to three questions
"he would never fail in anything he would undertake." What were the
three questions?
What is the most important time?
Who is the most important person?
What is the most important thing to do?
You might want to think about these questions for yourself as I
continue the story.
What is the most important time?
Who is the most important person?
What is the most important thing to do?
The king began his quest by asking his royal advisors for their
answers. They gave long,
detailed, complex answers to each question; and they didn't even agree
with one another –
except perhaps on the point that the most important person for the
king to consult on any matter
was… one of his advisors.
The king was deeply dissatisfied with all of this. He wanted something
simpler, more
direct, and at the same time more profound to guide his life. Well, he
had heard of a wise hermit who lived deep in the woods. The hermit, it
was said, never left the woods and would only entertain common people.
So, the king dressed in ordinary clothes and approached the hermit's
dwelling, leaving his personal body guard some distance off and well
out of sight.
The hermit was digging in his garden. The king asked his three
questions, but the hermit
would not respond. He kept digging. And the old man looked so tired
and feeble that the king
took the spade from him and worked in his stead. This he did for
hours.
Then, as the sun was setting, the king asked his questions again,
saying that if the hermit
had no response he would leave and return to his home. At this moment
a man came running out of the woods, clutching his stomach – seriously
wounded and bleeding. Without a moment's thought or hesitation the
king and the hermit went to his aid, the king binding and dressing the
wound and carrying the man into the hermit's hut. The king himself
then fell into a deep sleep.
When the king awoke the next morning, the wounded man by his side
opened his own
eyes too with a look of fear and surprise, and with trepidation he
asked the king for forgiveness.
The king didn't understand. But the man went on to say that the king
had executed his
brother for some crime and, having learned of the king's visit to the
hermit, the man had set out
to kill the him. But as he approached, the bodyguard had leapt up from
his hiding place and struck and wounded him. "I wished to kill you,"
the man said, "and now you have saved my
life." He vowed to serve the king from that time forth in any way he
could.
It of course pleased the king to have made peace with his former enemy
in this way; but
he still wanted answers to his questions. As he prepared to leave, he
asked the hermit once
again. This time the hermit told the king that he had already been
answered. The king didn't know what he meant.
The hermit said that the afternoon before, as he had helped the hermit
with his digging,
the most important time was that time, the most important person was
the hermit, and the most
important thing to do was to help him. And, as it turned out, in doing
this, the king had avoided
the ambush that his enemy had planned.
Then, the most important time was the time with the wounded man; the
most important
person was the wounded man; and the most important thing to do was to
care for him. And, as it
turned out, this meant that the man and the king could make peace with
one another. The answers to the three questions more simply?
The most important time is now.
The most important person – for this moment – is the one you are with.
The most important thing to do is to care for that person.
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