Once upon a time there lived a husband and wife. The husband's name was Yuhannan and the wife's name was Maryam. These were rich people, but they acquired their wealth dishonestly. They forced poor people to work for them, but they were not paid for their work. They were very greedy and did not share anything with others. But, despite this, the couple considered themselves the most honest people among the Assyrians and wanted people to respect them, glorify and worship them like the ancient Assyrian kings.
And they had only one concern - they were not happy with their situation. At the mere mention of death, their hearts were torn to pieces. When they heard the voices of those crying and wailing for the dead, they trembled so much that they bent over to the ground. So great was their fear of death.
They often fled from fear in swampy swamps, in dense forests and, hungry, returned to their home. The ghost of death did not leave them for a minute.
People continued to die and they continued to be mourned, and Yuhannan and Maryam said:
- And it was necessary for the Almighty to create this terrible death?
One day, during the days of mourning among the neighbors, Maryam says to her husband:
- I can’t imagine what we should do? Come up with some way to save us, I can’t stay here any longer. I can't fit a piece into my mouth. When I hear lamentations and sobs over a dead person, I myself die of fear. Let's go around the world, maybe we will find a country where we will live in freedom and where I will not hear about death.
This is what the rich were like in ancient times. They did not understand the meaning of life, they had no purpose in life, they only satisfied their whims and passions and oppressed the people. They wanted to find another country where they could live forever, although they did nothing to become immortal. If they sometimes gave money to the clergy, it was only in order to get the cross out of the water. Sometimes the rich donated a little money for the construction of churches, but they did this only out of fear that God would punish them for lying, theft, debauchery and for oppressing their people, who lived in poverty and backwardness.
These people were a punishment for the people. But it’s good that this happened thousands of years ago - in ancient times, and if this happened now, what would we do, O Almighty!
But let's return to our rich people. Yuhannan thought deeply about his wife’s words and said:
“You looked into my soul.” Indeed, with God's help we will go to wander the world, perhaps we will find a country where there is no death.
The next day they sold the house and their lands and, having loaded seventy-seven camels with gold and jewelry, set off in search of a happy country.
They walked and walked, without looking back, crossing deserts, seas, mountains until they reached the blue mountains. On their way they passed many towns and villages, but as soon as they noticed a cemetery, they rushed away like a calf stung by a gadfly.
Finally, having traveled a huge distance, after long trials they reached one country. They walked around all the surroundings, but did not see cemeteries anywhere. and did not meet a single funeral procession. They stopped in front of the gates of a large city, but even here no mournful songs or lamentations for the dead were heard. And then they decided to ask one respectable man:
- Oh dear man! Be so kind as to tell us where is your cemetery?
The venerable man was very surprised and replied:
- What? Cemetery? What is this? It seems to me that you appeared in our country from another world. You are asking about things that we have never heard of.
- But what are you saying, O man? – Yuhannan spoke again. – Why don’t people die in your country? Don't they cry for them? Don't they bury them in the ground? The dead can be very scary, their eyes bulge out of their sockets, their teeth are bared, and even if thunder crashes overhead, they still won’t wake up.
This venerable man was even more surprised.
“No, we don’t have such scary people,” he said and went his way.
The husband and wife looked at each other:
- Finally, we reached our goal, we found a place for ourselves. People don't die in this country and we have nothing to fear.
Maryam even offered her cheek for a kiss, but Yuhannan turned away. He thought that spouses did not kiss in this country.
They entered the city, bought a large and beautiful house, and began to sing and dance like young people. Very soon they forgot their Assyrian brothers.
So days and years passed in pleasure, but one thought haunted them. In this country they did not meet people who were over a hundred years old. Where did all the old people disappear if there were no cemeteries here?
Once at a wedding, Yuhannan loudly asked the older ones:
- Tell me, dear people. There is no death in your country, but where are your old people? There are no people here who are over a hundred years old?
Everyone laughed loudly at his question, and the gagged bride also laughed. Finally, one elderly, intelligent man, who was not yet seventy, answered:
- Dear guest, we really don’t know what death is. Only sometimes our people hear a voice from behind the mountains saying: “Hey man, get up, let’s go.”
Then this person gets up and goes to the call of this voice, but where he is going, none of us knows.
- Is that all? – Yuhannan asked.
“Yes, that’s all,” answered the elderly man.
And everyone continued to sing and have fun.
Yuhannan returned home joyful and told Maryam everything.
“It’s so good,” said the wife, “let this voice shout to itself, we still won’t go where it calls, let it howl to itself beyond the mountains.”
- You're right, wife. Dance, sing, drink wine, now we won’t die.
And they continued to have fun.
Several more years passed, and one day, when Yuhannan was almost a hundred years old, he heard a voice calling him from behind the mountains:
- Yuhannan, get up, let's go!
Yuhannan, naked and barefoot, went to the call of this voice.
-Where are you going? - the wife screamed. - What about me? I'll be left all alone, think about me, don't go.
“I can’t,” Yuhannan replied. – A huge force does not allow me to stop, it drags me.
With these words he disappeared forever.
And Maryam was left alone, heartbroken, in a foreign country. She collected all her wealth and, sitting next to him, began to remember the faces of her friends and relatives dear to her heart, springs with ice water, gardens, bright sun, weddings in her country. But she was afraid of death and because of this she did not want to return to her homeland.
But suddenly she heard a voice, it came from afar, then became closer and closer. She was terribly frightened, began to hide in a pile of money, crying and clutching it to her chest, and began to ask them for protection. But it was all in vain. The voice continued to call her:
- Maryam! Get up, let's go, Maryam! Get up, let's go.
She tried to run away, but a voice from behind the door pulled her in. She could barely stand.
“I won’t follow that damned voice.” What will happen to my wealth? - she shouted.
But the voice, with its power, seemed to entangle her in invisible chains. Maryam again rushed to the pile of money, asking for their protection. She even hid in them, there she began to gnaw and swallow precious stones, but the voice still sounded through the closed door and pulled her towards itself:
- I’m turning to you! Get up, let's go!
Maryam no longer had the strength to resist, she stood up and began to call her fellow countrymen with all her might, asking them for forgiveness for all the evil she had caused them. But the voice did not allow her to finish; he carried her along with him.
Thus, Yuhannan and Maryam, the richest people among the Assyrians, died ingloriously. They would never have died in the memory of the people if they had not left their country, and if they had used their wealth for the benefit of the people.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru