The poor man

A short story

Written by Haithem-Cherfi
 The poor man covers his family with his back. He only has his
back. Within the cold of winter, upon the snow-covered land, he
goes to the mountain, and chops the old trees with his older axe.
The poor man sells the wood in the kingdom of the fair and just
king, still coins are never enough to make this winter warm. The
poor man has no home to return to but the naked land.
The fair and just king is fair and just. Respected and loved, adored
and admired, still he is old, so old. Sick in bed, Grey has invaded
his beard. Surrounded with friends, family, servants, and loved
ones. All love him; all respect him; all smile when they see him,
and all wish him to die.
The king’s vaults are fat, and full of treasures. The king has a
purple diamond in his ring. The diamond is worth more than all of
his fat vaults. It is the most beautiful diamond in the world, and
they call it ‘the world gem.’ The king’s kingdom is rich. Everyone
leads a happy life. There is only one poor family in the fair and just
king’s kingdom, the poor man’s family.
Conspiracies are being weaved around the fair and just king. His
last short days seem long for many. The prince is the most impatient
of them all. He wants himself a new chair to sit upon, a bigger
chair, so he conspires with the nobles who love the king and wish
him to die.
The whips of cold winds burned the poor man’s back. He still
covers his family with his back and arms through the winter. The
poor man still goes to the mountain and chops the trees. The poor
man is poor, the only poor in the kingdom, and the poorest on the
long, long distance, but the poor man is honest. He continues to strive
until the day he and his family die.
On his way up the mountain, the poor man found a strange blue
stone. Perhaps the stone would worth something, perhaps it saves him
from this hole of poverty or make it at least weigh less, but then he
remembers that he is an honest poor man. Perhaps one has dropped
this stone.
The poor man awaits in the mountain for the stone’s owner to
come back. The poor man’s body is tired; his mind is tired; his bones
are tired, and his axe is so, very tired, so he sleeps on a trunk of a
tree.
Darkness fell like a silent curtain. Cold became colder but not on
the poor man’s hand. It was warm, and getting warmer until it
started to burn. The poor man wakes up to his hurtful hand and
throws what he was holding on the snow. The stone glows, and
releases a cloud of grey smoke and steam. A black djin comes out
from within the smoke and steam. “The poor man wakes me,” the
one eyed djin said. “Fear not, poor man, the djin holds no ill
intentions towards you. Djins usually give wishes, but this djin has a
favour to ask of you. The djin wants you to kill an old man, and
bring me a sign of his death, a ring he wears around a finger of his
right hand. If you do so, the djin will save the poor man and his
family from poverty.” The djin offers the poor man a small bottle.
“The old man lives in the castle of the fair and just king. Drink this,
and no mortal eyes shall see you. Rest your conscience, poor man,
the old man is evil, and he wished to kill you even though you
know him not, even though he knows you not. Trust in my words,
poor man, and thrust your old axe in the old man’s chest for he
might find you before you do.”
The djin goes back to the strange stone. The poor man goes back to
his family, and covers them with his back. Tonight, the poor man’s
wife and daughter ate no bread, the poor man did not sell the woods
in the fair and just king’s kingdom; instead he came back with a
small bottle they cannot drink from.
 The poor man is honest, and his heart is true, so he knows that
the djin’s words were true. That truth kept the poor man awake
through the cold night, trapped between the whiteness of snow and
the darkness of the sky.
Today is a happy day. It is the fair and just king’s birthday. The
poor man does not know about it. For him, it should have been like
any other day, but it is not; today he intends to kill the old man
who tries to kill him, and so he would go deeper in the kingdom of
the fair and just king than he ever did before.
There were fireworks that coloured the dark sky of the night.
Many were invited. The poor man knows that a poor one like him
could not enter, so he hides behind a house, and brings out the
bottle the djin gave him. The poor man drinks the magical elixir.
The djin promised that no mortal eyes should see him. “Would it
turn me into a ghost?” the poor man wondered.
