THE TALE OF THE OLD MERCHANT

An old merchant awoke to the first kiss of a radiant sun upon his face. He rose a free man. He noted the direction and bite of the North Wind upon his naked flesh and he smiled, for he knew that this was to be his last day of life upon the Earth. So he bathed himself slowly and with great pleasure as though he were a king upon the day of his coronation. He dressed in his most loved and sumptuous robes. He feasted as a victorious prince upon all manner of delicacies. He stopped at length upon the square and boisterously shared the news of the day with the gathering of scholars and left them all laughing in tears and calling for his hasty return.
He played with the city’s children in the dusty streets, he bought for them sweets and told them numerous of his best loved tales. He openly praised his business partners and his rivals alike
and he healed an ancient feud between mortal enemies. He wrote the most brilliant and dazzling tale of his long and colorful career and told it for free in the market place. He paid homage to God his Lord and declared his deepest devotions to Him above all things else in his life. He walked many miles quickly and in silence and alone and then he took a long swim naked in a cold stream. He reread the favored passages of his most loved author he made many notes upon them and he smiled. He gave alms to every beggar whom he met
and he bought herbs for a poor widow known only to him by reputation.
He bought the household slaves of his neighbor and then gave them their freedom. He drank and danced with childhood friends in a wine shop. He made love to his wife so passionately and with such absolute abandon that she wept and cried out to the God that he must have been replaced by an angel. He prepared a banquet for his friends and neighbors with his own hands. And at last the Sun fled from his sight and the Moon rose languidly to Her place of ascendancy within the starlit embrace of heaven and then the old merchant gently lay himself down upon the sweet Earth of his youth and closed his eyes.
The next morning, the old merchant awoke to the first kiss of a radiant sun upon his face. He rose a free man. He noted the direction and bite of the North Wind upon his naked flesh and he smiled, for he knew that this was to be his last day of life upon the Earth.