Long ago there were a king and queen who had only one child, a daughter. They were very wealthy, as befits royalty, and lived in a great palace. The king concerned himself with the details of ruling his kingdom, and the queen, who was very kindhearted, concerned herself with charity, to which she gave generously. She taught her daughter, the princess, the importance of being generous.
Time passed and the queen died. Eventually the king remarried, and the stepmother disliked the princess, and especially did not like her generosity, for the new queen was very selfish, and wanted to keep her riches for herself. The princess continued to be kind to poor people and the stepmother went to the king and complained that if the girl did not stop, they would end up impoverished. Now the king did not really mind that his daughter was so generous, but he could not bear the nagging of his wife. So he told the princess to give less to others, but the princess could not bear to see poverty, and she ended up giving more rather than less. The stepmother was quick to notice this, and she threatened to leave the king unless he put an end to it. The king again warned the princess, and told her that if she disobeyed him, she would be expelled from the palace. Still, the girl insisted on giving even more to charity than before.
When the king learned this, he grew very angry and called in his servants and told them to blindfold and tie the hands of the princess, lead her into the forest, and return without her. So it was that the reluctant servants, who loved the kind princess but were afraid to disobey the king, packed up all her dearest belongings, including her crown and the bridal gown of her mother, and left her in the forest. Before they left her, they loosened the ropes that held her hands and hurried off, believing that in any case she would lose her life to the beasts of the forest.
When the servants had gone, the princess freed her hands from her bonds, loosened her blindfold, and began to weep bitterly. She remained standing throughout the night, terrified at every noise she heard. She was still weeping as the sun began to rise when she saw an old man who was walking through the forest. The old man approached her and said: “Why do you weep so bitterly, my child?”
The princess told him everything that had happened, and he said: “Come with me, child, and I will lead you out of this forest to a road. Take your belongings and follow this road and you will come to a town. When you arrive, ask for the way to the almshouse, and you will have a place to stay.”
The old man led the princess out of that forest, to the road leading to and returned to the forest, where he lived. The princess followed the road until she came to a town. When she arrived there it was already Friday evening, and the night was beginning to grow dark. She noticed tight in the distance, and followed it until she reached a small house. She was very hungry and thirsty, and sat down on the steps of that house and wept. Now in that house lived a rabbi and his wife, who had an only son. And when the wife had finished saying the blessing over the Shabbos candles, and had said “Amen,” she heard the sound of crying from outside the window. The rabbi’s wife went to the window and called out: “Who is there? If you are a demon, go away; if you are human, come in.” Then she opened the door and found a girl sitting on the steps and asked her: “Why are you crying, my child?” And the girl replied that she was an orphan with no one in the world, and that she had been traveling alone when she had met an old man who had told her there was an almshouse in that town where she could find a place to stay.
When the rabbi’s wife heard this, she said: “Where will you go on Friday night after the candles have already been lit? Come, spend Shabbos with us, and I will take you to the almshouse at the end of Shabbos.” And so it was—the girl spent Shabbos in the rabbi’s house. when three stars were seen in the sky, Shabbos was over and it was time for her to be taken to the almshouse. She pleaded with the rabbi’s wife: “Please let me stay here and let me be your servant. I ask only for food and drink.” The wife replied: “I would not mind if you were here, but I have nowhere to keep you.” Then the girl continued to plead: “Let me stay here. I can sleep on the floor next to the stove, it is good enough for me. Please, just not the almshouse.” The rabbi’s wife considered the matter, and decided that it might be worthwhile, after all, to have a servant for the mere price of food and drink, and she agreed to let the girl stay. So it was that the princess remained there, and served them well. Even though her portion was small, the girl always saved a part of it for the beggars who wandered through the town.
Now the rabbi was highly respected, and when the wealthy landowners held a wedding for one of their children, or some other celebration, they invited him to attend with his family. A certain wealthy man held a wedding for his daughter and the rabbi, his wife and son were invited. The girl remained alone in the house even though she really wanted to attend, for she had never been to a Jewish wedding. So she took out the parcel of her belongings, which the king’s servants had packed for her and chose one of her beautiful gowns, put it on, and went to the wedding.
When she got there, everyone stared at her, for she was very beautiful in her royal gown. But no one knew where she came from, and if she belonged to the guests of the groom or those of the bride. She was soon asked to dance, and she danced with everyone. The rabbi’s son did not recognize her and spoke with her many times throughout the night. The princess did not reveal who she was. Finally she noticed that it was getting late, and she pulled herself away from him and ran home. There she quickly put away her fine gown, changed into her old dress, and crawled back beside the stove, just as the rabbi and his wife and son returned.
Time passed, but the rabbi’s son could not stop thinking of the beautiful girl with whom he had spoken, although he did not even know who she was. Then there was another wedding, and again the rabbi and his wife and son were invited. When they had all left for the wedding, the girl again decided to go, and she put on an even more beautiful dress. This time the rabbi’s son saw her at once, and asked her to dance. They danced and danced all evening, until she saw that it was getting late. Then she tore herself away from him and ran home. Because of her great haste, she broke an earring, and part of it fell into the wash basin and lay there, although she did not notice it. Then she put on her old dress and pretended to be sleeping by the stove.
