Translation:Tales of Rabbi Nachman/1
He spoke and saidː On the way, I told a story that whoever heard it had a thought of repentance.
And this is the story:
Once, there was a king. The king had six sons and one daughter. The daughter was very dear to him, and he would cherish (in other words, love) her exceedingly and play with her very much. One time, he was together with her on a certain day and he became angry on her and the words "Let the Not-Good take you away!" escaped from his mouth. At night, she went to her room. In the morning, they did not know where she is. Her father (namely, the king) was very afflicted and went looking for her here and there. The viceroy arose because he saw the king was very distressed, and asked to be given an attendant with a horse and money for expenses, and he went to search for her. He searched hard for her, a very long time, until he found her. (Now he tells how he searched for her until he found her.) He went a long time, and in deserts and in fields and in forests, and was seeking her a very long time. He was going in desert area and saw a way from the side. He decided, "Since I am going such a long time in the wilderness and cannot find her, I will go on this path; maybe I will come to a settled area." He went for a long time. Afterwards, he saw a castle and many soldiers standing around it. And the castle was very beautiful, with the soldiers standing around in very fine order. He was afraid of the soldiers, lest they not let him enter. He decided, "I will go and try," and he left the horse and went to the castle. They let him, and did not hinder him at all, so he went from room to room, and they did not stop him. He came to a palace and he saw the king sitting there with a crown and many soldiers standing around him and many are playing on instruments for him and it was very pleasant and beautiful there. And neither the king nor any of them asked him a thing. And he saw there delicacies and good foods, and he went and ate, and went and lay down in a corner to see what would be done there. He saw that the king commanded for the queen to be brought. They went to bring her and there was a great commotion and a great joy there, and the musicians played and sang vigorously because they were bringing the queen. And they placed a throne for her and seated her next to him. And she was the king's daughter, and he (namely, the viceroy) saw her and recognized her. Afterwards, the queen glanced and saw someone lying in a corner. She recognized him and she rose from her throne and went to him and touched him and asked him, "Do you recognize me?" And he answered her, "Yes, I know you. You are the king's daughter who got lost." He asked her, "How is it that you came here?" She answered him: because that utterance slipped out from her father (namely, that "the Not-Good should take you"), and here, this is the place that is Not-Good. He told her that her father is very distressed, and that he is searching her several years. And he asked her, "How can I take you out?" She answered him, "You cannot take me out unless if you will choose for yourself a place and you should stay there one year; and the entire year you should yearn for me, to take me out; and whenever you will have time, you should only yearn and ask and hope to take me out, and you should fast. And on the last day of the year, you should fast and you should not sleep the entire twenty-four hour period." He went and did so, and at the end of the year, on the last day, he fasted and did not sleep, and he arose and went there (that is, to the king's daughter, to take her out). He beheld a tree; on this tree grew very beautiful apples. He had a big craving and he went and ate from them. As soon as he ate the apple, he fell down and a sleep overtook him, and he slept a very long time. The attendant was waking him, and he was not waking up at all. Afterwards, he awoke from his sleep and asked the attendant, "Where am I in the world?" He told him the whole story. (That is, the attendant told the viceroy the story, and said to him:) "You are already sleeping a very long time. It is already several years that you are sleeping. And I have sustained myself from the fruits." He agonized very much, and went there and found her there (that is, the king's daughter). She lamented to him very much and was very disappointed, for "if you would have come on that day, you would have taken me out of here, and because of one day, you lost". (In other words, because you could not restrain yourself one day, and you ate the apple, because of that, you lost.) "But not to eat is a very difficult thing, especially on the last day, then the evil inclination becomes very strong." (That is, that the queen's daughter said to him that now she would make the warning more lenient, and he will not be warned not to eat, because it is a hard thing to abide by, etc.) "Therefore, you should again choose for yourself a place, and you should again stay there a year, and on the last day, you will be permitted to eat — only, you should not sleep and you should not drink wine so that you will not sleep, because the main thing is the sleep." He went and did so. On the last day, he went there, and he saw a running spring, and the appearance of the spring was red and the smell was of wine. He asked the servant, "Have you seen? This is a spring, and there ought to be water in it, and the appearance is red and the smell is of wine!" And he went and tasted from the spring. And he immediately fell down and slept several years, until seventy years. There were many troops going, with the trains that follow behind them, and the servant hid himself because of the soldiers. After that went a carriage and covered wagons, and there sat the king's daughter. She stood herself next to him and went down and sat herself next to him and recognized him. And she tried very much to wake him, but he could not be woken. She started to lament over him, that "so many, so many very great efforts and toils you tortuously made and toiled these so many years in order to take me out, and for one day, when you could have taken me out, you completely lost," and she cried very much about this. She said, "It is a great pity on you and on me. It is such a long time that I am here and cannot go out," etc. Afterwards, she took a scarf from her head, and wrote on it with her tears and laid it down next to him, and stood up and sat herself in her carriage and rode away. Afterwards, he awoke and asked the attendant, "Where am I in the world?" He told him the whole story, and that many troops passed through there, and that the carriage was here, and that she was crying over him and she was screaming, "It is a great pity on you and on me" etc. as mentioned before. Meanwhile, he glanced and saw the scarf lying next to him. He asked, "From where is this?" He answered him, "She left it behind and wrote on it with her tears." He took the scarf and raised it up against the sun and began to see the letters. He read what was written there: her lamentation and her cry, as mentioned above; and (it was written there) that now, she is no longer in the aforementioned castle; just that he should search for a golden mountain and a pearl castle; "There, you will find me." He left the attendant behind and went alone to seek her. And he went and sought her several years. He decided that in a settled area, a golden mountain and a pearl castle is definitely not found, because he was an expert in the world map. "Therefore I will go in the deserts, searching there." He went searching for her in deserts several, several years. Afterwards, he saw a very large man whose largeness was beyond human bounds and he was carrying a large tree, that in a settled area such a large tree is not found, and the man asked him, "Who are you?" He answered him, "I am a man." The large man was amazed and said, "I am already such a long time in the wilderness and I have never seen a man here." He told him the whole story as mentioned above and that he's looking for a golden mountain and a pearl castle. He replied to him, "It certainly does not exist." And he dissuaded him and said to him, "They have convinced you with nonsense, because it certainly does not exist." He started to weep very much (that is, the viceroy cried very much and said), "With certainty it does exist. It must exist somewhere." And he dissuaded him (that is, the wild man dissuaded him and said to him), "Certainly, they have convinced you with nonsense." And he said (the viceroy), "Certainly it exists somewhere!" He said to him (the wild man to the viceroy), "In my opinion it is nonsense, but because you are stubborn, therefore — I am an appointee over all the animals. I will act for your sake and will summon all the animals. Since they run all over the world, maybe one of them will know of the mountain and the castle mentioned above." He summoned all the animals from small to large, all sorts of animals, and asked them. They all replied that they had not seen. He said to him, "See, they have talked nonsense into you. If you want to listen to me, turn back, because certainly you will not find, because it does not exist in the world." And the viceroy pressed him very much and said, "It must surely indeed be!" He said to him (the wild man to the viceroy), "I have a brother in the wilderness and he is an appointee over all the birds. Maybe they know, since they fly high in the air. Maybe they have seen the mountain and the castle. You should go to him, and you should tell him that I've sent you to him." He went several, several years seeking him and again found a very large man, as mentioned before, and he also carried a large tree and also questioned him as the first. He answered him the whole story and that his brother sent him to him, and he, too, dissuaded him, since, "It certainly does not exist;" and the viceroy also implored him very much, "It certainly does exist!" He told him, "I am an appointee over all the birds; I will summon them; maybe they know." He called up all the birds and asked all of them, from small to large. They answered him that they do not know of the mountain and the castle. He told him, "Don't you see? It certainly does not exist in the world. If you will listen to me, turn back, because it certainly is not here." And he (the viceroy) pressed him and said, "It certainly is here in the world!" He told him, "Further in the wilderness is my brother; he is appointee over all the winds and they run over the whole world; perhaps they know." He went several, several years seeking, and again, he found a large man as mentioned above, and he was also carrying a large tree and also questioned him as mentioned above. He also answered him the whole story as mentioned above. The man also dissuaded him, and the viceroy implored him very much. He said to him (this third man to the viceroy) that he would do him a favor and will, for his sake, summon all the winds and will ask them. He called them and all the winds came and he asked all of them. Not one of them knew of the mountain and the castle. He said to him (the third man to the viceroy), "Don't you see that you have been told nonsense?" The viceroy began to cry very much and said, "I know it surely does exist!" Meanwhile, he saw that another wind had arrived. The appointee became angry on him. "Why have you so delayed to come? Didn't I decree that all the winds should come? Why didn't you come with them?!" He answered him, "I was delayed because I needed to carry a king's daughter to a golden mountain with a pearl castle." He was overjoyed (that is, the viceroy was very happy that he now merited to hear what he desires.) The appointee over winds asked the wind, "What is valuable there?" (That is, "What things are precious and important there?") He said to him, "There, everything is very dear." The appointee over the winds replied to the viceroy, "Since it is such a long time that you are searching for her, and how many efforts you have spent, and perhaps you will now have a hindrance due to money, therefore, I will give you a vessel, that when you will put your hand into it, you will get money from there." And he summoned the wind that he should carry him there. The storm wind came and carried him there and brought him to the gate, and standing there were soldiers who did not let him enter the city. He put his hand into the vessel and took out money and bribed them and went into the city. It was a beautiful city. And he went to a man of means and rented food and lodging for himself, for one must remain there, for one needs to see with wisdom and intellect in order to take her out. (And how he took her out, he did not tell.) In the end, he took her out. Amen, Selah. (And look in the introduction and you will see wondrous hints on this story). And look furthermore in the end of the book and you will see wondrous homilies.