The Magic Box

Long ago, in a city on the market square, a blind beggar would appear every day and cry out in a mournful voice:

"Let everyone give me alms and slap me in the face! I beg each of you to give me alms and a slap! Now I will tell you the story of how my greed for wealth blinded my eyes, and I lost the light of day..."

And the blind man told this story:

"My name is Abdullah, and I am from Baghdad. After my father's death, I inherited a considerable fortune, but I was foolish and lazy, and I quickly squandered all my wealth. My wife convinced me to buy a pair of camels with the last of our money. I began transporting goods and made a living that way. Little by little, I saved money, grew richer, and after a few years, my caravan had eighty camels. I transported goods from Baghdad to Basra and other major cities.

One day, I was returning home to Baghdad with my caravan and stopped halfway to rest. I tethered the camels and let them graze while I sat under a tree to have dinner. Suddenly, a dwarf appeared out of nowhere. He approached me, and we greeted each other. The dwarf sat down beside me and asked where I was from and where I was headed. I answered him and shared my dinner with him. We sat under the tree and talked.

Suddenly, the dwarf said:

'I know of a place in the mountains where a great treasure is hidden. If you loaded all your camels with gold and precious jewels, you wouldn't even notice the loss: the treasures there are beyond count.'

When I heard these words, I was overcome with a passionate desire to possess the treasures. I began to beg the dwarf:

'Show me this place, and I will give you one camel. Load it with treasures and take it wherever you wish.'

'You want to obtain such immeasurable wealth for a cheap price,' replied the dwarf. 'If you give me half of your camels, then I will lead you to the treasures.'

'If I give him forty camels and load the remaining forty with gold for myself, that would still be very good,' I thought. 'What a joke, to gain such immense wealth without effort!' And I promised to give the dwarf forty camels.

So we gathered all eighty camels into one caravan and set off. Soon we reached the mountain and entered a deep, gloomy gorge. It was so narrow that the camels could barely pass through, one by one. The dwarf walked ahead. Suddenly, he stopped and said:

'Here we are. Make your camels kneel and prepare them for loading.'

I did as the dwarf instructed. Then he walked a little further ahead and stopped at a high cliff. He gathered a bundle of twigs and lit a fire. When the fire blazed, the dwarf threw some powder into the flames and quietly uttered a few words. Suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled as if in an earthquake, a terrible crack was heard, and a deep fissure appeared in the cliff near the fire.

'Follow me,' said the dwarf.

We entered the fissure and found ourselves in a vast cave. What my eyes beheld there! Piles of gold coins, chests of precious metals... I swear by my life, the treasures were endless!

I began frantically grabbing jewels and gold coins, stuffing my pockets. But the dwarf ordered me to quickly carry out the chests and sacks and load them onto the camels.

When we had loaded all the camels, the dwarf took a small silver box from one of the chests, examined it, and carefully placed it in his pocket. Then he took me by the hand and led me out of the cave. As soon as we stepped out, the dwarf uttered another incantation. The ground trembled, the fissure closed—and before us stood only the high cliff.

The camels struggled to rise—so heavy was the load. Soon we made our way out of the gorge and onto the road.

'Farewell, and be happy. Now you are the richest man,' said the dwarf.

He counted out forty camels and headed toward Basra. I turned the remaining forty camels toward my native Baghdad.

I took a step forward and stopped. Greed clawed at my heart: 'I gave the dwarf forty of my camels and the treasures. Why did I do that? I robbed myself, wretched man! What does the dwarf need such wealth for? Perhaps I could have found this gorge and the treasure myself someday, and then all the riches would have been mine alone.'

I felt such regret for my camels and the treasures that I couldn't bear it and ran after the dwarf.

'O great dwarf!' I said to him. 'You are a lone wanderer, why do you need so many camels? You won't be able to handle them. Better give me ten back, thirty will be enough for you. I will remember your kindness all my life.'

The dwarf silently counted out ten camels for me and drove the rest further along his path.

Now I had fifty camels loaded with gold and jewels, and I was happy. But I hadn't taken fifteen steps before greed began to torment me again: 'Why didn't I ask him for twenty or thirty camels right away? Maybe he would have given them to me. What does he need such wealth for?'

And I ran after the dwarf again, caught up with him, and said:

'You haven't forgotten that these camels are mine, have you? I know all their habits and how to handle them. It will be hard for you to manage them. Better give me twenty more. Ten camels will be enough for you.'

The dwarf said nothing and gave me another twenty camels, leading the remaining ten with him.

But greed consumed me more and more. I began to ask him to give me the last ten camels.

The dwarf said nothing and gave me the last camels.

Now I gathered all my camels, lined them up in order, and, completely happy, prepared to head to Baghdad. Suddenly, I remembered the silver box the dwarf had put in his pocket and thought: 'The dwarf gave me forty camels with jewels without argument, why not take that box from him too? What does he need it for? It will be useful to me—it's worth money too.'

But it wasn't so easy! The dwarf wouldn't give me the box. No matter how much I begged him, he said 'no,' and that was that. I wanted the box more and more, but the dwarf no longer listened to me, silently turned, and went on his way.

Then I thought: 'I am a fool! The dwarf didn't give me forty camels with jewels for nothing; he took the most valuable thing for himself—this box. It must contain all the treasures of the world!'

Greed clouded my mind. I rushed after the dwarf, grabbed him, and threatened:

'Give me the box, dwarf, or I'll take it by force!'

The dwarf saw that I could kill him, handed me the silver box, and tried to leave. But I wouldn't let him go and asked:

'Tell me, what is hidden in this box? What makes it so valuable?'

'This box contains a precious substance. If you know how to use it, you will see all the treasures,' replied the dwarf.

Then I began to beg the dwarf to show me how to use the substance. The dwarf remained silent for a long time, and I demanded and threatened. Finally, he opened the box, dipped two fingers into it, quickly pulled them out, whispered something, and ran them over my right eyelid.

Suddenly, the mountains around me seemed to open up, and I saw where the gold, silver, diamonds, and various jewels lay. Now I could gather all the wealth of the world, but even that wasn't enough.

'Anoint my left eyelid too,' I ordered the dwarf.

'You must not,' said the dwarf. 'You will be blinded forever if you anoint your eye with this substance again.'

But I didn't believe the dwarf—I thought he was deceiving me, trying to hide something very important from me.

'If you don't do it, I will kill you!' I shouted in fury.

'Very well, I will grant your request. But for what happens after, you will pay the price yourself,' replied the dwarf, and he touched the magical substance to my left eye.

As soon as he did this, everything around me plunged into impenetrable darkness. I was blind.

When I realized this, I threw myself at the old man's feet, weeping and begging him: 'Take all the camels, all the treasures, and this box with the miraculous substance, only forgive me and restore my sight!'

'Wretched man!' said the old man. 'You did not listen to me, and now no one can help you. For the rest of your life, you will mourn the day when greed blinded you.'

After this, the dwarf took all the camels with the treasures and left.

I cried, wept, and begged the dwarf to lead me to the main road where I could join some passing caravan, but the dwarf did not hear me.

For a long time, I wandered, hungry and ragged, in the mountains until I finally reached a major road. Then I managed to join a passing caravan, and since then, I, a blind beggar, have wandered the world, begging for alms.

And I made a vow to myself to ask for alms and a slap as punishment for my greed."

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The Magic Box

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