12
PARABLES
sought by staying in the house. It is not here, no one has left it here, no one
will bring it to us here. But I have decided: I am the older brother, and I my-
self must find everything that is wise in the world for us both, for our line,
which will live on down the ages. I must find it, bring it to our home, and
give it to us and to our descendants. I will take everything of value our
father left us and go all around the world, to all the wise men of different
countries, learn all their sciences, and return to our dear home.”
“Your journey will be long,” the younger brother said compassionately.
“We have a horse. Take the horse and wagon, load as much good as you can,
so you will be less poor on the road. I will stay home and await the wiser
you.”
The brothers parted for a long time. Years passed. The older brother went
from wise man to wise man, temple to temple, learned the teachings of the
East and West, spent time in the North and in the South. He had a magnifi-
cent memory, and his sharp mind grasped quickly and remembered
everything easily.
The older brother roamed the world for sixty years or so. His hair and
beard turned gray. His keen mind kept wandering and learning wisdom, and
he, now a gray wanderer, came to be considered the wisest of men. A throng
of disciples followed him. He generously propagated his wisdom to their
keen minds. Both young and old heeded him with delight. Great fame pre-
ceded him, informing settlements on his path of the wise man’s great com-
ing.
In his halo of glory, surrounded by a crowd of subservient disciples, the
gray-haired wise man came closer and closer to the settlement where he was
born and which he had left as a youth of fifteen, sixty years before.
All the people from the settlement came to meet him, and his younger
brother, also with gray hair, ran out to greet him, rejoicing, and bowed his
head before his brother, the wise man.
He joyously whispered, “Bless me, my brother and wise man. Come into
our home, and I will wash your feet after your long journey. Come into our
home, my wise brother, and rest.”
With a majestic gesture, the wise man ordered all his pupils to remain on
