Eleventh Tale Of a Prince and a Handmaid’s Son
Eleventh Tale
Of a Prince and a Handmaid’s Son
A story:
O nce there was a king in whose household was a handmaid who served the queen. Ordinarily, no vulgar scullery maid would be permitted into the king’s inner sanctum; however, this handmaid was a servant of no common rank.
The time came when the queen was to have a child.
The handmaid, too, was going to give birth.
Just to see what would come of it, the midwife went and switched their babies.
She took the king’s child and laid it down beside the handmaid, and she took the handmaid’s child and laid it beside the queen.
The children grew. The prince (that is, the child they thought a prince) was raised to higher and higher positions until he was very great and a man of immense talent.
The handmaid’s son (that is, the child who was being brought up by the handmaid) grew up with her.
The two children studied together in the same class.
It was in the nature of the true prince (who was called the handmaid’s son) to be drawn to the trappings of royalty, although he was raised in a humble servant’s home.
It was exactly the opposite for the handmaid’s son (who was called the prince), whose nature was to be drawn to less than regal trappings despite 122 being brought up in the king’s home.
Yet, he had to conform to a more royal comportment because that was how he had been shown to behave.
Since, as our sages of old have taught, the female mind is flighty and women are incapable of restraint, the midwife went and revealed to someone the secret of how she had switched the children.
Now, everyone has a friend, and that friend has a friend.
One person divulged the secret to another in this way until it had become public knowledge, as is the way of the world.
People certainly could not engage in wanton gossip about how the prince had been switched, lest the king learn of it, so they did so on the sly.
What would the king do if he found out? He could not remedy the situation.
He might well not believe it. What if it were a lie?
How could they be switched back? Clearly the king must never find out.
But people kept gossiping about it on the sly.
And it came to pass…
A person went and revealed to the ostensible prince that people were saying he had been switched at birth.
But you cannot dwell on this, the person went on, for it is beneath you.
And what good would dwelling on it serve?
I told you this so that you should know in case one day there might be a rebellion against the kingdom, and the rebellion were to reinforce itself by saying they were taking the prince, that is, the one they declared to be the true prince, as their king.
So you must see to devising a way of dealing with this young man.
So the ostensible prince started playing tricks on the young man’s father, who was in fact his own father, in a constant effort 123 to do him harm.
He inflicted one mischief after another on him to drive him and his son away.
As long as the king was still alive, the ostensible prince’s power was limited.
Yet, nevertheless, he kept playing his malicious tricks.
The king grew old and died, and the apparent heir apparent acceded to the throne. He went on doing ill to the young man’s father, one malicious thing after another, but in such a way that people were unaware that he was the cause, for such behaviour was not seemly for respectable people.
The young man’s father understood that the new king was wronging him because of what people were saying about the children having been switched.
So he spoke to his son, telling him the whole story.
He said to him, I feel great pity for you in either case.
If you are my child, I of course feel great pity for you.
But if it turns out that you are not my child and are in fact the prince, then I would feel even greater pity for you as the king wants to extirpate you utterly, God forbid. So you must flee.
The young man was greatly troubled by this.
In the meantime, however, the king kept inflicting his torments, one after the other.
So the young man decided he had to flee.
His father gave him a sum of money and off he went.
It nettled him to be driven from his country for no good reason.
He considered, Why do I deserve to be driven away?
If I am indeed the rightful prince, I certainly do not deserve to be driven away.
And even if I am not the prince, I still do not deserve to be made a fugitive for no good reason. What sin am I guilty of?
He became terribly embittered, on account of which he took to drinking and frequenting brothels. He wanted to spend his 124 life in this way, getting drunk and indulging his lust because he had been driven away for no good reason.
The ostensible king took hold of the throne with rigour. When he heard that people were muttering and gossiping about the switch he punished them with torture, thus taking his revenge on them. He ruled by might and majesty.
And it came to pass…
The king was off with his lords on a hunting party when they came to a lovely spot with a brook running past it.
They stopped there to rest and stroll about.
The king lay down to nap, when he began contemplating what he had done, driving the young man away for no good reason.
In either case: if the young man was indeed the prince, was it not enough that he was switched?
Why should he also have been driven away for no good reason?
And if he was not the prince, he still did not deserve to be driven away.
After all, how had he sinned? Thus the ostensible king pondered the matter and regretted the sin and great injustice he had done, but he was unable to find a solution he could pursue.
Such a shameful thing could not be discussed with others, nor could he seek anyone’s advice about it.
The king was preoccupied with these anxieties and ordered his lords to return home.
As the king was so perturbed, it seemed an inopportune time for a carefree stroll, so they all turned back.
Once home, the king had various affairs and official business to attend to.
Being so engaged in these duties, this other matter slipped his mind.
Meanwhile, the fugitive true prince did what he did and dissipated all his money.
One time, he went out for a walk by 125 himself and lay down.
Everything that had happened to him came to his mind, and he began to reflect, What has God done to me?
If I am indeed the prince, I certainly do not deserve this.
And if I am not the prince, then I still do not deserve to be a fugitive and an exile.
He then considered once more, However, if it is in fact the case that Blessed God can do such a thing and swap out a prince and make such things come to pass, ought I still to behave this way? Is what I have done right? Is it proper to conduct myself as I have?
He began to feel immense anxiety and regret over the sinful deeds he had committed. He returned home but again took to drinking. Yet because he had started feeling remorse he often became confused, with thoughts of regret and repentance constantly swirling in his mind.
Once he lay down and dreamt that there was a fair in a certain place on a certain date to which he had to go.
The dream instructed him to take the very first opportunity for profit he might chance upon, even if it did not comport with his dignity.
Then he woke up, but the dream stuck in his mind.
Periodically there were things that slipped his mind, but this dream was firmly lodged there.
Even so, it was difficult to achieve, and he again took to drinking.
He dreamt the dream several more times, and the dream continued to perplex him.
Once, he was told in his dream, If you seek mercy, do as this dream bids you.
So he had to fulfil it. He gave away whatever money he had left and paid what he owed at the inn where he had been staying.
126 He left his nice clothes at his lodgings.
He rose early, put on simple merchant’s attire, and set off for the fair.
He met a merchant who asked him, Would you like to earn some money?
He replied, Yes.
The merchant said, I need to drive some cattle. Will you hire yourself out to me?
Because of his dream’s injunction to take the first opportunity for profit he might chance upon, he did not think twice. He answered instantly, Yes.
The merchant hired him on the spot and right away started ordering him around, the way a lord does his servants.
The young man now began to reconsider what he was doing there, because he certainly did not deserve such servitude, for he was a person of refinement.
Now he was going to have to drive cattle and walk alongside them to do so.
But he could not back out. The merchant ordered him around like a lord, whereupon the young man asked him, Am I to walk on my own with the cattle?
The merchant replied, No, I have other herdsmen who drive the cattle. You will walk along with them.