"Tolstoy, Leo - The Emperor's Three Questions" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tolstoy Leo)

thing was military skill.

. The emperor was not pleased with any of the answers, and no
reward was given.

. After several nights of reflection, the emperor resolved to
visit a hermit who lived on a mountain and was said to be an
enlightened man. The emperor wished to find the hermit to ask
him the three questions, though he knew the hermit never left the
mountains and was known to receive only the poor, refusing to
have anything to do with persons of wealth or power. So the
emperor disguised himself as a simple peasant and ordered his
attendants to wait for him at the foot of the mountain while he
climbed the slope alone to seek the hermit.

. Reaching the holy man's dwelling place, the emperor found
the hermit digging a garden in front of his hut. When the hermit
saw the stranger, he nodded his head in greeting and continued to
dig. The labor was obviously hard on him. He was an old man,
and each time he thrust his spade into the ground to turn the
earth, he heaved heavily.

. The emperor approached him and said, "I have come here to
ask your help with three questions: When is the best time to do
each thing? Who are the most important people to work with?
What is the most important thing to do at all times?"

. The hermit listened attentively but only patted the emperor
on the shoulder and continued digging. The emperor said, "You
must be tired. Here, let me give you a hand with that." The
hermit thanked him, handed the emperor the spade, and then sat
down on the ground to rest.

. After he had dug two rows, the emperor stopped and turned to
the hermit and repeated his three questions. The hermit still
did not answer, but instead stood and pointed to the spade and
said, "Why don't you rest now? I can take over again." But the
emperor continued to dig. One hour passed, then two. Finally
the sun began to set behind the mountain. The emperor put down
the spade and said to the hermit, "I came here to ask if you
could answer my three questions. But if you can't give me any
answer, please let me know so that I can get on my way home."

. The hermit lifted his head and asked the emperor, "Do you
hear someone running over there?" The emperor turned his head.
They both saw a man with a long white beard emerge from the
woods. He ran wildly, pressing his hands against a bloody wound
in his stomach. The man ran toward the emperor before falling
unconscious to the ground, where he lay groaning. Opening the
man's clothing, the emperor and hermit saw that the man had