Yesterday and Today

The gold-hoarder walked in his palace park and with him walked his troubles. And over
his head hovered worries as a vulture hovers over a carcass, until he reached a
beautiful lake surrounded by magnificent marble statuary.


He sat there pondering the water which poured from the mouths of the statues like
thoughts flowing freely from a lover's imagination, and contemplating heavily his
palace which stood upon a knoll like a birth-mark upon the cheek of a maiden. His
fancy revealed to him the pages of his life's drama which he read with falling tears that
veiled his eyes and prevented him from viewing man's feeble additions to Nature.

He looked back with piercing regret to the images of his early life, woven into pattern
by the gods, until he could no longer control his anguish. He said aloud, "Yesterday I
was grazing my sheep in the green valley, enjoying my existence, sounding my flute,
and holding my head high. Today I am a prisoner of greed. Gold leads into gold, then
into restlessness and finally into crushing misery.

"Yesterday I was like a singing bird, soaring freely here and there in the fields. Today I
am a slave to fickle wealth, society's rules, and city's customs, and purchased friends,
pleasing the people by conforming to the strange and narrow laws of man. I was born
to be free and enjoy the bounty of life, but I find myself like a beast of burden so
heavily laden with gold that his back is breaking.

"Where are the spacious plains, the singing brooks, the pure breeze, the closeness of
Nature? Where is my deity? I have lost all! Naught remains save loneliness that
saddens me, gold that ridicules me, slaves who curse to my back, and a palace that I
have erected as a tomb for my happiness, and in whose greatness I have lost my heart.

"Yesterday I roamed the prairies and the hills together with the Bedouin's daughter;
Virtue was our companion, Love our delight, and the moon our guardian. Today I am
among women with shallow beauty who sell themselves for gold and diamonds.

"Yesterday I was carefree, sharing with the shepherds all the joy of life; eating,
playing, working, singing, and dancing together to the music of the heart's truth. Today
I find myself among the people like a frightened lamb among the wolves. As I walk in
the roads, they gaze at me with hateful eyes and point at me with scorn and jealousy,
and as I steal through the park I see frowning faces all about me.

"Yesterday I was rich in happiness and today I am poor in gold.
"Yesterday I was a happy shepherd looking upon his head as a merciful king looks with
pleasure upon his contented subjects. Today I am a slave standing before my wealth,
my wealth which robbed me of the beauty of life I once knew.

"Forgive me, my Judge! I did not know that riches would put my life in fragments and
lead me into the dungeons of harshness and stupidity. What I thought was glory is
naught but an eternal inferno."

He gathered himself wearily and walked slowly toward the palace, sighing and
repeating, "Is this what people call wealth? Is this the god I am serving and
worshipping? Is this what I seek of the earth? Why can I not trade it for one particle of
contentment? Who would sell me one beautiful thought for a ton of gold? Who would
give me one moment of love for a handful of gems? Who would grant me an eye that
can see others' hearts, and take all my coffers in barter?"

As he reached the palace gates he turned and looked toward the city as Jeremiah
gazed toward Jerusalem. He raised his arms in woeful lament and shouted, "Oh people
of the noisome city, who are living in darkness, hastening toward misery, preaching
falsehood, and speaking with stupidity...until when shall you remain ignorant? Unit
when shall you abide in the filth of life and continue to desert its gardens? Why wear
you tattered robes of narrowness while the silk raiment of Nature's beauty is fashioned
for you? The lamp of wisdom is dimming; it is time to furnish it with oil. The house of
true fortune is being destroyed; it is time to rebuild it and guard it. The thieves of
ignorance have stolen the treasure of your peace; it is time to retake it!"

At that moment a poor man stood before him and stretched forth his hand for alms. As
he looked at the beggar, his lips parted, his eyes brightened with a softness, and his
face radiated kindness. It was as if the yesterday he had lamented by the lake had
come to greet him. He embraced the pauper with affection and filled his hands with
gold, and with a voice sincere with the sweetness of love he said, "Come back
tomorrow and bring with you your fellow sufferers. All your possessions will be
restored."

He entered his palace saying, "Everything in life is good; even gold, for it teaches a
lesson. Money is like a stringed instrument; he who does not know how to use it
properly will hear only discordant music. Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully
the one who withholds it, and it enlivens the other who turns it upon his fellow man."

Khalil Gibran