Over and over again, during their long conversations, they would repeat with the reiteration usual to those to whom a subject is dear, some such sentiments as these:
“The restless periods of youth, marriage, and commercial affairs have tried our friendship without altering it; it is henceforth secure from all changes; old age will only serve to render us dearer to each other, and we shall leave to our families the record and example of an affection which a future day will doubtless see renewed in our sons.”
“It is probable,” they would often say, “that Allah, touched by our friendship upon earth, will reunite us eternally in the paradise of true believers, beneath fresh shades, and by the side of bubbling fountains, surrounded by flowers of sweet perfume.”
At this prospect of an eternal union, an eternal happiness, both would smile in anticipation, and such expressions as these they were never weary of repeating to each other.
These two friends were about thirty years of age, when a lucky chance gave them the opportunity of accomplishing the dearest wish of their hearts, that of occupying together two small shops adjoining each other.
An old Israelite, without family and without children, had inhabited them for twenty years. In one he slept and ate, not having any other house; in the other he displayed his merchandise; essences, amber, pastilles, necklaces and bracelets for the rich Moors, small looking-glasses, and beads of coral for the slaves; all of which he sold at the dearest possible price, as if he had a dozen children to support, and as many of his co-religionists.
Mohammed and Yousouf established themselves with lively satisfaction in these shops, the possession of which they had so long coveted, without at the same time desiring the death of the old Jew. They were incapable of a wicked action; but the Jew being dead, as they could not restore him to life, they saw no harm in lawfully taking possession of his domicile. This event seemed to complete their happiness.
But who can say or know what is really a good or an evil? who can foresee the consequences of things?
Mohammed one day, while knocking a nail into the partition wall between his shop and that of Yousouf, discovered that this wall was hollow, and that it contained some pieces of metal. His first impulse was to call, “Yousouf! Yousouf! there is gold or silver in our wall;” but the next moment he thought, “I will first assure myself of what this part of the wall contains, and if I really make a fortunate discovery, I shall give Yousouf such an agreeable surprise by calling him to partake of it.”
Accordingly he waited until Yousouf should be out of the way for an hour or two to give him the opportunity of exploring further into his wall, but it so happened that Yousouf was never absent at all for several days following.
Mohammed then said to his friend:
“I fancy that something has been stolen from my shop during the night. I shall sleep there to-night, in order to surprise the thief, if he should reappear.”
“I shall not leave thee alone here all night,” replied Yousouf, “but shall sleep also in my shop by the side of thee.”
Mohammed in vain strove to oppose the resolution of his friend; he could not revisit his shop alone in the evening, and for several days following, Yousouf seeing that he appeared pensive and uneasy, quitted him less than ever, and said to him with the solicitude of true friendship:
“Thou seemest sad! Thy wife and thy sons, are they ill? Regrettest thou what has been taken from thy shop? Compensate thyself for thy loss by selecting whatever thou wilt from that which I possess.”
Mohammed thanked Yousouf, and replied with a smile:
“Rest satisfied, I have no grief.” He dared not add, “I have no secret,” for he had one.
In order however to put an end to the feeling of intense anxiety that filled his mind, he came to his shop one night unknown to Yousouf, and hastily detaching from the partition wall first one stone, then two or three more, he discovered a hundred Spanish doubloons, and eight four-dollar pieces. This was a perfect treasure to Mohammed, who had never in his life possessed more than the half of a small house, and the few goods exposed for sale in his shop.
“We are rich,” said he. “Yousouf and I can now purchase a country house by the sea-side, as we have so often wished. Our wives and our children will disport themselves in our sight. My son Ali, that beautiful child whom I so tenderly love, will be delighted to run among the trees and climb up into their topmost branches. Ah! how rejoiced I am, if only for his sake.”
Thus thinking, Mohammed took his gold and his silver, replaced, as well as he was able, the stones in his wall, and returned to his home, his mind occupied with delightful visions, and already beholding himself in imagination enjoying the pleasures of a delightful habitation by the sea-shore, with his beautiful Ali, that dear child whom he so tenderly loved. During two days he put off from hour to hour the disclosure which he had to make to Yousouf; and during those two days he revolved all sorts of ideas in his mind.
