Three Questions 2024

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Leo Tolstoy

It once occurred to a certain tsar ,that ifhe always knew the right time to begin everything ‘if he knew who were the right people to listen to ,and whom to avoid ,and ,above all , if he always knew what was the most important thing to do , he would never fail in anything he might undertake .

and this thought having occurred to him , had it proclaimed throughout his kingdom that he would give a great reward to anyone who would teach him what was the right time for every action, and who were the most necessary people , and how he might know what was the most important thing to do.

and learned men came to the tsar , but they all answered his questions differently.

in reply to the first question , some said that to know the right time for every action ,one must draw up in advance, a table of days, months and years ,and must live strictly according to it. only thus, said they ,could everything be done at its proper time.

others declared that it was impossible to decide beforehand the right the right time for every action; but that ,not letting oneself be absorbed in idle pastimes,one should always attend to all that was going on, and then do what was most needful. Others, again, said that however attentive that Tsar might be to what was going on, it was impossible for one man to decide correctly the right time for every action, but that he should have a council of wise men,who would help him to fix the proper time for everything.

But then again others said there were some things which could not wait to be laid before a council ,but about which one had at once to decide whether to undertake them or not .but in order to decide that, one must know beforehand what was going to happen .It is only magicians who know that ‘and therefore, in order to know the right time for every action ,one must consult magicians.

Equally various were the answers to the second question. Some said, the people the Tsar most needed were his councillors; , the priests ;others ,the doctors; while some said the warriors were the most necessary.

To the third question, as to what was the most important occupation :some replied that the most important thing in the world was science. others said it was skill in warfare; and others , again, that it was religious worship.

All the answers being different , the Tsar agreed with none of them, and gave the reward to none . but still wishing to find the right answers to his questions , he decided to consult a hermit ,widely renowned for his wisdom.

The hermit lived in a wood which he never quitted , and he received none but common folk. So the Tsar put on simple clothes, and before reaching the hermit; s cell dismounted from his horse , and , leaving his body -guard behind, went on alone.

When the Tsar approached, the hermit was digging the ground in front of his hut . Seeing the Tsar, he greeted him and went on digging. The hermit was frail and weak , and each time he stuck his spade into the ground and turned a little earth, he breathed heavily.

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