Robert Wagman

CHAPTER VIII

If you take a closer look at them, such men always make a big show of their religiosity and piety. Their beard is too long, mixed up with their hair and hanging over their chest; their nose sticks out, their eyes are sunken; they are pale all over with a papery skin; their cape does not fit the clothes which cover their body, and lies open to the winds; they revere and adore everybody, and they always step aside to let pass those coming in the opposite direction. They accompany this action with a drooping of the head or a stooping of the shoulders, to win more favor. And even if you do not talk to them, as soon as you make eye contact, they walk up to you, smile, and start wishing you all the best, and they tell you that they have been doing this for a long time, whenever they pray to God, because, as they say, they have understood that for a Christian it is most necessary to be compassionate and a friend of those in need on many occasions, but especially at times like these, when misfortunes come in from every direction. Then—but almost as if he did not want to—he draws a deep breath from his chest and, almost as if against his will, a tear drops from his eyes. Then, raising his eyes, he whispers something, and, as if he suddenly got inspired and started thinking about something great, he turns around in hurry. If he realizes that he is being watched, he enters a church or chapel, and, standing there, he pretends to be pondering over many things and, with his mumblings, he nearly chases off the walls all the Saints painted in there, until he gets tired—or rather, until no one is there anymore to see him—and leaves. Once he completes these preliminaries, he comes back on the scene and, thinking himself an even closer friend, when he runs into the same person as before, he comes up to him, embraces him, kisses his hands, and most insistently asks for his blessing. He saw something in his mind, he says, and understood what can be the certain proof of how dear he is to God, and that these facts openly show what he says: all those poor, all those wretched people who have been saved from poverty and misery by his generosity, are not irrelevant testimonials of what he says. He has much more with which he could alleviate the people’s needs; but he needs to be cautious about it, because, while he acts without any hope of reward, those men who receive the benefit tend to give much more. For this reason, he had to restrain his generosity many a time, since he aims at the hearts of men, and for the sake of God only, not for money. Then follows a long list of the devices with which he made other people’s households happy. For he is not short on amulets and protective charms which can heal any kind of illness and avert damage to the land and to other goods: so long as he wishes, one may even become rich thanks to him. Any spot where he stops cannot be a place of adversity in the time to come; he has a lot more in stock which, whenever the occasion arises, he intends to use for the sake of his friends. And so another man, who has no eyes but for money, attracted by the hope of such a treasure, asks the man to come to his house with him, and says that he will be glad that he did. He first pretends that he cannot wait, but that he has commitments with other people, but that a time will one day come that he knows will bring great benefit to the house through his arrival. This is how sometimes he postpones his visit. But if he is pressed by hunger, ‘Even if you had not invited me,’ he says, ‘I was already thinking of coming by. For the good things which are about to happen for your house should not be kept secret any longer. On the very doorstep he begins mumbling a lot. Then he goes in and looks at all the rooms, saying over and over, ‘O lucky home!’ Then he goes up the stairs, examines everything. He keeps praying for prosperity, and, to give the impression that he has done something, he intones a little tune pulled out from all these investigations, although clumsily composed.  All the people in the house marvel at the man’s bearing and piety. They ask him to visit more often, then they let him go heavy with gifts. Later on, when he is not invited, he comes to fix problems and fills up the house with this sort of foolishness, and, as the neighbors get to know him, he spreads his disease all over the neighborhood.  Those poor folks do not realize that he is never going to provide others with wealth and means, as he robs others of these. Rather than supporting others, first he uses others to support himself. From time to time, those who are more prudent, made even more cautious by the others’ example, chase down these kinds of men, arrest them and take them to the magistrate. Very often, they punish them and exile them as common criminals. They are unable to do so consistently enough, however, to extirpate them for good. But we have strayed enough already; let us return to our subject.

NOTES

Forthcoming