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The Exiled Prince and the Gem on the Ocean Floor: A Parable Tradition heard a parable concerning a prince whose father sent him away to a village in order that afterward the son might appreciate and take delight in the table of his father, the king. But due to his folly, the son joined with the villagers and learned from their deeds and forgot the royal delights. So the king sent his ministers to bring him back, but none succeeded in this until one of the ministers decided to act wisely and exchange his court garments for cornman clothing similar to what the villagers wear, and he succeeded [in bringing back the son to his father, the king]. (FoJedot Ya 'akov Yose/J 1 Unlike most of the parables found in classical hasidic sourcesparables that were contrived for their particular context in the discourses and sermons of the hasidic masters-the above parable has the marks of an older story, a type of quest tale, a staple of folk literature, adopted by the early hasidic preachers or teachers for their own purposes. While disguise -a familiar folktale motif-is generally for the sake of cunning or personal advantage, in this parable by Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef of Polonnoye, disguise is a strategy utilized in a task that is deemed holy. This parable assumes the polarity of the royal court and the village, each with its own kinds of delights. The father's purpose is frustrated by the son's gravitation toward the life of the village. True to the traits of the 118 The Exiled Prince and the GeIn on the Ocean Floor: A Parable Tradition heard a parable concerning a prince whose father sent him away to a village in order that afterward the son might appreciate and talze delight in the table of his father, the lzing. But due to his folly, the son joined with the villagers and learned from their deeds and forgot the royal delights. So the l:ing sent his ministers to bring him baclz, but none succeeded in this until one of the ministers decided to act wisely and exchange his court garments for common clothing similar to what the villagers wear, and he succeeded [in bringing baclz the son to his father, the lzing]. (Toledot Ya 'akov Yose/) 1 Unlike most of the parables found in classical hasidic sourcesparables that were contrived for their particular context in the discourses and sermons of the hasidic masters-the above parable has the marks of an older story, a type of quest tale, a staple of folk literature, adopted by the early hasidic preachers or teachers for their own purposes. While disguise -a familiar folktale motif-is generally for the sake of cunning or personal advantage, in this parable by Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef of Polonnoye, disguise is a strategy utilized in a task that is deemed holy. This parable assumes the polarity of the royal court and the village, each with its own kinds of delights. The father's purpose is frustrated by the son's gravitation toward the life of the village. True to the traits of the 118 Echoes and Transformations of Older Motifs 119 folktale genre and its strategy of building and maintaining tension, the wise minister who comes upon a new strategy is the last one of the series of ministers.2 Following a somewhat abbreviated form of the same parable story that appears elsewhere in the same text, Rabbi Ya'akov Yosef of Polonnoye explains that the village in the parable refers to "this lowly world." As his source for that interpretation, the author quotes the Zohar's parable of death (mentioned in the Introduction, p. xiv): A king has a son whom he sent away to a village to grow up there until he might be able to learn the ways of the royal palace. When the king hears that his son has grown up, what does he do? Out of love for his son, he sends the boy's mother-the matron, a woman of rankto bring him up to the palace, so that there he might rejoice daily in his son's company.3 The zoharic source goes on to identify the son as the higher holy soul which the King (the Holy One, blessed be He) sent to this world so that there he might grow up and learn the ways of the Royal Palace. The reader might be tempted to assume a direct connection...

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