Author: Vladimir Pyatsky
Translation: Natasha Tsimbler
Eliyahu once shared that in his youth he suffered from severe depression and sought out various healers in an attempt to rid himself of his ailment. One day, his wife and mother-in-law sent him to a certain healer.
Eliyahu arrived at the healer’s house at dawn and saw several people waiting. Time passed, but the healer did not begin seeing visitors. More and more people gathered, and Eliyahu began to doubt that he would be seen. However, by midday, he was finally invited into the healer’s office, where he shared his troubles.
“I will help you, but it will be very dangerous for me,” he said, “so you will need to pay…” He then named a hefty sum.
Eliyahu found the price excessive – it exceeded his monthly salary – and began bargaining. Eventually, they agreed on a price. The healer told Eliyahu to come that evening, without telling anyone where he was going. “I will show you the demons that torment you. You will speak with them and explain that you have done no harm to them. Don’t be afraid – I will protect you,” the healer said.
Late that night, Eliyahu, trembling with fear, left his house. Later, his mother-in-law would say that she feared he might take his own life. Somehow, he made it to the healer’s home. He knocked, entered, and was led to the treatment room.
“Now sit with your head against the wall, so you don’t fall,” the healer instructed. “Close your eyes, and when I tell you, open them and look to your left. Do not fear! You will see the demons, but they will not harm you because I am here with you.”
There was some shuffling around, and then the healer told him to open his eyes. Eliyahu obeyed, turned his head to the left, and saw two flickering lights moving towards him from the darkness.
And at that moment, he suddenly recalled something that had happened to him a week earlier. Eliyahu and some friends of his had been drinking and snacking at a friend’s house. But two of the guests got into an argument and started a scuffle, knocking over and breaking an outdoor stove. The host was furious and berated the fighters.
“Do you have any idea how much effort it took me to build that clay oven?!…”
He then told them how he had obtained the cement for his homemade stove.
He had needed just a little cement, which he knew could be found at a nearby construction site. But when he went to collect some, the guard accused him of being a thief, threatened to call the police, and chased him away.
Determined, he vowed to get the cement through cunning and waited for the right opportunity. One day, while walking with his son, he saw some turtles crossing the road. “Now we will have our oven!” he exclaimed and stuffed four small turtles into his pockets.
That night, he sneaked onto the construction site. There was no electricity there yet, and the site was pitch black. It was a summer night, hot and windless. He adhered candles to the turtles’ shells with a bit of wax, lit the wicks, and then set the turtles loose inside the fenced area towards the guard. The guard, seeing the eerily moving, flickering lights, screamed, “Demons! Demons!” and fled from the site in terror. The trickster then calmly gathered all the cement he needed and left.
The memory struck Eliyahu like lightning. He jumped up, ran toward the flickering lights in the darkness, and indeed found two turtles with candles mounted on their backs.
What followed was a grand scandal – but that part of the story is not worth telling…
Author
Author: Vladimir Pyatsky
Translation: Natasha Tsimbler
Eliyahu once shared that in his youth he suffered from severe depression and sought out various healers in an attempt to rid himself of his ailment. One day, his wife and mother-in-law sent him to a certain healer.
Eliyahu arrived at the healer’s house at dawn and saw several people waiting. Time passed, but the healer did not begin seeing visitors. More and more people gathered, and Eliyahu began to doubt that he would be seen. However, by midday, he was finally invited into the healer’s office, where he shared his troubles.
“I will help you, but it will be very dangerous for me,” he said, “so you will need to pay…” He then named a hefty sum.
Eliyahu found the price excessive – it exceeded his monthly salary – and began bargaining. Eventually, they agreed on a price. The healer told Eliyahu to come that evening, without telling anyone where he was going. “I will show you the demons that torment you. You will speak with them and explain that you have done no harm to them. Don’t be afraid – I will protect you,” the healer said.
Late that night, Eliyahu, trembling with fear, left his house. Later, his mother-in-law would say that she feared he might take his own life. Somehow, he made it to the healer’s home. He knocked, entered, and was led to the treatment room.
“Now sit with your head against the wall, so you don’t fall,” the healer instructed. “Close your eyes, and when I tell you, open them and look to your left. Do not fear! You will see the demons, but they will not harm you because I am here with you.”
There was some shuffling around, and then the healer told him to open his eyes. Eliyahu obeyed, turned his head to the left, and saw two flickering lights moving towards him from the darkness.
And at that moment, he suddenly recalled something that had happened to him a week earlier. Eliyahu and some friends of his had been drinking and snacking at a friend’s house. But two of the guests got into an argument and started a scuffle, knocking over and breaking an outdoor stove. The host was furious and berated the fighters.
“Do you have any idea how much effort it took me to build that clay oven?!…”
He then told them how he had obtained the cement for his homemade stove.
He had needed just a little cement, which he knew could be found at a nearby construction site. But when he went to collect some, the guard accused him of being a thief, threatened to call the police, and chased him away.
Determined, he vowed to get the cement through cunning and waited for the right opportunity. One day, while walking with his son, he saw some turtles crossing the road. “Now we will have our oven!” he exclaimed and stuffed four small turtles into his pockets.
That night, he sneaked onto the construction site. There was no electricity there yet, and the site was pitch black. It was a summer night, hot and windless. He adhered candles to the turtles’ shells with a bit of wax, lit the wicks, and then set the turtles loose inside the fenced area towards the guard. The guard, seeing the eerily moving, flickering lights, screamed, “Demons! Demons!” and fled from the site in terror. The trickster then calmly gathered all the cement he needed and left.
The memory struck Eliyahu like lightning. He jumped up, ran toward the flickering lights in the darkness, and indeed found two turtles with candles mounted on their backs.
What followed was a grand scandal – but that part of the story is not worth telling…
