Once upon a time there lived a king. And his adviser was a poor Jew named Menashe, who invariably refused to receive salaries and gifts from the king. A certain minister named Stulp was very jealous of Councilor Menashe. He was jealous of the respect that the king showed the Jew, and he was jealous that the king called Menashe the most selfless of his advisors. And then one day Stulp says to the king:
“Why do all your nobles and advisers arrange feasts for you, but Menashe never throws any feasts?” Order him to also arrange a feast and invite us to his place.
The evil minister knew well that Menashe lived in poverty, in a wretched, rickety house and that he had no money for rich feasts. The king liked this idea. He thought: “Menashe is a very smart man, I wonder what he will come up with?”
When the Jewish adviser came to the royal palace, the king ordered him to arrange a feast and invite all the courtiers. Menashe thought for a moment and after a minute answered: okay, but he appointed a feast in a month. The king agreed and ordered the day of the feast to be announced. Every day Stulp sent his servants to spy on how Menashe was preparing for the feast, and every day the servants returned and reported that they did not notice any preparations: the Jewish adviser sits in his hut, which is in the synagogue courtyard, and diligently studies the Torah, but does not think about the feast. The evil minister was already gloating and anticipating revenge.
Finally the day of the feast arrived. Menashe appeared at the royal palace and asked the king and all the courtiers to go with him to the banquet. Led by Menashe, everyone went to the river and stopped in amazement. Just yesterday, on the deserted bank of the river, a magnificent palace with crystal windows and golden doors towered. They went inside, and there the tables were set, on the tables were dishes made of gold, silver and precious stones, on the plates were the best dishes, in the decanters were the finest wines, and in crystal vases trimmed with gold were the sweetest fruits, cookies and sweets. The king was surprised, the courtiers were surprised, and Menashe said:
- Sit down, dear guests, eat, drink, each of you is assigned a separate servant who will fulfill your every desire.
Minister Stulp turned green with envy. Here everyone sat down, and when the feast began, Menashe warned his guests:
- Help yourself to everything on the table. No one should take anything with them.
So they sat, feasted and had fun for three hours. Finally everyone got ready to leave, the king stood up, and his retinue stood behind him. Only Stulp did not stand up. Can't budge. Everyone is surprised, and Menashe says:
“He won’t move until he returns the diamond salt shaker, which he took from the table and put in his pocket.
Frightened and embarrassed, Stulp admitted that he had indeed stolen the salt shaker, and immediately returned it in disgrace.
The next day, the courtiers only talked about Menasha, about his rich welcome, subtle taste, hospitality, intelligence and modesty.
The king drove out the envious minister, the evil Stulpa, and instead appointed the Jew Menashe as minister.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru