Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Fairy tales; Fantasy literature
“Zadok,” said the Wise Man, “transport me to the treasure-house of
the king of Egypt.” And instantly the Demon had transported him
thither. The Wise Man drew a circle upon the earth. “No one,” said
he, “shall have power to enter here but the master of Zadok, the
King of the Demons of the Earth.”
“And now, Zadok,” said he, “I command thee to transport me to
India, and as far from here as thou canst.” Instantly the Demon
did as he was commanded; and of all the treasure that he had, the
Wise Man took nothing with him but a jar of golden money and a jar
of silver money. As soon as the Wise Man stood upon the ground of
India, he drew from beneath his robe a little jar of glass.
“Zadok,” said he, “I command thee to enter this jar.”
Then the Demon knew that now his turn had come. He besought and
implored the Wise Man to have mercy upon him; but it was all in
vain. Then the Demon roared and bellowed till the earth shook and
the sky grew dark overhead. But all was of no avail; into the jar
he must go, and into the jar he went. Then the Wise Man stoppered
the jar and sealed it. He wrote an inscription of warning upon it,
and then he buried it in the ground.
“Now,” said Aben Hassen the Wise to the Talisman of Solomon, “have
I done everything that I should?”
“No,” said the Talisman, “thou shouldst not have brought the jar
of golden money and the jar of silver money with thee; for that
which is evil in the greatest is evil in the least. Thou fool! The
treasure is cursed! cast it all from thee while there is yet time.”
“Yes, I will do that, too,” said the Wise Man. So he buried in the
earth the jar of gold and the jar of silver that he had brought
with him, and then he stamped the mould down upon it. After that
the Wise Man began his life all over again. He bought, and he
sold, and he traded, and by-and-by he became rich. Then he built
himself a great house, and in the foundation he laid the jar in
which the Demon was bottled.
Then he married a young and handsome wife. By-and-by the wife bore
him a son, and then she died.
This son was the pride of his father’s heart; but he was as vain
and foolish as his father was wise, so that all men called him Aben
Hassen the Fool, as they called the father Aben Hassen the Wise.
Then one day death came and called the old man, and he left his son
all that belonged to him--even the Talisman of Solomon.
* * * * *
Young Aben Hassen the Fool had never seen so much money as now
belonged to him. It seemed to him that there was nothing in the
world he could not enjoy. He found friends by the dozens and
scores, and everybody seemed to be very fond of him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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