In which we begin the holiday stories with an old favorite

This story has been stuck in my head for several days, so it's time to share it.

Solomon’s Magic Ring (Israel)

One of King Solomon’s most trusted advisers was the captain of his guard.  This captain was devoted to the king and his love for Solomon was known to all.

One day, King Solomon overheard the captain boasting that the king had never given him a task he did not accomplish fully.

The king was both annoyed and amused at the man’s bragging, and decided to give his captain an impossible assignment.

The next day the king called the captain of the guard into the throne room.

“I wish for you to find me a magical ring, one I have heard tales about,” the king said. “It is a ring that can bring happiness to a heart of sorrow, and sadness to a heart of happiness, a ring that can make a poor man smile and a rich man frown. I wish to have this ring as my own.”

“My king,” replied the captain, “I will not rest until I bring this ring to you.” As his friend left the throne room, Solomon smiled at the thought of him searching for a ring that did not exist.

The captain of the guards first went to the market in Jerusalem and inquired at every goldsmith, every silver smith, every trader and merchant, but no one had ever heard of such a magical ring.

He left Jerusalem and traveled to other cities, other countries. Whenever he stopped at an oasis, he asked every caravan leader and soldier of fortune that he met, but none had ever heard of the fabled ring. He traveled to ports on the sea and towns on the banks of great rivers, and asked those who sailed upon the water if they had heard of such a ring but none had ever heard even a whisper about it.

He asked wise men and seers, wizards and noted scholars but none could help him with his search. The weeks turned to months, the months turned to years, and still he searched on. He sold his fine cloak and tunic, his sword and jeweled dagger, to support him in his quest.

King Solomon regretted sending his trusted friend on a fool’s mission. He sent others to look for his captain, but they could have walked right past and not known him at all. His hair and beard were long and matted. He no longer looked like the adviser to a king but more like a beggar.

Finally, the captain returned to Jerusalem. As he approached the gate to the city, wondering how he could face his king and admit his failure, he began to weep.

An old man walking next to him looked over at his face and said, “My friend, you seem so very sad. What is it that worries you?”

The captain told him about his years away from Jerusalem and his search for a ring that he could not find.

The old man smiled and said, “I have such a ring. Please, take it if it will bring you some happiness.”

The old man reached into his coat and produced a simple tin ring and handed it to the wanderer.

The captain took it and read the inscription that circled the ring and for the first time in a long time, he smiled.  His heart of sadness became a heart of happiness. He thanked the man, and walked straight to Solomon’s court.

When Solomon saw the captain walking toward his throne, he stepped down from his jeweled throne to greet his old friend. 

Solomon was just about to tell him how sorry he was for having sent the man on such an impossible mission, one that offered no hope of success, when the captain dropped to his knees, looked up at Solomon, and smiled.

“My king,” he said, “I have wandered and searched and have finally found that which you sent me to bring to you.”

The king looked down at the ring that lay there in his friend’s palm.

Taking it, the king read the inscription. As he read it, the king’s heart of happiness changed to a heart of sadness.  When he looked up and cast his eyes around his throne room, and at his jeweled hands and his fine clothes, his smile faded.

He called for one of his guards to bring an old beggar who had just walked past the palace gate to the throne room.

As soon as the frightened old man walked into the palace, Solomon handed him the ring. The man’s tired face broke into a smile as he read the words on the ring.

The king took the ring back, exchanging it for a bag of gold, and sent the grateful beggar on his way.

The words inscribed on the ring that could make a rich man frown and a poor man smile were Gam Zeh Ya’avor, “This Too Shall Pass.”

Solomon gave one of the jeweled rings he wore that day to his captain, and slipped the small gold band on his own finger.

He never took it off. After all, it was a magical ring.