1
Ahikar, Grand Vizier of Assyria, has 60 wives but is fated to have no son. Therefore he adopts his nephew. He crams him full of wisdom and knowledge more than of bread and water.
THE story of Haigar the Wise, Vizier of Sennacherib the King, and of Nadan, sister's son to Haigar the Sage.
2There was a Vizier in the days of King Sennacherib, son
of Sarhadum, King of Assyria and Nineveh, a wise man named Haigqar, and he was Vizier of the king Sennacherib.
3He had a fine, fortune and much goods, and he was skillful, wise, a philosopher, in knowledge, in opinion and in government, and he had married sixty women, and had built a castle for each of them.
4But with it all he had no child by any. of these women, who might be his heir.
5And he was very sad on account of this, and one day he assembled the astrologers and the learned men and the wizards and explained to them his condition and the matter of his barrenness.
6And they said to him, 'Go, sacrifice to the gods and beg those who perchance they may provide you with a boy.’
7And he did as they told him and offered sacrifices to the idols, and begged them and
begged them with request, and entreaty.
8And they answered him not one word. And he went away sorrowful and dejected, departing with a pain at his heart.
9And he returned, and begged the Most High God, and believed, begging Him with a burning in his heart, saying, 'O Most High God, O Creator of the Heavens and of the earth, O Creator of all created things!
10I beg You to give me a boy, that I may be consoled by him that he may be present at my heath, that he may close my eyes, and that he may bury me.'
11Then there came to him a voice saying, ‘Inasmuch as you have relied first of all on graven images, and have offered sacrifices to them, for this reason you shall remain childless your life long.
12But take Nadan your sister's son, and make him your child and teach him your learning and your good breeding, and at your death he shall bury you.’
13Then he took Nadan his sister's son, who was a little suckling. And he handed him over to eight wet-nurses, that they might suckle him and bring him up.
14And they brought him up with good food and gentle training and silken clothing, and purple and crimson. And he was seated upon couches of silk.
15And when Nadan grew big and walked, shooting up like a tall cedar, he taught him good manners and writing and science and philosophy.
16And after many days King Sennacherib looked at Haiqar and saw that he had grown very old, and moreover he said to him.
17'O my honored friend, the skillful, the trusty, the wise, the governor, my secretary, my vizier, my Chancellor and director. Truly you are grown very old and weighted with years; and your departure from this world must be near.
18Tell me who shall have a place in my service after you.’ And Haiqar said to him, '0 my lord, may your head live for ever! There is Nadan my sister's son, I have made him my child.
19And I have brought him up and taught him my wisdom and my knowledge.’
20And the king said to him, 'O Haigar! bring him to my presence, that I may see him, and if I find him suitable, put him in your place. And you shall go your way, to take a rest and to live the
remainder of your life in sweet repose.’
21Then Haigar went and presented Nadan his sister's son. And he did homage and wished him power and honor.
22And he looked at him and admired him and rejoiced in him
and said to Haigqar: 'Is this your son, O Haigar? I pray that God may preserve him. And as you have served me and my father Sarhadum so may this boy of your serve me and fulfill my undertakings, my needs, and my business, so that I may honor him and make him powerful for your sake.’
23And Haigar did obeisance to the king and said to him, 'May your head live, O my lord the king, for ever! I seek from you that you may be patient with my boy Nadan and forgive his mistakes that he may serve you as it is fitting.’
24Then the king swore to him that he would make him the greatest of his favorites, and the most powerful of his friends, and that he should be with him in all honor and respect. And he kissed his hands and bade him farewell.
25And he took Nadan. his sister's son with him and seated him in a parlor and set about
teaching him night and day till he had crammed him with wisdom and knowledge more than with bread and water.
2
A "Poor Richard's Almanac" of ancient days. Immortal precepts of human conduct concerning money, women, dress, business, friends. Especially interesting proverbs are found in Verses 12, 17, 23, 37, 45, 47. Compare Verse 63 with some of the cynicism of today.
THUS he taught him, saying: 'O my son! hear my speech and follow my advice and remember what I say.
2O my son! if you hear a word, let it die in your heart, and reveal it not to another, lest it become a live coal and burn your tongue and cause a pain in your body, and you gain a reproach, and are shamed before God and man.
3O my son! if you have heard a report, spread it not; and if you have seen something, tell it not.
4O my son! make your eloquence easy to the listener, and be not hasty to return an answer.
5O my son! when you have heard anything, hide it not.
6O my son! loose not a sealed knot, nor untie it, and seal not a loosened knot.
7O my son! covet not outward beauty, for it wanes and passes away, but an honorable remembrance lasts for aye.
8O my son! let not a silly woman deceive you with her speech, lest you die the most miserable of deaths, and she entangle you in the net till you are ensnared.
9O my son! desire not a woman bedizened with dress and with ointments, who is despicable and silly in her soul. Woe o you if you bestow on her anything that is your, or commit to her what is in your hand and she entice you into sin, and God be wroth with you.
10O my son! be not like the almond-tree, for it brings forth leaves before all the trees, and edible fruit after them all. But be like the mulberry-tree, which brings forth edible fruit before all the trees, and leaves after them all.
11O my son! bend your head low down, and soften your voice, and be courteous, and walk in the straight path, and be not foolish. And raise not your voice when you laugh for if it were by a loud voice that a house was built, the ass would build many houses every day. And if it were by dint of strength that the plow were driven, the plow would never be removed from under the shoulders of the camels.
12Om son! the removing of stones with a wise man is better
than the drinking of wine with a sorry man.
13O my son! pour out your wine on the tombs of the just, and drink not with ignorant, contemptible people.
14O my son! cleave to wise men who fear God and be like them, and go not near the ignorant, lest you become like him and learn his ways.
15O my son! when you have got you a comrade or a friend, try him, and afterwards make him a comrade and a friend. And do not praise him without a trial; and do not spoil your speech with a man who lacks wisdom.
16O my son! while a shoe stays on your foot, walk with it on the thorns, and make a road for your son, and for your household and your children, and make your ship taut before she goes on the sea and its waves and sinks and cannot he saved.
17O my son! if the rich man eat a snake, they say,--"It is by his wisdom," and if a poor man eat it, the people say, "From his hunger."
18O my son! he content with your daily bread and your goods, and covet not what is another's.
19O my son! be not neighbor to the fool, and eat not bread with him, and rejoice not in the calamities of your neighbors. [*1] If your enemy wrong you, show him kindness.
20O my son! a man who fears God do you fear him and honor him.
21O my son! the ignorant man falls and stumbles, and the wise man, even if he stumbles, he is not shaken, and even if he falls he gets up quickly, and if he is sick, he can take care of his
life. But as for the ignorant, stupid man, for his disease there is no drug.
22O my son! if a man approach you who is inferior to thyself, go forward to meet him, and remain standing, and if he cannot recompense you, his Lord will recompense you for him.
