The king’s star gazer saw that the grain harvested that year was tainted. Anyone who would eat from it would become insane. “What can we do?” said the king. “It is not possible to destroy the crop for we do not have enough grain stored to feed the entire population.”
“Perhaps,” said the star gazer, “we should set aside enough grain for ourselves. At least that way we could maintain our sanity.” The king replied, “If we do that, we’ll be considered crazy. If everyone behaves one way and we behave differently, we’ll be considered the not normal ones.
“Rather,” said the king, “I suggest that we too eat from the crop, like everyone else. However, to remind ourselves that we are not normal, we will make a mark on our foreheads. Even if we are insane, whenever we look at each other, we will remember that we are insane!”
(א) סיפורי מעשיות משנים קדמוניות-מעשה מאוצר תחת הגשר
(ב) - פַּעַם אַחַת חָלַם לְאִישׁ אֶחָד מֵעִיר אַחַת שֶׁבָּעִיר וִוינָה תַּחַת הַגֶּשֶׁר נִמְצָא שָׁם אוֹצָר וְנָסַע לְשָׁם וְנֶעֱמַד אֵצֶל הַגֶּשֶׁר וְחִפֵּשֹ עֵצוֹת אֵיךְ לַחְפּוֹר שָׁם כִּי בַּיּוֹם אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל מֵחֲמַת הָעוֹבְרִים וְשָׁבִים וְעָבַר שָׁם אִישׁ חַיִּל וְשָׁאַל אוֹתוֹ מָה אַתָּה עוֹמֵד וְחוֹשֵׁב ? וְחָשַׁב בְּדַעְתּוֹ שֶׁטּוֹב שֶׁיְּסַפֵּר לוֹ חֲלוֹמוֹ כְּדֵי שֶׁהוּא יְסַיְיעוֹ וְיִתְחַלְּקוּ וְסִפֵּר לוֹ עָנָה וְאָמַר לוֹ אוֹי יְהוּדִי טִפֵּשׁ מַה אַתָּה שָם לֵב לַחֲלוֹמוֹת [הלא גם אני בחלומי חלמתי שיש אוצר מתחת התנור בבית של יהודי אחד שגר כאן וכאן] [וְהִזְכִּיר הָעִיר שֶׁל הָאִישׁ וּשְׁמוֹ שֶׁל הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה] היעלה על דעתך שאסע עד לשם בשביל האוצר ? הִשְׁתּוֹמֵם הַיְּהוּדִי וְנָסַע לְבֵיתוֹ וְחָפַר בְּהַמַּגִיזַאן [תחת התנור] שֶׁלּוֹ וּמָצָא הָאוֹצָר. אַחַר כַּךְ אָמַר הַיְּהוּדִי, [הייתי מוכרח לנסוע עד ווינה כדי לדעת שיש אצלי אוצר בבית]. כַּךְ בְּעִנְיָן עֲבוֹדַת ה', שֶׁהָאוֹצָר הוּא אֵצֶל כָּל אֶחָד בְּעַצְמוֹ אוּלָם לֵידַע מֵהָאוֹצָר מוּכְרָח לִנְסוֹעַ לְהַצַּדִּיק. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים שֶׁרִימֵז רַבֵּנוּ לְחִסָּרוֹן הַדָּבָר שֶׁאֵין צָרִיךְ לִנְסוֹעַ לְמֶרְחַקִּים וְלַעֲשוֹת דְּבָרִים מוּפְלָאִים כְּדֵי לִמְצוֹא אֶת הָאוֹצָר אֶלָּא כָּל אֶחָד בִּמְקוֹמוֹ אֶצְלוֹ נִמְצָא הָאוֹצָר אֶלָּא שֶׁרַק רָבוּ הַלְּבוּשִׁים וְצָרִיךְ לְחַפְּשוֹ הֵיטֵב.
(1) Tale 14: The Treasure Beneath the Bridge
(2) Once upon a time, there was a man from a city who dreamed that beneath a bridge in Vienna there lay treasure. He travelled there and stood by the bridge and sought advice for how to dig there, since the passers-by and commuters made it impossible to dig there during the day. A soldier passed by and asked him, "what are you standing here thinking about?" The man thought to himself that it would be good to tell the soldier of his dream, so that he might help him and share a portion [of the treasure with him]. So, he told him and the soldier answered and said, "Oy, stupid Jew, why do you pay attention to such dreams? [In my own dreams, have I not dreamed that there is treasure beneath the oven in the house of a Jew who lives here?] [And he mentioned the first man's city and name.] Do you think I would travel there for this treasure?" The Jew was amazed and traveled to his house and dug beneath his oven and found the treasure. Afterwards, the Jew said, [I needed to travel to Vienna in order to discover that there was treasure in my own home!] So is it with Avodas HaShem: that the treasure lies within each person, but to know of the treasure, one must go to the Tzaddik. And there are those that say that our Rebbe hinted that, in the absence of this thing [i.e. the lack of a Breslover Tzaddik after R' Nahman], one need not travel far distances and do amazing things in order to find the treasure, rather the treasure is found within every person, but there are many [concealing] garments and so one must search properly for it.