057. The Caliph, The Shepherd And Happiness (El Califa, El Pastor Y La Felicidad)
One day, the caliph of Baghdad went hunting with his retinue and as bad luck would have it, his horse bolted and began running without him being able to control it. The horse ran so fast and was in such a frightened state that soon they lost sight of those who were following them. Suddenly, they found themselves in front of a precipice and the horse and its rider were about to be thrown into the abyss when a poor shepherd, who was in the area with his goats, stepped up and managed to stop him right at the edge.
The caliph, upon seeing the risk that the shepherd had taken to save his life, offered him happiness as a reward for his action; and he swore by his beard that for what [he had done], he would give him anything he asked for.
The next day the shepherd presented himself at the court of the caliph and was admitted at once. The shepherd’s name was Ben Adab and he had a flock of fifty goats. He let the caliph know that he would like to have a flock of one hundred goats, for which he needed another fifty. And the caliph said to him:
I see that you are content with little, so, in addition to those fifty goats, you shall also have a small house and some meadows of your own for your cattle to graze [in].
The shepherd left the meeting with the caliph with glee, thinking that this was happiness, because the caliph had given him more than what he had asked for, realizing that he also would need a house and pasture [for the goats]. So he then settled in his house and began to socialize with his neighbors. And one day a neighbor of importance stopped by to see him, who [then] told him that he had a nice house, two hundred goats and [also] large pastures for them to graze in.
The shepherd could not sleep that night [as he kept] thinking about his neighbor’s two hundred goats, and he said to himself: “What a brute I was! How did it not occur to me to ask the caliph for two hundred goats? Then I would be as important as my neighbor.”
And so he kept thinking about this until he fell asleep due to exhaustion.
The next morning, the crestfallen shepherd showed up in the caliph’s palace and requested to see him, [where] the caliph received him right away.
Then he told him about his thoughts the previous night and the caliph laughed heartily at the shepherd and told him that he had sworn by his beard to give him whatever he asked for, and that, therefore, he would grant him the other one hundred goats, and with that he would have the same two hundred as his neighbor.
The shepherd returned home happily, but as he got closer to home, he began to think: “Or if I had asked him for [another] two or three hundred goats, he would have given them to me, too. But what a fool I was! Now I only have two hundred goats [for the effort].”
He ruminated over these thoughts for a few days and, at last, resolved to return to the caliph and told him that he was not happy now either, and that he needed more goats and larger meadows to feed them. The caliph, as he had sworn by his beard, gave him everything that he asked for and thus he went home saying:
This, indeed, is happiness!
It did not last long, because soon the shepherd was no longer satisfied with what he had and began to think and think about his situation and decided that he no longer wanted to live in the countryside by the [royal] court. So he settled in the court with the consent and assistance of the caliph and, in this manner, what was first a house ended up being a palace, and where were mules ended up being a collection of purebred horses, and what were [idle] chats with his neighbors became galas and parties where there were endless foods and drinks. The caliph became less and less amused by the shepherd’s constant petitions, but he had sworn by his beard and continued to grant him whatever that he asked for.
Not even that would satisfy Ben Adab, and one day, once again, he went to the palace to speak with the caliph.
Sir -he said-, you offered me happiness and swore by your beard to give me everything I asked for.
That is true -responded the caliph-, and if you have not managed to be happy up until now it would have been due to no fault of mine.
Well, in that case -said Ben Adab-, what I need to be happy is to be caliph and that you will lend me your caliphate for a time.
On hearing these words, the caliph sent for the royal barber and had his beard shaved then and there. Then he turned to the shepherd and said:
Now I don’t have to fulfill what I [previously] swore by my beard, and you don’t have to stop being what you [once] were.
And he ordered the servants to strip the shepherd of everything that he possessed and return him to where he first met him, and there he remained, as destitute as [when] the caliph had run into him and with his fifty goats.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Acabar siendo – end up being
Agotamiento – (extreme fatigue) exhaustion; (draining of resources) depletion
Ambicioso – ambitious
Animarse – (to become more cheerful) to cheer up, to liven up, to brighten up; (to resolve) to decide
Bastar – (to be sufficient) to be enough
Cabizbajo – glum, downcast, crestfallen
Cabra – goat
Califa – caliph
Charlar – to chat, to talk
Culpa – blame, fault
Darse cuenta – to realize
Dejar de ser – to stop being, to be no longer, to quit being, to cease to be
De repente – suddenly, all of a sudden
Desbocarse – (to lose control) to bolt (an animal), to get out of control
Despeñar – to throw over a cliff; despeñarse – to succumb to, to yield
Despojarse de – to relinquish, to get rid of
Divertirse – to have fun, to have a good time; divertir – to amuse, to entertain
Entrevista – interview, meeting
Jinete – rider, horseman
Justo – (precise) exact, right; (barely enough) just enough; precisely, just, right
Mula – mule
Otorgar – to bestow, to grant
Pastar – to graze
Por lo tanto – therefore, thus
Prado – meadow
Prestar – (to loan) to lend; (to give) to provide
Quiso la suerte – as luck (has it, etc)
Raza – (ethnic group) race; (of an animal) breed
Reír – to laugh
Relacionarse – (to be friendly with) to mix, to have contact
Rumiar – to ruminate
Salir al paso – step out in front of, to prevent, forestall
Séquito – entourage, retinue
Tonto – stupid, silly