Three Questions

by Leo Tolstoy

Three Questions by Leo Tolstoy

One day a king understood that he would be successful if he knew three things: the right time to take action, the right people to listen to, and the most important thing to do. The king thought that if he knew these three things, he would never fail at anything he did.

So the king sent a message all over his land. He would give a lot of money to the person who could tell him the answer to his three questions. Many people visited the king, but they all gave him different answers.

In reply to the first question about the right time to take action, some people told the king that he must write down in advance what he would do every day, week and month. Others told the king that he must not think about things that are not useful. Other people said the king should choose a group of men to help him decide what to do because no man could be right all the time. Some people did not think this was helpful, but instead told the king that he should ask magicians because they knew what would happen in the future.

The people also had different answers to the king's second question about who he needed to listen to. Some said the king should listen to counsellors; others said priests or doctors or soldiers.

People once again did not agree about the third question: what is the most important thing to do. Some said science was most important. Others said it was war or peace or religion.

Because the king got all these different answers, he didn't give the money to anyone. But he still wanted to know the answers. So he decided to visit an old man who was famous for his wisdom and who lived alone in the forest. The old man never left his home and he didn't speak to anyone unless they were common people. So the king dressed in normal clothes and didn't take any of his soldiers with him when he visited.

When the king came up to the old man, he was digging near his small house. He kept going even when he saw his guest. The old man was small and weak and each time he put his shovel into the ground, he breathed loudly.

The king said "I have come to you, wise man, to ask you three questions: what is the right time to take action, who are the right people to listen to, and what is the most important thing to do?"

The old man listened to the king, but didn't answer. He just kept digging.

"You’re tired," said the king. "Let me take your shovel and work for you a while."

"Thank-you!" said the old man. He gave his shovel to the king and then sat on the ground.

When the king had dug for a while, he repeated his three questions. The old man didn't answer but told the king: "Now you rest and I’ll work for a while."

The king did not give him the shovel but continued to dig. One hour passed and then another. It was evening when the king stopped digging and said to the old man: "I came to you, wise man, for an answer to my questions. Tell me if you don't have answers and then I’ll return to my home."

"Here comes a person running," said the man. "Let’s see who it is."

The king saw a tall man running towards him. The man held his hands on his stomach and blood was coming from it. When he reached the king, he fell down in great pain. The king and the old man saw a large wound. The king washed and bandaged the wound as well as he could, but the blood did not stop for a long time. When the man felt better and asked for some water, the king gave it to him. The king and the old man carried the wounded man into the house and put him on the bed. He closed his eyes and was quiet as he lay there. The king was so tired that he also fell asleep. The king slept the whole night and woke up in the morning. He saw the bearded man was on the bed next to him, looking at him.

"I’m sorry!" said the tall man, when he saw that the king was awake and was looking at him.

"I don’t know you. Why should you be sorry?" asked the king.

The man replied: "You don’t know me, but I know you. I’m your old enemy. You killed my brother and took his house, so I wanted revenge. I knew you were going to see the old man and I decided to kill you on your way back, but you didn’t return. When I went looking for you, I met your soldiers and they attacked me. I ran away from them, but I’d have died if you hadn't helped me. I wanted to kill you, but now you’ve saved my life. Now I’ll work as your most loyal servant and will tell my sons to serve you too. I'm so sorry!"

The king was very glad to make peace with his enemy, and to make a new friend. The king forgave the man and told him he would get his house back and he would ask his personal doctor to look after him. The king then went outside to talk to the old man who was working in his garden.

The king went to him, and said:

"Could you please answer my questions, wise man?"

"Your questions are already answered!" said the man.

"How are they answered?" asked the king.

"Don't you know?" replied the old man. "If you hadn’t helped me dig yesterday, you’d have left early and then that man would have attacked you. So the most important time to take action was when you were helping me dig; and I was the most important person to know; and to help me was the most important thing to do.

“When that man ran towards us, the most important time to take action was when you were helping him, because if you hadn’t helped him, he would have died without making peace with you. So he was the most important man to know, and what you did for him was the most important thing to do.

“Remember that there’s only one time that is important. Now! It’s the most important time because it’s the only time when we have any power. The most important person is the one you’re with and the most important thing to do is good, because that's the reason we are given life!"