23O my son! spare not to beat your son, for the drubbing of your son is like manure to the garden, and like tying the mouth of a purse, and like the tethering of beasts, and like the bolting of the door.
24O my son! restrain your son from wickedness, and teach him manners before he rebels against you and brings you into contempt among the people and you hang your head in the streets and the assemblies and you be punished for the evil of his wicked deeds.
25O my son! get you a fat ox with a foreskin, and an ass great with its hoofs, and get not an ox with large horns, nor make friends with a tricky man, nor get a quarrelsome slave, nor a thievish handmaid, for everything which you commit to them they will ruin.
26O my son! let not your parents curse you, and the Lord be pleased with them. For it has been said, "He who despises his father or his mother let him die the death (I mean the death of sin). And he who honors his parents shall prolong his days and his life and shall see all that is good."
27O my son! walk not on the road without weapons, for you know not when the foe may meet you, so that you may be ready for him.
28O my son! be not like a bare, leafless tree that does not grow, but be like a tree covered with its leaves and its boughs. For the man who has neither wife nor children is disgraced in the world and is hated by them, like a leafless and fruitless tree.
29O my son! be like a fruitful tree on the roadside, whose fruit is eaten by all who pass by, and the beasts of the desert rest under its shade and eat of its leaves.
30O my son! every sheep that wanders from its path and its companions becomes food for the wolf.
31O my son! say not, "My lord is a fool and I am wise," and relate not the speech of ignorance and folly, lest you be despised by him.
32O my son! be not one of those servants, to whom their lords say, "Get away from us," but be one of those to whom they say, "Approach and come near to us."
33O my son! caress not your slave in the presence of his companion, for you know not which of them shall be of most value to you in the end.
34O my son! be not afraid of your Lord who created you, lest He be silent to you.
35O my son! make your speech fair and sweeten your tongue; and permit not your companion to
tread on your foot, lest he tread at another time on your breast.
36O my son! if you beat a wise man with a word of wisdom, it will lurk in his breast like a subtle sense of shame. But if you drub the ignorant with a stick he will neither understand nor hear.
37O my son! if you send a wise man for your needs, do not give him many orders, for he will do your business as you desire: and if you send a fool, do not order him. But go thyself and do your business, for if you order him, he will not do what you desire. If they send you on business, hasten to fulfill it quickly.
38O my son! make not an enemy of a man stronger than thyself, for he will take your measure, and his revenge on you.
39O my son! make trial of your son, and of your servant, before you commit your belongings to them, lest they make away with them. For he who has a full hand is called wise, even if he be stupid and ignorant, and he who has an empty hand is called poor, ignorant, even if he be the prince of sages.
40O my son! I have eaten a colocynth, and swallowed aloes, and I have found nothing more bitter than poverty and scarcity.
41O my son! teach your son frugality and hunger, that he may do well in the management of his household.
42O my son! teach not to the ignorant the language of wise men, for it will be burdensome to him.
43O my son! display not your condition to your friend, lest you be despised by him.
44O my son! the blindness of the heart is more grievous than the blindness of the eyes, for the blindness of the eyes may be guided little by little. But the blindness of the heart is not guided, and it leaves the straight path, and goes in a crooked way.
45O my son! the stumbling of a man with his foot is better than the stumbling of a n with his tongue.
46O my son! a friend who is near is better than a more excellent brother who is far away.
47O my son! beauty fades but learning lasts, and the world wanes and becomes vain, but a good name neither becomes vain nor wanes.
48O my son! the man who has no rest, his death were better than his life; and the sound of weeping is better than the sound of singing. For sorrow and weeping, if the fear of God be in them, are better than the sound of singing and rejoicing.
49O my child! the thigh of
a frog in your hand is better than a goose in the pot of your neighbor; and a sheep near you is better than an ox far away. And a sparrow in your hand is better than a thousand sparrows flying; [*1] and poverty which gathers is better than the scattering of much provision. And a living fox is better than a dead lion; and a pound of wool is better than a pound of wealth, I mean of gold and silver. For the gold and the silver are hidden and covered up in the earth, and are not seen. But the wool stays in the markets and it is seen, and it is a beauty to him who wears it.
50O my son! a small fortune is better than a scattered fortune.
51O my son! a living dog is better than a dead poor man.
52O my son! a poor man who does right is better than a rich man who is dead in sins.
53O my son! keep a word in your heart, and it shall be much to you, and beware lost you reveal the secret of your friend.
54O my son! let not a word issue from your mouth till you have taken counsel with your heart. And stand not between persons quarreling, because from a bad word there comes a quarrel, and from a quarrel there comes war, and from war there comes fighting, and you will be forced to bear witness. But run from there and rest thyself.
55O my son! withstand not a man stronger than thyself, but get you a patient spirit, and endurance and an upright conduct, for there is nothing more excellent than that.
56O my son! hate not your first friend, for the second one may not last.
57O my son! visit the poor in his affliction, and speak of him in the Sultan's presence, and do your diligence to save him from the mouth of the lion. [*2]
58O my son! rejoice not in the death of your enemy, for after a little while you shall be his neighbor, and him who mocks you do you respect and honor and be beforehand with him in greeting.
59O my son! if water would stand still in heaven, and a black crow become white, and myrrh grow sweet as honey, then ignorant men and fools might understand and become wise.
60O my son! if you desire to be wise, restrain your tongue from lying, and your hand from stealing, and your eyes from beholding evil; then you will be called wise.
61O my son! let the wise man beat you with a rod, but let not the fool anoint you with sweet salve. Be humble in your youth and you shall be honored in your old age.
62O my son! withstand not a man in the days of his power, nor a river in the days of its flood.
63O my son! be not hasty in the wedding of a wife, for if it turns out well, she will say, 'My lord, make provision for me’. And if it turns out ill, she will rate at him who was the cause of it.
64O my son! whosoever is elegant in his dress, he is the same in his speech; and he who has a mean appearance in his dress, he also is the same in his speech.
65O my son! if you have committed a theft, make it known to the Sultan, and give him a share of it, that you may be delivered from him, for otherwise you will endure bitterness.
66O my son! make a friend of the man whose hand is satisfied
and filled, and make no friend of the man whose hand is closed and hungry.
67There are four things in which neither the king nor his army can be secure: oppression by the vizier, and bad government, and perversion of the will, and tyranny over the subject. And four things which cannot be hidden: the prudent, and the foolish, and the rich, and the poor.’ Footnotes
4201:1 Cf. Psalms CXLI. 4.
4203:1 Cf. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
%203:2 Cf. 2 Timothy, IV, 17.
3
Ahikar retires from active participation in affairs of state. He turns over his possessions to his treacherous nephew. Here is the amazing story of how a thankless profligate turns forgerer. A clever plot to entangle Ahikar results in his being condemned to death. Apparently the end of Ahikar.
THUS spoke Haigar, and when he had finished these injunctions and proverbs to Nadan, his sister's son, he imagined that he would keep them all, and he knew not that instead of that he was displaying to him weariness and contempt and mockery.
2Thereafter Haiqar sat still in his house and delivered over to Nadan all his goods, and the slaves, and the handmaidens, and the horses, and the cattle, and everything else that he had possessed and gained. And the power of bidding and of forbidding remained in the hand of Nadan.
3And Haigar sat at rest in his house, and every now and then Haiqar went and paid his respects to the king, and returned home.
4Now when Nadan perceived that the power of bidding and of forbidding was in his own
hand, he despised the position of Haiqar and scoffed at him, and set about blaming him whenever he appeared, saying, 'My uncle Haigar is in his dotage, and he knows nothing now.’
5And he began to beat the slaves and the handmaidens, and to sell the horses and the camels and be spendthrift with all that his uncle Haigar had owned.
6And when Haigar saw that he had no compassion on his servants nor on his household, he arose and chased him from his house, and sent to inform the king that he had scattered his possessions and his provision.
7And the king arose and called Nadan and said to him: 'While Haiqar remains in health, no one shall rule over his goods, nor over his household, nor over his possessions.’
8And the hand of Nadan was lifted off from his uncle Haiqar and from all his goods, and in the meantime he went neither in nor out, nor did he greet him.
9Then Haigar repented him of his toil with Nadan his sister's son, and he continued to be very sorrowful.
10And Nadan had a younger brother named Benuzardan, so Haigar took him to himself in place of Nadan, and brought up and honored him with the utmost honor. And he delivered over to him all that he possessed, and made him governor of his house.
11Now when Nadan perceived what had happened he was seized with envy and jealousy, and he began to complain to every one who questioned him, and to mock his, uncle Haigar, saying: 'My uncle has chased me from his house, and has preferred my brother to me, but if the Most High God give me the power, I shall bring upon him the misfortune of being killed.’
12And Nadan continued to meditate as to the stumbling-block he might contrive for him.
[paragraph continues] And after a while Nadan turned it over in his mind, and wrote a letter to Achish, son of Shah the Wise, king of Persia, saying thus:
13'Peace and health and might and honor from Sennacherib king of Assyria and Nineveh, and from his vizier and his secretary Haigar to you, O great king! Let there be pence between you and me.
14And when this letter reaches you, if you will arise and go quickly to the plain of Nisrin, and to Assyria, and Nineveh, I will deliver up the kingdom to you without war and without battle-array.
15And he wrote also another letter in the name of Haiqar to Pharaoh king of Egypt. 'Let there be peace between you and me, O mighty king!
16If at the time of this letter reaching you you will arise and go to Assyria and Nineveh to the plain of Nisrin, I will deliver up to you the kingdom without war and without fighting.’
17And the writing of Nadan was like to the writing of his uncle Haigar.
18Then he folded the two letters, and sealed them with the seal of his uncle Haiqar; they were nevertheless in the king's palace.
19Then he went and wrote a letter likewise from the king to his uncle Haiqar: 'Peace and health to my Vizier, my Secretary, my Chancellor, Haiqar.
20O Haigar, when this letter reaches you, assemble all the soldiers who are with you, and let them be perfect in clothing and in numbers, and bring them to me on the fifth day in the plain of Nisrin.
21And when you shall see me there coming towards you, haste and make the army move against me as an enemy who would fight with me. For I have with me the ambassadors of Pharaoh king of Egypt, that they may see the strength of our army and may fear us, for they are our enemies and they hate us.'
22Then he sealed the letter and sent it to Haiqar by one of the king's servants. And he took the other letter which he had written and spread it before the king and read it to him and showed him the seal.
23And when the king heard what was in the letter he was perplexed with a great perplexity and was wroth with a great and fierce wrath, and said, 'Ah, I have shown my wisdom! what have I done to Haigar that he has written these letters to my enemies? Is this my recompense from him for my benefits to him?’
24And Nadan said to him, 'Be not grieved, O king! nor be wroth, but let us go to the plain of Nisrin and see if the tale be true or not.’
25Then Nadan arose on the fifth day and took the king and the soldiers and the vizier, and they went to the desert to the plain of Nisrin. And the king looked, and lo! Haiqar and the army were set in array.
26And when Haigar saw that the king was there, he approached and signalled to the army to move as in war and to fight in array against the king as it had been found in the letter, he not knowing what a pit Nadan had dug for him.
27And when the king saw the act of Haigqar he was seized with anxiety and terror and perplexity, and was wroth with a great wrath.
28And Nadan said to him, 'Have you seen, O my lord the king! what this wretch has done? but be not you wroth and be not grieved nor pained, but go to your house and sit on your throne, and I will bring
[paragraph continues] Haiqar to you bound and chained with chains, and I will chase away your enemy from you without toil.’
29And the king returned to his throne, being provoked about Haigar, and did nothing concerning him. And Nadan went to Haigar and said to him, 'W'allah, O my uncle! The king truly rejoices in you with great joy and thanks you for having done what he commanded you.
30And now he has sent me to you that you may dismiss the soldiers to their duties and come thyself to him with your hands bound behind you. And your feet chained, that the ambassadors of Pharaoh may see this, and that the king may be feared by them and by their king.’
31Then answered Haigar and said, 'To hear is to obey.' And he arose immediately and bound his hands behind him, and chained his feet.
32And Nadan took him and went with him to the king. And when Haigar entered the king's presence he did obeisance before him on the ground, and wished for power and perpetual life to the king.
33Then said the king, 'O Haiqar, my Secretary, the Governor of my affairs, my Chancellor, the ruler of my State, tell me what evil have I done to you that you have rewarded me by this ugly deed.’
34Then they showed him the letters in his writing and with his seal. And when Haigar saw this, his limbs trembled and his tongue was tied at once, and he was unable to speak a word from fear. But he hung his head towards the earth and was dumb.
35And when the king saw this, he felt certain that the thing was from him, and he immediately arose and commanded them to kill Haiqar, and to strike his neck with the sword outside of the city.
36Then Nadan screamed and said, 'O Haiqar, O blackface! what avails you your meditation or your power in the doing of this deed to the king?’
37Thus says the story-teller. And the name of the swordsman was Abu Samik. And the king said to him, 'O swordsman! arise, go, cleave the neck of Haiqar at the door of his house, and cast away his head from his body a hundred cubits.’
38Then Haigar knelt before the king, and said, ‘Let my lord the king live for ever! and if you desire to slay me, let your wish be fulfilled; and I know that I am not guilty. But the wicked man bas to give an account of his wickedness; nevertheless, O my lord the king! I beg of you and of your friendship, permit the swordsman to give my body to my slaves, that they may bury me, and let your slave be your sacrifice.’
39The king arose and commanded the swordsman to do with him according to his desire.
40And he immediately commanded his servants to take Haigar and the swordsman and go with him naked that they might slay him.
41And when Haigar knew for certain that he was to be slain he sent to his wife, and said to her, ‘Come out and meet me, and let there be with you a thousand young virgins, and dress
them in gowns of purple and silk that they may weep for me before my death.
