There is a wise man in Baghdad named Egelman. All the people in the country knew Egelman. The offended came to him for advice, those who argued came to him for a wise man to judge them, the sick came to get rid of their illness, and the smart loved to talk with a wise man.
The khan heard about Egelman's wisdom and ordered to call him to him. The royal servants brought Yegelman to the khan, and he began to live at court.
The Khan often conferred with the sage and never ceased to admire his intelligence.
One day the khan called his faithful vizier and told him:
- Shouldn’t we make Egelman vizier - he’s very smart!
The vizier did not like the khan’s words. He realized that the king wanted to get rid of him.
- Oh my khan! - the vizier begged. - Don't do this. I don’t like this man, he’s as cunning as a hundred devils. You cannot trust him: he knows how to do what others cannot. I'm afraid that one of these days he will destroy us all and become khan.
Khan thought:
- Yes, you're right. Only smart people are capable of harming the Khan. What should we do with the sage? After all, we cannot kick him out - he will be offended and take revenge on us.
The vizier was delighted.
- Oh my khan! Entrust this matter to me, I will somehow find a way to kill Egelman.
“I allow it,” answered the khan and retired to his chambers. From that day on, Egelman was not invited to the khan. When Egelman asked why the khan was not letting him in, he was told that the khan was busy.
One day the vizier came to Egelman and said:
- Hey, Egelman, the khan is asking you a few questions. Will you answer them?
“I am always ready to serve the khan with joy,” answered the sage.
The first question: “How should the khan enrich his people?” Second question: “How can a khan eradicate anger from his subordinates?” Egelman thought and answered:
- Give me two years. Vizier:
- I give you two weeks. During this time, you must write scientific papers on these questions.
Egelman realized that his days were numbered. He said to the vizier:
– I have a book written two years ago. It contains exactly the answers to these questions. I'll go through this week's book, fix a few things, and let you know.
There was nothing to say to the vizier, and he left. Exactly a week later, Egelman came to the vizier:
“The book is ready, but I would like to hand it over to the master myself.”
The vizier brought Egelman to the khan. Khan saw the sage and was delighted.
“Treat the sage with the best wines and the most delicious dishes,” he ordered the vizier.
Soon there was a table in front of the sage, covered with all kinds of dishes. Egelman felt that poison was mixed into the wine - the vizier decided to poison him.
“Oh so! - thought the sage. “In this case, you won’t even have to regret what you did.”
Egelman quietly took some transparent crystal out of his pocket and dropped it into a bowl of wine. When the crystal dissolved, the sage drank the wine as if nothing had happened.
“Good wine,” he said and put the cup on the table.
Then, unnoticed by others, he dipped his fingers into the poison that had settled at the bottom of the cup and turned to the vizier.
- Dear vizier! Here's a book for you. It is very useful, these pages are especially important.
With these words, the sage ran his fingers, dipped in poison, over the pages of the open book. Then he asked the khan for permission and left.
As soon as the door closed behind Egelman, the khan and the vizier took the book and read:
“If the khan wants to see his people gentle and kind, let him first free himself from anger.”
“If the khan wants to see his people rich, let him instill in them hard work.”
“Whoever you are, lick this page of the book nine times, and your strength will never diminish.” The khan and the vizier rejoiced and began to lick the book in a fight. This is where the end came for them.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru