The Richest Man in Babylon.
In old Babylon there once lived a certain very rich man named Arkad. Far and wide he was famed for his great wealth. Also was he famed for his liberality. He was generous in his charities. He was generous with his family. He was liberal in his own expenses. But nevertheless each year his wealth increased more rapidly than he spent it. And there were certain friends of younger days who came to him and said: "You, Arkad, are more fortunate than we. You have become the richest man in all Babylon while we struggle for existence. You can wear the finest garments and you can enjoy the rarest foods, while we must be content if we can cloth e our families in raiment that is presentable and feed them as best we can. "Yet, once we were equal. We studied under the same master. We played in the same games. And in neither the studies nor the games did you outshine us. And in the years since, you h ave been no more an honourable citizen than we.
"Nor have you worked harder or more faithfully, insofar as we can judge. Why, then, should a fic kle fate single you out to enjoy all the good things of life and ignore us who are equally deserving?" Thereupon Arkad remonstrated with them, saying, "If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them. " 'Fickle Fate' is a vicious goddess who brings no permanent good to anyone. On the contrary, she brings ruin to almost every man upon whom she showers unearned gold. She makes wanton spenders, who soon dissipate all they receive and are left beset by overwhelming appetites and desires they have not the ability to gratify. Yet others whom she favours become misers and hoard their wealth, fearing to spend what they have, knowing they do not possess the ability to replace it. They further are beset by fear of robbers and doom themselves to lives of emptiness and secret misery. "Others there probably are, who can take unearned gold and add to it and continue to be happy and contented citizens. But so few are they, I know of them but by hearsay. Think you of the men who have inherited sudden wealth, and see if these things are not so." His friends admitted that of the men they knew who had inherited wealth these words were true, and they besought him to explain to them how he had
become possessed of so much prosperity, so he continued: "In my youth I looked about me and saw all the good things there were to bring happiness and contentment. And I realized that wealth increased the potency of all these. "Wealth is a power. With wealth many things are possible. "One may ornament the home with the richest of furnishings. "One maysail the distant seas. "One may feast on the delicacies of far lands. "One may buy the ornaments of the gold worker and the stone polisher. "One mayevenbuild mighty temples for the Gods. "One may do all these things and many others in which there is delight for the senses and gratification for the soul. "And, when I realized all this, I decided to myself that I would claim my shar e of the good things of life. I would not be one of those who stand afar off, enviously watching others enjoy. I would not be con. tent to clothe myself in the cheapest raiment that looked respectable. I would not be satisfiedwith the lot of a poor man. On the contrary, I would make myself a guest at this banquet of good things. "Being, as you know, the son of a humble merchant, one of a large family with no hope of an inheritance, and not being endowed, as you have so frankly said, w ith superior powers or wisdom, I decided that if I was to achieve what I desired, time and study would be required. "As for time, all men have it in abundance. You, each of you, have let slip by sufficient time to have made yourselves wealthy. Yet, you ad mit, you have nothing to show except your good families, of which you can be justly proud. "As for study, did not our wise teacher teach usthat learning was of two kinds: the one kind being the things we learned and knew, and the other being the training that taught us how to find out what we did not know? "Therefore did I decide to find out how one might accumulate wealth, and when I had fou nd out, to make this my task and do it well. For," is it not wise that we should enjoy while we dwell in the brightness of the sunshine, for sorrows enough shall descend upon us when we depart for the darkness of the world of spirit? "I found employment as a scribe in the hall of records, and long hours each day I laboured upon the clay tablets. Week after week, and month after month, I laboured, yet for my earnings I had naught to show. Food and clothing and penance to the Gods, and other things of which I could remember not what, absorbed all my earnings. But my determination did not leave me. "And one day Algamish, the money lender, came to the house of the city master and ordered a copy of the Ninth Law, and he said to me, 'I must have this in two days, and if the task is done by that time, two coppers will I give to thee.' "So I laboured hard, but the law was long, and when Algamish returned the task was unfinished. He was angry, and had I been his slave, he would have beaten me. But knowing the city master would not permit him to injure me, I was unafraid, so I said to him, 'Algamish, you are a very rich man. Tell me how I may also become rich, and all night I will carve upon the clay, and when the sun rises it shall be comple ted.' 