The richest man in Babylon

Chapter 4: 5 laws of gold

Gold opens all locks.

No lock will hold against the power of gold. — George Herbert

TS – A bag of gold and a piece of pottery engraved

with words of wisdom,

which would you choose?

In the flickering light of the fires burning

with dry desert shrubs,

the tanned faces shone with amusement

at the wise old Kalabab’s question.

– Gold, choose gold!

Twenty-seven people spoke at the same time.

Mr. Kalabab smiled generously:

● Wait! – He paused,

raised an arm to point into the night,

and slowly continued.

– Let’s listen to the howling of those wild dogs.

They were howling every now

and then in hunger.

If you feed them now,

what will they be like?

They will fight regardless of life or death

to fight for food without knowing

what tomorrow will bring.

● Humans are the same way.

Despite all our wisdom,

we are only greedy for gold.

But tomorrow we howl again

because we lost our gold.

In fact, gold is only for those who know its laws

and respect those laws.

The cold winds of the night in the desert came rushing,

and Kalabab bent down to pull the hem

of his cloak over his strong legs,

and then slowly continued:

– Because you have devotedly,

taken good care of my camels

and endured the hardships of walking

through the hot desert,

and you have fought bravely against the bandits

who want to take over some of my goods,

so tonight

I’m going to tell you the story of the five laws of gold.

A story that you’ve probably never heard of.

Hey guys, listen to what

I’m about to say.

Because, if you firmly grasp the meaning

and use it well,

soon you will earn a lot of gold.

Mr. Kalabab was silent

and thoughtful for a moment.

Above everyone’s heads,

the sky of Babylon was mysterious

or colorful stars twinkled.

Behind them,

faded canvas tents were securely anchored to stakes,

guarding against thunderstorms and desert winds.

Next to the tent are the parcels

that are neatly stacked with sturdy canvas covers.

The camels were sprawled out on the sand,

munching with delight their afternoon food,

with occasional raucous squeals.

“We have heard many good stories from you,

Mr. Kalabab!

The person in charge of packing the packages spoke up.

– After completing the work for you,

we will use your wise instructions to enrich ourselves.

“I’ve told you before about the adventures

I’ve taken myself in foreign lands,

but tonight I’ll tell the story of Mr. Arkad,

the wisest and wealthiest celebrity in Babylon.

We’ve heard a lot about him.

– The person in charge replied.

Mr. Kalabab nodded and began to tell:

– Mr. Arkad is the richest,

because he is the best at finding gold.

Tonight I tell you about the wisdom of Mr. Arkad,

which his son Nomasir himself told me

when I was a boy in Nineveh.

“At that time,

I was still very young

and worked as a hired worker like you.

I used to bring large bundles of the finest carpets

with my master to Nomasir’s house to sell him.

That day,

Mr. Nomasir personally chose

to buy the best carpets

and the colors were pleasing to him.

After that sale,

Mr. Nomasir invited us to stay for a drink.

His wine is very fragrant and delicious.

I think it was the best wine

I could taste at the time.

During that conversation,

he told us the story of his father’s wisdom.

That is also the story I am about to tell you.

You also know that in Babylon

there was a custom

that the sons of wealthy families lived

with their parents in order to inherit property,

but Mr. Arkad disapproved of this custom.

So when Nomasir came of age,

Arkad called for Nomasir and said:

“My son,

I really want you to inherit my estate,

but first you must show

that you are wise enough to use it.

So I want you to find a job

by yourself that proves

that you are also capable of making money.

I will give you two things to help you have the conditions

to carry out your intentions.

So, compared to

when I started to build a career,

I was much more favorable than I was.

First of all, I gave you a bag of gold.

If you know how to use this gold wisely,

it will help you get rich quickly.

Second, I gave you this baked clay card,

on which were engraved the five laws of gold.

If you apply them in your business,

they will surely bring you wealth and prestige.

After ten years from today,

come back home to visit me

and tell me everything.

If you show that you are a man

who knows how to use money properly,

I will let you inherit all of my property.

And if you don’t,

I will give all this property to the poor,

the beggars and the priests.

According to his father,

Nomasir left to fulfill

His luggage was a bag of gold

and shards of pottery from his father,

carefully wrapped in silk,

along with a few slaves

and a few horses.

Ten years passed

and Nomasir successfully returned

to his father’s house as promised.

On this occasion,

Mr. Arkad opened a solemn party,

invited many relatives and friends to attend.

At the end of the party,

Arkad and his wife sat on two large chairs solemnly placed

in the middle of the living room hall.

Facing them, Nomasir,

his wife and two sons,

followed by relatives and friends,

sat on carpets laid in an arc.

It was dark outside.

In the house,

slaves holding long-handled palm leaves fan steadily

and rhythmically to calm the sweltering air.

The scene looked very dignified.

Everyone was nervous,

listening attentively.

Having been experienced in life,

Nomasir calmly, confidently stood up

and began to recount all

that had happened during his ten years of career:

– Father! I express my admiration for your wisdom.

Ten years ago,

when I entered adulthood,

my father encouraged me to live independently

and grow up like young men my age,

instead of relying on

and living on my father’s inheritance.