42And prepare a table for the swordsman and for his servants. And mingle plenty of wine, that they may drink.’
43And she did all that he commanded her. And she was very wise, clever, and prudent. And she united all possible courtesy and learning.
44And when the army of the
king and the swordsman arrived the found the table set in order, and the wine and the luxurious viands, and they began eating and drinking till they were gorged and drunken.
45Then Haigar took the swordsman aside apart from the company and said, 'O0 Abu Samik, do you not know that when Sarhadum the king, the father of Sennacherib, wanted to kill you, I took you and hid you in a certain place till the king's anger subsided and he asked for you?
46And when I brought you into his presence he rejoiced in you: and now remember the kindness I did you.
47And I know that the king will repent him about me and will be wroth with a great wrath about my execution.
48For I am not guilty, and it shall be when you shall present me before him in his palace, you shall meet with great good fortune, and know that Nadan my sister's son has deceived me and has done this bad deed to me. And the king will repent of having slain me; and now I have a cellar in the garden of my house, and no one knows of it.
49Hide me in it with the knowledge of my wife. And I have a slave in prison who deserves to be killed.
50Bring him out and dress him in my clothes, and command the servants when they are drunk to slay him. They will not know who it is they are killing.
51And cast away his head a hundred cubits from his body, and give his body to my slaves that they may bury it. And you shall have laid up a great treasure with me.
52And then the swordsman did as Haigar had commanded him, and he went to the king and said to him, 'May your head live for ever!’
53Then Haigar's wife let down to him in the hiding-place every week what sufficed for him, and no one knew of it but herself.
54And the story was reported and repeated and spread abroad in every place of how Haiqar the Sage had been slain and was dead, and all the people of that city mourned for him.
55And they wept and said: ‘Alas for you, O Haigar! and for your learning and your courtesy! How sad about you and about your knowledge! Where can another like you be found? and where can there be a man so intelligent, so learned, so skilled in ruling as to resemble you that he may fill your place?’
56But the king was repenting about Haigar, and his repentance availed him nothing.
57Then he called for Nadan and said to him, 'Go and take your friends with you and make a mourning and a weeping for your uncle Haiqar, and lament for him as the custom is, doing honor to his memory.’
58But when Nadan, the foolish, the ignorant, the hardhearted, went to the house of his uncle, he neither wept nor sorrowed nor wailed. But assembled heartless and dissolute people and set about eating and drinking. [*1]
59And Nadan began to seize the maidservants and the slaves belonging to Haiqar, and bound them and tortured them and drubbed them with a sore drubbing.
60And he did not respect the wife of his uncle, she who had brought him up like her own
boy, but wanted her to fall into sin with him.
61But Haiqar had been cut into the hiding-place, and he heard the weeping of his slaves and his neighbors, and he praised the Most High God, the Merciful One, and gave thanks, and he always prayed and begged the Most High God.
62And the swordsman came from time to time to Haigqar while he was in the midst of the hiding-place: and Haiqar came and begged him. And he comforted him and wished him deliverance.
63And when the story was reported in other countries that Haigar the Sage had been slain, all the kings were grieved and despised king Sennacherib, and they lamented over Haiqar the solver of riddles.
Footnotes
‘207:1 Compare this account of Nadan's revelry and his beating of the servants with Matthew
XXIV. 48-51 and Luke XII. 43-46. You will see that the language of Ahikar has colored one of our Lord's parables.
4
"The Riddles of the Sphinx." What really happened to Ahikar. His return.
AND when the king of Egypt had made sure that Haigar was slain, he arose immediately and wrote a letter to king Sennacherib, reminding him in it 'of the peace and the health and the might and the honor which we wish specially for you, my beloved brother, king Sennacherib.
2I have been desiring to build a castle between the heaven and the earth. And I want you to send me a wise, clever man from thyself to build it for me, and to answer me all my questions, and that I may have the taxes and the custom duties of Assyria for three years.’
3Then he sealed the letter and sent it to Sennacherib.
4He took it and read it and gave it to his viziers and to the nobles of his kingdom, and they were perplexed and ashamed, and he was wroth with a great wrath, and was puzzled about how he should act.
5Then he assembled the old men and the learned men and the wise men and the philosophers, and the diviners and the astrologers, and every one who was in his country, and read them the letter and said to them, 'Who among you will go to Pharaoh king of Egypt and answer him his questions?’
6And they said to him, 'O our lord the king! know you that there is none in your kingdom who is acquainted with these questions except Haigar, your vizier and secretary.
7But as for us, we have no skill in this, unless it be Nadan, his sister's son, for he taught him all his wisdom and learning and knowledge. Call him to you, perchance he may untie this hard knot.’
8Then the king called Nadan and said to him, 'Look at this letter and understand what is in it.’ And when Nadan read it, he said, 'O my lord! who is able to build a castle between the heaven and the earth?’
9And when the king heard the speech of Nadan he sorrowed with a great and sore sorrow, and stepped down from his throne and sat in the ashes, and began to weep and wail over Haigar.
10Saying, 'O my grief! O Haigar, who knew the secrets and the riddles! woe is me for you, O Haigar! O teacher of my country and ruler of my kingdom, where shall I find your like? O Haigar, O teacher of my country, where shall I turn for you? woe is me for you! how did I destroy you! and I listened to the talk of a stupid, ignorant boy without knowledge, without religion, without manliness.
11Ah! and again Ah for myself! who can give you to me
just for once, or bring me word that Haigar is alive? and I would give him the half of my kingdom.
12From where is this to me? Ah, Haigar! that I might see you just for once, that I might take my fill of gazing at you, and delighting in you.
13Ah! O my grief for you to all time! O Haiqar, how have I killed you! and I tarried not in your case till I had seen the end of the matter.’
14And the king went on weeping night and day. Now when the swordsman saw the wrath of the king and his sorrow for Haigar, his heart was softened towards him,, and he approached into his presence and said to him:
15'O my lord! command your servants to cut off my head.' Then said the king to him: 'Woe to you, Abu Samik, what is your fault?’
16And the swordsman said to him, 'O0 my master! every slave who acts contrary to the word of his master is killed, and I have acted contrary to your command.’
17Then the king said to him. 'Woe to you, O Abu Samik, in what have you acted contrary to my command?’
18And the swordsman said to him, 'O my lord! you did command me to kill Haiqar, and I knew that you would repent you concerning him, and that he had been wronged. And I hid him in a certain place. And I killed one of his slaves, and he is now safe in the cistern, and if you command me I will bring him to you.’
19And the king said to him. 'Woe to you, O Abu Samik! you have mocked me and I am your lord.’
20And the swordsman said to him, 'No, but by the life of your head, O my lord! Haiqar is safe and alive.’
21And when the king heard that saying, he felt sure of the matter, and his head swam, and he fainted from joy, and he commanded them to bring Haiqar.
22And he said to the swordsman, 'O trusty servant! if your speech be true, I would gladly enrich you, and exalt your dignity above that of all your friends."
23And the swordsman went along rejoicing till he came to Haigqar's house. And he opened the door of the hiding-place, and went down and found Haigar sitting, praising God, and thanking Him.
24And he shouted to him, saying, 'O Haiqar, I bring the greatest of joy, and happiness, and delight!"
25And Haigar said to him, 'What is the news, O Abu Samik?' And he told him all about Pharaoh from the beginning to the end. Then he took him and went to the king.
26And when the king looked at him, he saw him in a state of want, and that his hair had grown long like the wild beasts' and his nails like the claws of an eagle, and that his body was
dirty with dust, and the color of his face had changed and faded and was now like ashes.
27And when the king saw him he sorrowed over him and rose at once and embraced him and kissed him, and wept over him and said: 'Praise be to God! who has brought you back to me.’
28Then he consoled him and comforted him. And he stripped off his robe, and put it on the swordsman, and was very gracious to him, and gave him great wealth, and made Haigar rest.
29Then said Haigar to the king, 'Let my lord the king live for ever! These be the deeds of the children of the world. I have reared me a palm-tree that I might lean on it, and it bent sideways, and threw me down.
30But, O my Lord! since I have appeared fore you, let not care oppress you! And the king said to him: 'Blessed be God, who showed you mercy, and knew that you were wronged, and saved you and delivered you from being slain.
31But go to the warm bath, and shave your head, and cut your nails, and change your clothes, and amuse thyself for the space of forty days, that you may do good to thyself and improve your condition and the color of your face may come back to you.’
32Then the king stripped off his costly robe, and put it on Haigar, and Haigar thanked God and did obeisance to the king, and departed to his dwelling glad and happy, praising the Most High God.
33And the people of his household rejoiced with him, and his friends and every one who heard that he was alive rejoiced also.
5
The letter of the "riddles" is shown to Ahikar. The boys on the eagles. The first "airplane" ride. Off to Egypt. Ahikar, being a man of wisdom also has a sense of humor. (Verse 27).
AND he did as the king commanded him, and took rest for forty days.
2Then he dressed himself his gayest dress, and went riding to the king, with his slaves behind him and before him, rejoicing and delighted.
3But when Nadan his sister's son perceived what was happening, fear took hold of him and terror, and he was perplexed, not knowing what to do.
4And when Haigar saw it he entered into the king's presence and greeted him, and he
returned the greeting, and made him sit down at his side, saying to him,
'O my darling Haiqar! look at these letters which the, king of Egypt sent to us, after he had heard that you were slain.
5They have provoked us and overcome us, and many of the people of our country have fled to Egypt for fear of the taxes that the king of Egypt has sent to demand from us.
6Then Haigar took the letter and read it and understood its contents.
7Then he said to the king. 'Be not wroth, O my lord! I will go to Egypt, and I will return the answers to Pharaoh, and I will display this letter to him, and I will reply to him about the taxes. And I will send back all those who have run away. And I will put your enemies to shame with the help of the Most High God, and for the Happiness of your kingdom.’
8And when the king heard this speech from Haigar he rejoiced with a great joy, and his heart was expanded and he showed him favor.
9And Haiqar said to the king: 'Grant me a delay of forty days that I may consider this question and manage it.' And the king permitted this.
10And Haigar went to his dwelling, and he commanded the huntsmen to capture two young eaglets for him, and they captured them and brought them to him: and he commanded the weavers of ropes to weave two cables of cotton for him, each of them two thousand cubits long, and he had the carpenters brought and ordered them to make two great boxes, and they did this.
11Then he took two little lads, and spent every day sacrificing lambs and feeding the eagles
and the boys, and making the boys ride on the backs of the eagles, and he bound them with a firm knot, and tied the cable to the feet of the eagles,
and let them soar upwards little by little every day, to a distance of ten cubits, till they grew accustomed and were educated to it. And they rose all the length of the rope till they reached the sky; the boys being on their backs. Then he drew them to himself.
12And when Haigar saw that his desire was fulfilled he charged the boys that when they were borne aloft to the sky they were to shout, saying:
13'Bring us clay and stone, that we may build a castle for king Pharaoh, for we are idle.’
14And Haiqar was never done training them and exercising them till they had reached the utmost possible point (of skill).
15Then leaving them he went to the king and said to him, 'O my lord! the work is finished according to your desire. Arise with me that I may show you the wonder.’
16So the king sprang up and sat with Haigar and went to a wide place and sent to bring the eagles and the boys, and Haiqar tied them and let them off into the air all the length of the ropes, and they began to shout as he had taught them. Then he drew them to himself and put them in their places.
17And the king and those who were with him wondered with a great wonder: and the king kissed Haiqar between his eyes and said to him, 'Go in peace, O my beloved! O pride of my kingdom! to Egypt and answer the questions of Pharaoh and overcome him by the strength of the Most High God.’
18Then he bade him farewell, and took his troops and his army and the young men and the eagles, and went towards the dwellings of Egypt. And when he had arrived, he turned towards the country of the king.
19And when the people of Egypt knew that Sennacherib had sent a man of his Privy Council to talk with Pharaoh and to answer his questions, they carried the news to king Pharaoh, and he sent a party of his Privy Councilors to bring him before him.
20And he came and entered into the presence of Pharaoh, and did obeisance to him as it is fitting to do to kings.
21And he said to him: 'O my lord the king! Sennacherib the king hails you with abundance of peace and might, and honor.
22And he has sent me, who am one of his slaves, that I may answer you your questions, and may fulfill all your desire: for you have sent to seek from my lord the king a man who will build you a castle between the heaven and the earth.
23And I by the help of the Most High God and your noble favor and the power of my lord the king will build it for you as you desire.
24But, O my lord the king! what you have said in it about the taxes of Egypt for three years-- now the stability of a kingdom is strict justice, and if you win and my hand has no skill in replying to you, then my lord the king will send you the taxes which you have mentioned.
25And if I shall have answered you in your questions, it shall remain for you to send whatever you have mentioned to my lord the king.’
26And when Pharaoh heard that speech, he wondered and was perplexed by the freedom of his tongue and the pleasantness of his speech.
27And king Pharaoh said to him, 'O man! what is your name?' And he said, 'Your servant is Abigam, and I a little ant of the ants of king Sennacherib.'
28And Pharaoh said to him, 'Had your lord no one of higher dignity than you, that he has sent me a little ant to reply to me, and to converse with me?’
29And Haigar said to him, 'O my lord the king! I would to God Most High that I may fulfill what is on your mind, for God is with the weak that He may confound the strong.’
30Then Pharaoh commanded that they should prepare a dwelling for Abiqam and supply him with provender, meat, and drink, and all that he needed.
31And when it was finished, three days afterwards Pharaoh clothed himself in purple and red and sat on his throne, and all his viziers and the magnates of his kingdom were standing with their hands crossed, their feet close together, and their heads bowed.
