WHEN THE YOUNG TRAVELER got off the boat, they saw that he looked so wise, devout and humble that there was only one place at which he could possibly stay.
They deposited his luggage at the monastery. There the youth was made welcome by the pious community.
One day the head of the community said to the youth:
‘Would you please sweep the rubbish away from the mosque?’
That was the last they saw of him. All were puzzled, but decided that he had no aptitude for work.
But next day, one of the servants of the community happened to catch sight of the youth, and stopped him.
‘It was foolish of you to go off like that,’ he remarked. ‘Don’t you know that it is only by service that you climb the ladder?’
At this the youth wept.
‘Oh my friend,’ he cried, ‘what could I do? I looked around and the place was spotless. I therefore concluded that the head of the community was referring to me! I removed myself so that the place should remain pure and spotless.’
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