Tenth Tale Of a Wealthy Merchant and a Poor Man
Tenth Tale
Of a Wealthy Merchant and a Poor Man
A story:
O nce there was a merchant who was very wealthy.
He traded in a great deal of merchandise, with promissory notes and correspondence all over the world, and was the owner of all manner of good things.
Humbler than he lived a poor man who was very poor indeed.
He was the exact opposite of the merchant, except that both were childless.
Once, the merchant dreamt that a mob descended upon his home and began to pack up bundle after bundle of his things.
He asked them, What are you doing? They replied that they were going to carry it all away to the poor man.
This nettled him a great deal and he became angry, but he could not stand up to them because they were so many.
But the mob went on packing bundle after bundle of his possessions, merchandise and chattels.
They took it all away to the poor man, leaving him only the bare walls. It exasperated him.
Then he woke up and saw it had been a dream. Even though he knew it was only a dream and, praise God, he still had all his possessions, he was nevertheless deeply rattled and he could not get the dream out of his mind. 96
It had been the wealthy merchant’s custom to provide for the poor man and his wife and to give them gifts. Now, after the dream, he provided more for them than before. But whenever the poor man or his wife paid him a visit, he would recall the dream and his face contorted with fear.
The poor man and his wife would often come to his house.
One time, the poor man’s wife visited to collect something from him.
His face contorted and he recoiled in fear.
She asked him, Begging your pardon, but tell me, why is it that whenever we come to see you, you cringe so?
He told her the story of what he had dreamt and that since then he had been deeply unsettled.
Did this dream take place on this day? she asked, mentioning a date.
He replied, Yes, why?
She said, That same night I, too, had a dream.
In it I was a very wealthy woman and people came into my house and started packing up bundle after bundle.
I asked them, Where are you going to take all this?
They replied, To the poor man—meaning you, sir.
But why pay so much attention to a dream? After all, a dream is just a dream.
The merchant was more frightened than ever, and bewildered to boot, now that he had also heard her dream. It seemed to presage his wealth and possessions being brought to the poor man and the poor man’s poverty being brought to him. He was terribly frightened.
And it came to pass…
97 One day the merchant’s wife set out on a drive in her carriage.
She was accompanied by her lady friends and she also let the poor man’s wife tag along.
An army general and his regiment happened to be marching by, so the ladies yielded the road to let them pass.
The general noticed that it was a group of women travelling.
He ordered one of them be snatched away, so the troops went and seized the poor man’s wife.
They stashed her in the general’s coach and rode off.
Bringing her back was surely impossible since they had ridden so far away, and even more so because it was a general and his regiment.
The general brought her to his country. She was a God-fearing woman; she did not wish to yield to him and wept greatly. No matter how she was entreated and enticed, she was exceedingly pious.
The merchant’s wife and the rest of her entourage returned from their outing and the poor man’s wife was not among them. The poor man wept bitterly and tore his hair, lamenting ever for his wife.
One time, the merchant was passing in front of the poor man’s house and heard the poor man’s bitter, anguished weeping, so he went inside and asked him, Why are you weeping so bitterly?
He replied, What else can I do? What do I have left? Some have wealth, some have children, but I have nothing. Now I have been deprived of my wife as well. So what do I have left?
The merchant was deeply moved and pitied the poor man greatly because he saw his anguish and how very sad he was.
The merchant went and did an extraordinary thing; indeed, it was sheer madness.
He went and inquired as to what country the 98 general lived in.
There he travelled and did a most extraordinary thing: he walked right up to the general’s house.
The general’s guards were stationed in front, yet, in his bewilderment he paid no attention to them.
The guards were equally frightened and upset to see someone so bewildered before them. How had he got there?
In all the hubbub he slipped past the guards, entered the general’s house, and found the place where the poor man’s wife was being kept.
He came and woke her and said to her, Come.
When she saw him she grew frightened. So he said, Come with me right away.
She did so, and the two of them slipped past all the guards until they eluded them.
The merchant then looked around and realized what an extraordinarily brazen thing he had just done.
He knew an uproar would instantly ensue at the general’s.
And so it did. The merchant and the poor man’s wife went and hid in a cistern to wait for the commotion to subside.
There they stayed for two days. She understood the risk he had taken for her sake and the misery he had suffered over her.
So she swore by God that whatever good fortune she might yet achieve, whatever honour and prosperity, none of it would she refuse the merchant.
And should he wish to take all of her future prosperity and honour, leaving her as she had been before, she vowed it still should not be refused him.
But how could a witness be found there to solemnize her oath?
So she took the cistern as a witness. After two more days they left the cistern and continued on their way.
They went on and on, and he realized that in each place they arrived, she was still being sought, too.
So he went and hid with 99 her in a mikveh, as they had before in the cistern.
She once again recalled the risk he had taken and the misery he had suffered for her sake and, as she had before, swore upon her future good fortune, taking the mikveh as a witness.
They remained there for another two days or so and left to continue on their way.
Once again he realized that there, too, they were looking for her, and they went and hid again.
This happened several more times. Each time they hid in a different place until they had hidden in seven different watery locales, to wit: in a cistern, a mikveh, a marsh, a spring and in streams, rivers and seas.
In each place they sought refuge, she remembered the risk he had taken and the misery he had suffered for her sake and she swore never to refuse him her future good fortune.
And each time she took that place as a witness.
They proceeded in this way, hiding from place to place, until they reached the sea.
The merchant was well versed in commerce and knew the maritime trade routes.
He was determined to get back to his country, which he did.
He returned home with the poor man’s wife, delivering her to her husband, and there was much rejoicing.
Since the wealthy merchant had withstood the test of temptation, fearing God and never laying a hand on the poor man’s wife, he was remembered by Blessed God and that very year had a son.
And for having withstood temptation with the general and with the merchant, the poor man’s wife, too, was deemed worthy and bore a daughter.
This daughter was a person of extraordinary beauty, indeed, otherworldly beauty—no such beauty existed among mortals.
People could hardly wait to see how such an extraordinary marvel would mature.
Everyone 100 would say, If only she would mature!
Such was the nature of her beauty that no one had ever seen its like before.
People came to visit just to catch a glimpse of her and were flabbergasted at her profoundly extraordinary beauty.
They would give her presents out of adoration.
There was such a flow of gifts that the poor man grew rich.
The merchant’s son and the poor man’s daughter both regularly studied languages and other subjects in the same class.
And the merchant took a notion to arrange a marriage between the two.
He thought that perhaps this was the meaning of his dream, where all his things were being carried away to the poor man and all the poor man’s things were being carried away to him.
Maybe the meaning was that the children were to be betrothed and their households would be merged together.
One time, the poor man’s wife came to see the merchant. He told her it was his desire that their children be betrothed and perhaps, thereby, his dream would be fulfilled.
She replied, I, too, had that in mind, but I did not have the impertinence to suggest it. But if you want that, I am certainly willing. I cannot refuse you anything as I have sworn that none of my possessions or prosperity will be refused you.