The poor man started to glow like the strange stone. The dirt on
his body was cleansed, and the old rags that covered his tired body
turned into fine clothes. The poor man became bright, so bright that
the guards would not be able to hold him from entering the party.
The poor man is now a noble man.
The poor man walks through the crowd whose eyes are pinned on
him. Such grace and elegance he walks with, more than a noble
and slightly less than an angel. The guards let him into the castle
without a word of question. All think him the angel he appears to
be, but no one knows that under his fine clothes, there is an old axe
hiding.
Inside the castle, there was a ball. The guests were dancing in the
svelteness of swans but the noble man was far more beautiful than the
dance itself.
 The dance ends. As the guests help themselves with the most
delicious of meals, the poor man ceases the chance to slip into the
hallways of the castle. He enters every chamber looking for the old
man but he does not find him until after a long while of searching.
The poor man enters the chamber, closes the doors behind him,
and finds a sick old man lying on his bed. “Who’s there?” said the
old man with an exhausted, old voice. The poor man approaches
the old. His face, lightened by the candlelight, was like that of an
angel. “Dear lord,” said the old man, “graceful young man, your
light is brighter than today’s sun but I can see that your eyes are
poor, very poor. Could it be that you are my death? Could it be that
you are the poor man?”
“You are the old man,” said the poor man. “There isn’t an older
one who lives in the castle of the king,” said the old man. “I can
see that you have come to kill me, it is clear in your eyes.” “Am I
wrong to do so?” asked the poor man. “No,” replied the old man,
“you are farthest from being wrong, but can I tell you my story
before you do so? Your time will not suffer much, that, I promise.”
“As you wish old man,” said the poor man, “I shall not forbid you
of your last words.” The noble man brings out the old, old axe, and
sits next to the old man as if they were old friends.
“I had a beautiful wife once,” said the old man, “she was as dear
to me as the stars are dear to the sky, but like how the clouds hide
the stars, sickness has hidden her smile. One day, she fell ill to a
terrible disease. All the physicians of this kingdom failed to heal
her. So I asked for help from my dear friend, the djin. He was also
a friend to my father and his father before him. The djin told me
that he could only see the cure for the one who suffers most in the
kingdom. I knew that my wife was the only one hurt enough. All
the people of this kingdom lead happy lives. All of them smile, not
one of them was forced to do so. Yet the djin spit to her wounds.
He falsely claimed that there is another who suffers even more!
When I asked him who they might be, he said that fate would curse
him if he did so. I begged the djin to tell me many, many times.
Until one day he did. The djin said that there is a poor man who
suffers more than she does. On that day, he lost one of his eyes. I
had my doubts. How is it that there was a poor man in this
kingdom that was ever heard of. I went and knocked on every door.
Not one was hurt. I have combed the entire kingdom, and I found
no trace of poverty. Every day I return without finding him, I ask
the djin “are you sure that there is a poor man?” and he had always
replied, “the poor man suffers more than your wife.” I was very
angry with the djin, he says something but I keep finding the
opposite. After I finished searching the entire kingdom, I went
back and kidnapped the djin’s wife. I sealed her in this very ring I
wear, and cast him off the kingdom. Yes, before you ask, I am a
wizard. I have made him suffer the same pain as I suffered and still
suffering and I have intended to kill you if I had found you, all so
the djin can see my wife’s cure. But my wife died before I could
find you, and I was so angry with the djin that I did not free his
wife until now.”
“Here,” said the old man, giving the poor man his ring. “This is
what you wish for, the world gem, and take this as well, as a token
of my gratitude for killing me. When you see the djin, please tell
him I said this: please forgive me old friend, ranok l’ahvidar.” The
old man gave the poor man another ring, but it was a normal,
ordinary, diamond ring. “I accept your gift,” said the poor man. The
poor man kisses the old man’s forehead, and then with one hit, he
buries his old axe in the old man’s heart, and leaves the axe where it
stood.
The poor man gets up with unshaking hands. His consciousness
is as clean as when he walked into the chamber. What he did was
not wrong. He killed the man who tried to kill him, and in doing so,
he released that same man from the pain of age.
 The doors are opened aggressively. Seven veiled men storm in
the chamber. Their hands glimmer with the sharpness of long
swords. They stop at the shock of the view. “The king is dead!”
cries one of them. “The king!” thought the noble man. He turns to
the body of the old man but somehow now it has changed. It looks
more like that of a king than of an old man. The veiled man
removes his veil. “Change in plans,” he says, “it looks like we have
this man to thank for freeing us of our trouble. He has murdered
my father, now we can kill him and blame his dead body for the
murder.”
The men’s mouths enlarge with evil smiles. They surround the
noble man and raise their swords for the hit. Suddenly, their
swords, along with their bodies, cease to move. They do not
understand anything. Their arms starts to move on their own.
Slowly, and with great efforts to resist it, they push the swords
inside themselves and out. Their screams were loud. As they seem
to have regained control over their bodies, this ability does not
seem to matter to them anymore for they cannot move now as well.
It was very messy of the veiled noble men to lay in puddles of their
blood. With heavy eyes, slowly closing, the last thing the veiled
noble men saw was a big black monster standing before them, the
djin.
“You have done good, poor man,” said the djin. “Was that your
doing?” asked the poor man. “Yes, it was,” replied the djin. “They
were trying to overthrow the old man. This, his son, would have
turned the kingdom of the fair and just king to a kingdom of a
corrupt and unjust king. Now, one thing remains, I must kill you,
poor man.” the djin hits the poor man and cast him off to the feet of
the bed. The poor man feels that no words he would say shall save
him of death. “Say your last words, poor man,” said the djin.
“After going through all of this, this much I owe you.” “I have only
but two wishes,” said the poor man. “If you make them happen, I
will die with the comfort mind I have now.” “Very well, speak.”
Replied the djin. “I want you to build a wall for my family. As I
will die, no one will cover them during the night. Please, build
them a wall, so the winds of cold winter nights do not freeze them
to death.” “An easy task, what’s your other wish?” Said the djin.
“My other wish is to deliver you the old man’s last words,” said the
poor man. “The old man have told me of your story. He told me to
tell you ‘please, forgive me, old friend, ranok l’ahvidar.’ Now, that
I have done my part just, you can kill me.” The djin looks at the
poor man’s hand. There was the world gem, which inside it, his
wife is sealed, while the other hand is closed. “Open your hand,”
said the djin. The poor man opens the other hand; there was
nothing in it but an ordinary diamond ring, the one that the old man
had given him. “You mock me, old man,” said the djin. “You mock
me as well, poor man.” With a loud scream, while the djin is being
pulled into the ring. The djin cries, “curse you humans! From
richest to poorest. Curse you on all Saturdays.”
The sound of many running steps is nearing. Many guards gather
in the chamber, many nobles, and the high priest. Most of them try to
hide their open mouths with few fingers when they witness the sight.
“The king is dead!” said the high priest. The high priest sees the poor
man down on the floor. “Noble man,” said the high priest. “Speak
true, and tell us what has happened here.” The poor man was still
shocked. Could the words that the king has told him be a spell?
“Noble man,” said the high priest. “I beg of you to explain yourself.”
The poor man wakes of his daydreaming. He knows that he is an
honest man, only truth he must speak, but if he speaks true he will be
executed, and no longer cover his family. Nevertheless, the poor man
decides to speak the truth, even if he dies, he will at least die an
honest man, and let fate take care of his family after his death. “The
prince has tried to overthrow the king,” said the old man.
“Overthrow the king!” cried the high priest, “where? Where is he?”
“Yes,” said the poor man, “he lies dead with the other men. Once I
heard the scream, I came here running. The king was already dead
when I found them.” “What is it with me?” Thought the poor man,
“what lies come out of this mouth? “When they saw me, they tried to
kill me,” said the poor man, “but I managed to fight them.” “You
have fought these seven men alone!” cried the high priest again.
“Yes, despite that I have almost died many times.” “Good lord,” said
the high priest, “what horrible story. It is with great sadness that I
come to hear the news. Guards, help this brave, noble man, and tend
to his wounds. May God show him great fortune for the great deed
he has done. Take the body of the king, heavens have mercy on him,
and hang the bodies of these filthy murderers before the eyesight of
the people. Let them rot for the months it needs them to rot.” The
poor man is being carried out on the gentle shoulders of the guards.
The poor man’s wounds are tend to. After a warm dinner, he
wonders how he came to have said all of what he has said. His
tongue was speaking unwillingly with the opposite of his intention.
With a snowy storm violently blowing outside, these ideas kept
haunting him until he fell asleep, but that night it was not an honest,
poor man who has slept. It was just a poor man.
At the first light of dawn, the poor man leaves his room with
shaky limps. He has forgotten his family. How did it happen that
he forgot such thing! The poor man runs through hallways and the
streets of the late, fair and just king. With no shoes to protect his
feet from the snow bites, he runs with heavy breaths.
Two figures began to show from afar. He knows the figures; he runs
even faster. His wife and daughter were lying on the snow, almost
completely covered by it. The poor man turns them up.
Their bodies are cold, colder than snow, and their skins took the
palest shade of blue. There was no life left in their bodies. The poor
man could not cry for them, only honest ones can really cry.

Guards come running towards the poor man. “My lord,” said a
guard. “You shouldn’t’ve went out in such state. Come, please, the
high priest asks for you.” “Who are these homeless people? And
what business does such a noble man have with them.” Said a
guard. “Only God knows,” replied another. “Guide the noble man
back to the castle, and throw these wretched bodies out of sight,”
Said a guard. The poor man could say no words for the right of his
dead family, only an honest man would speak for the right of
others.
Many people gathered at the castle. The high priest was next to
the throne. He looked very delighted to see the noble man. The
poor man was brought next to the high priest. “People of the fair
and just king, as some of you know, and most of you don’t, the
king was killed yesterday. His own son, the prince, and some other
nobles betrayed him. Their defeat was the sole work of this
honourable noble man. As the king had no other children, and as
the throne and the kingdom cannot stay without a king. I suggest
this honorable man to be the next king, for his bravery, loyalty, and
righteous acts, and for I see no one more worthy of the honour.”
The crowd showed great acceptance for the suggestion. After
hearing of his doing on the last night. It is only natural that the poor
man receives such response. “Honourable, noble man, do you
accept the great honour of ruling this kingdom, and serving its
people.” The poor man’s leg knelt unwillingly. “I would be glad to
spend the rest of my days serving the great people of this great
kingdom.” said the poor man, so shocked with his acts. The elixir
that he drank must have changed him. No, this was not the elixir;
this was the result of his acts. It was as if God have cursed him to
continue this play he has started.
The crown was passed to the high priest, and the high priest
crowned the poor man king. The noble man, the new king, sat on his
throne. He could not hear the noise in the great hall; he could not hear
the clapping nor the cheering; he could only think of the faces of his
wife and daughter, with tears that freeze soon after they are shed.
Their voices crying, “Why have you left us? Why toady and not
before? Sorry for being such a burden for so long.” How his wife did
explained it to his young daughter who asked the same question and
repeated the same words. In the end, the poor man did continue to
strive, but only until the day his family died.
No tears have fallen, just a bright smile instead. The king waves
to his people under the ethereal, vivid memory of his family, which
only he can see, with two rings around his two fingers, the husband
and the wife, two world gems. Then, he heard a voice coming out
of his ring. It was not the djin, it was his wife. She spoke with
words that will ever echo in his ears. “I have seen what I have seen,
a poor man protects his family; I have seen what I have seen, a
poor man who’s lost his family.” The poor man is now king but he
will remain poor until the day he dies.