The Richest Man in Babylon

A young man named Tarkad is starving and, after stealing two figs from a garden, goes to the marketplace and resists stealing more food from sellers’ baskets. He goes to the inn, hoping to see someone who might lend him money for food. Unfortunately, he encounters the camel trader Dabasir, to whom Tarkad owes money. Dabasir demands the two coppers and one silver coin he lent Tarkad, who admits that he cannot repay him. Tarkad complains that he has bad luck, but Dabasir urges him to repay his debts. He invites Tarkad into the inn’s restaurant and begins to tell him a story.

Dabasir shares that as a youth, he had a good job as a saddle-maker and was married, but regularly overspent his money on “needless self-indulgence” (69). Over time he became more indebted, and his wife left him. Fearing his creditors, he decided to leave Babylon. He worked for caravan traders for two years but then began collaborating with roaming thieves who stole valuables from passing caravan merchants. One day, desert people caught Dabasir and enslaved him, selling him to a “Syrian desert chief” for two pieces of silver (69).