#rabbinachmanmoment
2 of 9 of the story of The Seven Beggars
Thank you @eliyanah
The Blind Beggar
Just then they heard him call out, "Here I am, I have come to your marriage. And as a wedding gift I bestow upon you the blessing I wished you before: may you live to be as I am, and as old as I am.You must not believe that I am blind; I am not blind at all, but in my sight the entire world is not worth the blink of an eye, and so, as I never look upon the world, I have the appearance of one who is blind. I am very old," he said, "but I am quite young, and I have not yet begun to live. Nevertheless I am aged, and it is not I alone who say this, but I have the word of the great Eagle. I will tell you the story.
"Once there was a ship sailing on a sea; a great storm came,and the ship was broken, but the people were saved. They climbed to a high tower, and in the tower they found clothing and food and wine and everything that was good. In order to pass the time pleasantly, they said, .Let each of us tell the story of his oldest memory , and
we shall see whose memory is longest."
Aged and young were there. and the first that spoke was the eldest of them all. and he was white with years." ‘What shall I teIl you?’, he said, ‘I even remember when the apple was cut from the bough.’ Though many sages were among them, none understood the meaning of his tale, yet they all agreed that the story was indeed of olden times."Then the second eldest in yean said, as one who wonders and admires, ‘That is truly an ancient tale! I remember that happening, and I even remember the candle that burned.’"Everyone agreed that this was even an older story than the first,and they wondered how a younger man could remember a story of older times; then they asked the third eldest to tell a story in his turn." ‘ I even remember when the fruit first began to grow ‘ he said,’for then the fruit was only beginning to take form.’" ‘ That is yet a more ancient story,’ all agreed. But the fourth in yean spoke: ‘I remember when the seed was brought that was to be planted in the fruit ‘; and the fifth said,’ I remember the sage who thought of the seed’; then the sixth, who was younger still. declared,’I remember the taste of the fruit before the taste went into the fruit ‘; and the seventh said, ‘I remember the odour of the fruit before the fruit had an odour’ ; but the eighth said, ‘ I remember the appearance of the fruit before the fruit could be seen, and I was but a child.’ "
Then the blind beggar who was telling the story said,"I was the youngest in years among them in the tower and when they had all spoken, I spoke."I remember all those things, and I remember the thing that is Nothing.’"All who were there agreed that mine was a story of something far, far back. further than all the other happenings, and they wondered at the child whose memory was longer than that of the eldest man.
But there came a beating of wings and a knocking upon the walls of the tower, and we saw great Eagle come."He cried, ‘You have been poor men long enough, you may return now to your treasures.’ And he added, ‘I will take you out of the tower, the eldest first, and so according to your ages’.
Then he took me out first, and the eldest in years he took out last, and when we were all taken out of the tower, the Eagle said to us, ’I can explain all the tales that have been told; for he who remembered when the apple was cut from the bough, remembered how at his birth he was cut from his mother; the candle that burned was the babe in the womb, for it is written in gemara* that while the child is in the womb a candle burns over his head; and he that remembers when the fruit began to grow remembers how his limbs first began to form in his mother’s womb; he that recalls the bringing of the seed remembers how he was conceived; and he that knows the wisdom that created the seed, remembers when conception was but in the mind; the taste that preceded the fruit is the memory of Being; the scent is Spirit; and vision is the Soul; but the child that remembers Nothing is greater than them all, for he remembers that which existed before Being, Spirit, or Soul; he remembers the life that hovered upon the threshold of eternity.’
Then the Eagle said, ‘Return to your vessels, for they are your bodies that were broken, and they are built again.’He blessed them all, but to me he said, ‘You must come with me, for you are as I am, you are very old, but still young, and you have not yet begun to live.’Andso you see that it was from the great Eagle himself that I learned the secret of my age and of my youth: and today I give you this as my gift: that you may be as I am, and as old as I am."
When the blind beggar had spoken there was great joy and merriment among the wedding guests, and the bride and groom were happy.
