. Do you think the king went home a satisfied man after hearing the hermit's explanation?
If so why?
Answers
The short story "The Three Questions" by Leo Tolstoy is a parable about a king seeking wisdom by getting answers to three questions. He wants to know the right time for every action, the right people to listen to, and the most important thing to do in every situation. He offers a generous reward to anyone who can tell him these things, so many people come to counsel him. However, he is dissatisfied with their replies. In frustration, he seeks out a supposedly wise hermit.
When the king reaches the hermit's cottage, he asks his questions but receives no reply. Instead, he helps the hermit with his gardening and then tends to a man who has been wounded. It turns out that the wounded man was an enemy planning to kill the king, but they reconcile and become friends.
The king tries once more to ask his questions, but the hermit says that they have already been answered by what has recently occurred: now is the most important time, the most important person is the one you are with, and the most important action is to do good.
The story does not directly tell us whether or not the king is satisfied with the hermit's answer. Because of what transpired before, though, we can assume that the king is satisfied, because he did the right thing at the right time to the right person and, as a consequence, got the right result.