32And Pharaoh sent to fetch Abiqam, and when he was presented to him, he did obeisance before him, and kissed the ground in front of him.
33And king Pharaoh said to him, 'O0 Abiqam, whom am I like? and the nobles of my kingdom, to whom are they like?’
34And Haigar said to him, 'O my lord the kin I you are like the idol Bel, and the nobles of your kingdom are like his servants.
35He said to him, 'Go, and come back here to-morrow.’ So Haiqar went as king Pharaoh had commanded him.
36And on the morrow Haigar went into the presence of Pharaoh, and did obeisance, and stood before the king. And Pharaoh was dressed in a red color, and the nobles were dressed in white.
37And Pharaoh said to him 'O Abiqam, whom am I like? and the nobles of my kingdom, to whom are they like?’
38And Abiqam said to him, 'O my lord! you are like the sun, and your servants are like its beams.’ And Pharaoh said to him, 'Go to your dwelling, and come here to-morrow.’
39Then Pharaoh commanded his Court to wear pure white, and Pharaoh was dressed like them and sat upon his throne, and he commanded them to fetch Haigar. And he entered and sat down before him.
40And Pharaoh said to him, '0 Abiqam, whom am I like? and my nobles, to whom are they like?’
41And Abigam said to him, 'O my lord! you are like the moon, and your nobles are like the
planets and the stars.' And Pharaoh said to him, 'Go, and to-morrow be you here.’
42Then Pharaoh commanded his servants to wear robes of various colors, and Pharaoh wore a red velvet dress, and sat on his throne, and commanded them to fetch Abiqam. And he entered and did obeisance before him.
43And he said, '0 Abiqam, whom am I like? and my armies, to whom are they like?’ And he said, 'O my lord! you are like the month of April, and your armies are like its flowers.’
44And when the king heard it he rejoiced with a great joy and said, 'O Abiqam! the first time you did compare me to the idol Bel, and my nobles to his servants.
45And the second time you did compare me to the sun, and my nobles to the sunbeams.
46And the third time you did compare me to the moon, and my nobles to the planets and the stars.
47And the fourth time you did compare me to the month of April, and my nobles to its flowers. But now, O Abiqam! tell me, your lord, king Sennacherib, whom is he like? and his nobles, to whom are they like?’
48And Haigar shouted with a loud voice and said: 'Be it far from me to make mention of
my lord the king and you seated on your throne. But get up on your feet that I may tell you whom my lord the king is like and to whom his nobles are like.’
49And Pharaoh was perplexed by the freedom of his tongue and his boldness in answering. Then Pharaoh arose from his throne, and stood before Haigar, and said to him, 'Tell me now, that I may perceive whom your lord the king is like, and his nobles, to whom they are like.
50And Haigar said to him: 'My lord is the God of heaven, and his nobles are the lightnings and the thunder, and when he wills the winds blow and the rain falls.
51And he commands the thunder, and it lightens and rains, and he holds the sun, and it gives not its light, and the moon and the stars, and they circle not.
52And he commands the tempest, and it blows and the rain falls and it tramples on April and destroys its flowers and its houses.’
53And when Pharaoh heard this speech, he was greatly perplexed and was wroth with a great wrath, and said to him: 'O man! tell me the truth, and let me know who you really are.’
54And he told him the truth. 'l am Haiqar the scribe, greatest of the Privy Councilors of king Sennacherib, and I am his vizier and the Governor of his kingdom, and his Chancellor.’
55And he said to him, 'You have told the truth in this saying. But we have heard of Haigar, that king Sennacherib has slain him, yet you do seem to be alive and well.’
56And Haigar said to him, 'Yes, so it was. But praise be to God, who knows what is hidden, for my lord the king commanded me to be killed, and he believed the word of profligate men. But the Lord delivered me, and blessed is he who trusts in Him.
57And Pharaoh said to Haigar, 'Go, and to-morrow be you here, and tell me a word that I have never heard from my nobles nor from the people of my kingdom and my country.’
6
The ruse succeeds. Ahikar answers every question of Pharaoh. The boys on the eagles are the climax of the day. Wit, so rarely found in the ancient Scriptures, is revealed in Verses 34- 45.
AND Haigar went to his dwelling, and wrote a letter, saying in it on this wise:
2From Sennacherib king of Assyria. and Nineveh to Pharaoh king of Egypt.
3'Peace be to you, O my brother! and what we make known to you by this is that a brother has need of his brother, and kings of each other, and my hope from you is that you would lend me nine hundred talents of gold. For I need it for the victualling of some of the soldiers, that, I may spend it upon them. And after a little while I will send it you.’
4Then he folded the letter, and presented it on the morrow to Pharaoh.
5And when he saw it, he was perplexed and said to him, 'Truly I have never heard anything like this language from any one.’
6Then Haigar said to him, ‘Truly this is a debt which you owe to my lord the king.’
7And Pharaoh accepted this, saying, 'O Haigqar, it is the like of you who are honest in the service of kings.
8Blessed be God who has made you perfect in wisdom and has adorned you with philosophy and knowledge.
9And now, O Haigar, there remains what we desire from you, that you should build as a castle between heaven and earth.’
10Then said Haigar, 'To hear is to obey. I will build you a castle according to your wish and choice; but, O my lord I prepare us lime and stone and clay and workmen. And I have skilled builders who will build for you as you desire.'
11And the king prepared all that for him, and they went to a wide place. And Haiqar and his boys came to it, and he took the eagles and the young men with him. And the king and all his nobles went and the whole city assembled, that they might see what Haiqar would do.
12Then Haigar let the eagles out of the boxes, and tied the young men on their backs, and tied the ropes to the eagles' feet, and let them go in the air. And they soared upwards, till they remained between heaven and earth.
13And the boys began to shout, saying, ‘Bring bricks, bring clay, that we may build the king's castle, for we are standing idle!’
14And the crowd were astonished and perplexed, and they wondered. And the king and his nobles wondered.
15And Haiqar and his servants began to beat the workmen, and they shouted for the king's troops, saying to them, ‘Bring to the skilled workmen what they want and do not hinder them from their work.’
16And the king said to him, ‘You are mad; who can bring anything up to that distance?’
17And Haigar said to him, 'O my lord! how shall we build a castle in the air? and if my lord the king were here, he would have built several castles in a single day.’
18And Pharaoh said to him, 'Go, O Haigar, to your dwelling, and rest, for we have given up building the castle, and to-morrow come to me.'
19Then Haigar went to his dwelling and on the morrow he appeared before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said, 'O Haiqar, what news is there of the horse of your lord? for when he neighs in the country of Assyria and Nineveh, and our mares hear his voice, they cast their young.’
20And when Haigar heard this speech he went and took a cat, and bound her and began to flog her with a violent flogging till the Egyptians heard it, and they went and told the king about it.
21And Pharaoh sent to fetch Haigar, and said to him, 'O Haigar, wherefore do you flog thus and beat that dumb beast?’
22And Haigar said to him, my lord the king! truly she has done an ugly deed to me, and has deserved this drubbing and flogging, for my lord king Sennacherib had given me a fine cock, and he had a strong true voice and knew the hours of the day and the night.
23And the cat got up this very night and cut off its head and went away, and because of this deed I have treated her to this drubbing.’
24And Pharaoh said to him, 'O Haiqar, I see from all this that you are growing old and are in your dotage, for between Egypt and Nineveh there are sixty-eight parasangs, and how did she go this very night and cut off the head of your cock and come back?’
25And Haigar said to him, 'O my lord! if there were such a distance between Egypt and Nineveh how could your mares hear when my lord the king's horse neighs and cast their young? and how could the voice of the horse reach to Egypt?’
26And when Pharaoh heard
that, he knew that Haiqar had answered his questions.
27And Pharaoh said, 'O Haiqgar, I want you to make me ropes of the sea-sand.'
28And Haigar said to him, "O my lord the king! order them to bring me a rope out of the treasury that I may make one like it.’
29Then Haigar went to the back of the house, and bored holes in the rough shore of the sea, and took a handful of sand in his hand, sea-sand, and when the sun rose, and penetrated into the holes, he spread the sand in the sun till it became as if woven like ropes.
30And Haigar said, ‘Command your servants to take these ropes, and whenever you desire it, I will weave you some like them.’
31And Pharaoh said, 'O Haigar, we have a millstone here and it has been broken and I want you to sew it up.’
32Then Haigar looked at it, and found another stone.
33And he said to 'O my lord! I am a foreigner: and I have no tool for sewing.
34But I want you to command your faithful shoemakers to cut awls from this stone, that I may sew that millstone.’
35Then Pharaoh and all his nobles laughed. And he said, 'Blessed be the Most High God, who gave you this wit and knowledge.’
36And when Pharaoh saw that Haigar had overcome him, and returned him his answers, he at once became excited, and commanded them to collect for him three years’ taxes, and to bring them to Haiqar.
37And he stripped off his robes and put them upon Haigar, and his soldiers, and his servants, and gave him the expenses of his journey.
38And he said to him, 'Go in peace, O strength of his lord and pride of his Doctors! have any of the Sultans your like? give my greetings to your lord king Sennacherib, and say to him how we have sent him gifts, for kings are content with little.’
39Then Haigar arose, and kissed king Pharaoh's hands and kissed the ground in front of him, and wished him strength and continuance, and abundance in his treasury, and said to him, 'O my lord! I desire from you that not one of our countrymen may remain in Egypt.’
40And Pharaoh arose and sent heralds to proclaim in the streets of Egypt that not one of the people of Assyria or Nineveh should remain in the land of Egypt, but that they should go with Haigar.
41Then Haigar went and took leave of king Pharaoh, and journeyed, seeking the land of Assyria and Nineveh; and he had some treasures and a great deal of wealth.
42And when the news reached king Sennacherib that Haiqar was coming, he went out to meet him and rejoiced over him very with great joy and embraced him and kissed him and said to him, 'Welcome home: O kinsman! my brother Haigar, the strength of my kingdom, and pride of my realm.
43Ask what you would'st have from me, even if you desire the half of my kingdom and of my possessions.’
44Then said Haigar to him, 'O my lord the king, live for ever! Show favor, O my lord the king! to Abu Samik in my stead, for my life was in the hands of God and in his.’
45Then said Sennacherib the king, 'Honor be to you, O my beloved Haigar! I will make the station of Abu Samik the swordsman higher than all my Privy Councilors and my favorites.’
46Then the king began to ask him how he had got on with
[paragraph continues] Pharaoh from his first arrival until he had come away from his presence, and how he had answered all his questions, and how he had received the taxes from him, and the changes of clothing and the presents.
47And Sennacherib the king rejoiced with a great joy, and said to Haiqar, 'Take what you would gladly have of this tribute, for it is all within the grasp of your hand.’
48And Haigar mid: 'Let the king live for ever! I desire nothing but the safety of my lord the king and the continuance of his greatness.
49O my lord! what can I do with wealth and its like? but if you will show me favor, give me Nadan, my sister's son, that I may recompense him for what he has done to me, and grant me his blood and hold me guiltless of it.’
50And Sennacherib the king said, 'Take him, I have given him to you.’ And Haiqar took Nadan, his sister's son, and bound his hands with chains of iron, and took him to his dwelling, and put a heavy fetter on his feet, and tied it with a tight knot, and after binding him thus he cast him into a dark room, beside the retiring-place, and appointed Nebu-hal as sentinel over him to give him a loaf of bread and a little water every day.
7
The parables of Ahikar in which he completes his nephews education. Striking similes. Ahikar calls the boy picturesque names. Here ends the story of Ahikar.
And whenever Haigar went in or out he scolded Nadan, his sister's son, saying to him wisely:
2'O Nadan, my boy! I have done to you all that is good and kind and you have rewarded me for it with what is ugly and bad and with killing.
3'O my son! it is said in the proverbs: He who listens not with his ear, they will make him listen with the scruff of his neck."
4And Nadan said, 'For what cause are you wroth with me?’
5And Haigar said to him, 'Because I brought you up, and taught you, and gave you honor and respect and made you great, and reared you with the best of breeding, and seated you in my place that you might be my heir in the world, and you did treat me with killing and did repay me with my ruin.
6But the Lord knew that I was wronged. And He saved me from the ware which you had set for me, for the Lord heals the broken hearts and hinders the envious and the haughty.
7Omy boy! you have been to me like the scorpion which when it strikes on brass, pierces it.
8O my boy! you are like the gazelle who was eating the roots of the madder, and it add me to-day and to-morrow they will tan they hide in my roots."
9O my boy! you have been to who saw his comrade naked in the chilly time of winter; and he took cold water and poured it on him.
10O my boy! you have been to me like a man who took a stone, and threw it up to heaven to stone his Lord with it. And the stone did not hit, and did not reach high enough, but it became the cause of guilt and sin.
11O my boy! if you had honored me and respected me and had listened to my words you would have been my heir and would have reigned over my dominions.
12O my son! know you that if the tail of the dog or
the pig were ten cubits long it would not approach to the worth of the horse's even if it were like silk.
13O my boy! I thought that you would have been my heir at my death; and you through your envy and your insolence did desire to kill me. But the Lord delivered me from your cunning.
14O my son! you have been to me like a trap which was set up on the dunghill, and there came a sparrow and found the trap set up. And the sparrow said to the trap, "What do you here?" Said the trap, "I am praying here to God."
15And the lark asked it also, "What is the piece of wood that you hold?" Said the trap, "That is a young oak-tree on which I lean at the time of prayer."
16Said the lark: "And what is that thing in your mouth?" Said the trap: "That is bread and victuals which I carry for all the hungry and the poor who come near to me."
17Said the lark: "Now then may I come forward and eat, for I am hungry?" And the trap said to him, "Come forward." And the lark approached that it, might eat.
18But the trap sprang up and seized the lark by its neck.
