The Three Questions
by Leo Tolstoy
(Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy)
Comprehension
Read and answer
1. Arrange the events on the next page in the sequence they occur in the story.
=
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Events |
Order |
|---|---|
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a. The compassionate act of the king resulted in peace being made
between the two men. |
i. h |
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b. The next morning, the bearded man told the king that he wished to
kill the king that he wished to kill the king but had been wounded by the
king’s bodyguards. |
ii. c |
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c. Different people gave different answers but the king was not
satisfied with their answers. |
iii. f |
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d. A bearded man came running to the hut; he was bleeding a lot. |
iv. j |
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e. The man had been trying to take revenge from the king because the
king had killed his brother and seized his property. |
v. d |
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f. The king decided to go to a wise hermit to seek his answers. |
vi. i |
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g. The king went back to the hermit for his answers; the hermit told
him that all his questions had been answered. |
vii. b |
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h. A king wanted the answer to three questions that he considered
important. |
viii. e |
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i. The king helped the man saved his life. |
ix. a |
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j. On reaching the hermit’s hut, the king saw that the hermit was
digging the ground outside the hut; the king offered to help him. |
x. g |
2. Answer the questions briefly.
a. What are the three questions that the king wanted answers to?
= The three questions that the king wanted answers to are - i) What was the right time for every action? ii) Who were the most necessary people? and iii) What was the most important thing to do?
b. Why did the king go to the hermit who lived in the woods? Why did he (the king) wear simple clothes?
= The king went to the hermit who lived in the woods to know the answers of the three questions which were bothering the king.
The king wore simple clothes because the hermit received none but common folk. If the king would have gone in kingly clothes, the hermit would have not met him.
c. Why did the king help the hermit and the bearded man who was wounded?
= The king helped the hermit as he was tired digging the ground in front of his hut. He also helped the bearded man as he was wounded and bleeding badly. Actually the king did so in both the two cases because it was the right thing to do at that moment.
Reference to context
3. "Now rest a awhile - and let me work a bit."
a. What are the speaker and listener doing at the time?
= The speaker (the king) and the listener (the hermit) are digging the ground in front of the hermit's hut.
b. Why does the speaker make this offer of help? Does the listener accept the offer?
= The speaker (the king) makes this offer as the hermit is tired of digging the ground in front of his hut.
The listener (the hermit) accepts the offer and sat down on the ground after giving the spade to the speaker (the king).
c. How is this interaction important to the chain of events in the story?
= The king has come to the hermit to know the answer of the three questions which are bothering him for long. The king has come in the dress of a common man and sees that the hermit digging the ground in front of his hut.
4. "Now, if I live, and if you wish it, I will will serve you as your most faithful slave, and will bid my sons do the same. Forgive me!"
a. Why is the speaker so grateful?
= The speaker (the bearded man) is so grateful because the king has saved his life in spite of he was the enemy of the king.
b. Does the listener forgive the speaker? Why?
= The listener (the king) forgives the speaker.
The king was very glad to have made peace with his enemy so easily, and to have gained him for a friend.
c. After these lines are spoken, another promise is made. What does this tell us about the listener?
= After these lines are spoken, the listener promised that he would send his servants and his own physician to attend him, and restore his property.
This shows that the listener is very merciful and peace loving person. He is prudent and he forgives the enemy and ends the chances of any dispute any future.
Reflect and answer
5. Justify the following statements with example from the text.
a. The king had an enquiring bent of mind.
= The king wanted to know the answers of the three questions and he proclaimed reward for the person who would give him the answers. Being dissatisfied with the answers from various persons, the king still wished to get the right answers from the hermit and went to him.
b. The king was a compassionate man.
= When the bearded man came to them, the king washed his wound as best as he could, and bandaged it with his handkerchief and with a towel of the hermit. But the blood would not stop flowing, and the king again and again removed the bandage and washed and re-bandaged the wound.
c. The hermit was wise and patient.
= The king asked the hermit to give answers of the three questions repeatedly. But the hermit listened to the king but answered nothing without being impatient. He wanted to answer the king with practical example.
6. "You have already been answered!" said the hermit. Explain how the questions had been answered.
= If the king had not pitied the hermit's weakness the previous day and had not dug those beds for the hermit, he would have gone his way and attacked by the man. Afterwards, if the king had not bound up the bearded man's wounds he would have died without having made peace with the king.
So there is only one time that is important - now. It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power. The most necessary person is the one with whom we are, because no man knows whether he will ever have dealings with anyone else.
And the most important affair is to do that person good, because for that purpose alone was man sent into this life.
7. Had the king not helped the wounded man, how do you think the rest of the story would have been altered?
= If the king had not helped the wounded man, he would have died. He could not know that he was the enemy of him who swore to revenge himself on him, because he executed his brother and seized his property.
8. "It (present) is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power." Do you agree or disagree? Express your views.
= I totally agree with this. The present is in our control. We have the power to control our actions only in the present time. We can not undo the action later. We can only wish or repent once the action is done.
9. What were the common replies to the first question?
= 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. They said that only thus, everything could be done at its proper time.
Others declared that it was impossible to decide beforehand 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 the king might be to what was going on, it was impossible for one man to decide correctly the right time of every action, but that should have a council of wise men who would help him to fix the proper time of everything.
Then again, others said there were some things which could not wait to be laid before a council, but about which 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; therefore, in order to know the right time for every action, one must consult magicians.
10. What were the common replies to the second question?
= Some said the people the king most needed were his councillors; others, the priests; others, the doctors; while some said the warriors were the most necessary.
11. What were the common replies to the third question?
= 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 worship.