Herman de Jong wrote this story for his grandchildren, especially those who had recently moved to Africa. Then he recorded it on his cassette player, along with some other things, and sent the tape by mail to Mali, in time for Christmas.

Aleb and the Wise Man

Almost two thousand years ago there lived a prince in a far-away country. It was a special country, for we think Paradise was once there. At least it had two big rivers flowing through it. And that was good, for it didn’t rain much in that country.

The farmers scooped the water from the river with large buckets tied to a wheel. Camels plodded all day long to move the wheel steadily. The wheel was a good idea, but the camels hated the things. Their raucous screams filled the air continually. People tried to live far away from those waterwheels, for the sound of the camels and the screeching of the wheel got on their nerves.

One river divided a very large city in two. In that city was a palace where a young prince lived with his brothers. There were many princes, for long ago kings had many wives. That’s how they showed how rich they were! When there are many wives, there are many children. Aleb had seventy brothers and sisters, some of them were already married.

Since Aleb was one of the younger princes, he probably would never be king himself. So, he had to find other things to occupy himself with, and that wasn’t so easy in those days. Princes were too high and mighty to soil their soft hands with manual labour. They could not be farmers or carpenters or even plumbers. Princes had a terrible time finding suitable jobs.

That’s why many of them went to the city’s university. They would study there for many, many years. Even dumb and lazy princes would study at the university, for they knew that the wise men, the professors, would never kick them out. These wise men didn’t want to provoke the father of the princes. They didn’t want their heads cut off by the King.

Aleb and Belthazzar

But Aleb wasn’t dumb or lazy. Unlike so many of his brothers, he had a plan for his life. He would become a traveler. He would discover the whole world. And if it had been possible, he would have flown through the whole universe on a magic carpet. He took lessons from Belthazzar, the astronomy professor. Night after night the two of them lay down on the roof of the palace, studying the stars, and drawing the constellations on fine parchment paper. Often, Aleb fell asleep beside the professor. In his dreams his mind wandered from star to star, from constellation to constellation, even to those stars he couldn’t see. His professor had told him that there were millions of stars beyond the ones visible to the eye.

Aleb knew the stars moved through space but that they seldom bumped into each other. How could that be? Did Somebody steer them along their paths? Did someone guide them?

So, one night he asked the wise man Belthazzar, his teacher of fame.

Then, the old man stepped suddenly on his foot and Aleb had yelped with pain. “What’s the matter,” the old man whispered. “You stepped on my foot,” said Aleb. “How do you know I stepped on your foot”, the old man smiled. “It hurts,” said Aleb. “That’s not an answer, and you know it, prince Aleb. Something in your body sent an ‘ow’ message to your brain. Your brain sends a message to your mouth, so it yelps loudly, and to your eyes to form a few tears. All of this happens in a fraction of a second. There are so many mysteries even in our own bodies. We are so wonderfully made, Aleb, so wonderfully made.”

“But who made us!” cried Aleb. The professor looked up to the sky.

“Beyond the stars, Aleb, there is a great force — a great force, which we cannot comprehend, who created the whole universe, and who still takes care of the smallest details. Oh, that great, mighty Being made such a beautiful and good world.” Aleb interrupted the professor. “Pain isn’t so good,” he said. The professor laughed softly. “Oh, Aleb,” he whispered, “Of course pain is good! Imagine that a sharp stone would have made a deep cut in your foot, and you would have never felt it. You would have walked on the dirty soil and before you could say ‘booh’, your foot would have been one big, festering sore. You’d have gone to doctor Shiva, and he would have said that the only way to save your life would be to cut off that foot. Pain makes you react immediately — as you so nicely did! But I agree, other pain isn’t so good. Like feeling sad. Or feeling bad about a wrong thing you did. But do you see now that sometimes it can be good?”

The wise men depart

One day Aleb went to the university, only to find professor Belthazzar mysteriously gone. Word spread quickly. In the middle of the night, the professor and two of his astronomer friends had packed their camels hastily, and had left the city. They were on an important mission. They had told their wives and servants that they wouldn’t return for many, many months.

Now the joy was gone out of Aleb’s learning for, of all the subjects, he loved astronomy best. Oh, he wished he could have gone with Belthazzar to faraway countries. He began to skip classes at the university. He just wasn’t interested in all that other stuff. He spent his time travelling the country on his white horse Misha. Sometimes he was gone for days, but always he came back to the palace, for even though the king had many sons and daughters, he wanted all of them to stay close to him. He was a very possessive father.

Thus, Aleb always returned before the King got very angry. Little did Aleb know that the king knew exactly where he travelled. The King was a good father. He knew that robbers and other bad men could harm his son when he rode his horse alone throughout the land. That’s why the King secretly had Aleb followed by a sturdy bodyguard. Aleb was never aware of his silent companion, never saw him. But the bodyguard was always there, always close, and would act immediately if Aleb was attacked.

Aleb’s Quest

One day, Simeon the bodyguard, approached the king with fear and trembling. He was so scared that his big mustache quivered. “Oh king,” he said, “do not turn your wrath on me, but I have lost track of your son. I followed him to the city’s gate and suddenly he disappeared as if the sky had swallowed him up.” The king jumped up in great anger. Almost he ordered a soldier to cut off the bodyguard’s head. But he suddenly realized that this was a man of worth, a good man who loved his son. Thus, he ordered Simeon to find Aleb within two days, or else! Ten soldiers would help him search.

Exactly two days less one hour later, just in time to keep his head on his body, a happy Simeon ran to the palace and threw himself before the king. “I have found your son, my Lord!” “Where did you find him,” asked the king — large tears shimmering in his coal-black eyes. “I found him in the university surrounded by large pieces of parchment on which he had drawn maps of the whole country.” The king was surprised. Most of his sons were good-for-nothings, but Aleb used even his free time to work. He ordered Aleb and his maps to be brought before him.

When the king saw how beautifully and accurately Aleb had drawn these maps, he completely forgot to punish him, so excited was he. Nobody had ever drawn maps like that before and the king realized that their value was immeasurable. Softly he asked, “What gave you the idea, son Aleb?”

Aleb told him that he had helped Belthazzar to draw maps of the stars and constellations. The king laughed heartily. “What good is it to draw maps of places we can never travel to,” he shouted merrily. Aleb smiled slyly. “That’s exactly what I thought too, dear father, and that’s why I drew maps of places closer to home.” “You are a fine son,” said the king, “Go and continue to draw maps of our land.”

One night the king couldn’t sleep. Was he worried? You would think that a father of so many children would be worried about his family. Indeed, there were enough children to be worried about. Some of his sons were lazy bums, who sat around all day drinking and eating too much. Some of them had grown so fat that their horses sagged when they sat down in the saddle. Some of his daughters had reached the age to be married, but the king couldn’t find husbands for them in the palaces of neighbouring countries. Had not all these countries been conquered by the Roman Empire?

Aleb’s Commission

That night, when the king tossed and turned on his bed, he was thinking and thinking and thinking. He was making plans for the future, just like his son Aleb. As far as that goes, Aleb would make a good and righteous king!

The king thought, some time the Romans will grow weak. Would he then not help his neighbour kings to throw the Romans out? His neighbour kings would be so thankful that they would give him all their sons to be married to his beautiful daughters. But if his own army entered those neighbouring countries to kick the Roman soldiers out, how would they find their way in such strange surroundings. Without maps they certainly would march around in circles.

Suddenly, the king sat up in his bed. Oh, he was so excited! Why hadn’t he thought of Aleb? Of course, Aleb must go to these countries and secretly draw their maps. He jumped out of bed and ran to Aleb’s palace across the street. Quickly his old servant threw a white sheet over the king’s shoulders. Imagine, a naked king running across the street!

Thus, it was that Aleb prepared himself for a long trip. Simeon would go with him. This time not as a secret follower, but as a loyal servant, strong enough to defend his master. Oh, how excited Aleb was! Now, there was a purpose to his life. He knew he would serve the king well! Astronomy was so abstract, so unreal! Knowing the earth in greater detail, wasn’t that far better?

Belthazzar Returns

Then something happened. On the day Aleb was to depart happily, Belthazzar and his two friends came back to the city. They slumped on their camels from utter weariness, for the journey had been so, so long. Aleb and Simeon’s two camels met the caravan of the wise men just outside the city gates. The two caravans passed each other in the main street of the city. Suddenly, the proud Aleb sat up very straight on his camel.

Was that old, old man his professor Belthazzar? Quickly he jumped off the camel and ran towards the camels of the wise men. Yes, it was Belthazzar.

