Once upon a time, a long time ago, a poor widow was sitting at the window in her house and looking at the street, when suddenly she saw a wretched dervish wearily trudged along the road. His emaciated appearance, patched clothes, covered with dust, aroused compassion for him and demanded participation.
Running out of the house, the woman called out to the dervish:
“Noble dervish,” she turned to him, “I know that you are one of the chosen ones.” But sometimes even insignificant ones like me can be useful to seekers. Enter my house and rest a little, for it is said: “He who helps his friends will be sent help, and he who hinders them will meet an obstacle on his way, but how and when this will happen, people do not know.”
“Thank you, good woman,” answered the dervish and entered the house. He spent several days with her and during this time he had a great rest and regained his strength.
The widow had a son named Abdullah, who all his life did nothing but cut down forests and take firewood to the nearest bazaar. The future did not promise him any happy changes; the work of a woodcutter took up all his time and did not give him the opportunity to enrich his life experience enough to get out of poverty.
When the dervish began to get ready for the journey, he said to Abdullah:
- My son, I am a man of knowledge, although I may look helpless in this world, but I am gifted with attention and can see what others do not see. If your mother has no objection, become my companion and I will share with you the great opportunities that come my way.
The mother was glad to allow her son to accompany the sage, and they set out on their journey together.
They traveled through many countries and encountered many trials along the way.
But one day the dervish said:
- Abdullah, we have reached our goal. Now I will perform special rituals, and if the higher powers treat us favorably, we will see what is revealed to only a few people: the earth will open up before us and open access to treasures hidden here many years ago. Do you have any fear, my friend?
Abdullah vowed to persevere no matter what happens.
Then the dervish began to make some strange movements and utter incomprehensible words, which Abdullah repeated after him, suddenly the earth shook, and the entrance to the dungeon opened in front of them.
“Now, my boy, listen to me carefully,” said the dervish. “You must go down into this dungeon and find an iron candlestick there.” You will see wonderful treasures there, the likes of which mortals rarely see, but do not touch anything, remember that your only goal is the iron candlestick. Once you find it, go back.
Having descended into the treasury, Abdullah was stunned; there were so many sparkling precious stones, golden dishes, amazing riches that cannot be described. Forgetting all the instructions of the dervish, he began to select the most beautiful and shiny stones, when suddenly he came across a candlestick.
Nothing bad would happen, Abdullah decided, if, after taking the candlestick for the dervish, he hid some gold and precious stones for himself. So, filling his wide sleeves with treasures, he began to climb up the steps.
But when he got to the surface, he was surprised to see his hut in front of him, and the dervish disappeared without a trace.
Abdullah hurried to his mother to quickly show her the treasures, but as soon as he poured them out in front of her, they suddenly began to melt and disappeared. Only the candlestick remained. He examined it carefully. The candlestick had twelve candles. Abdullah lit one of them - and immediately a figure similar to a dervish appeared in front of him. The vision spun around a little, then put a coin on the ground and disappeared. Then he lit all twelve candles, twelve dervishes appeared before him. For an hour they performed some kind of rhythmic movements and before disappearing, they threw twelve coins to him. Having recovered from their amazement, Abdullah and his mother realized that they could now live well if the dancing dervishes brought them twelve coins every day.
But some time passed, and Abdullah, remembering the countless treasures that he saw in the cave, decided once again to try to get really rich.
He searched for a long time for the place where the entrance to the dungeon was, but could not find it. The desire to find wealth, however, haunted him. He set off to wander around the world and, taking many roads, came to a magnificent palace. The servants led him into a luxurious hall, and he was very happy and surprised to see there the same dervish whom his mother had once helped. The dervish was dressed in royal robes and was surrounded by crowds of disciples.
“Now, O ungrateful one,” said the dervish, “I will show you what this candlestick can do.”
With these words, he grabbed a stick and hit the candlestick. Here each branch of the candlestick turned into treasures that surpassed everything that the young man saw in the cave. The dervish began to distribute gold, silver and precious stones to those worthy, and at that moment a miracle happened: the candlestick reappeared, ready for a new use.
“Since you cannot use things correctly,” said the dervish, “and since you have not lived up to my trust, you must leave me.” But for the fact that you at least returned the candlestick, I give you a camel loaded with gold.
Abdullah spent the night in the palace, and in the morning, having managed to steal a candlestick and hid it under the camel’s saddle, he set off on the return journey.
Returning home, he lit the candles and hit the candlestick with a stick. But since he did not carefully follow the actions of the dervish, instead of taking the stick in his right hand, he took it in his left. Twelve dervishes immediately appeared. In an instant, they lifted a camel loaded with gold and jewelry, picked up a candlestick and disappeared into the air.
It became even harder for Abdullah, because he could not forgive himself for his stupidity and ingratitude, he constantly punished himself for theft, and until the end of his life he could not forget that he was so close to wealth.
But another opportunity never presented itself to him, and he lost peace forever.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru