It happened once upon a time that a young man with an interest in the deeper side of life discovered a dervish sitting under a tree outside of his village.  The young man went to fetch some food, and then sat respectfully nearby while the dervish ate.  Afterward, they fell into a conversation, and the dervish said many things that the young man found very interesting.

The next day the young man brought more food, and was pleased to find the dervish still sitting under the same tree. Again, they had a long deep talk, and the young man went home very inspired. He felt as if his understanding was opening more every day.

But on the third day, when he went to the dervish bearing his usual gift of food, he found him already on his feet, with his few belongings in a bundle slung over his shoulder.  “I must go,” the dervish said as the young man approached.  “I should have left already, but I expected you would come, and it would have been unkind not to say good bye.”

The young man was puzzled. Why should the dervish be obliged to leave?  He seemed to be free of every commitment, living with only the sky as his roof, like a bird or a wild creature of the forest.  But when the young man asked what made him go, the dervish replied, “Perhaps it will be strange to you, but to be free I follow a single rule: every three days, I go to where I am not.”