Translation:Tales of Rabbi Nachman/2

Commentary

[Introduction; the Betrothal]
A tale. Once there was an emperor [keisar, Caesar]. The emperor had no children. And there was also one king; the king also had no children. The emperor let himself wander the earth searching: perhaps he would find some solution or treatment so that he would have children. The king also let himself travel the world. The two of them came together at one inn and they did not recognize each other. The emperor recognized in the king that he had royal mannerisms and he asked him, and he acknowledged to him that he was a king. The king also recognized in the emperor that he had royal customs, and he also acknowledged it to him. They told each other that they were traveling for children. They enacted between them that if they would come home and their wives would bear one a boy and one a girl, they would match them. The emperor traveled home and had a daughter and the king traveled home and had a son — and the match was forgotten by them. The emperor sent his daughter to study. The king also sent his son to study. They both arrived at the same teacher; they liked each other very much. They agreed between themselves to marry each other. The prince took a ring and placed it on her hand; they were espoused.

[The Separation]
Afterwards, the emperor sent for his daughter and brought her home. The king also sent for his son and also brought him home. Matches were suggested for the emperor’s daughter, but she was not interested in any match on account of the bond she had already made with the king’s son. The king’s son yearned for her greatly, and the emperor’s daughter was also constantly sad. The emperor would walk her through his courtyards and palace, showing her her greatness, but she was always sad. The king’s son yearned for her so much that he became ill, and no matter how much he was asked, "Why are you ill?" he did not want to say. They asked the one who served him, "Maybe you can clarify by him?" He answered them, "I know," because the one who served him was with him there where he learned. He told them (that is, the servant told them why he was sick). The king remembered that he had already long ago made a match with the emperor, so he went and wrote to the emperor that he should prepare himself for the wedding, for the match had indeed been made long ago, as mentioned. And the emperor no longer wanted the match, but he could not brazenly refuse. The emperor wrote that the king should send his son to him, in order for him to see if he could rule countries; then he would give him his daughter. The king sent his son to him. The emperor sat him down in a room and gave him papers of government matters in order to see if he could lead a country. The king’s son was deeply yearning to see her, but he could not see her.

[The Elopement]
Once time, while he was walking along a wall of mirror, he saw her and fainted. She came to him and roused him, and she told him that she does not want any other match because of the bond she already had with him. He said to her, "What can we do? Your father does not want it." She said, "Nevertheless;" she would save herself just for him. Then they took counsel: they would let themselves go by sea. So they rented a ship and set out on the sea; they traveled on the sea. Afterwards they wanted to come ashore, and they came ashore. There was a forest there, and they went into it. The emperor’s daughter took the ring and gave it to him, and she lay down to sleep. Afterwards, the king’s son saw that she would soon get up, so he put the ring next to her. Then they went to the ship.

[The Couple Get Lost]
Meanwhile, she remembered that they had forgotten the ring there, so she sent him after the ring. He went there, but could not find the place. He went further and still could not find the ring. He went seeking the ring from one place to another place, until he got lost and was unable to return. She went looking for him and she too got lost. He was going along and getting further and further astray. Then he saw a path and he entered a settled area. He had nothing to do, so he became a servant. She too went and got lost. She decided she would sit by the sea. She went to the shore of the sea, and there were fruit trees there. She settled there, and during the day she would go along the sea; perhaps she would find some passersby. And she sustained herself on the fruit, and at night she would climb up a tree to be protected from wild beasts.

[The Merchant’s Son Finds the Emperor’s Daughter]
The day came to pass, when there was a big merchant — a very big merchant — who had commerce throughout the entire world. And he had an only son. And the merchant was now old. Once the son said to his father, "Being that you are already old and I am still very young and your trustees do not supervise me whatsoever, what will happen? — You will die, and I will be left alone; I will not at all know what to do. So give me a ship with wares so that I can set out to sea in order to be experienced in commerce." The father gave him a ship with wares, and he went to countries and sold the wares and purchased other wares and was very successful. While he was at sea he noticed the trees where the emperor’s daughter was dwelling. They thought that it was a settlement; they wanted to go there. When they came near, they saw that they were trees; they wanted to go back.

Meanwhile, the merchant’s son looked in the sea and saw a tree there upon which was the appearance of a human being. He thought that perhaps he was misleading himself, so he told the other men who were there. They too looked and also saw the appearance of a human on the tree. They decided to draw near there. They sent a man with a small boat, and they looked in the sea in order to guide the scout so that he could hit the tree. The emissary went there and saw that sitting there was a human, and he told them. He himself [the merchant’s son] went there and saw her sitting there (that is, the emperor’s daughter) and he told her to come down. She said to him that she does not want to enter the ship unless he promises that he will not touch her until he arrives home and marries her lawfully. He promised her, and she entered with him into the ship. He saw that she could play musical instruments and speak several languages, and he rejoiced that she chanced upon him.

Afterwards as they began drawing near his house she said to him that the proper thing would be that he goes home and informs his father, relatives, and good friends, that since he is bringing such a precious woman they should all come out to greet her, and after that he would know who she is. (Because previously she had also made a condition with him that he should not ask her who she is until after the wedding, at which time he would know who she is.) He agreed to this. Further she said to him, "The proper thing is also that you should inebriate all the mariners who operate the ship, to let them know that their merchant is getting wed with such a woman," and he accorded with her. So he took very fine wine that he had on board the ship and gave it to them; they got very drunk, and he went home to inform his father and friends. And the sailors were drunk and went out from the ship and they fell and lay drunk.

[The Emperor’s Daughter Flees From the Merchant’s Son]
While they were preparing themselves to go greet her with the entire family, she went and untied the ship from the shore, spread the sails and was away with the ship. And the entire family came to the ship and found nothing. The merchant was enraged at his son, and the son cried out, "Believe me! I brought a ship with wares!" etc. — but they see nothing. He said to him, "Ask the sailors!" So he went to ask them, but they lay drunk. Afterwards the sailors got up, and he asked them, but they knew nothing at all about what happened to them. They only knew that they had brought a ship with all the aforementioned, but they don’t know where it is. The merchant was very angry at his son and banished the son from his home so that he should not appear before him. The son went away wandering about. And she (that is, the emperor’s daughter) was going on the sea.

[The King by the Sea Finds the Emperor’s Daughter]
The day came to pass when there was a king who had built himself a palace by the sea, for it pleased him there because of the sea air and because the ships go there. And the emperor’s daughter was going on the sea and came near to this palace of the king. The king took a look and he saw the ship going without a crew and no one was there. He thought he was deceiving himself. He ordered his men to look, and they also saw. And she came closer to the palace. She decided: what does she need this palace for? — and she started to turn around. The king sent and brought her back [from her ship which she had turned around] and brought her into his home. Now, this king did not have any wife, because he could not choose for himself, because whoever he wanted did not want him and vice versa. When the emperor’s daughter came to him she told him to swear to her that he would not touch her until he legally marries her, and he swore to her. She told him that it would be right to not open her ship and to not touch it; to just let it stand like that in the sea until the wedding, in order that everyone would then see the vast wares she had brought, so that they should not say that he had taken a woman from the market. He promised her so.

So the king wrote to all the countries to all come to the wedding. And he built a palace for her sake, and she commanded that they bring her eleven daughters of nobility to be with her. The king ordered, and they sent her eleven daughters of very high noblemen, and they built each one an individual palace, and she also had an individual palace. They would gather unto her; they would play musical instruments and play with her.

Once, she told them she would go with them on the sea. They went with her and were playing there. She told them she would honor them with good wine that she had. She gave them from the wine that was in the ship; they became drunk, fell down and remained lying. She went and unbound the ship, spread out the sails and fled with the ship. The king and his people took a look and saw that the ship was not there, and they were very panicked. The king said, "See to it that you do not tell her suddenly, for she would have great distress (for, the king did not know that she herself had fled with the ship; he thought she was in her room), and she might think that the king had given the ship to someone. Rather, they should send her one of the young noblewomen to tell her tactfully. They went to one room and found no one. And likewise in another room they also did not find anybody, and so on in all eleven rooms they also found nobody. They decided (the king and his people) to send her an elderly noblewoman at night to tell her. They came to her room and also found nobody, and they were very terrified. Meanwhile, the fathers of the young noblewomen saw they were not having letters from their daughters; they were sending letters and got no letters back. They personally got up and all went to them, and did not find any of their daughters. They were enraged and wanted to send the king to his death, for they were the royal ministers. However, they came to the decision, "What is the king guilty of that he should be sent to death? — the king transgressed as a victim of circumstance." They agreed to remove him from kingship and drive him out. They deposed him and exiled him; he went on his way.

And the emperor’s daughter who had fled was faring with the ship. Later, the young noblewomen awoke and began to play with her again as before, for they were not aware that the ship had already departed from the shore. Then they said to her, "Let’s go back home!" She answered them, "Let’s stay here a bit longer." Afterwards there arose a storm wind and they said, "Let’s go back home!" She informed them that the ship had already long left from the shore. They asked her, "Why have you done this?" She told them she was afraid the ship might be wrecked because of the storm wind; therefore she had to do so. They were faring on the sea, the emperor’s daughter with the eleven noblewomen, and were playing musical instruments, and they came across a palace. The daughters of nobility said to her, "Let’s approach the palace!" But she did not want to; she said that she also regretted having approached the previous palace (of the king who wanted to marry her).

[The Emperor’s Daughter Meets Twelve Pirates]
Later, they saw some kind of island in the sea, and they drew near there. There were twelve pirates there; the pirates wanted to kill them. She asked, "Who is the superior amongst you?" They showed her. She said to him, "What do you do?" He told her they were robbers. She said to him, "We too are robbers. Only, you rob with your might, and we rob with shrewdness, for we are learned in languages and play musical instruments. Therefore what will you win if you kill us? Better to take us for wives and you will have great wealth too;" and she showed them what was on the ship (for the ship belonged to the trader’s son, with his great wealth). The pirates agreed to her words. The pirates also showed them their wealth, and brought them to all their places. And it was agreed between them that they should not marry them all at one time, but only one after the other; and a selection should be made to give each one such a noblewoman as befits him, according to his greatness.

Afterwards she told them that she would honor them with very good wine which she has on board the ship, which she does not use at all; only, the wine is kept in store by her until God brings her her match. She gave them the wine in twelve goblets and said that all of them should drink to each twelve. They drank, got drunk and collapsed. She called out to the other noblewomen, "Go and each of you kill your man." They went and killed off all of them. And they found enormous wealth there, such as cannot be found with any king. They decided that they should not take any copper or silver, only gold and precious stones, and they threw out from their ship things which are not so important, and loaded up the entire ship with precious things, with the gold and precious stones that they found there. And they came to a decision to no longer go dressed as women, and they sewed men’s clothing for themselves — German style — and went with the ship.

[The Bald King Prince; the Emperor’s Daughter is Crowned]
And the day came to pass, and there was a king. The king had an only son, and he had made him a wedding and had transferred the kingdom to him. Once, he said to his father he would go on a leisurely trip with his wife on the sea so that she become accustomed to the sea air, lest at some time they would have to flee on the sea. The king’s son went with his wife and with the royal ministers and set out on a ship, and they were very merry there and played freely. Later they said they would all take off their clothes; they did so, and nothing remained on them except their shirts. And they urged everybody who could, to climb up to the mast. The prince climbed up on the mast. Meanwhile, the emperor’s daughter approached with her ship and saw this ship (of the prince with the ministers). Initially, she was afraid of going there, then she came a bit closer; she saw that they were playing intensely, so she understood that they were not pirates. She began drawing closer.

The emperor’s daughter announced to her retinue, "I can throw that bald-head guy down into the sea (that is, the prince, who was climbing up the mast)!" For the prince had a bald head. They said to her, "How is that possible? We are very far from them!" She answered them: she has a burning-lens, and with it she will cast him down. And she decided she would not knock him down until he reaches the very top of the mast, because as long as he was in the middle of the mast, were he to fall he would fall into the ship, whereas when he reaches the top then when he falls he will fall into the sea. She waited until he was up on the top of the mast. She took the burning lens and held it facing his brain until it burned his brain. He fell down into the sea. When he fell down there was a great commotion there (on the ship) and they did not know what to do. How could they return home? For the king would die of heartbreak. They decided to go to the ship that they saw (that is, to the ship of the emperor’s daughter); perhaps there would be some doctor there on board who could give them a solution. They drew close to the ship and told them (namely, the people who were on the emperor’s daughter’s ship) that they should not have any fear whatsoever for they [the men of the king’s ship] would not do any thing at all to them, and they asked, "Maybe you have here a doctor who can advise us?" And they told the whole story and how the prince had fallen into the sea.

The emperor’s daughter instructed [them] to draw him out of the sea. They went and found him and took him out. The emperor’s daughter took his pulse with her hand and said his brain had been burnt. They went and tore open his brain and saw it was as she had said, and they were awestruck (that is, it was a great novelty to them how the doctor, that is, the emperor’s daughter, had been so correct). And they requested that she go together with them to their home; she would be doctor to the king and would be very esteemed by him. She did not want to, and she said that she was not a doctor at all, only she knows such things. Now, the people of the prince’s ship did not want to return home; the two ships went together. It pleased the royal ministers very much that their queen (that is, the wife of the prince) should take the doctor (that is, the emperor’s daughter who was going dressed as a male and they thought that it was a doctor): for they saw she was exceedingly wise, therefore they wanted their queen (who was the wife of the prince who died) to marry the doctor (that is, the emperor’s daughter) and he would be their king. And their old king (that is, the father of the king) they would kill. Only, they were ashamed to tell the queen that she should marry a doctor. But the queen too was pleased to marry the doctor, only, she feared the country — perhaps they would not want him to be king. They came to the decision to make balls (that is, banquets) so that while drinking, at a time of merriment, they would be able to talk about it. They made a ball for each one of them on a separate day.

When the day came for the ball of the doctor (that is, the emperor’s daughter) he gave them of his aforementioned wine that he had and they got drunk. When they were merry, the ministers said, "How beautiful it would be if the queen would marry the doctor!" The doctor (that is, the emperor’s daughter) replied, "It would surely be very beautiful! If only they said this with a not drunken mouth!" The queen also replied, "It would be very beautiful for me to marry the doctor! If only the country would agree to it!" The "doctor" repeated, "It would surely be very beautiful! If only they proposed this with not drunken mouth!" Afterwards, when they sobered up from their drunkenness, the ministers remembered what they had said and were embarrassed before the queen for having said such things. But they decided: the queen herself had also said it! And the queen too was embarrassed before them, but she decided: they themselves had also said it! Meanwhile, they began to talk about it, and so it was agreed; they betrothed — the queen with the doctor (that is, with the emperor’s daughter whom they thought was a doctor, as mentioned) — and they went home to their country. When the country saw them coming, they rejoiced greatly, since it had been a long time since the prince was away with the ship. And they did not know where he was, and the old king had meanwhile died before they arrived. Meanwhile they noticed that their prince — who was their king — was not there. They (that is, the country) asked, "Where is our king?" They told them the whole story, that the prince had long been dead now, and that they had already taken a new king, who was accompanying them (that is, the "doctor" who was emperor’s daughter). The countrymen were very happy that they had received a new king.

[The Wedding and Conclusion]
The king (that is, the emperor’s daughter) ordered to announce in all countries that whosoever was present anywhere — foreigner, guest, refugee or exiled — should all come to his wedding. Not a single one should be absent. They would receive great gifts. And the king (that is, the emperor’s daughter) also commanded to make fountains all around the city, so that anyone who wanted to drink would not have to go away to get a drink, but would be able to find a fountain next to him. And the king (that is, the emperor’s daughter) also ordered for his picture to be drawn next to every fountain, and to station guards to watch for anyone coming along and looking hard at the picture (that is, at the portrait of the king, who was the emperor’s daughter, as mentioned) and making a bad face [as someone who looks at something and is shocked or saddened]; they should grab him and put him in prison. All this was done. And these three men came along — that is, the first prince, who was the true groom of the emperor’s daughter (who had become king there), the merchant’s son (who had been banished by his father on account of the emperor’s daughter who had fled from him with the ship and all its merchandise), and the deposed king (also on account of her, who had fled from him with the eleven daughters of nobility, as mentioned). And each of the three recognized that this was her picture, and they gazed intensely and remembered and became very anguished. They were caught and placed in prison.

At the time of the wedding, the king (that is, the emperor’s daughter) commanded to bring the captives before him. The three were brought and she recognized them, but they did not recognize her, since she was dressed like a man. The emperor’s daughter spoke up and said, "You, king (that is, the exiled king, who was one of the prisoners) — you were deposed on account of the eleven daughters of nobility who were lost. Take back your daughters of nobility. Return home to your country and to your kingdom." (Because the eleven daughters of nobility were there with her here.) "You, merchant (that is, first she spoke to the deposed king; now she turned to speak to the merchant, that is, the merchant’s son) — you were banished by your father on account of the ship with its merchandise that was lost from you. Take back your ship with all the merchandise. And for your money being out so long, you now have a much greater wealth on the ship, many, many fold more than there was before" (for the same ship with all the merchandise belonging to the merchant’s son, with which she had fled, was still with her in its entirety, and in addition to this was all the wealth which she had taken from the pirates, which was extraordinary wealth, many, many fold more). "And you, prince (that is, the first prince who was truly her groom) — come here and let’s go home." They returned home. Amen and Amen.

[Commentary]
At one point in the story, the women and emperor's daughter fashion men's clothing from the pirate's boat after killing them. They then wear the men's clothing so they could from now on disguise themselves as men. This is a hint to the man o war sea creature that resembles a boat. Because the women are not actually men. The only thing that makes them men comes from the boat. So the boat is the man. This story largely features people getting drunk on boats and falling down. The emperor's daughter gives them wine in goblets and they all get drunk. The sailors get drunk and fall down, the noblewomen, and the pirates. Also, the emperor's daughter uses a burning glass to burn the king's son's brain while he is on the mantle of a ship. This causes the king's son to also fall down just like the rest of everybody. Because of this, the wine and burning glass are linked. This is also a hint to the man o war sea creature that resembles a boat. Because the man o war shoots burning liquid that causes small fish to become knocked out. It stings people's feet if they touch it at beaches. And causes great burning pain. The cause of the king's son to fall down was because he climbed on the "boats" mantle. Which is why the emperor's daughter was able to shoot. The reason why the women disguised themselves as men was because of all the gold and gemstones they stole from people. They had a fear of getting caught and recognized so they disguised themselves as men. The gemstones and gold caused them to make the decision to alter their appearance to make themselves men. This is why they returned the stolen objects at the end of the story.

סיפורי מעשיות (ברסלב) ממלך וקיסר מעשה ב ממלך וקיסר חלק א