Ninth Tale Of a Wise Man and a Simpleton
Ninth Tale
Of a Wise Man and a Simpleton
A story:
O nce there were two burghers who lived in the same city.
They were both exceptionally wealthy and had large houses.
Each burgher had one son, and they went to school together.
One son was very clever and the other simple—not an idiot by any means, just rather foolish.
The two boys loved one another very much.
It was no matter that one was so clever and intelligent and the other simple-hearted and silly; they loved each other nonetheless.
As time went on, both burghers met with a reversal of fortunes and their status declined until they had lost nearly everything.
They were left destitute, with their houses as their sole possession.
The sons were grown by then, and the burghers told their children, We can no longer afford to support you. Do what you can to earn your keep.
The foolish son went off to become a shoemaker.
Given his intelligence, the clever son did not want to take on a simple trade.
He decided that he would head into the world to see what he could do.
While walking around the market square, he saw a large carriage pass by, drawn by four leather-harnessed 70 horses.
He asked the merchants riding in it, Where do you come from?
They answered, From Warsaw.
And where are you going now?
Back to Warsaw, they responded.
Perhaps you might need an apprentice? he asked them.
The merchants saw that he was clearly a bright young man and quite industrious, and they took a liking to him. So they took him along. They travelled together and earned quite a sum on their way.
When he arrived in Warsaw, since he was a deep thinker, he reasoned, Now that I am already here in Warsaw, why should I remain apprenticed to these merchants?
Perhaps there is a better place for me than with them.
I shall go look and see where such a place might be.
He went to the market square, where he began making inquiries, asking about the merchants who had brought him to Warsaw and whether he might be better suited to a position with others.
He was told that the merchants were upstanding people and he would do well to stay; but, on the other hand, it might also be difficult, since they had business dealings so far and wide.
As he was walking, he saw some shop boys also going about in the market square.
They were bustling about, as shop boys do, in their unique fashion with their caps and pointed shoes and their charming demeanour and fancy dress.
Since he was such a deep thinker and clever young man this all appealed to him, for it seemed to be a very fine occupation and was in one fixed location that he could call home.
So he went to the merchants 71 who had brought him to the city and he thanked them and told them that it did not seem ideal for him to stay on and that he had already paid his fare for the journey by what he had earned for them on the way.
He took his leave of them and arranged to be taken on by a Warsaw shopkeeper.
According to the custom of shop boys, one must first be an underling and do the heavy lifting in exchange for little pay.
Afterwards, one is promoted to shop boy.
Thus the shopkeeper doled out the heavy labour to him and routinely dispatched him to carry merchandise to nobles, as is the way of the shop underlings, whose task it is to lug bolts of cloth in the crooks of their arms. The work was very hard for him.
Once he had to deliver merchandise to the upper storey of a building, which was especially difficult.
So he began to ruminate, as is the way of deep thinkers, What good does this work do me?
The point of such a livelihood is that it allows one to get married and be a breadwinner.
But I do not need to think about that now; there is time for all that later.
For now, it would be better if I travelled the world and visited many lands.
He went to the market square and saw some merchants riding in a large carriage. He asked them, Where are you going?
They answered, To Leghorn.
Would you take me with you? he asked.
Yes, they replied. So they brought him along, travelling from Warsaw to Italy. And from Italy he headed off to Spain.
Several years passed during his travels and he grew even cleverer as he spent time in many countries.
He thought, Now I must seek a more practical purpose for myself.
So he began to 72 ruminate, in his philosophical way, on what he should do.
The idea of learning goldsmithing appealed to him, for it is a fine trade and a lovely craft and it requires great wisdom.
It is also a lucrative profession. As he was a deep thinker and exceptionally clever, it did not take him many years to learn his craft.
He picked it up in one season alone and became a master artisan, an expert goldsmith, even better than the smith who had taught him.
Later, he started ruminating again in his philosophical manner, Even though I have mastered this craft, I am still unsatisfied by it. After all, one thing may be highly regarded today and then, later, it is something else.
So he set himself up with a gemcutter and, owing to his wisdom, he picked up this craft in the brief span of one season.
Some time passed before he again began reflecting philosophically, Even though I have now mastered these two trades, who knows if either of them will continue to be as well regarded as they are now.
It would be ideal for me to learn a trade that will always be highly esteemed.
He thought that with all of his cleverness and deep thinking he ought to study medicine, which is a field that is always needed and will be esteemed always.
As is the custom when studying medicine, one must first learn Latin—both how to speak and write—and one must also study philosophy.
Since he was so very clever, he learnt all of this in the brief span of one season and he became a great physician and philosopher, the sage of all sages.
But then, everything began to seem trivial, and the whole world appeared worthless to him.
He felt as if there were no sense in anything at all.
Owing to his cleverness he had become a great 73 artisan and sage and doctor, and yet, to him, all was pointless.
He decided he ought to find a purpose and to find a wife.
He considered the idea, But if I were to marry here, who would even know what had become of me?
I would rather return home so that they might all see what I have become.
I left when I was only a lad and now I have achieved such greatness.
So he picked himself up and headed home. He was terribly miserable on the way. Because of his great wisdom there was no one he could talk to, and he felt no accommodations were suitable. And so he was always very miserable.
For the meantime, let us set aside the story of the clever son.
We shall now relate what became of the simple one.
The simple son learnt the craft of shoemaking.
Since he was so simple, he had to study his trade a long while until he had got the hang of it, although, even then, not fully.
He took a wife and earned a living by his trade.
Yet since he was so simple and did not have a firm grasp of his craft, his earnings were terribly meagre.
He hardly had time to eat because he always had to work, owing to his lack of expertise.
As he worked, boring holes with his awl and passing waxed ends through the leather, he would take a bite of some bread and eat.
But his nature was to be merry always. He acted as if every new day was a cause for constant celebration and that he had every dish to eat, every beverage to drink and every garment to wear.
He would call to his wife, Wife, bring me something to eat!
She would bring him a crust of bread, which he would gobble up.
Then he would say, Give me some barley soup!
And 74 she would slice another piece of bread for him and he would gobble it up.
Then he would heap praise on her, How fine and good this soup is!
Then he would ask her to bring him some meat, and she would bring him yet another hunk of bread, which he gobbled up, lauding, How fine this meat is!
And the same with any other dish he asked for.
He would order a dish, and each time she would bring him a scrap of bread.
And he would take delight in it all and compliment each dish’s excellence as if he had really eaten it.
Indeed, he genuinely felt as if the bread he ate had the taste of each of the delicious dishes he wished for.
Given his levity and jollity, he savoured his bread as if it were every delicacy in the world.
He would say, Bring me some beer to drink, my wife!
And she would bring him water, and he would praise how fine a beer it was.
Then he would say, Bring me some mead. She would bring him water, which he praised, What delicious mead this is!
Bring me wine or some liquor, he would say.
Again she would bring him water and again he enjoyed it and praised the drink as he quaffed it.