Origin: Jewish

Author: Unknown

Long ago people often lived in walled cities that were one or two days apart by foot. People often spent their entire lives within the walls of one city. To venture outside the walls was considered frightening and dangerous.

Our story is about a man who lived within one of those cities unhappily. Everything in his life seemed dull and colorless for he had walked the same streets since childhood and lived in the same house with the same family since early manhood. He was convinced that he could never find happiness or prosperity here. So one day he decided that he would just have to make a change or die of monotony. So he bid his family farewell and set off on foot to the next walled city. It was a long ways away.

He walked through the tall gates of his city and down the hillside and onto the plains. He had a blend of apprehension and excitement in his heart. The open land stretched as far as he could see and he walked all day without stopping over hill and dale until along about dusk he approached a dense forest. It took all his courage and determination not to turn back but he took the path on into the forest.

Eventually it became too dark for him to see anything so he stopped at the foot of a tall tree, laid out his pallet to sleep upon, ate a snack from his provisions and looked around bravely hoping he was safe. He assessed what he had accomplished that day and concluded that he was very proud of himself. His feet had held up well, his legs were not tired, he had brought sufficient provisions. The road had been gentle and his direction was clear. Furthermore, he had witnessed the formation of big puffy clouds in the sky, he had watched them turn pink at sunset, he had seen the sky then turn deep blue and had watched the stars appear, and now, he was surrounded by tall majestic trees and was not even fearful. All and all, he decided he had done the right thing to leave his town and he was convinced that life in the next city would bring him happiness and prosperity.

Before lying down to sleep, he took his shoes off and placed them on the path pointing them in the direction he was planning to go so that he wouldn’t be confused when he awakened in the dark forest in the morning.

In the night two little elves came and decided to play a trick on the man. They turned his shoes around to point in the direction from which he had come.

The man slept well on his pallet and awakened with excitement and happy anticipation of his journey to the next city. He put on his shoes and set off in the direction they had pointed. He walked out of the forest into the wide plains. He walked all day over hill and dale until along toward dusk he saw in the distance the walls of a city which looked strangely familiar. “Good”, he thought, “I can be comfortable in a place that feels so familiar.”

Evening was falling as he walked through the high gates of the city. They also looked remarkably like the gates of his own city. He turned into a street that looked just like the street where he had lived on in his own city and soon he came to a house that looked just like the house he had left. He hurried to the door and was greeted warmly by a happy wife and children… and there he lived, happily and prosperously the rest of his days.