A dispute arose among the Arabs about who is the most generous among the living. Three candidates were selected.
A committee was appointed to come to a final decision. The committee decided that each of them should be sent the following letter: “Your friend Weiss is in great need. He asks you to help him."
Three messengers were chosen to convey a message to the candidates and report the results.
The first messenger arrived at the house of the first generous Man and told what he had been entrusted with.
The first generous man said: “Don’t bother me over trifles. Take whatever you want from the house and give it to my friend Weiss.”
When the messenger returned, the people decided that, truly, there could be no greater generosity than this - and no greater arrogance either.
The second messenger who delivered the letter received the following response from the servant of the second generous man: “My master is very arrogant, and I did not bother him with your message. I’ll give you everything he has, including the deed of gift for his real estate.”
The committee, having received this answer, imagined that, without a doubt, this was the most generous man in Arabia. However, they still did not know how the mission of the third messenger ended.
He arrived at the house of the third generous man, who said: “Pack up my property and take this note to the moneylender to liquidate the property, and then wait a little until the person from me comes.” With these words the third generous man left.
Having completed all this, the messenger found that a market agent was waiting for him at the door.
The agent said: “If you are a messenger from Weiss, then I must give you money for one slave just sold at the market.”
The slave was the third generous man
They further say that Weiss himself, who was a member of the judicial committee, visited a certain house a few months later, where the slave serving him turned out to be the third generous person.
Weiss said: “The joke can go too far! Isn’t it time to free yourself from slavery?”
The third generous person replied: “A joke for some may not be a joke for others. I earn my release by agreement with the owner. There are only two or three years left and I will be free again.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru