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Tale 7
of a
He
[Rabbi Nachman] announced, "I will tell you my entire trip that I
had."
A
tale. There was once a king who had a number of heavy wars upon him, and he
conquered them and took many captives. (In the midst of his words, as he began
to tell the story, he interjected and said, "You might think [mistakenly]
that I will tell you everything, that you will be able to understand.")
The king made a grand ball (banquet) every year on the day that he vanquished
the war. There at the ball, would be all the royal ministers and all the
nobility, in the fashion of royalty, and they would put on comedies and make
fun of all the nations: of the Turks (Heb. Ishmaelites) and of all the nations.
And they would caricature the manner and conduct of every nation, and they
probably made fun of the Jews as well.
The
king ordered to bring the book in which the mannerisms and customs of every
nation are recorded. And wherever the King would open up the book, he would see
[Heb. only: that written in it were the practices and mannerisms of the nation]
exactly as they performed the parody of them, because probably the one who
performed the comedy also saw the book. While the king was poring over the
book, he saw a spider crawling on the edge of the book's pages, and on the
pages stood a fly. Presumably, where does a spider go? - toward a fly.
Meanwhile as the spider was crawling and going towards the fly, a wind came
along and lifted that page from the book; the spider could no longer go to the
fly. It turned back deceptively as if it was returning straight to where it
came from, and no longer wants to go to the fly. Meanwhile, the page fell back
in its place and again the spider wanted to go towards the fly. Again the page
listed and did not permit it; again the spider turned back. Thus it happened
several times. Afterwards again the spider went towards the fly and was crawling
along until it had already gotten itself up with one foot upon the page. Again
the page lifted up - and the spider was already somewhat on the page - then the
page lay down completely, until the spider was left between one page and another;
and it was crawling around there, but remained getting lower and lower until
nothing whatsoever was left of it. (And the fly - I will not tell you what
happened to it).
And
the King had been watching all this and was very astonished; he understood that
this is no empty matter but rather he is being shown something through it (and
all the ministers saw that the king is gazing and wondering at it). And the
king began to think: what does this signify? And he dozed off over the book.
The king dreamed that he was holding a diamond in his hand and he was looking
at it. An exaggerated number of people were emerging from it and he threw the
diamond from his hands. And the order by kings is that their portrait hangs
over them, and on top of the portrait hangs the crown. He saw in the dream how
the people that emerged from the diamond took the portrait and cut off its
head, then they took the crown and threw it into the mud, and they ran towards
him to kill him. A page from the book upon which he was lying lifted itself and
shielded him, and they were unable to do anything to him, so they went away,
then the page return to its place. Then again they wanted to kill him, and
again the page lifted itself as before. This happened several times. The King
very much wanted to see which page is shielding him (i.e. protecting him); what
mannerisms are written on it; from which nation it is. And he was afraid to
look, and he began to scream, "Woe! Woe!" All the ministers who were
sitting there heard and they wanted to wake him up; however it is against
etiquette to wake up a king. They knocked around him, in order to wake him, but
he did not hear.
Meanwhile,
a tall mountain came to him and asked him, "Why are you screaming so? I
have been sleeping for such a long time already, and nobody at all has woken me
- and you have woken me up!" He said to him, "How can I not scream,
when they are rising up against me and want to kill me, except that this page
is shielding me?!" The mountain answered him, "If this page is shielding
you, then you have no need to fear anything whatsoever, for many enemies rise
against me as well, but this same page shields me. Come, I will show you."
It showed him how around the mountain stand thousands and myriads of enemies,
and they make feasts and rejoice, playing musical instruments and dancing. And
the joyful occasion is that some group of them, one of them thinks and arrives
at some wisdom how to ascend the mountain, hence they make a big celebration
and a feast with music and dancing, and likewise each group (i.e. faction) from
among them - "except that this page of these mannerisms that shields you,
shields me."
And
on the peak of the mountain is a tablet, upon which is written the mannerisms
of the page that shields him from whatever people it is; however, since the
mountain is high, the writing cannot be read. Just at the bottom is a tablet
upon which is written that whoever has all their teeth - he can go up on the
mountain. Hashem Yisburach provided that a grass grows there - where one needs
to go up on the mountain, that whoever comes there, all his teeth fall out;
whether he goes on foot, riding, or driving a carriage with animals, all the
teeth would always fall out. And lying there, were piles white with teeth, like
mountains.
