I liked this story because it gave somewhat of a background story on Lokman, but also another well-known story about it him. Lokman was related to Ayûb (or Job) but had been sold into slavery at some point. He was freed by his master when he ate a bitter melon - his master asked him how he could eat such a disgusting melon. Lokman's response would free him, "Lokman answered that it was no wonder that he should, for once in a while, accept an evil thing from one who had conferred so many benefits on him." I thought this response was fantastic! Sometimes we have to do things we do not necessarily want to do, but if we do them they can pay off in the long run.
The second part of this story was a story about Lokman healing a rich man who was believed to have a serpent clinging to his heart. This serpent turned out to be a crab, which made the operation even more difficult. The irony of this story is that Lokman's nephew an aspiring physician (the only nearby physician who did not invite to the operation), gave Lokman advice from the rooftop as he performed the operation. Without his nephew's help the rich man surely would have died, instead he lived a long and happy life.
If I were to base my story this week off of this story - I think I would for sure change what type of animal was clinging to the heart of the rich man. (Maybe I would have the rich man die, or maybe he would not be a rich man.) I think I would also change the nephew's appearance in some fashion, maybe he will become a dragon or a monkey.
(Crab: Image by Ariapsa MX from Pixabay)
Bibliography. "Lokman" from Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish by J.E. Hanauer (1907). Web Source.
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