Barlaam and Josaphat: A Christian Tale of the Buddha by Gui de Cambrai, Peggy McCracken Page A

love will be to bury him. Afterward they will return to their own affairs, and they will not want anything more to do with him.
    â€œThe third friend represents the good deeds of the Christian. The steward did little for this friend, but he willingly offered to help the steward. He risked himself to save him, and he was a good friend when the steward was in danger from his enemies. The other friends failed the steward in his time of need, but the third friend helped him and saved him from the punishment promised by the King who made the world and will judge it.
    â€œThese are the three friends a man finds in the world,” Barlaam continued. “Two of them kill and condemn him, but the goodness of the third redeems him. Two lead him to sorrow. The third earns him the love of the King he betrayed. The third friend remains with him and reconciles him with the Lord, who is full of mercy. Shun the first two friends, and take good care of the third, for whoever neglects the first two and serves the third will save his soul.”
    â€œMaster, I wish to put all the pleasures of the world behind me,” Josaphat responded. “Give me more examples of how to resist them. Show me all you know so that through your teaching I can know the sovereign King who made the whole world and rules it.”

Barlaam teaches Josaphat to store his treasure in heaven
    â€œListen, then,” Barlaam said, “and I will tell you another story that should offer a warning to all. There once was a city, the most beautiful and richest in the land. It was the custom of the nobles there to name a foreigner as king, and they always chose a man who did not know their laws. Each year they chose a king only to replace him the next one. This man served as their ruler for a year, and during that year he could make whatever declarations and laws he wished. The citizens did whatever he asked, until the end of the year. Just when he was most confident in his reign and thought himself safe inside the city walls, the citizens came to him, stripped him naked, and took the kingdom away from him. They dragged him through the city in great shame, then exiled him to an isolated island in the sea. He lived on the island ever after, poor and without succor. He suffered hunger, exposure, poverty, and sorrow without hope of relief, and he paid dearly for the crown he had enjoyed.
    â€œDuring this time they elected a wise man to be king, and he tricked them. He accepted the crown and agreed to govern the city. He was not happy about his election and sought to understand the city’s customs. He was troubled and wondered what had become of the kings who had reigned before him. He made inquiries, and a wise man told him of the kingdom’s custom. He learned that the city’s nobles exiled their king every year and chose another, and that when the king had reigned for one year, they shamed and tortured him, and then sent him into exile. This king understood that he would be lost if he did not find some way to avoid the shame and pain he would suffer at the end of his reign. He cared little for the kingdom, and he regretted that he had become its king. He found the honor dishonorable, because it would bring him shame. ‘It is a cursed power that leads to such a shameful end,’ the king thought.
    â€œHe pondered his situation and came to a decision. He had the doors of his treasury opened secretly, and he removed quantities of silver and gold, rich cloth, and all manner of precious stones and sent them to the island where he would be exiled when he lost his throne. He consigned them to faithful men who swore an oath of loyalty to him, and he provisioned the island well. When his reign ended, the citizens seized his crown and sent him to the island. They treated him just as they had treated all the others. But this man had prepared ahead of time. He arrived on the island and found the wealth and the treasure—the precious stones and the