The Richest Man in Babylon

A professional spear-maker named Rodan is thrilled to have 50 pieces of gold and imagines all the different things he can buy with his money. Days later, Rodan goes to a gold and jewel dealer named Mathon and asks for his advice. Mathon agrees to hear Rodan’s problem and serves him dinner while he listens. Rodan shares that the king has given him 50 pieces of gold for his work, and now his friends and family are asking him to share it. Rodan feels ambivalent about giving away some of his earnings but does not want to reject his family’s requests. Mathon acknowledges Rodan’s dilemma and says that increased wealth gives people more responsibilities and “a changed position with his fellow men” (56). To help Rodan learn more about lending money, he tells him a story about a farmer who could understand animals.

The farmer heard the ox complain to the donkey that he works too hard and cannot relax and eat grass like the donkey does. The donkey tells him to pretend to be ill so he does not have to work. The ox follows this advice, and the farmer uses the donkey to pull his plow instead of the ox. When the ox thanks his donkey friend for doing his work, the donkey angrily replies that in trying to help his friend he has suffered. He warns the ox not to be sick again because the farmer will butcher him.

Mathon tells Rodan that the moral of this story is to help your friends without carrying their “burden” for them (57). Rodan agrees that while he wants to help his sister and brother-in-law, he does not want to take on their financial obligations.

Mathon tells Rodan to only lend money to people who will use it wisely and pay it back. Mathon shows Rodan his “token chest” in which he has the names of each person who owes him money and the details of their deal. Once they have repaid their money, Mathon takes their names and tokens out of the chest. He summarizes a few types of loans: safe loans to wealthy people who own land and jewels, loans to honest working people, and very small loans to those who are living in poverty but have good reputations as reliable people.

Mathon takes out a token from a loan he made to a friend who “spent his gold lavishly” by spoiling his wife (58). When he became broke, Mathon tried to give him advice and a loan, but his friend’s marriage deteriorated, and his wife murdered him and then died by suicide. Mathon counsels Rodan that people “in the throes of great emotions” are not good candidates for receiving loans (58).

Next, Mathon shows Rodan a ring made from ox bone and tells him about a borrower who has successfully borrowed gold to start a goat herd. He is already making rugs from their hair, and Mathon expects him to repay his loan soon. He says that people who want to pay back their loans quickly are reliable borrowers.

He then shows Rodan a bracelet that a lady gave him as security against a loan. She encouraged her young son to become a merchant, but he was abandoned by his caravan partner and is struggling to establish himself. Mathon acknowledges that the woman and son were not reliable businesspeople, but her bracelet is valuable security against the loan. Mathon shares another story about a young man from Egypt who is “overzealous” (60) to become wealthy and recklessly borrows a lot of money he cannot repay. Mathon laments that young people want “short cuts to wealth” and “borrow unwisely” (60).

Rodan asks Mathon if he should lend all of his 50 pieces of gold to his brother-in-law. Mathon advises Rodan to evaluate how experienced and knowledgeable his brother-in-law is as a merchant, and that he would not lend anyone money unless they are well versed in their profession.

Mathon claims that it is good to try to help those in need, but that if the lender gives unwisely, they will end up like the donkey who assumed his friend’s burden. He tells Rodan to ask his brother-in-law to give him a detailed business plan in order to earn a small loan of gold and not to risk losing the rest of his gold. He warns his friend not to be “swayed by foolish sentiments of obligation” to his family (62). Finally, Mathon reveals the proverb he wrote on his token box as a constant reminder to himself: “Better a little caution than a great regret” (63).