“Help him down,” Aleb ordered Simeon. Tears were streaming down his face, for he had such warm feelings for his old professor. They embraced for a long time, and almost Aleb decided to give up on his journey and join his wise teacher again to study the stars. Belthazzar should have looked very tired, but Aleb noticed how happy his teacher looked. His eyes shone brightly and suddenly Aleb realized that the wise man’s joy went much deeper than the happiness created by their unexpected encounter.

Belthazzar put both hands on the shoulders of the young man and looked at him through tears of great joy. “Oh, Aleb,” he cried out loudly, “do you remember that night when we looked at the stars and wondered how they were created and kept in their courses? Aleb, the creator of the universe used one of these stars to bring us to Him. For this creator so loved a world full of pain that he came to the earth in human form, born as a baby. The invisible Great Force has become visible to all of us. We could have known him through the stars, through the wonder of his creation, but we closed our eyes to him. We almost forgot about him. But so great is God’s love for us — so much He wants us to know and to love and to worship Him, that He became like us, for all of us to see and to touch. Our deepest longing, our deepest probing into the mystery of the Universe has been answered. Go, find Him, Aleb, this Jesus, that you too may worship Him.”

So great was the knowledge of the wise men, so great their conviction, that it sank deep inside the heart of Aleb. He knew without a doubt that the wise men’s words were true. Yet Aleb did not know — could not know that the Holy Spirit worked in his heart.

Once more he embraced his old teacher, whispering into his ear that he too would find him. “Where must I go”, he asked with trembling voice. “Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,” said Belshazzar, “God be with you, my son.”

Aleb Goes to Bethlehem

And Aleb went to Bethlehem. He drew no maps of the countries he traveled through. That could wait. He first had to find the baby of whom Belthazzar had spoken. He greeted the peasants on his way. They hardly looked up from their work in the fields. They had to work hard to supply the Roman occupation with food.

Finally, Aleb saw the white houses of the small village of Bethlehem in the distance. It was very quiet in the village. Not the kind of quietness which happens when the men work in the fields and the women and children stay inside because of the fierce sun. It was the quietness of mourning. Aleb and Simeon dismounted at the inn. The innkeeper came outside, bowing deeply. Even though Aleb had not travelled in splendoor like the wise men, he had a princely bearing which did not go unnoticed.

As they devoured the broth the innkeeper had placed before them, they heard that a few months ago Herod’s soldiers had come to kill all the baby boys. Aleb’s heart stood still. All the baby boys? Did that mean that the Son of God also had been murdered brutally? The innkeeper could not answer him. No one knew about a royal prince which was born in a stable. There had been so many people in Bethlehem at that time! But would his noble guest want to stay in the inn for a while? The cheapest inn in town, sir!

One day he followed some shepherds who led a flock of sheep to the pastures outside the village. “Have you heard about a baby King who was born a few months ago, asked Aleb. But the shepherds were suspicious. Who was this stranger who spoke their language as if he had swallowed an olive whole? Was he to be trusted? Could he be one of Herod’s spies?

Then Aleb told them his story. O yes, these rich, wise men, who had brought so many presents to the baby King. O yes, they remembered so well when their small caravan had entered the village of Bethlehem. So, one of them was your teacher, hey?

Still, they kept silent. So much had happened — so much happiness, so much sadness, it was beyond their simple understanding. It was better to keep quiet about these things. Life had to return to normal.

Just when a disappointed Aleb was turning away from the burly fellows an older shepherd came to him. “Sir,” he whispered, “I believe that you can be trusted, for your eyes show a deep sadness within you. The old man told Aleb what had happened in the fields of Bethlehem. He continued: I think that the baby we worshipped wasn’t killed by Herod’s men. We know that the father of the baby was seen selling the presents the rich man gave the baby. Now, why would he do that? Did he need money to travel far, far away? We kept an eye on the stable in which God’s son was born. It was already empty before the soldiers came to kill all the baby boys. That’s all I know. But I can tell you what the father and mother of the Child looked like……! A fairer woman you never saw, and the father of the child is a big hunk of a man.

With such little knowledge, Aleb searched throughout the land of Israel for almost a year. Not a trace was to be found of the baby and his parents. Much did he learn about the history of the Hebrews. How they for centuries had worshipped only one God, a God who seemed to have chosen them to be his special people. They worshipped their God in a rather strange, unhappy way. For their God seemed to have given them countless laws which they had to keep minutely. Nowhere did Aleb meet the joy he had seen in the eyes of the three wise men.

