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    The Story of the Other Wise Man
    The Story of the Other Wise Man
    The Story of the Other Wise Man
    Ebook54 pages47 minutes

    The Story of the Other Wise Man

    By Henry Van Dyke

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1955
    Author

    Henry Van Dyke

    Henry van Dyke was an American religious writer, lecturer, and clergyman. Educated at the Theological Seminary at Princeton University, van Dyke returned to the school after his graduation as a Professor of English Literature and became an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1913 he was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson, his former classmate, as the ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxembourg, a job that he maintained throughout the First World War. His most famous short stories include "The Story of the Other Wise Man" and "The First Christmas Tree", which, like many of his other works, centered around moral and religious themes. After a lifetime of public service and religious leadership, Henry van Dyke died in 1933 at the age of 80.

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    Reviews for The Story of the Other Wise Man

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    • 5/5
      I don't know how I missed this short novel/long short story until now. The legend was mentioned in a Christmas special I was watching and I searched it to see if there were more. I found this and I am so glad I did.The version I read was the original one, transcribed through Project Gutenberg. It definitely shows its Victorian roots in its flowery language. I think sometimes I am a misplaced Victorian spinster, so I loved it. The descriptions transported me to an earlier time.This is certainly a Christmas story and as such it does have a message, but it far transcends finding the baby Jesus. Would that we could all live the life Artaban lived. I did need a tissue at the end, but I get emotional easily.Who would like it? Anyone who loves Christmas. It isn't that long and could easily be read to your family, should you wish to start a tradition.
    • 5/5
      Can't say enough about this book. It is the truth about living a good, meaningful life.
    • 3/5
      I read this short book/story for a challenge "a book set during Christmas." But it turned out to have a deeper and really nice message :)
    • 4/5
      "But it is better to follow even the shadow of the best than to remain content with the worst. And those who would see wonderful things must often be ready to travel alone."Artaban is all prepared to join three of his Magi companions to go and present gifts to a new King whose coming is declared by the heavens. But Artaban's trip encounters delays, profoundly altering his quest in The Story of the Other Wise Man by author Henry van Dyke.I'd never heard of this classic before I came across it some weeks ago. No, it didn't hold groundbreaking revelations or unimaginable surprises for me.But even having a good idea ahead of time about where such a tale would go didn't stop the tale from being beautiful to me. Beautiful in its atmospheric detail as well as in its compelling message about what's important to the King. Yes, the story has some old-fashioned quirks, like the fact that some of the characters speak in "King James" now and then, but the message itself is timeless.Not at all hard to see why this tale is indeed a classic.
    • 3/5
      I've owned this classic library discard since the 1990s and decided to read it again as I'm culling my shelves. It's what would now be considered novella-length, a fast read about a fourth wise men who is late to join his comrades and meet baby Jesus soon after this birth. The writing is lush and beautiful. Really, I could see this being read aloud as a glorious experience. That said, from a story standpoint it strikes me as... trite and unoriginal. Would it still be considered faith-affirming for some who want a totally predictable story? Absolutely. But not for me.
    • 5/5
      This is the story of the fourth wise man who, along with the three others, is seeking the Christ Child. Artaban plans on meeting up with his friends, and then continuing on his journey. He is bringing three precious jewels to bestow upon the Christ Child. But his journey is delayed when he stops to nurse a dying man, giving him his provisions. Now, needing to cross the desert, he gives up a jewel to buy supplies. He then discovers his companions have gone on without him, and so travels on, still alone. He meets a new mother with a son, and, lying to protect the boy, bribes the soldiers intent on killing newborn male children to go on and not search the house. Then, he wanders on for 33 years, and at the end of his life, gives his last jewel to pay the debts of an orphaned young girl about to be sold into slavery for her father’s debts. Artaban feels he has failed to honor the Christ, since he has given away to man what was meant for God, and he is surprised to hear what God has to say. This imaginative tale embodies not only the story of the birth of Jesus, but also the redemptive powers of God. This is a story that should be read every Christmas.
    • 5/5
      Nearly everyone is familiar with the story of the Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Jesus. Tradition numbers them at three and names them Caspar, Melchoir, and Balthazar. But did you know the story of “The Other Wise Man”? Artaban, a leader of the Persian Magi, learns from heavenly signs that the time is at hand for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy about the birth among the Hebrews of a holy Prince and Deliverer of Man. Hastening to join three fellow Magi for the long journey into Judaea, he pauses to help a dying man in Babylon and is left behind. And so Artaban begins his pilgrimage alone. Artaban then makes it to Bethlehem but finds that he has just missed both his friends and the young child. But before he can hope to catch up with Joseph, Mary, and their child on their way to Egypt, he stops to assist a mother whose child is in danger of being killed by Herod’s troops. After searching for His quest in Egypt and not finding it, he then travels from place to place, visiting the oppressed, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending the sick, and comforting the captive. After 33 years, he ends up, an aged, white-haired man, in Jerusalem on the day of the Passover. Just as he thinks that he might find the object of his search who is being led away to be crucified, he is beseeched by a young girl from his native Parthia who is being sold into slavery to pay her father’s debts. Will he ever see the King for whom He has looked these many years? Henry Jackson van Dyke (1852–1933) was a Presbyterian minister, professor at Princeton University, President Woodrow Wilson’s ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and a noted author who wrote the hymn, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” set to the “Ode to Joy” theme from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Van Dyke said, "I do not know where this little story came from--out of the air, perhaps. One thing is certain, it is not written in any other book, nor is it to be found among the ancient lore of the East. And yet I have never felt as if it were my own. It was a gift, and it seemed to me as if I knew the Giver." He first read The Story of The Other Wise Man aloud to his New York congregation after writing it and then had it published in written form. It is, in essence, a parable that shows what seeking for Jesus in life is really all about. We did it as a family read aloud, and everyone was moved by the story.
    • 5/5
      A marvelously told tale of the other wiseman who was too late to travel with his friends to find the baby Jesus; he ended up finding what he was searching for in an unexpected way.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful and heartwarming story. It examines our hearts and motives and those which God values.I expected this to be a sappy, sentimental story. Instead, I discovered a touching parable. So glad I found it in the hotel to read (the Weaverville Hotel, in Weaverville, CA, has an exceptional bookshelf to borrow from). Two thoughts from the book which deserve pondering:"Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soulMay keep the path, but not reach the goal;While he who walks in love may wander far,Yet God will bring him where the blessed are."Also: "Is a lie ever justifiable? Perhaps not. But may it not sometimes seem inevitable? And if it were a sin, might not a man confess it, and be pardoned for it more easily than for the greater sin of spiritualselfishness, or indifference, or the betrayal of innocent blood?"

    Book preview

    The Story of the Other Wise Man - Henry Van Dyke

    Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Henry Van Dyke

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

    Title: The Story of the Other Wise Man

    Author: Henry Van Dyke

    Release Date: July 14, 2005 [EBook #16291]

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE OTHER WISE MAN ***

    Produced by Michael Gray (Lost_Gamer@comcast.net)

    Copyright 1895, 1899, by HARPER & BROTHERS

    ——

    All rights reserved

    Who seeks for heaven alone to save his soul,

    May keep the path, but will not reach the goal;

    While he who walks in love may wander far,

    Yet God will bring him where the blessed are.

    Contents

    PREFACE……vii

    THE SIGN IN THE SKY……3

    BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON……25

    FOR THE SAKE OF A LITTLE CHILD……43

    IN THE HIDDEN WAY OF SORROW……55

    A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE……65

    Preface

         IT is now some years since this little story was set afloat on the sea of books. It is not a man-of-war, nor even a high-sided merchantman; only a small, peaceful sailing-vessel. Yet it has had rather an adventurous voyage. Twice it has fallen into the hands of pirates. The tides have carried it to far countries. It has been passed through the translator's port of entry into German, French, Armenian, Turkish, and perhaps some other foreign regions. Once I caught sight of it flying the outlandish flag of a brand-new phonetic language along the coasts of France; and once it was claimed by a dealer in antiquities as a long-lost legend of the Orient. Best of all, it has slipped quietly into many a far-away harbor that I have never seen, and found a kindly welcome, and brought back messages of good cheer from unknown friends.

         Now it has turned home to be new-rigged and fitted for further voyaging. Before it is sent out again I have been asked to tell where the story came from and what it means.

         I do not know where it came from—out of the air, perhaps. One thing is certain, it is not written in any other book, nor is it to be found among the ancient lore of the East. And yet I have never felt as if it were my own. It was a gift. It was sent to me; and it seemed as if I knew the Giver, though His name was not spoken.

         The year had been full of sickness and sorrow. Every day brought trouble. Every night was tormented with pain. They are very long—those nights when one lies awake, and hears the laboring heart pumping wearily at its task, and watches for the morning, not knowing whether it will ever dawn. They are not nights of fear; for the thought of death grows strangely familiar when you have lived with it for a year. Besides, after a time you come to feel like a soldier who has been long standing still under fire; any change would be a relief. But they are lonely nights; they are very heavy nights. And their heaviest burden is this:

         You must face the thought that your work in the world may be almost ended, but you know that it is not nearly finished.

         You have not solved the problems that perplexed you. You have not reached the goal that you aimed at. You have not accomplished the great task that you set for yourself.

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