“If I made the fortune of my son, instead of that of my friend,” said he at length to himself, “should I be guilty? Is not a son nearer and dearer than all the friends in the world? Yes; but then the gold and silver which I have discovered belong by rights as much to Yousouf as to myself, for the wall whence I have taken them belongs as much to his shop as to mine.”
Unable to resolve either to share his treasure with his friend or to keep it for himself alone, he took the resolution of carefully concealing it in the chamber in which he slept, and of waiting until the agitation caused in his mind by so important an event should have somewhat subsided, to which end he hastened to secure his newly acquired possession.
“Reflection is no crime,” said he. Consequently he gave himself time to reflect, instead of following the first impulse of his heart and remaining faithful to that devotion of friendship which had hitherto constituted his pride and glory, and which still bore the promise of so rich a harvest in the future.
He passed all his time then, extended during the heat of the day upon a mat by the side of his merchandise, and with closed eyes feigning to sleep, while in reality he was thinking of nothing but his treasure, and of what he ought to do with it.
Yousouf meanwhile, impressed with the idea that his friend was sleeping, took every care to guard his slumbers from interruption, thinking as he gently fanned his fevered brow of nothing but Mohammed, and what he could possibly invent to divert him and render him happy.
One day as Yousouf and Mohammed were reposing after their labours, an old hump-backed Jew with a sallow complexion and an enormous nose accosted Yousouf, saying:
“Was it not here that Nathan Cohen, the son of David, lived about two years since?”
“Speak low,” replied Yousouf to the Jew. “My friend is asleep, and I would not that his slumbers should be disturbed.”
The Jew seated himself on the edge of Yousouf’s little counter, and repeated his inquiry, at the same time lowering the harsh and hollow tones of his voice.
“Yes, it was here that Nathan Cohen, the son of David, dwelt,” replied the young Moor.
“Ah!” said the old Jew, working his large and flexible nostrils, “I was sure of it — that is why I scent gold hidden here.”
“Indeed!” said Yousouf, regarding somewhat incredulously the extraordinary nose of his interlocutor. “Thou dost well to talk of smelling gold or silver either. Thy olfactory nerves are of the strongest no doubt, nevertheless I fear me they are at fault in this dwelling, where gold and silver but seldom make their appearance.”
“They are not often to be seen here,” replied the Jew; “I know that full well; they are not heard here either, for the earth conceals them both from sight and sound. But remove them from the envious ground that covers them, and they will dazzle thine eyes and charm thine ears.”
“Indeed!” said Yousouf, laughing. “Thou art the bearer of good news. How much dost thou demand for thy reward?”
“I would have thee share with me all that I shall cause to be discovered in thy house by m
eans of the marvellous sense of smelling with which I am endowed, and at which thou now jestest.”
“Share with thee!” exclaimed Yousouf. “Oh no, indeed! If I were fortunate enough to discover a treasure, it is with my friend Mohammed that I should hasten to share it.”
“But thou wilt have nothing to share with him if I do not disclose to thee the spot where thy treasure lies concealed.”
“Perhaps so. But if I put any confidence in thy nose, what prevents me from turning my whole shop topsy-turvy, digging up the floor, and pulling down the walls and the shelves?”
The Jew slowly regarded the ground, the walls, and the shelves, as they were severally named by Yousouf; then he said in an ironical manner:
“Thou wouldst not do much harm if thou wert to demolish all around thee; but to save thyself so much trouble and labour, thou hadst far better give me at least one-third of what I shall discover in thy dwelling. The other two-thirds can be for thyself and thy friend, if thou art fool enough not to wish to keep all for thyself.”
“Ah, it may suit such a man as thou to call him who prefers friendship to money a fool! But in spite of all thy arguments I shall never change, and I shall love Mohammed better than all the money in the world.”
“As you please. It remains to be seen if Mohammed would do the same for you.”
“I have not the slightest doubt of it,” replied Yousouf.
The Jew uttered a suppressed laugh.