He learned the Hebrew language and visited the synagogues — the Hebrew churches which were out of bounds for gentiles. But so much did Aleb look like a Hebrew, that nobody bothered him. He heard rabbis read from a scroll in which the coming of a Messiah was foretold. A king would be born to deliver them from their enemies, but nobody seemed to know that the Messiah was already amongst them. Aleb was so sure of that, that he wanted to shout it through the synagogues — but his speech would betray him as a foreigner.

Finally, Aleb gave up his search. On his last day in Jerusalem, he bought the scroll of Isaiah, the book he had heard rabbis read from so often. It must be an important book. But it spoke of a man who would be led to slaughter as a lamb, a man who was wounded and bruised. Now, that certainly could not be the son of God, Aleb thought. The prophet Isaiah talked about a world in darkness, a sinful world always forgetting about the creator God.

That Aleb understood, for he too had done many, many bad things. He often thought about these things and felt sad that he could not be more loving. Maybe it was a good idea, to keep all these little laws the God of Israel had given his people.

Aleb returns home

He traveled to the countries which his father had sent him to. Secretly he observed these countries and made maps of them. Every day he prayed to his new God who had become Man. It made his life so happy that Simeon was constantly wondering how his young master could be so happy in these awful, foreign countries. But underneath Aleb’s happiness was a deep and sad longing to find Jesus — to see him face to face.

The years went by. Aleb married and had four children. He spoke to them of the God/Man Jesus. So strong was his belief that his wife and children, who had first laughed at his strange stories, also believed. Often, he recited verses from the Isaiah scroll to them in their own language. Every day they prayed to the God of whom they knew so little.

Aleb’s Epiphany

When Aleb was fifty years old, he felt within him a strange sad feeling. He felt as if somebody whom he loved very much was going to die. It couldn’t be Belthazzar, for his tutor had died many years ago. Was he himself going to die? That couldn’t be, for he did not feel sick at all. Yet, a deep sadness gnawed at his heart!

As was his custom, he went to the roof of the palace, before he went to sleep. Once more he looked up to the starlit sky. The stars were somewhat paler this evening, he thought, probably because there was a full moon. He spread his hands to the heavens and prayed to the God who was so far away and yet so close to his heart. But now such a tremendous sadness entered his soul, that he could not utter a word of praise.

Slowly he turned his face to the west, where he knew the land of the Hebrews was — the land where Jesus was born, the land which he had visited as a young man. Now he was old — soon he would die! Was there still time left to go back to that country and continue his search for the Messiah? The thought of this adventure drove the sadness from his body. He could still do it — he would do it! Had not his father told him that he should never give up when a plan formed in his mind?

Suddenly he saw a most remarkable thing. A wall of the deepest darkness seemed to climb up from the western horizon, covering the brilliant stars and the silvery moonlight. Then the darkness stood still, and a distinct line formed between the darkness and the soft light of the moon and stars. It certainly wasn’t a huge cloud which covered half of the sky. Never before had Aleb seen something like that!

As Aleb gazed towards the west intently, he heard a soft voice within him. “Do not go, Aleb — do not go to the Land of the Hebrews, for you will not find Jesus anymore, for he is dying.

Aleb felt a great pain in his heart. What had his old teacher told him so long ago? Pain is good, Aleb, pain is good, for when you feel pain you do something about it! But the voice had just told him that he could do nothing! He began to pace back and forth on the palace roof. The darkness remained in the western sky. Was it a sign, as the moving star had been a sign to Belthazzar?

Suddenly he remembered the words of the scroll, “but he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.” Aleb’s brain fought for the meaning of these words.

Darkness…pierced… crushed…iniquity! How did all these things fit together? Was this God beyond the universe so loving that he would sacrifice himself as a lamb led to slaughter? Was God’s pain good for the world? How could it be! Was it then possible that a God, even a God/Man so loved the world that he would die for it?

Aleb did not know the answer. The Holy Spirit of God did not reveal it to him. All he carried within himself was a vivid picture of the Son of God in a manger and the words of the scroll.

Aleb stayed on the roof for three hours. Then the darkness lifted from the western sky. And as the sky opened up again to the light of the moon and the brilliant stars, so Aleb’s heart opened up to God, and such great happiness welled up in his soul that he spread his arms to the heavens and cried out, “thank you God, thank you, son of God! You are my Creator and Redeemer!”