19And the lark answered and said to the trap, "If that is your bread for the hungry God accepts not your alms and your kind deeds.
20And if that is your fasting and your prayers, God accepts from you neither your fast nor your prayer, and God will not perfect what is good concerning you."
21O my boy! you have been to me (as) a lion who made friends with an ass, and the ass kept walking before the lion for a time. And one day the lion sprang upon the ass and ate it up.
22O my boy! you have been to me like a weevil in the wheat, for it does no good to anything, but spoils the wheat and gnaws it.
23O my boy! you have been like a man who sowed ten measures of wheat, and when it was harvest time, he arose and reaped it, and garnered it, and threshed it, and toiled over it to the very utmost, and it turned out to be ten measures. And its master said to it: "O you lazy thing! you have not grown and you have not shrunk."
24O my boy! you have been to me like the partridge that had been thrown into the net, and she could not save herself. But she called out to the partridges, that she might cast them with herself into the net.
25O my son! you have been to me like the dog that was cold and it went into the potter's house to get warm.
26And when it had got warm, it began to bark at them, and they chased it out and beat it, that it might not bite them.
27O my son! you have been to me like the pig who went into the hot bath with people of quality, and when it came out of the hot bath, it saw a filthy hole and it went down and wallowed in it.
28O my son! you have been to me like the goat which joined its comrades on their way to the sacrifice, and it was unable to save itself.
29O my boy! the dog which is not fed from its hunting becomes food for flies.
30O my son! the hand which does not labor and plow and (which) is greedy and cunning shall be cut away from its shoulder.
31O my son! the eye in which light is not seen, the ravens shall pick at it and pluck it out.
32O my boy! you have been to me like a tree whose branches they were cutting, and it said
to them, "If something of me were not in your hands, truly you would be unable to cut me."
33O my boy! you are like the cat to whom they said: "Leave off thieving till we make for you a chain of gold and feed you with sugar and almonds."
34And she said, "I am not forgetful of the craft of my father and my mother."
35O my son! you have been like the serpent riding on a thorn-bush when he was in the midst of a river, and a wolf saw them and said, "Mischief upon mischief, and let him who is more mischievous than they direct both of them."
36And the serpent said to the wolf, "The lambs and the goats and the sheep which you have eaten all your life, will you return them to their fathers and to their parents or no?"
37Said the wolf, "No." And the serpent said to him, "I think that after myself you are the worst of us."
38O my boy! I fed you with good food and you did not feed me with dry bread.
39O my boy! I gave you sugared water to. drink and good syrup, and you did not give me water from the well to drink.
40O my boy! I taught you, and brought you up, and you did dig a hiding-place for me and did conceal me.
41O my boy! I brought you up with the best upbringing and trained you like a tall cedar; and you have twisted and bent me.
42O my boy! it was my hope concerning you that you would build me a fortified castle, that I might be concealed from my enemies in it, and you did become to me like one burying in the depth of the earth. But the Lord took pity on me and delivered me from your cunning.
43O my boy! I wished you well, and you did reward me with evil and hatefulness, and now I would gladly tear out your eyes, and make you food for dogs, and cut out your tongue, and take off your head with the edge of the sword, and recompense you for your abominable deeds.’
44And when Nadan heard this speech from his uncle Haiqar, he said: 'O my uncle! deal with me according to your knowledge, and forgive me my sins, for who is there who has sinned like me, or who is there who forgives like you?
45Accept me, O my uncle! Now I will serve in your house, and groom your horses and sweep up the dung of your cattle, and feed your sheep. For I am the wicked and you are the righteous: I the guilty and you the forgiving.’ [*1]
46And Haigar said to him, 'O my boy! you are like the tree which was fruitless beside the water. And its master was gladly to cut it down, and it said to him, "Remove me to another place, and if I do not bear fruit, cut me down."
47And its master said to it, "You being beside the water have not borne fruit, how shall you bear fruit when you are in another place?"
48O my boy! the old age of the eagle is better than the youth of the crow.
49O my boy! they said to the wolf, "Keep away from the sheep lest their dust should harm you." And the wolf said, "The dregs of the sheep's milk are good for my eyes."
50O my boy! they made the wolf go to school that he might learn to read and they said to him, "Say A, B." He said, "Lamb and goat in my bell"
51O my boy! they set the ass
down at the table and he fell, and began to roll himself in the dust and one said, "Let him roll himself, for it is his nature, he will not change.
52O my boy! the saying has been confirmed which runs: "If you beget a boy, call him your son, and if you rear a boy, call him your slave."
53O my boy! he who does good shall meet with good; and he who does evil shall meet with evil, for the Lord requites a man according to the measure of his work.
54O my boy! what shall I say more to you than these sayings? for the Lord knows what is hidden, and is acquainted with the mysteries and the secrets.
55And He will requite you and will judge, between me and you, and will recompense you according to your desert.',
56And when Nadan heard that speech from his uncle Haiqar, he swelled up immediately and became like a blown-out bladder.
57And his limbs swelled and his legs and his feet and his side, and he was torn and his belly burst asunder and his entrails were scattered, and he perished, and died.
58And his latter end was destruction, and he went to hell. For he who digs a pit for his brother shall fall into it; and he who sets up traps shall be caught in them.
59This is what happened and (what) we found about the tale of Haiqar, and praise be to God for ever. Amen, and peace.
60This chronicle is finished with the help of God, may He be exalted! Amen, Amen, Amen. Footnotes
‘218:1 Compare the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke XV. 19.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
THE following twelve books are biographies written between 107 and 137 B.C. They are a forceful exposition, showing how a Pharisee with a rare gift of writing secured publicity by using the names of the greatest men of ancient times. "There were intellectual giants in those days" and the Twelve Patriarchs were the Intellectual Giants!
Each is here made to tell his life story. When he is on his deathbed he calls all his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren about him, and proceeds without reservation to lay bare his experiences for the moral guidance of his hearers. If he fell into sin he tells all about it and then counsels them not to err as he did. If he was virtuous, he shows what rewards were his.
When you look beyond the unvarnished--almost brutally frank--passages of the text, you will discern a remarkable attestation of the expectations of the Messiah which existed a hundred years before Christ. And there is another element of rare value in this strange series. As Dr. R. H. Charles says in his scholarly work on the Pseudepigrapha: its ethical teaching "has achieved a real immortality by influencing the thought and diction of the writers of the New Testament, and even those of our Lord. This ethical teaching, which is very much higher and purer than that of the Old Testament, is yet its true spiritual child and helps to bridge the chasm that divides the ethics of the Old and New Testaments."
The instances of the influence of these writings on the New Testament are notable in the Sermon on the Mount which reflects the spirit and even uses phrases from these Testaments. St. Paul appears to have borrowed so freely that it seems as though he must have carried a copy of the Testaments with him on his travels.
Thus, the reader has before him in these pages what is at once striking for its blunt primitive style and valuable as some of the actual source books of the Bible.