Now when the rabbi’s son returned home with his parents, he was still under the spell of the beautiful girl who had danced with him all night. And when he took the wash basin, he recognized the earring he found in it, and he wondered from where it had come. Then he first became suspicious that it might belong to the servant girl who lived in their house, for he knew that the mysterious girl with whom he had danced at the wedding must live somewhere. He could not stop thinking of her, for he was in love with her.
Sometime later there was again a celebration held by one of the town’s landowners, and again the rabbi’s family was invited. As they were about to leave the house, the rabbi’s son told his parents that he did not feel well, and would join them later. Meanwhile he waited in his room, although the servant girl thought that he had left with his parents. Then she dressed in an even more beautiful gown, and left for the celebration. When the rabbi’s son came out of his room and saw that she had gone, he too went to the celebration, and spent the evening dancing with the beautiful girl. While dancing with her he noticed that she was wearing only one earring, and he knew that the part of the earring he had found in the basin belonged to her. Then he whispered to her that he had learned her secret, and when she saw it was true, she tore herself away from him and ran back to the house. There she quickly changed her clothes and crawled back beside the stove.
So it was that the rabbi and his wife soon learned that their son wanted to marry the servant girl. Such a match was not fitting. They said: “A rabbi’s son should not marry a servant. We will find you a girl deserving of your learning and status.” The son was heartbroken, and so was the girl. He loved and respected his parents and would not go against their wishes.
Then one night, while the family slept, a fire started in the chimney of their house. The servant girl was awakened by the smoke and hurried to wake all the others. Since she was so alert, they were able to bring the fire under control, and the house was saved, as well as their lives. Then the rabbi and his wife were very grateful to the girl, and they realized that even though she was poor she was a fine, trustworthy person filled with goodness, and so they agreed to let their son marry her after all. A wedding was planned, and the rabbi’s wife told the girl that she would sew a wedding dress for her, but the girl told her that she already had a dress of her own to wear. Then she took out her mother’s bridal gown, and a crown, which the king’s servants had packed for her, and she put them on, and the gown was embroidered with precious stones, which were also set in the crown, and the rabbi and his wife and son were amazed when they saw them. Then she told them the whole story of how she had been cast out by her father, the king, because she had insisted on giving charity. It was at that moment that the rabbi and his wife fully recognized what a pure soul she was, and they were also very proud to learn that their son was marrying such a fine young woman.
The king greatly regretted that he sent his daughter, the princess, into exile, and his terrible mistake haunted him day and night. Each day he became sadder and sadder, until his sorrow became so great that he decided to go and search of her. He swore that he would not return to the throne until she had been found. He divorced the evil wife who had insisted he cast out his beloved daughter, and banished her from the kingdom til the end of her days.
The king searched for the princess for more than a year, but could not find her anywhere.
The princess like the princess Ruth (Ruth Rabbah 2:9) became a true daughter of Israel and married the rabbi’s son. They were blessed with great happiness together, for their love was very strong. After a time, the princess found that she was with child. Shortly before she gave birth she had a dream in which she saw the old man who had led her out of the forest. He told her that her father had set out alone to search for her throughout the world, and that he was the town where she lived with her husband.
Her father traveled disguised as a beggar in order not to draw attention to himself. The old man tell her to invite all the poor of the town to the bris milah (circumcision), and in this way her father would also come. When she saw him, she should give him all the kinds of food found at the feast but nothing should contain any salt.
The princess gave birth to a handsome son, and the bris milah was held on the eighth day, to which all of the town’s poor were invited. Among them the princess recognized one of the men as her father, but he did not recognize her.
The princess called to a servant and told him to seat the beggar who was her father at a separate table, and to give him a fine variety of food, but all without salt. So it was that her father was served soup, fish and fine meat, which had a wonderful smell, but after he had tasted only a morsel from each dish, he did not touch them anymore.
After the dinner each of the poor guests went to greet the princess and each received from her a silver coin. At last the old beggar also went to her to thank her, and she asked him how he had liked the food. He replied: “The food was very good, but I couldn’t eat any of it.” Then the princess looked into his eyes and said: “Know that I felt an even more bitter taste when you ordered me taken to the forest and left there alone.” Now the old king could not believe his ears, and he suddenly realized that the young mother who stood before him was none other than his lost daughter, the princess. The king fell down at her feet and begged her to forgive him for the great wrong he had done her. When she saw his tears, the princess too began to cry, and she embraced her father, and they were reunited at last.
The king returned to his capital city and sat upon his throne and brought with him his daughter, whom he now realized that he loved more than life itself, and her newborn son and husband, the rabbi’s son. The king also invited the rabbi and his wife to the palace. The king appointed the rabbi and his son to be his ministers, and valued their advice more than any other. They spent their time immersed in the study of the Torah, and were steeped in its wisdom.
The princess saw to it that the needs of the poor of the kingdom were amply met, and that charity was the rule and not the exception. So they all lived happily in the palace for the rest of their lives.
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. (Joel 1:3)