English
Section 5
He came and went in his own hall, and all night long he worked out his cure.
Full of thought, he slept in the hall that night; he smiled, but told no one his secret.
At dawn, when he set the crown on his head, he gave audience to the whole army.
He ordered that Lambak the water carrier be brought before him, his arms folded in respect.
From the hall they brought in Rahham too, the malicious, ill willed Jew.
When he entered the court, they seated him; then they called for a pure hearted man.
He told him: go and carry off the loads; see that you are nothing but just.
Go to Rahham's house, look it over; see what is stored there and bring it.
The pure hearted man went to the Jew's house; the whole place was full of silk and gold coin.
Things to wear and things to spread out, things to lay down and things scattered about.
It was like a caravanserai and a mansion; there was no room left inside the house.
Pearls and rubies and every kind of gem, and on top of each sack a jeweled crown.
Even a priest skilled at counting could not have tallied it in a very long time.
The priest sent a rider there and called for a thousand camels from the plain of Jahrom.
They loaded them all, and still more remained; with a glad heart he drove the caravan on.
When the sound of the camel bells reached the court, the clear sighted man came and told the king:
There are no more jewels than this in your own treasury; and there still remain some two hundred loads.
The king of Iran was left amazed at this; from his heart's secret thoughts arose:
How much this Jew has toiled and hoarded! But if he was not fated to enjoy it, what use was the toil?
Out of those hundred camel loads of gold and silver, of things to spread and of goods great and small,
The lord and king handed them to the water carrier; so Lambak, straight off the road, carried away a treasure.
Then he called Rahham forward and said: you who in your greed have become the earth's own companion,
Tell me, how long did your prophet live? Why should anyone weep so long in wretchedness for riches?
A rider came and spoke with me of those old, worn out tales:
That whoever has plenty eats his fill, while the one who has nothing withers away.
Now pull back your reaching hand from eating; from now on watch the water carrier eat.
Of dung and brocade, of turban and brick, he said much to the vile man of the synagogue.
He gave the foul hearted one four small coins and said to him: keep these as your capital.
More than this is not fitting for you; a poor man's coin, that is your due.
He gave what there was to the deserving; and the Jew went off crying out in grief.