Many of us are familiar with “The Fourth Wise Man” as written by Henry Van Dyke. This version is in picture book format and is perfect for younger readers and listeners.
Once upon a time in the mountains of Persia lived a man named Arbatan who loved to study nature, especially the stars. He had three friends – Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, and together they studied the writings that said a new star would appear to herald the way to the newborn King. They saw such a star in the sky one night and decided to make the journey to go greet the King. Arbatan sold his home and got ready to leave, asking his father for a blessing before he left. He would meet his friends in Babylon and they would leave from there. He was so anxious to take the precious jewels he owned and give them to the baby.
It took him ten days to reach Babylon, and now the great city was in sight – only three hours’ more and he would be at the meeting place. But he saw a sick man lying in the road, and he couldn’t just leave him there. He stopped and helped the man, and gave him a drink before going on his way. The man told him that the child was not in Jerusalem, but had been born in Bethlehem, and sent Arbatan on his way in peace.
Many things happened to keep Arbatan from reaching Bethlehem, and when he finally arrived, he was told that the family had fled to Egypt. He spent the next several years following them from place to place, always getting there too late, but helping many along the way, using one jewel after another from his collection to bail out the hurt and the endangered.
At the end of his life, he was grieved that he had never given his gift to the King. But as he lay dying, he heard a voice saying, “Inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me,” and he realized that he had indeed given his treasure to the King, and now he could be at peace.
(This book was published in 1998 by Dial Books and was illustrated by Jackie Morris.)
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