Ninth Tale Of a Wise Man and a Simpleton #2
The same was the case with his clothing.
He and his wife possessed one old pelt between the two of them.
If he needed to wear it to go to the market, he would say, My wife, give me my pelt.
And she gave it to him. If he needed to wear a sheepskin coat for a more dignified occasion, he would say, My wife, bring me my sheepskin.
And she would fetch the old pelt for him.
He would delight in his coat and commend it, What a fine sheepskin coat this is!
If he needed to put on a gaberdine to go to the prayer house, he would call to his wife and say, Wife, bring me my gaberdine!
75 When she brought the pelt, he would say, What an elegant and lovely gaberdine this is!
The same when he needed to dress up in a waistcoat, she would bring him the pelt and again he would take great delight in it, exclaiming, What an elegant and lovely waistcoat this is!
And it was much the same with everything else.
He was always filled with joy and cheer and mirth.
When he completed a shoe, it might have three sides, since he really did not have much of a handle on his trade.
But he would take the shoe into his hands and praise it and take great pleasure in it.
He would say, My wife, what a lovely and fine little shoe this is!
What a sweet and adorable and delightful little shoe!
She would ask, If that is the case, why do the other shoemakers earn three gulden for a pair and you only get half a thaler—a mere quarter of what they earn?
Why should I care, he replied. That is their business and this is mine.
Why should we discuss other people’s affairs?
Let us better figure out how much profit I make on a shoe.
The leather costs this much, the resin and wax ends cost that much, the lasts cost this much, and all the other materials that much.
All in all, I net ten groschen, so why should I worry when I still make a profit?
And so he was always nothing but cheerful and merry.
He was a source of ridicule for everybody else, however, and all the mockery they desired they got out of this source, for they had someone—an apparent nincompoop—to deride whenever they desired.
People would come to converse with him for the express purpose of mocking him.
The simple man would always respond, No fooling, right?
Straight away they would answer him, Absolutely! No fooling! 76
After inquiring in that way, he would chat with them.
He did not want to keep guessing if all was meant in jest, for he really was quite simple.
Yet, if he determined that someone was, indeed, pulling his leg, he would say, What does it matter if you are smarter than I am?
You are still a fool. For what am I, after all?
It is no great shakes to be wiser than a fool. Such was the way of this simple man.
Now, he resumes telling about the clever one:
Meanwhile, the clever son’s return caused quite a stir in his hometown, as he was coming back with all his grandeur and brilliance. The simple man also ran to greet him with great joy, telling his wife, Bring me my waistcoat! I am going to meet my dear friend and see him after so long!
So she brought him the old pelt and he headed off to meet him.
The clever son was riding grandly in a coach when the simple man met him and shouted his greetings to him with joy and great affection, How are you, my dear brother?
Praise be to God who has brought you home and has granted me the privilege of seeing you again.
The clever one looked at him. Despite the whole world seeming worthless to him—and all the more so this man who looked like a lunatic—out of the deep love they held for each other from their youth, he embraced him. They rode into town together.
The two burghers, the fathers of the clever and simple sons, had died while the clever one was off in the world and had bequeathed their houses to their children.
For his part, the simple 77 man had moved into his father’s house, which was now his own.
Since the clever one was abroad, no one had taken care of his house and it had gone to rack and ruin.
Nothing at all was left of it. The clever son had no home to go to when he arrived, so he stopped at an inn.
He was terribly miserable there since this was not the sort of inn he would have wanted.
Now the simple man had a new occupation.
He would regularly head over to visit the clever one with affection and joy.
Seeing how miserable he was at the inn, the simple man said to the clever man, My brother, come over to my house and stay with me.
I will gather all of my things together and my home will be all yours.
This idea appealed to the clever one and he went over to stay with the simple man.
But the clever man was always miserable.
Since he had gained renown as a great sage and a great artisan and a great physician, a nobleman came to ask him to make a gold ring.
So he made a very fine ring, engraved with intricate designs, including the figure of a tree which was truly a marvel.
But when the nobleman came for it, he was displeased with the ring and the clever one was miserable about this.
He knew that this ring with the engraving of the tree would have been esteemed in Spain and considered a masterpiece.
Yet it was completely unappreciated here.
So it was another time, when a great nobleman came bringing a precious stone from a faraway land.
He brought with him another gem that had a design engraved on it and he asked the clever one to engrave the same design onto the newly acquired stone.
He then recreated the engraving, but his design was imperfect, 78 although nobody could tell but him.
When the nobleman came to collect his jewel, he was very pleased with the work.
The clever one, however, was miserable about the flaw.
He thought to himself, As clever as I am, it still happens that I make a blunder.
He was also brought to misery in his doctoring.
Once he came to a patient and gave a cure that he well knew would allow this patient to survive; he would assuredly be healed by this cure since it was a most effective remedy.
Then the patient died, and everyone said it was because of the clever man.
He was terribly miserable about this. It also happened that he gave another patient a remedy, and when he got better, everyone said it was just a stroke of luck.
This also made him most miserable. He was always afflicted with such misery.
Once he needed a garment. He went to see the tailor and took great pains to instruct him on how to make his garment according to the style he wished and was accustomed to.
The tailor met all of the clever man’s specifications for the garment but for the lapel, which was not to his liking.
The clever man was quite miserable about this, too.
He thought to himself, Even though no one notices it here, if I were to go out with such a lapel in Spain, I would be a laughing stock and derided for it. Thus he was continually made miserable.
The simple man frequently hastened to the clever one’s side, bringing along his joy and cheer.
He always found him in a wretched state, full of misery.
He asked him, Why is it that, as brilliant and illustrious as you are, I am always merry and you are always so miserable?
This struck the clever man as ironic, indeed, as he considered his friend mad.
The simple one went 79 on, Even when ordinary folks mock me, I know they are fools since, if they are only smarter than I am, they are still fools.
All the more so when it comes to you. As clever as you are, what good does it do you to be smarter than me?
Then he exclaimed, May the Almighty grant that you could only be more like me!
The clever man answered, It could very easily be that I become like you.
For the Lord, Heaven forbid, might deprive me of my reason, or I might, Heaven forbid, become ill or take leave of my senses.
For what are you, after all, but a nincompoop?
But for you to become like me, to attain my level of brilliance, that is unquestionably impossible.
The simple man replied, With Blessed God all things are possible. In the blink of an eye, I could reach your level!
The clever one laughed and laughed.
The two sons came to be known as the wise man and the simpleton, and so they were called by all.
Even though there are many clever and many simple people in the world, the bearers of these names were unmistakable to everyone in the city since the two had grown up there and had gone to school together.
Yet one was extraordinarily brilliant and the other so very simple.
In the official revision list, where the names of all men in the kingdom were recorded, the two were entered as Wiseman and Simpleton.