very lovely garden. And when summer comes, many people travel to this garden and many noblemen, and they go strolling there. In reality, the area of the garden is not large enough to take in so many people. That is why it is a little that contains a lot." And everyone liked what he said too. And one man said that his speech was in the category of a little that contains a lot, for he was a keeper of secrets, the secretary of a great king: "And so many people came to the king. One man came with praises and another with favors, and the king cannot hear all of them. And so I gather all their words in just a few words, and I speak these few words to the king. And thus all their praises and favors are all taken together in these few words, which I speak to the king. Thus my speech is in the category of a little that contains a lot." And one man said that his silence was in the category of a little that contains a lot. For there were many people who accused him, and slandered him, and informed on him. But no matter how many people accused him, and slandered him, and informed on him, he would merely respond with silence, and simply hold his tongue. Thus, his silence was a little that contained a lot. Now one man said, that he was in the category of a little that contains a lot. For there was a poor man, who was blind, and he was very tall. And he, the man talking and boasting, was very small - and he acted as a guide for the poor blind man, who was very tall. Thus, he was a little that contained a lot. For the blind man could easily slip and fall, but the small man, by guiding him, kept him on his feet. Thus, he was a little containing a lot, for he was small but held up the tall blind man. And I, the hunchback telling you all this, was also there. And now I spoke: "The truth is that you are all in the category of the little that contains a lot, and I know everything you meant. And the lowest among you, who boasted of guiding the tall blind man - he is greater than you all. But I am above and beyond any of you, for he who boasted of guiding the blind man meant the disk of the moon, that is to say, the lunar sky. For the moon is blind, for it has no eyesight. And he, the man who boasted of this, he guides the moon, even though he is small and the lunar sky is very large, and it is the existence of the world. For the world needs a moon. Thus, he is truly a little that contains a lot. But my way of being a little that contains a lot is higher than all others. "Here is the proof: "Once there was a sect which claimed that every beast has its shade in which it prefers to rest, and in no other shade and, likewise, every bird has its branch on which it prefers to rest, and on no other branch. Thus, the sect wondered if they could find a tree in whose shadow all beasts preferred to rest and on whose branches all birds preferred to rest. "And they realized that such a tree did indeed exist. "Now they wanted to go to that tree. For the delight of that tree was endless, since it had all beasts and all birds. And no beast hurt any other. And all the beasts were mingled together there. They played together there. And it was a great delight to be by that tree. "So the members of the sect tried to figure out how to get to that tree. "Now there was a difference of opinion on the matter and they couldn't. settle it among them. For one man said they ought to go east. And another: They ought to go west. One said this way, and another said that way. None of them knew the right way to get to the tree. "A wise man came and said: 'Why worry about how to get to the tree. First you have to think about which people can come to the tree! For not everyone can come to this tree, only those who have the qualities of the tree. " 'For this tree has three roots. One root is Faith, one must believe in God, Blessed Be He. The second root is Piety, one must revere the Good Lord. And the third root is Meekness, one should not think too highly of oneself. And Truth is the body of the tree, that is to say, the tree itself is Truth. And branches grow out of it. And therefore, no one can come to the tree unless he has the qualities of the tree: Faith, he must believe in God, Piety, he must fear God, and Meekness, he mustn't think too highly of himself. And Truth: "That was what the wise man said to the sect. "Now, not everyone in that sect had those qualities. Only some of them. But there was a great unity among them, they loved one another and held together. They didn't want to separate and have some of them, those with the qualities of the tree, go to the tree, while the rest stayed behind. They refused, because they were very close. So they agreed to wait until all of them had worked up to the qualities, so that all of them together might go to the tree. "That was what they did, they worked and worked until all of them attained the necessary qualities, that is to say, they all had Faith and Piety. And when they acquired all the qualities, they all realized that they had agreed upon one path to get to the tree. "And so they all went. "And after walking for a time, they sighted the tree in the distance. "They looked at it and saw that the tree was not standing in any place. For the tree had no place. And if it didn't have a place, how could anyone get to it?" And I, the hunchback telling you all this, I was among them. And I said to them: "I can bring you to the tree. For this tree has no place whatsoever. It is completely beyond a place, that is to say, it is totally beyond the place of this world - it has no place. And the matter of the little that contains a lot is fully in this place. For even though it is a little that contains a lot, that is to say, a tiny place holds more than can be placed in it - nevertheless, it is still in the place. For it occupies some sort of place. And my category of the l little that contains a lot is in the category of the total end of the i place. For from there and higher, there is no place at all. Therefore, I can carry you all to the tree which is completely beyond all place." ' And I took them and carried them to the tree. Hence, I have the approval for having the highest category of the little that contains a lot. And that is why I look like a hunchback, for I carry so much on myself, and therefore, I am a little that contains a lot. "And now," said the hunchback to the bride and groom, "I give it to you as a wedding present, that you may be as I am." And there was much joy and merriment. 