“And I have every doubt of it,” said he. “I doubt even thy future disinterestedness, notwithstanding the warmth of thy discourse. Yousouf! Yousouf! thou hast not yet beheld the dazzling brilliancy of gold! It is the lustre of this metal which charms the eyes and wins the heart of man. Once let him see gold before him, and know that he has the power to possess himself of it, and adieu to every other thought. Gold! why it is the thing to be most desired in the world. Possessed of gold, what can we not enjoy? a fine house, smiling pasturage, blooming gardens, rich stuffs, divans, perfumes, all, in short, that renders life desirable!”
“That is very true,” replied Yousouf. “We can procure many things with gold; but still gold cannot purchase youth, gaiety, friendship, or even a good appetite or sound sleep. Leave me then in peace with thy discoveries, and if thou art so skilled in the art of scenting gold, learn also to scan the disposition of him to whom thou addressest thyself.”
“Then thou wilt not consent to give me the third of what I know to be here, hidden though it may be?”
“Decidedly not,” replied Yousouf. “I have no faith in thy ridiculous pretensions; moreover, I do not know thee, and have never seen thee either in the public walks, the streets, or elsewhere.”
“I have just returned from a long journey,” replied the old man; “my name is Ephraim. When I quitted this city, thou wert but sixteen years of age; my friend Nathan Cohen, son of David, was then very old: he has been dead, they say, these two years.”
“And so thou comest to exercise thy sense of smelling in thy accustomed haunt,” said Yousouf gaily; “and seest thou not then that there is some power in friendship, since it is the memory of a friend that brings thee hither?”
“Ah! it is not the memory of the past, but hope for the future,” replied the old Jew. “So long as our friends are alive they may be useful, though that is a thing that very rarely happens; but when they are dead, what is the use of thinking any more of them?”
Yousouf, wearied out with so much discussion, said at length to Ephraim:
“Come, come, enough of this! Leave this place; thy voice will, I am sure, awaken my friend, and prevent him from sleeping, as he delights to do during the heat of the day.”
“Do not let us awaken him,” replied the Jew, “but let us remove the ground there beneath thy feet. I will hope that a feeling of gratitude may induce thee to bestow upon me a portion of what I shall discover for thee.”
So saying, the Jew drew a long iron pickaxe from beneath his dirty brown tunic, and began to break up the ground around the feet of Yousouf. The latter regarded the old man — his prodigious nose inflated by the hope of gain — with a smile of derision. But in a short space of time their eyes were dazzled by a sight of the precious metal. The Jew had, indeed, succeeded in disinterring a veritable treasure.
“Let us now count this gold and silver,” said he.
They took it, and counted it, and found that Yousouf had suddenly become the possessor of five hundred Spanish doubloons, and sixty four-dollar pieces. He could scarcely believe his eyes.
“Well,” said the Jew, “what sayest thou? have I lied to thee, or deceived myself? Come, let us see now what thou art going to give me in reward for my pains.”
“I will awaken Mohammed,” said Yousouf, “and he and I will certainly give thee something as a recompense.”
“Yousouf!” said the Jew, arresting the young Moor by the arm, “reflect a moment before awakening thy friend. Would it not be better to keep this treasure for thyself and for thy sons? Hast thou not children, and are not children much dearer than a friend?”
“If I have children,” replied Yousouf, “Mohammed has them also. We loved each other before they were born, and we know how to be good fathers without being faithless friends.”
At this moment Mohammed, who had not awaked, for the very sufficient reason that he had not been asleep, started as if he had been stung by a thousand mosquitoes at once, and rose with a sudden bound. The concluding words of Yousouf had awakened a feeling of remorse within his breast.
“Yousouf! Yousouf!” said he to his friend, “I have heard all. Yes, every thing, and thy sincere friendship, tried by time and tried by gold, is now the sole treasure I desire.”
“I know for how long a time thou hast thought thus,” replied Yousouf. “But since Allah has chosen to make us rich, let us not disdain the blessing which he sends. He it was who first inspired us with the wish for these two little shops, and who has bestowed them upon us. It is he who has conducted hither this Jew who has been the instrument of our discovering this treasure. Let us offer our thanks to Allah, and let us give to Ephraim that which is meet and right.”