I generously gave you a bag of gold

and my wisdom.

However, that gold has brought me many misfortunes.

Mr. Arkad smiled indulgently:

– Tell me more,

your story makes me start to enjoy.

Don’t miss out on any of the little details!

– Yes, father.

When I left,

I decided to go to Nineveh.

At that time,

this was a developing kingdom

and there were many good opportunities for young people.

I followed a caravan and made friends

with many people.

Among them were two very energetic and cheerful people.

They rode two beautiful white horses,

strong and very fast.

During that journey,

two newly acquainted friends confidently revealed to me

that there was a rich man in Nineveh

who owned a horse

that he said was fast and unrivalled.

Therefore, he made a large bet on whoever had a horse

that ran faster than his own.

According to the two,

compared to their horse,

the other horse was just a slow,

heavy donkey.

Therefore, they said

that they would definitely participate

and hold the victory in their hands.

They said as a favor,

that if I wanted to,

they let me join the bet.

At that time,

I was really absorbed in their plan

that sounded very reasonable

without having time to think about it.

In the end,

I failed miserably

and lost almost all my gold.

Hearing this,

Mr. Arkad couldn’t help but laugh.

A moment later,

Nomasir continued slowly:

– Later, I found out,

it was just a conspiracy

to cheat money from newcomers like me.

You know,

the man in Nineveh is a partner of those two

and after each successful scam,

they share the profits.

This prank has taught me a first lesson in investment. I didn’t invest time to understand it.

Before you invest in something,

invest in time to understand it. ― Warren Buffett

Soon, however,

I learned a second lesson,

just as bitter as the first.

In that caravan was a young man.

His parents were very wealthy and like his son,

he went to Nineveh to find a career opportunity.

When we had been there for a while,

he told me that a merchant had recently passed away,

because there was no one to take care of the shop,

so his family members sold it for a very cheap price.

He told me

that pooled capital to buy that store.

However,

he said that it is preferable for me to buy first,

because he has to return home to collect the money

before he can contribute.

He promised to contribute the same amount of money

that I spent in the joint business plan. .

Everything works just like that.

But after that,

he kept trying to linger and refused to return home

to get the money as promised.

In addition,

he also appeared to be a very bad salesman

but insatiable spenders.

In the end,

I had to stop doing business with him.

But by this time,

the business had almost collapsed.

The remaining goods are too poor quality,

customers do not want to visit the store anymore.

As for buying new items to sell,

I ran out of capital.

After thinking about it,

I only had to sell off the rest

and sell the rest

to a Jew for a penny or so.

After that, it can be said

that I have fallen into the most difficult

and difficult days of my life.

I went to look for a job but no one would hire me.

Rule No. 1: Never lose money.

Rule No. 2: Never Forget rule No. 1. ― Warren Buffett

In the end,

to survive,

you had to sell all your horses,

slaves,

and beautiful clothes

to get money to buy food

and a place to sleep.

But with each passing day,

my need is more urgent.

In those days,

I suddenly remembered what you told me before I left,

Dad! I want you to learn,

practice and become a real man,

mature with life experiences.

So, I decided that I had to fulfill that intention,

or else I would not return to see you.

Listen here, man

Mom quietly wiped the two lines

of tears running down her cheeks.

She did not expect her son to have

to endure so much hardship.

Nomasir continued:

– I took out the clay card and carefully read

and reread the contents of the golden rules.

I realized that I must first understand it,

and then hope to create and preserve gold.

I then memorized all those rules.

And combined

with the experiences drawn

from previous stumbles,

I boldly decide

when there is a favorable opportunity,

I must apply these rules in the most wise way.

As you sit here tonight,

I would like to reread the five golden rules that contain all

of your wisdom.

I consider myself a very fortunate person

to have received such valuable experiences from my father:

Five laws of gold

1. For those who are willing

to spend a eight of their earnings and left a two incomes

to accumulate for themselves in the future,

gold will come and come in more and more quantities.

2. Gold is the most diligent and enthusiastic worker

for wise owners who recognize its profitability

and growth potential.

3. Gold is always loyal and profitable

for prudent owners to invest

according to the advice of wise people.

4. For business investments

that I myself do not understand

or are not instructed by experienced people,

it is easy to lose gold.

5. If you use gold for illegal profit

or follow wrong advice,

cheat or entrust it to weak experiences,

it is easy to fail and lose all gold.

Those are the five laws of gold

that father generously gave to his son.

Compared to a bag of gold,

according to me,

it is worth dozens of times.

Nomasir looked at his father gratefully and continued:

– I would like to continue the story until the time

when I was in the most needy

and disappointed situation in my life.

At that time, I lost all my gold,

horses,

slaves,

beautiful clothes.

My life can only be counted day by day.

However, through the storm,

the sky is bright again.

My luck has also come

when I get a job.

It was the job of governing a group of slaves

who built the wall in that kingdom.

Once you have an income,

you begin to apply the first law of gold.

Every month I save every penny taken

from my very meager salary.

It takes a long time to get a silver coin.

Because, I still have to take care of living

from that very tight salary.

I have planned to save money to an acceptable level,

with the determination to earn back the gold

you gave me in the shortest time.

One day, the slave owner,

who had long been a close friend of mine,

came to me and said:

-You’re a thrifty young man

who doesn’t squander all his earnings.

The amount of gold you have accumulated,

is there any way to make it more profitable for you?

– Yes! – I replied.

– My biggest wish now is to accumulate enough gold

that my father gave me before.

Because of my lack of trading experience,

I have already spent all that gold.

– You have a very good wish that makes me admire.

You probably know,

there are many ways to make

that gold savings profitable

and help you quickly achieve your wish.

Do you intend to invest?

– Unfortunately!

I’ve had many painful failures,

so I’m afraid of falling again.

– If you trust me,

I will invite you to participate in a scheme

to use gold very effectively.

– He replied.

– Within a year,

this wall will be completed,

the next job is to cast bronze gates to attach to the doors

to protect the kingdom from enemy attacks.

As far as I can see,

there isn’t enough bronze in all of Nineveh to make the gates,

and the king has never thought of this.

My plan is that we get everyone to collect the gold

and send it to a messenger caravan most

depend on copper mines far away to buy for you.

After that,

the copper will be brought back

and stored in Nineveh.

When the king orders the gate to be minted,

we will sell the coins.

It is possible that on this occasion,

copper will be very expensive.

And if the king doesn’t buy it,

we can still sell bronze to those who cast shields,

make statues…

Listening to him present this investment plan,

I realized that this is a rare opportunity

to follow the third law of gold.

So I decided to invest all of my savings there.

Indeed, this plan did not disappoint.

It has been a success beyond imagination

and my little gold accumulation has increased significantly

through that sale.

Since then,

I have been recognized

as a member of that group of people

who always take risks with caution.

They are all wise

and always know how to use gold in the most profitable way.

They always discuss carefully

before launching new business plans.

They never entrust their gold coins to investments

that are not profitable or risk losing their capital.

Stupid deeds

Betting, racing horses, investing

without thoroughly researching

as happened before with children…

they all didn’t pay attention.

Because, for these games,

they can spot the bluffs right away.

Through doing business

with these people,

I have learned many profound lessons

for myself in investing

in gold safely and bringing the highest profit.

Over time,

your wealth is increasing day by day,

you not only recover the gold that was lost before,

but also earn more gold than that.

After falling and making many successful investments,

I have learned valuable experiences

and understand more

and more clearly the five laws

of gold that you have given me.

For those who do not know about these five laws,

it is very easy for them to lose gold in business investment.

But if they know how to follow those rules,

they not only keep gold

but also make gold more and more profitable.

Nomasir paused for a moment

then gestured to the slave who was behind the door.

Immediately,

the slave brought in three very heavy leather bags.

Nomasir took a bag

and placed it on the floor in front of his father,

then continued:

Before, my father gave me a bag of Babylonian gold.

Now, I give you back a bag of Nineveh’s gold of the same weight.

Thank you for giving me a piece

of clay on which the five laws

of gold are engraved,

which I now have.

Now instead,

I give you these two bags of gold.

– While saying that,

Nomasir placed two more bags of gold on the floor.

– This proves

that you value my wisdom more than the bag

of gold that I gave you.

Never invest in a business you cannot understand. ― Warren Buffett

Without this wisdom,

gold would quickly slip out of the hands

of its owner.

Your story is the clearest proof of that.

Father, I am now very proud to stand

before you and thanks to your wisdom imparted to me,

I have become rich and respected by all.

Mr. Arkad lovingly placed his hand on Nomasir’s head and said:

– You have absorbed your lessons very well

and I am so lucky to have a son like you

to entrust all of my possessions.

Kalabab stopped talking

and looked intently at the boys’ faces:

– What does the story of Mr. Arkad’s wisdom make you think?

Who among you can step

before the two parents to tell

how to use their hard-earned money?

The space seemed to sag,

no one answered. Mr. Kalabab then continued:

– How will your parents think

when they hear that you have wasted

or used your money foolishly,

only to end up having to live a life

of poverty and desperation.

-Isn’t fate determined that one person is rich,

while the other has to endure a life of poverty?

Could you please explain this to us.

A boy spoke up.

– No one can decide his rich or poor destiny.

In fact, those who own a lot of gold

and become rich are those who understand the five laws of gold

and know how to follow them to get rich.

Before, I was also poor and worked

as a hired worker like you.

But because I learned

and followed the five golden rules,

I became a rich merchant.

Accumulating wealth

and becoming rich is not a mystery given

by nature,

but rather

because people are determined to work

and find ways to develop their wealth.

For those who learn to absorb wisdom,

speculate and persevere,

and work hard and follow the laws of gold,

you will eventually get rich.

Each of these five laws has its own advantages,

which anyone can apply.

You should memorize it now

and constantly learn

and explore to understand its meaning thoroughly.

In the future,

if there is a favorable opportunity,

you should boldly apply these valuable laws

to your business to enrich yourself and our country.

Today someone can sit in the shade

because he or she planted a tree a long time ago. — Warren Buffett