Later,
the people from the diamond took the portrait and restored it as before, and
they took the crown and washed it up, and hung them back in their place, and
the king woke up. Immediately he looked at the page that had shielded him -
which mannerism, of which nation is it? He saw that written on it is the
mannerism of Jews. He began to look at the page honestly, and he understood the
real truth, and he came to the decision that he himself would certainly be a
Jew; however, what can be done to return the entire world back to propriety, to
bring them all to the truth? He came to the decision that he would journey in
search of a sage who would solve the dream according to its essence (i.e. he
should interpret the dream exactly as it is). And he took two men with him and
traveled around the world, not as a king but as a simple person, and he
traveled from one city to the next and he asked: "Where does one find such
a sage who can solve his dream according to its essence?" They informed
him that there-and-there is found such a sage. He went there and came to the
sage and told him the truth: that he is a king, and he had vanquished wars, and
the entire story that happened, as mentioned, and he asked him to solve his
dream. The sage answered him, "I myself cannot interpret, however, there
is a time, on this day and in this month - then, I gather together all the
spices of the Incense (i.e. all the herbs from which they would make the
Incense) and I make from them a compound (in other words, he mixes them all up
together), and the person is smoked with the incense, and this person meditates
upon what he wants to see and know, and then he knows everything."
The
king resolved: since he had already in fact spent so much time on it, he would
wait longer until that day and that month (which the sage had told him). The
day came and the sage did for him so, as described above, and smoked him with
the incense. The king began to see even things that had happened to him yet
before he was born, when the soul was still in the upper world (in other words,
on the other world); how they led his soul through all the worlds and they
announced, "Whoever has something to say for the prosecution (i.e. to
speak evil) against this soul, let him come." No one was there to speak
negatively. Meanwhile someone did come and was running and shouting,
"Master of the World! Hear my plea! If this one will come to the world
what then have I to do any longer, and for what have You created me?" And
this was the Samech-Mem (Satan; in other words, the one who was shouting
was the S.M. himself; he was yelling: if this soul would descend into
the world he will no longer have anything to do). He was answered, "This
soul must go down to the world, as for you - come up with a solution." He
went away (i.e.the one who was yelling).
They
led the soul further through the worlds until it was brought before the
Heavenly Tribunal in order to swear it in already, for its descent into this
world. And he had not yet arrived (i.e. the S.M., who was yelling
earlier, had not come yet), so they sent a messenger after him; he came and
brought with him an old stooped man, with whom he was long since familiar (i.e.
the Accuser had been acquainted with this old one from long ago), and he
laughed and said, "I have already enacted for a solution; this soul can
already go down into the world." They released the soul and it descended
to the world. And he (i.e. the king) saw everything that happened to him from
beginning to end, and how he became king, and the wars that he had, etc..
And
he took captives, and among the captives was a beautiful woman who had every
kind of charm in the world. However, this charm was not from herself; rather,
she would hang a diamond on herself and the diamond had all kinds of charm. And
upon that mountain no one can come except the wise and the rich etc. (And more
than this he did not tell). And there is still much more to this. (From
"And he took captives" until the end - was not written properly the
way he told it).
[Notes
Following the Story]
A
psalm of David when he fled... Hashem, how many my adversaries have become;
many are they that rise up against me... But you, Hashem, are a shield about
me: my glory and the lifter of my head... With my voice I call out onto Hashem,
and He answers me from His holy mountain, Selah: the mountain mentioned above.
I
lay down and I sleep: as mentioned above. I awake... I am not afraid of myriads
of people... for You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have broken
the teeth of the wicked: for their teeth would fall out when they wanted to go
up on the mountain. Upon Your people is Your blessing, Selah. [Psalms 3]
Stand
and contemplate these wonders! If you are a soulful [ba'al nefesh], take
your flesh up in your teeth and put your soul in your palm; stand trembling and
amazed; let the hairs of your head stand on end, and return again and wonder at
these words which stand in the highest of heights.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MeUman!
Rabbi Nachman's Legendary Tales
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