The Greatest Salesman in the World

Hafid flashes back to when he was a youth and worked for his adoptive father, Pathros of Palmyra, as a camel boy—tending to his animals. In the past, Pathros’s farm sits in a valley on the Mount of Olives, surrounded by olive trees. Hafid becomes enamored with a girl of higher status—Lisha—and decides to pursue sales to become a worthy suitor. Pathros is likely the richest salesman in the region and questions Hafid’s pursuit to test whether or not he is ready. After years of labor, he believes Hafid is strong enough to engage in what he considers a lonely profession. He passes along several pieces of wisdom to Hafid, including the fact that he will spend many weeks away from his family and be tempted to fill this loneliness. The life of a salesman is filled with obstacles, but Pathros asserts that true wealth is in a person’s heart, not their money. Hafid argues that he needs wealth to be happy and provide for a family, his goal being to become the wealthiest salesman in the world and give what he does not need to the less fortunate. Pathros tasks him with selling a red goat-hair robe in Bethlehem, a town known for its poverty.