'He smiled at me and replied, 'You are a forward knave, but we will call it a bargain.'"All that night I carved, though my back pained and the smell of the wick made my head ache until my eyes could hardly see. But when he returned at sunup, the tablets were complete. " 'Now’ I said, 'tell me what you promised.' " 'You have fulfilled your part of our bargain, my son,' he said to me kindly, 'and I am ready to fulfil mine, I will tell you these things you wish to know because I am becoming an old man, and an old tongue loves to wag. And when youth comes to age for advice he receives the wisdom of years. But too ofte n does youth think that age knows only the wisdom of days that are gone, and therefore profits not. But remember this, the sun that shines today is the sun that shone when thy father was born, and will still be shining when thy last grandchild shall pass into the darkness. " 'The thoughts of youth,' he continued, 'are bright lights that shine forth like the meteors that oft make brilliant the sky, but the wisdom of age is like the fixed stars that shine so unchanged that the sailor may depend upon them to steer his course. " 'Mark you well my words, for if you do not you will fail to grasp the truth that I will tell you, and you will think that your night's work has been in vain.' "Then he looked at me shrewdly from under his shaggy brows and said in a low, forceful tone, ‘I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.' "Then he continued to look at me with a glance that I could feel pierce me but said no more. " 'Is that all?' I asked. " 'That was sufficient to change the heart of a sheep herder into the heart of a money lender,' he replied
"But demanded.mine to keep, is it not?' I "Far from it,' he replied. 'Do you not pay the garment maker? Do you not pay the sandalmaker? Do you not pay for the things you eat? Can you live in Babylon without spending? What have you to show for your earnings of the past month? What for the past year? Fool! You pay to everyone but yourself. Dullard, you labour for others. As well be a slave and work for what your master gives you to eat and wear. If you did keep for yourself oneyou earn, how much w tenth of all ould you have in ten years?' "My knowledge of the numbers did not forsake me, and I answered, 'As much as I earn in one year.' " 'You speak but half the truth' he retorted. 'Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child that also can earn for you. If you would become wealthy, then what you save must earn, and its children must earn, that all may help to give to you the abundance you crave. " 'You think I cheat you for your long night's work,' he continued,' but I am paying you a thousand times over if you have the intelligence to grasp the truth I offer you. " 'A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth no matter how little you earn. It can be as much mo re as you can afford. Pay yourself first. Do not buy from the clothes the sandal-- maker and maker more than you can pay out of the rest and still have enough for food and charity and penance to the Gods. " 'Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with con sistent savings, the sooner may you bask in content ment beneath its shade.' "So saying, he took his tablets and went away.-- "I thought much about what he had said to me, and it seemed reasonable. So I decided that I would try it. Each time I was paid I took one from each ten pieces of copper and hid it away. And strange as it may seem, I was no shorter of funds than before. I noticed little difference as I managed to get along without it. But often I was tempted, as my hoard began to grow, to spend it for some of the good things the merchants displayed, brought by camels and ships from the land of the Phoenicians. But I wisely refrained. "A twelfth month after Algamish had gone he again returned and said to me, 'Son, have you paid to yourself not less than oneearned for the past year?' tenth of all you have "I answered proudly, 'Yes, master, I have.' '"That is good/ he answered beaming upon me, 'and what have you done with it?' " 'I have given it to Azmur, the brick maker, who told me he was travelling over the far seas and in Tyre he would buy for me the rare jewels of the Phoenicians. When he returns we shall sell these at high prices and divide the earnings.' " 'Every fool mus t learn,' he growled, 'but why trust the knowledge of a brick maker about jewels? Would you go to the bread maker to inquire about the stars? No, by my tunic, you would go to the astrologer, if you had power to think. Your savings are gone, youth; you have jerked your wealthtree up by the roots. But plant another. Try again. And next time if you would have advice about jewels, go to the jewel merchant. If you would know the truth about sheep, go to the herdsman. Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced in suc h matters, shall pay with his savings for .proving the falsity of their opinions.' Saying this, he went away. "And it was as he said. For the Phoenicians are scoundrels and sold to Azmur worthless bits of glass that looked like gems. But as Algamish had bi d me, I again saved each tenth copper, for I now had formed the habit and it was no longer difficult. "Again, twelve months later, Algamish came to the room of the scribes and addressed me. 'What prog ress have you made since last I saw you?' " 'I have pai d myself faithfully/ I replied, 'and my savings I have entrusted to Aggar the shield maker, to buy bronze, and each fourth month he does pay methe rental.' "'That is good. And what do you do with the rental?' " 'I do have a great feast with honey and fine wine and spiced cake. Also I have bought me a scarlet tunic. And some day I shall buy me a young ass upon which to ride.' "To which Algamish laughed, 'You do eat the children of your savings. Then how do you expect them to work for you? And how can they have children that will also work for you? First get thee an army of golden slaves and then many a rich banquet may you enjoy without regret So saying he again went away. "Nor did I again see him for two years, when he once more returned and his face was full of deep lines and his eyes drooped, for he was becoming a very old man And he said to me, 'Arkad, hast thou yet achieved the wealth thou dreamed of?' "And I answered, 'Not yet all that I desire, but some I have and it earns more, and its earnings earn more' " 'And do you still take the advice of brick makers?' " 'About brick making they give good advice,' I retorted. '"Arkad,' he continued, 'you have learned your lessons well. You first learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to give it. And, lastly, you have l make gold work for you. earned to " 'You have taught yourself how to acquire money, how to keep it and how to use it. Therefore, you are competent for a responsible position.' I am becoming an old man. My sons think only of spending and give no thought to earning. My interests are great and I fear too much for me to look after. If you will go to Nippur and look after my lands there, I shall make you my partner and you shall share in my estate.' "So I went to Nippur and took charge of his holdings, which were large. And because I was full of ambition and because I had mastered the three laws of successfully handling wealth, I was enabled to increase greatly the value of his properties. So I prospered much, and when the spirit of Algamish depa rted for the sphere of darkness, I did share in his estate as he had arranged under the law." So spake Arkad, and when he had finished his tale, one of his friends said, "You were indeed fortunate that Algamish made of you an heir."
In old Babylon there once lived a certain very rich man named Arkad. Far and wide he was famed for his great wealth. Also was he famed for his liberality. He was generous in his charities. He was generous with his family. He was liberal in his own expenses. But nevertheless each year his wealth increased more rapidly than he spent it. And there were certain friends of younger days who came to him and said: "You, Arkad, are more fortunate than we. You have become the richest man in all Babylon while we struggle for existence. You can wear the finest garments and you can enjoy the rarest foods, while we must be content if we can cloth e our families in raiment that is presentable and feed them as best we can. "Yet, once we were equal. We studied under the same master. We played in the same games. And in neither the studies nor the games did you outshine us. And in the years since, you h ave been no more an honourable citizen than we.
"Nor have you worked harder or more faithfully, insofar as we can judge. Why, then, should a fic kle fate single you out to enjoy all the good things of life and ignore us who are equally deserving?" Thereupon Arkad remonstrated with them, saying, "If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them. " 'Fickle Fate' is a vicious goddess who brings no permanent good to anyone. On the contrary, she brings ruin to almost every man upon whom she showers unearned gold. She makes wanton spenders, who soon dissipate all they receive and are left beset by overwhelming appetites and desires they have not the ability to gratify. Yet others whom she favours become misers and hoard their wealth, fearing to spend what they have, knowing they do not possess the ability to replace it. They further are beset by fear of robbers and doom themselves to lives of emptiness and secret misery. "Others there probably are, who can take unearned gold and add to it and continue to be happy and contented citizens. But so few are they, I know of them but by hearsay. Think you of the men who have inherited sudden wealth, and see if these things are not so." His friends admitted that of the men they knew who had inherited wealth these words were true, and they besought him to explain to them how he had
