On Buying and Selling

And a merchant said, Speak to us of

Buying and Selling.

And he answered and said:

To you the earth yields her fruit, and

you shall not want if you but know how

to fill your hands.

It is in exchanging the gifts of the

earth that you shall find abundance and

be satisfied.

Yet unless the exchange be in love and

kindly justice, it will but lead some to

greed and others to hunger.

When in the market place you toilers of

the sea and fields and vineyards meet

the weavers and the potters and the

gatherers of spices,--

Invoke then the master spirit of the

earth, to come into your midst and

sanctify the scales and the reckoning

that weighs value against value.

And suffer not the barren-handed to take

part in your transactions, who would

sell their words for your labour.

To such men you should say,

“Come with us to the field, or go with

our brothers to the sea and cast your

net;

For the land and the sea shall be

bountiful to you even as to us.”

And if there come the singers and the

dancers and the flute players,--buy of

their gifts also.

For they too are gatherers of fruit and

frankincense, and that which they bring,

though fashioned of dreams, is raiment

and food for your soul.

And before you leave the market place,

see that no one has gone his way with

empty hands.

For the master spirit of the earth shall

not sleep peacefully upon the wind

till the needs of the least of you are

satisfied.