Chapter Two
At every village they stopped to speak, and the people came for miles
when they heard The Teacher was coming. All manner of
wonders did he perform.
When they neared the place
where the roads split,
one going to the
capitol, and the other
going to Lof, they found
there a Tax Collector
outside his village. "Are you going into the village?" asked
The Tax Collector.
2 "I am," answered The Teacher.
3 "Do you have anything to declare?" The Tax Collector continued.
4 "Only," answered The Teacher, "that my Father loves you, would have
you follow after me, and become the messenger of His truth. There are
greater things to tax than bolts of cloth and fine skins. Greed, too,
must be accounted for. Hate and love must be balanced. "
5 The Tax Collector laughed. "No man," he argued, "can put a tax on
those things!"
6 "My Father can!" insisted The Teacher.
7 The Tax Collector closed his box and gave it to a soldier. "I
resign," he announced, and he rose, following after The Teacher as he
went into the village.
8 The Teacher spoke at the temple. "You have been taught that by
certain prayers, by certain sacrifices, any wrong can be righted, any
evil can be undone. You have been taught wrong. Remember the greatest
of all laws....if you do not want your neighbor to do evil to you, then
do not do evil to him. There are those that say "Hate your enemies,"
but I say love them.
9 If your neighbor cheats you, and demands five when he should receive
only four, give him six, for what good are the treasures of this world?
They are dust. If a rich man wants to know Paradise,