become possessed of so much prosperity, so he continued: "In my youth I looked about me and saw all the good things there were to bring happiness and contentment. And I realized that wealth increased the potency of all these. "Wealth is a power. With wealth many things are possible. "One may ornament the home with the richest of furnishings. "One maysail the distant seas. "One may feast on the delicacies of far lands. "One may buy the ornaments of the gold worker and the stone polisher. "One mayevenbuild mighty temples for the Gods. "One may do all these things and many others in which there is delight for the senses and gratification for the soul. "And, when I realized all this, I decided to myself that I would claim my shar e of the good things of life. I would not be one of those who stand afar off, enviously watching others enjoy. I would not be con. tent to clothe myself in the cheapest raiment that looked respectable. I would not be satisfiedwith the lot of a poor man. On the contrary, I would make myself a guest at this banquet of good things. "Being, as you know, the son of a humble merchant, one of a large family with no hope of an inheritance, and not being endowed, as you have so frankly said, w ith superior powers or wisdom, I decided that if I was to achieve what I desired, time and study would be required. "As for time, all men have it in abundance. You, each of you, have let slip by sufficient time to have made yourselves wealthy. Yet, you ad mit, you have nothing to show except your good families, of which you can be justly proud. "As for study, did not our wise teacher teach usthat learning was of two kinds: the one kind being the things we learned and knew, and the other being the training that taught us how to find out what we did not know? "Therefore did I decide to find out how one might accumulate wealth, and when I had fou nd out, to make this my task and do it well. For," is it not wise that we should enjoy while we dwell in the brightness of the sunshine, for sorrows enough shall descend upon us when we depart for the darkness of the world of spirit? "I found employment as a scribe in the hall of records, and long hours each day I laboured upon the clay tablets. Week after week, and month after month, I laboured, yet for my earnings I had naught to show. Food and clothing and penance to the Gods, and other things of which I could remember not what, absorbed all my earnings. But my determination did not leave me. "And one day Algamish, the money lender, came to the house of the city master and ordered a copy of the Ninth Law, and he said to me, 'I must have this in two days, and if the task is done by that time, two coppers will I give to thee.' "So I laboured hard, but the law was long, and when Algamish returned the task was unfinished. He was angry, and had I been his slave, he would have beaten me. But knowing the city master would not permit him to injure me, I was unafraid, so I said to him, 'Algamish, you are a very rich man. Tell me how I may also become rich, and all night I will carve upon the clay, and when the sun rises it shall be comple ted.' 'He smiled at me and replied, 'You are a forward knave, but we will call it a bargain.'"All that night I carved, though my back pained and the smell of the wick made my head ache until my eyes could hardly see. But when he returned at sunup, the tablets were complete. " 'Now’ I said, 'tell me what you promised.' " 'You have fulfilled your part of our bargain, my son,' he said to me kindly, 'and I am ready to fulfil mine, I will tell you these things you wish to know because I am becoming an old man, and an old tongue loves to wag. And when youth comes to age for advice he receives the wisdom of years. But too ofte n does youth think that age knows only the wisdom of days that are gone, and therefore profits not. But remember this, the sun that shines today is the sun that shone when thy father was born, and will still be shining when thy last grandchild shall pass into the darkness. " 'The thoughts of youth,' he continued, 'are bright lights that shine forth like the meteors that oft make brilliant the sky, but the wisdom of age is like the fixed stars that shine so unchanged that the sailor may depend upon them to steer his course. " 'Mark you well my words, for if you do not you will fail to grasp the truth that I will tell you, and you will think that your night's work has been in vain.' "Then he looked at me shrewdly from under his shaggy brows and said in a low, forceful tone, ‘I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.' "Then he continued to look at me with a glance that I could feel pierce me but said no more. " 'Is that all?' I asked. " 'That was sufficient to change the heart of a sheep herder into the heart of a money lender,' he replied
"But demanded.mine to keep, is it not?' I "Far from it,' he replied. 