6.On the sixth day, they were also merry, and they yearned: "Where can we find the beggar who had no arms?" And at that moment, he came in and said: "Here I am. I've come to your wedding." And he said the same thing to them as the others. And he hugged and kissed them, and said: "You think that I have no arms. But I am not crippled at all. I have powerful arms, but I do not use the power of my arms in this world. For I need the power for something else, and I have the agreement of the watercastle." The Story o f the Armless BeggarOnce, several of us were sitting together, and each man boasted of the power in his arms. One said he had enormous strength in his arms. And another 'said he had enormous strength in his arms. And thus each. one boasted of the strength in his arms. Now one man boasted that the strength and power in his arms was such that when he shot an arrow into the air he could pull it back. For his arms were so powerful that when he shot the arrow they could simply turn it around and bring it back. Then I, the armless man telling you all this, I asked: "What kind of arrow can you pull back? For there are ten kinds of arrow, and there are ten kinds of poison to smear on arrows. One kind of poison can make an arrow harmful, and another kind can make it even more harmful. Altogether, there are ten kinds of poison, each one worse than the next, and more harmful. And that alone makes for ten kinds of arrow. For even though there is only one kind of arrow, if you smear any of the ten kinds of poison on them, you get ten different kinds of arrow. The Tale of the Seven Beggars 693 "And that was why I asked you: What kind of arrow can you pull back?" I also asked him whether he could pull back the arrow before it had hit someone, and could he pull it back after it hit someone. And he replied that he could pull it back even after it had struck its victim. And in answer to the question as to what kind of arrow, he replied: "This arrow." Whereupon I said: "If that is so, then you cannot cure the princess. For if you can only pull back one kind of arrow, then you cannot heal the princess." One man boasted that his arms were so powerful that whenever he took something, he really gave. That is to say: By taking something from someone, he would give them something. And this made him a charitable man. So I asked him: "What kind of charity do you give? For there are ten kinds of alms." He replied that he gave a tithe. To which I said: "If that is so, then you cannot cure the princess, for you could not get to her place, because you only give a tithe. For you could only get through one wall to the place where the princess lives." One man boasted that his hands had a great power. For there were rulers in the world, that is to say, men in charge of a town or country. Each ruler needed wisdom. "My arms are so powerful that I can give him wisdom by supporting him with my arms." So I asked him: "What kind of wisdom can you give with your arms? There are ten measures of wisdom, after all." He replied: "One wisdom." Whereupon I said to him: "Then you cannot cure the princess. You cannot know her pulse, since you know only one kind of pulse. There are ten kinds of pulse, and you can know only one kind, for you know only one wisdom." One man boasted that his arms were so powerful that when a tempest came he could hold it back with his arms. He could grab it and mold it down to a useful size. I asked him: "What kind of wind can you grab? For there are ten kinds of wind." He replied: "One wind." Whereupon I said to him: "Then you cannot cure the princess. For you cannot play the tune for her. For the remedy for the princess is melodies, and there are ten kinds of melody. And you can play only one melody of the ten melodies." "And what can you do?" they exclaimed. I answered: "I can do what all of you cannot do. That is to say: All the nine parts that you cannot do, I can do. I can do everything. "For there is a story: Once a king fell in love with a princess, so he used cunning until he finally managed to catch her. And he kept her with him. "One night, he dreamt that the princess rose against him and murdered him. "He awoke, but the dream had struck him to the quick.. So he summoned all the dream interpreters, and they interpreted his dream and told him the meaning, saying it would come true and she would indeed murder him. "The king didn't know what to do. If he killed her, he would be sorry. If he sent her away, he would be unhappy, for another would take her. He had worked so hard to get her, and now someone else would get her. And if he did send her away and she came to another man, then the dream could indeed come true. For she would be with someone else. On the other hand, if he kept her with him, he feared that the dream might also come true. "And thus the king didn't know what to do with her. "Meanwhile, his love for her was ruined little by little because of the dream, he no longer loved her as much as before. And the more his love was ruined, the more her love for him was ruined, until she despised him so much that she ran away from him. "The king sent out men to find her. "The men came and told him that she was near the watercastle. Now the watercastle had ten walls, each within the other. And all ten walls were of water. And the earth around the castle was also of water. And there were trees and fruits there - all of water. And the beauty of the castle and the wondrousness of the castle were beyond any telling. It was truly wondrous. For the entire castle was of water. And no one could enter the castle. For anyone trying to enter it would drown, for the castle was all of water. "Now when the princess had run away, she had come to this castle. And she walked around the watercastle. So the king's men told him she was walking around there, all around the watercastle. Thereupon, the king rode out with his army to capture her. "When the princess heard them, she decided to escape into the castle. For she would rather drown than be caught by the king and return to him. On the other hand, perhaps she might be saved and find refuge in the watercastle. "When the king saw her running into the watercastle, he said it was so, and ordered his men to shoot her. If she died, then so be it. "So they shot their arrows at her, and all ten kinds of arrow struck her, the ten kinds that were smeared with the ten kinds of poison. "And the princess escaped into the castle and came into its interior. And she passed through the gates of the watery walls. For there were gates in the watery walls. And she passed through all the gates of the watery walls of the watercastle, until she came into the interior of the castle, and there she collapsed and lay in a faint. And I am healing her, I the armless man telling you all this." For he who does not have in his hands all ten charities cannot pass through the walls of the watercastle. For he will drown in the water. And the king and his army chased after the princess and they all drowned in the water. But I can pass through all ten walls of the watercastle. And these walls of water - they are the waves of the sea, which stand like walls. And the winds raise up the waves of the sea and lift them high. And the waves which are the ten walls - they stand there forever. The winds hold them up and raise them aloft. And I can pass through the ten walls, and I can pull out all ten kinds of arrow from the princess. And I know all ten pulses through the ten fingers. For through each of the fingers, one can know another pulse of the ten pulses. And I can cure her, the princess, with all ten kinds of melody, and thus I cure her. And that is the great power in my arms. And today, I give it to you as a wedding present. And there was a great, great rejoicing, and everyone was very merry. 7.But what about the seventh beggar? That we do not know. And we shall not know until the Messiah comes.
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