“Be that as thou only wilt,” said Mohammed with a preoccupied air. “Thou art just and righteous, and thy thoughts are pure in the sight of Allah.”
Yousouf paid no great heed to this friendly eulogium, but continued gaily:
“Since thou permittest me to be the sole arbiter in the affair, this is my decision.”
Then, turning towards Ephraim: “Thou shalt be more or less recompensed,” said he, “according to the candour with which thou repliest to my question. Come, then, answer me truly, hast thou really, thanks to the singular form of thy nose, so fine a sense of smell as to be able to trace any metal whatever, either under ground or elsewhere?”
“Yes,” said the Jew, “I possess this rare faculty, thanks to my nose; and to give thee a farther proof of it, I declare that I can again scent in this spot in the wall a sum of gold and silver, the exact amount of which I cannot enumerate.”
Mohammed turned pale at these words. “In this wall?” said he.
“Yes. Suffer me to make a little hole with this gimlet here, and you will see if I speak falsely.”
“Dig where thou wilt,” replied Yousouf; “we have no right to prevent thee after the discovery thou hast just made here.”
The Jew instantly set to work at the wall, but it was now his turn to be astonished, for the wall, hollow it is true, was guiltless of gold or silver either.
Yousouf burst out laughing at the disconcerted and stupified look of the old Jew.
“Never mind,” said he, “thy nose has deceived thee for once; but thou must not let that discourage thee. Still, hadst thou frankly told me that as a friend of old Nathan Cohen thou knewest where he had hidden his treasure, in return for thy confidence I should have given thee a quarter of what thou hast found; but since thou hast persisted in assuring me that thy nose is gifted with supernatural powers, I shall give thee much less. Besid
es, with such a nose as thine no one can doubt but thy fortune is made.”
“Ah!” cried the Jew, clasping his withered and wrinkled hands, “Yousouf! Yousouf! since thou art good and just, as Mohammed says, take pity on my poverty; it impelled me to deal falsely with thee; I confess it now; and spite of its singular form, my nose has nothing but what is common to other noses. Accord then to my tardy sincerity that which thou wouldst at first have given me.”
Yousouf consulted Mohammed again, who replied thus:
“Thou art just and pious; act according to thy own desire.”
Yousouf then counted out to the old Jew the fourth part of what he had just found, thus rendering him happy for the remainder of his days.
Then, finding himself alone with his friend, he began to divide into two equal parts the gold and silver which remained.
“Give me none! give me none, Yousouf!” exclaimed Mohammed, “I am no longer deserving of thy friendship.”
“Thou!” said Yousouf, “art thou mad? what sayst thou?”
“I speak the melancholy truth,” cried Mohammed; “I have not a noble heart like thine. Some time since I discovered in the wall the gold and silver which the Jew thought to find there; but instead of saying as thou hast done, ‘I will share it with my friend,’ I put off from day to day the fulfilment of this sacred duty. Ah, Yousouf, I am unworthy of thy friendship, and am very unhappy!”
Yousouf remained silent for a few moments, but soon his brow grew clear, and a pleasing smile diffused itself over his features and illuminated his fine dark eyes.
“What man,” said he, “is entirely master over his own thoughts? Thou didst hesitate, sayst thou, before confiding to me the discovery thou hadst made. That may be, but thou wouldst not have failed to do so at last. Thou wouldst never have been able to behold thyself rich, knowing me to be poor, and to sit at a feast whilst I lived upon black bread. Thou didst not thoroughly understand the wants and feelings of thy heart: that is all. Thou didst not at once perceive wherein lies true happiness, for which reason thou hast caused thyself much uneasiness. It is over now; our friendship has been tried by gold; nothing remains for us but to enjoy the good fortune that has befallen us. Let us seek to do so like wise men, and never let us forget to set apart for the poor a portion of that which Allah has bestowed upon us.”
One Thousand and One Nights Page 1322