'Do you not pay the garment maker? Do you not pay the sandalmaker? Do you not pay for the things you eat? Can you live in Babylon without spending? What have you to show for your earnings of the past month? What for the past year? Fool! You pay to everyone but yourself. Dullard, you labour for others. As well be a slave and work for what your master gives you to eat and wear. If you did keep for yourself oneyou earn, how much w tenth of all ould you have in ten years?' "My knowledge of the numbers did not forsake me, and I answered, 'As much as I earn in one year.' " 'You speak but half the truth' he retorted. 'Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child that also can earn for you. If you would become wealthy, then what you save must earn, and its children must earn, that all may help to give to you the abundance you crave. " 'You think I cheat you for your long night's work,' he continued,' but I am paying you a thousand times over if you have the intelligence to grasp the truth I offer you. " 'A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth no matter how little you earn. It can be as much mo re as you can afford. Pay yourself first. Do not buy from the clothes the sandal-- maker and maker more than you can pay out of the rest and still have enough for food and charity and penance to the Gods. " 'Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with con sistent savings, the sooner may you bask in content ment beneath its shade.' "So saying, he took his tablets and went away.-- "I thought much about what he had said to me, and it seemed reasonable. So I decided that I would try it. Each time I was paid I took one from each ten pieces of copper and hid it away. And strange as it may seem, I was no shorter of funds than before. I noticed little difference as I managed to get along without it. But often I was tempted, as my hoard began to grow, to spend it for some of the good things the merchants displayed, brought by camels and ships from the land of the Phoenicians. But I wisely refrained. "A twelfth month after Algamish had gone he again returned and said to me, 'Son, have you paid to yourself not less than oneearned for the past year?' tenth of all you have "I answered proudly, 'Yes, master, I have.' '"That is good/ he answered beaming upon me, 'and what have you done with it?' " 'I have given it to Azmur, the brick maker, who told me he was travelling over the far seas and in Tyre he would buy for me the rare jewels of the Phoenicians. When he returns we shall sell these at high prices and divide the earnings.' " 'Every fool mus t learn,' he growled, 'but why trust the knowledge of a brick maker about jewels? Would you go to the bread maker to inquire about the stars? No, by my tunic, you would go to the astrologer, if you had power to think. Your savings are gone, youth; you have jerked your wealthtree up by the roots. But plant another. Try again. And next time if you would have advice about jewels, go to the jewel merchant. If you would know the truth about sheep, go to the herdsman. Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced in suc h matters, shall pay with his savings for .proving the falsity of their opinions.' Saying this, he went away. "And it was as he said. For the Phoenicians are scoundrels and sold to Azmur worthless bits of glass that looked like gems. But as Algamish had bi d me, I again saved each tenth copper, for I now had formed the habit and it was no longer difficult. "Again, twelve months later, Algamish came to the room of the scribes and addressed me. 'What prog ress have you made since last I saw you?' " 'I have pai d myself faithfully/ I replied, 'and my savings I have entrusted to Aggar the shield maker, to buy bronze, and each fourth month he does pay methe rental.' "'That is good. And what do you do with the rental?' " 'I do have a great feast with honey and fine wine and spiced cake. Also I have bought me a scarlet tunic. And some day I shall buy me a young ass upon which to ride.' "To which Algamish laughed, 'You do eat the children of your savings. Then how do you expect them to work for you? And how can they have children that will also work for you? First get thee an army of golden slaves and then many a rich banquet may you enjoy without regret So saying he again went away. "Nor did I again see him for two years, when he once more returned and his face was full of deep lines and his eyes drooped, for he was becoming a very old man And he said to me, 'Arkad, hast thou yet achieved the wealth thou dreamed of?' "And I answered, 'Not yet all that I desire, but some I have and it earns more, and its earnings earn more' " 'And do you still take the advice of brick makers?' " 'About brick making they give good advice,' I retorted. '"Arkad,' he continued, 'you have learned your lessons well. You first learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to give it. And, lastly, you have l make gold work for you. earned to " 'You have taught yourself how to acquire money, how to keep it and how to use it. Therefore, you are competent for a responsible position.' I am becoming an old man. My sons think only of spending and give no thought to earning. My interests are great and I fear too much for me to look after. If you will go to Nippur and look after my lands there, I shall make you my partner and you shall share in my estate.' "So I went to Nippur and took charge of his holdings, which were large. And because I was full of ambition and because I had mastered the three laws of successfully handling wealth, I was enabled to increase greatly the value of his properties. So I prospered much, and when the spirit of Algamish depa rted for the sphere of darkness, I did share in his estate as he had arranged under the law." So spake Arkad, and when he had finished his tale, one of his friends said, "You were indeed fortunate that Algamish made of you an heir."
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