There once lived a dervish, and he had sixty disciples. He taught them as best he could, and now it was time to go through a new experience. He called his disciples and said:
“Now we must go on a long journey.” Something - I don't know what exactly - will happen along the way. Those of you who have learned enough to enter this stage are welcome to accompany me. But first, you all must remember this phrase: “I must die instead of the dervish.” Be ready to shout it out any time I raise both hands.
Some of his disciples began to whisper among themselves, suddenly doubting the dervish's intentions. Fifty-nine of the sixty disciples left him, saying: “He knows that danger awaits him, and he is preparing to sacrifice us in his place!” They told him:
“Perhaps you intend to commit some kind of crime, maybe even murder; we can never follow you on such terms.
The dervish and his only remaining companion set off.
At this time, a terrible and unjust tyrant captured the city that lay in their path, shortly before they entered it. He wanted to consolidate his rule with a dramatic act of violence and called in his soldiers. He told them:
- Seize some meek-looking traveler and bring him to the city square for trial. I'm going to condemn him as a villain.
The soldiers replied:
- We listen and obey!
They went out into the streets and grabbed the first stranger they met. He turned out to be a student of the dervish. The dervish followed the soldiers to the place where the king sat, while all the townspeople, already trembling with fear, gathered around to the sound of the drums of death. The disciple was thrown before the throne, and the king said:
“I decided to roughly punish the tramp to show everyone that we will not tolerate disagreement or attempts to escape. Now you will die.
At this moment the dervish shouted in a loud voice:
“Take my life, O mighty monarch, instead of the life of this useless youth!” I deserve punishment more than he, for it was I who persuaded him to become a vagrant!
At the same time, he raised both hands above his head, and the student exclaimed:
- Mighty lord! Please let me die, I must die instead of the dervish!
The king was extremely amazed. He told his advisors:
“What kind of people are these, competing with each other for the right to die?” If this is heroism, will it not inflame the people to fight against me? Please advise what I should do.
After consulting for a few seconds, they said:
- Peacock of the Century! If this is heroism, there is little we can do except more brutal action until the people lose their courage. But we will not lose anything if we ask this dervish why he is so eager to die.
Dervish, when asked, replied:
- Your Royal Majesty! It was predicted that on this day a man would die in this place, and that he would be resurrected and become immortal. Naturally, both my student and I want to be this person.
The king thought: “Should I make others immortal when I am not immortal myself?”
After a moment's reflection, he gave the order to immediately execute himself instead of the travelers. Then the worst of the king's minions, in pursuit of immortality, killed themselves. None of them resurrected, and the dervish and his disciple, taking advantage of the confusion, continued on their way.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru