Seventh Tale Of a King’s Journey
Seventh Tale
Of a King’s Journey
I will tell you
of a journey I took.
A story:
O nce there was a king who had been engaged in several difficult wars. These he won and took numerous prisoners.
Perhaps I shall tell you the whole story, so that you might understand.
Every year the king held a great banquet on the anniversary of his victory.
The grand fete was attended by all the royal ministers and noblemen, as is the way of kings.
Burlesques were staged that poked fun at all the nations, Turks and others alike.
They parodied the customs and behaviours of every nation, and, no doubt, mocked the Jews as well.
The king ordered that he be brought a book he remembered, wherein each nation’s customs and behaviours were recorded.
Whatever page he opened the book to, he saw that each lampooned nation was described in precisely the same way as on the page.
Clearly the one who planned the burlesque had also read this very book. 58
As the king was perusing the book he noticed a spider crawling along the edges of the pages and a fly standing on the page itself.
Where would the spider go? Obviously, towards the fly.
But just as the spider had crept up to the fly, a wind came and riffled that page of the book, preventing the spider from reaching the fly.
So it retreated. But the spider was only pretending to withdraw in order to give the appearance of not wanting to get at the fly.
Then, when the page had settled back in place, the spider once again tried to approach the fly, and once again the page was riffled, keeping the spider from the fly.
So it retreated once more. This happened several times.
The next time the spider approached the fly, it crept along until it could reach one of its legs across and secure the page.
This time, when the wind riffled the page, the spider was already partially on it.
And when the page settled back in place, the spider remained between the pages, and there it crept along, precariously underneath, until it was completely hidden away.
As for the fly, I shall not tell you what became of it.
The king observed all of this and was quite fascinated.
He understood that this was no trifle, and that something important was being shown to him.
All the royal ministers had noticed the king’s rapt attention and astonishment.
As for the king, he began to ponder what it all meant and he dozed off ruminating on the book.
He dreamt that he was holding a precious crystal.
He gazed into it and saw hordes of people coming out of it.
So he threw the crystal down. Now, it was customary for the portraits of the kings to be hung above their thrones and for their crowns to be suspended above.
In his dream the king saw the people who had come out of 59 the crystal were now taking down his portrait and ripping off its head.
Then they took his crown and flung it into the mud.
They then ran at him intending to kill him, but a page from the book he had fallen asleep on riffled up and shielded him.
The people could do nothing to him so they withdrew.
Then the page settled back in place. Once again the people tried to kill him, and once again the page rose and shielded him. This happened several times.
The king was very curious to see which page it was that was protecting him, what customs were recorded on it, and which nation was described there. But he was afraid to take his eyes off his assailants and started yelling, Help! Help!
All the royal ministers who were seated there heard him yelling in his sleep and wanted to wake him up. But there was no courteous way to awaken a king directly, so instead they banged on various objects to rouse him. But still he did not stir.
Just then, a tall mountain came to the king and asked, Why are you yelling? I have been asleep for such a long time and no one has ever woken me up, but now you have gone and done so.
The king said to him, Why should I not yell when there are people rising against me and trying to kill me and I have only this page to shield me?
The mountain replied, If that page is shielding you, then you need fear nothing. For many enemies are risen up against me with only this same page shielding me. Come, I will show you.
The mountain pointed out the myriads and multitudes of people that had set themselves against it in encampments round about.
All of them are feasting and making merry, the mountain 60 went on, playing music and dancing.
They rejoice whenever one of their rank has devised a clever new stratagem to conquer me.
And so it is at each encampment. But that page of the book of customs that shields you also shields me.
At the summit of the mountain was a signpost. Upon it was inscribed both the customs from the shielding page as well as which nation they belonged to.
But since the mountain was so tall, the writing could not be made out.
But down below there was another signpost upon which it was inscribed that whosoever had all his teeth could reach the mountaintop.
Blessed God had granted that grass should grow to form a path where the mountain was to be climbed.
But whosoever trod there, lost all his teeth.
No matter whether he had come on foot, or had ridden a horse, or had driven a cart pulled by oxen—all his teeth fell out.
The king saw there were great mountainous heaps of white teeth.
Then the people from the crystal took the king’s portrait and put it back together; and they took his crown and washed it off and hung it back up in place.
Then the king awoke.
Right away he looked for the page that had shielded him to find out which nation’s customs were written on it.
There he found the customs of the Jews. He began looking at the page that contained the Truth and he understood its rightful way.
He decided that he must assuredly become a Jew.
But what could he do to put the world on the path of right and bring all to the truth?
He decided he would set out to find a sage who could precisely interpret his dream.
He took two companions and he travelled the world with them, not as a king but as a commoner. 61
He travelled from one city to another, asking, Where might one find a sage who can interpret dreams precisely?
He was told of a place where such a sage could be found. So he travelled there and found him. He told the sage the truth: that he was a king, that he had been victorious in war, and the whole story from beginning to end. Then he asked the sage to interpret his dream.
The sage replied, I cannot interpret your dream myself.
But there is a certain day in a certain month when I gather all the fragrant herbs I need to make an incense and grind them into a compound.
Then I burn the incense and allow the smoke to settle over the seeker.
Then he may envision what he wishes to see and wants to know. And all is revealed.
The king decided that since he had devoted so much time to this endeavour already, he would wait until the month and day the sage had mentioned. When that day arrived, the sage did as he had described and the king was enveloped by the smoke of the incense.
Then he began to see everything, even what had happened to him before he was born when his soul was still in the heavenly realms. He saw his soul being led through all the worlds to be tested on his way to this world.
A voice bellowed, Whosoever has a charge with which to indict this soul, let him come forward!
But there was no one with such an indictment.
Just then someone came running up, yelling, Almighty God! Hear my plea! If this soul should be allowed to enter the world, what will I do? What is it You created me for?
It was the Adversary—the Satan—to whose yelling boomed 62 the reply, This soul must go down into the world. And as for you, Adversary, be reconciled to it.
Then the Satan took his leave, and the king’s soul was led further through more worlds until at last it was brought to the Heavenly Tribunal to be adjudged whether it was fit to descend into this world.
The Tribunal awaited the Adversary, who had not yet appeared.
A messenger was dispatched to summon him so the trial could get underway.
When he at last arrived, he brought with him a stooped old man, a greybeard he appeared to know from long, long ago.
Grinning, the Adversary said, I am reconciled to it. This soul may go down into the world.
The king’s soul was permitted to leave and descend into this world.
Then the king saw what had happened to him from the start of his earthly life until its end, and how he had become a king, and the wars he had fought, and the prisoners he had taken.
Among those prisoners there had been a comely woman who possessed all manner of worldly grace, which came not from her alone, but from a jewel she wore.
It was by means of this jewel that she radiated such grace and such charm.
Now the mountain is forbidden to be climbed by anyone except sages and the illustrious.
He did not recount any further.
There was more to this tale,
including the matter of the prisoners,
but I failed to record it all properly.