Three Questions

Author Profile: Count Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)

Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a monumental Russian novelist, moral philosopher, and social reformer widely regarded as one of the greatest literary figures in human history. Born into Russian aristocratic nobility at Yasnaya Polyana on September 9, 1828, Tolstoy achieved worldwide fame with his colossal epic masterpieces 'War and Peace' (1869) and 'Anna Karenina' (1877). Despite his immense wealth and literary celebrity, Tolstoy experienced a profound existential and spiritual crisis in middle age, leading him to renounce aristocratic luxuries, embrace peasant simplicity, advocate radical Christian pacifism, and formulate ideas on non-violent civil disobedience that deeply influenced Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

In his later years, Tolstoy devoted his extraordinary talents to writing concise, spiritually illuminated parables, short stories, and folk tales collected in works such as 'Twenty-Three Tales' and 'What Men Live By'. 'Three Questions', first published in 1885, exemplifies Tolstoy's late moral style: stripped of ornate stylistic excess, it employs the universal archetypes of fairy tales—a King, a Hermit, and a mysterious Stranger—to convey profound ethical truths about the sanctity of the present moment and the universal brotherhood of humanity.

The King's Dilemma: The Quest for Infallibility

The story opens with a universal human desire: the yearning for infallibility in decision-making. The King is not a selfish despot; he is a conscientious ruler who genuinely desires to govern wisely and prevent failure across his realm. He believes that failure is not an inherent flaw in human nature, but the result of ignorance regarding three critical coordinates of action:

• Coordinate 1 (Temporal): What was the right time for every action? (To avoid missing crucial moments or acting prematurely).
• Coordinate 2 (Social): Who were the right people to listen to, and whom to avoid? (To discern trustworthy advisors from manipulative flatterers).
• Coordinate 3 (Occupational): What was the most important thing to do? (To establish clear priorities among competing administrative demands).

The Grand Proclamation and Royal Ambition

Convinced that mastering these three coordinates would make him invincible, the King issues a royal decree promising a substantial monetary reward to anyone who can teach him the answers. This proclamation sets in motion an intellectual tournament, drawing learned scholars, logicians, and philosophers from across the kingdom to the royal court.

The Debate on the First Question: The Right Time

When the learned men assembled before the throne, their answers were so contradictory that they produced intellectual confusion rather than royal enlightenment:

• The Timetable Advocates: One group argued that to know the right time for every action, one must draw up a rigid schedule of months, days, and hours in advance, and adhere to it strictly. Only then could everything be executed in proper season.
• The Living-in-the-Moment Pragmatists: Others countered that life is inherently unpredictable; human affairs cannot be forecasted on parchment. The King should avoid idle pleasures, observe whatever was passing around him, and act according to immediate necessity.
• The Council of Wise Men: A third faction asserted that a single monarch, no matter how intelligent, cannot possess the specialized knowledge required for every contingency. Therefore, the King must appoint a standing Council of Wise Men to guide his decisions.
• The Occultists / Magicians: Finally, others pointed out that urgent crises arise without giving notice for council debates. Because knowing future crises in advance requires foresight, only magicians who read celestial omens could determine the proper time.

The Debate on the Second Question: The Most Important People

Equally chaotic were the answers regarding which individuals the King should hold in highest esteem:

• Councillors: Necessary for administrative policy, legal enforcement, and statecraft.
• Priests: Essential for spiritual blessing, religious harmony, and moral guidance.
• Doctors: Vital for preserving royal health and treating epidemics among subjects.
• Warriors / Soldiers: Paramount for defending borders and conquering rival territories.

The Debate on the Third Question: The Most Important Occupation

Regarding supreme duty, the scholars divided into three irreconcilable camps: some declared that Science (modern knowledge, engineering, and discovery) was paramount; others championed Skill in Warfare (military glory and power); while a pious group insisted that Religious Worship and sacrificial rituals held supreme value.

Listening to these divergent opinions, the King realized that each scholar was viewing life through the narrow lens of his own profession. Because none provided a universal truth that harmonized human action, the King gave the reward to none.

The Decision to Consult the Hermit

Recognizing the futility of academic debates, the King decides to seek counsel from a renowned hermit dwelling in a remote forest. The hermit is celebrated far and wide for his profound spiritual wisdom, but he adheres to strict ascetic principles:

• He never quits the quiet forest enclosure where he has established his hermitage.
• He refuses to grant audience to royalty, wealthy merchants, or grand delegations; he receives none but common folk (साधारण लोग).

The Royal Disguise: Shedding Worldly Power

To meet the hermit on equal terms, the King undergoes a symbolic transformation:

• He discards his silk robes, crown, and jewels, dressing himself in rough, simple peasant attire.
• Before reaching the hermit's clearing, he dismounts from his royal steed, leaves his faithful bodyguard behind, and walks the remaining distance entirely alone on foot.
• This physical act symbolizes the spiritual prerequisite for acquiring true wisdom: shedding aristocratic pride, ego, and external security to approach truth with humility.

The Encounter and the Spade of Service

When the King arrives at the hermitage, he finds the hermit—frail, elderly, and visibly weak—kneeling on the ground in front of his thatched hut, diligently digging garden beds (क्यारियाँ) for planting seeds. Every time the hermit drives his heavy spade into the stony earth and turns a small sod, he gasps heavily for breath.

The King approaches respectfully and states: 'I have come to you, wise hermit, to ask you to answer three questions: How can I learn to do the right thing at the right time? Who are the people I most need? And what affairs are the most important?'

The hermit listens attentively, but offers no verbal reply. He merely spits on his calloused hand, grips the wooden handle, and resumes digging. Observing the hermit's physical exhaustion, the King is moved by natural compassion and says: 'You are tired; let me take the spade and work for you awhile.' The hermit mutters 'Thanks', hands over the spade, and sits down to rest upon the ground.

The King digs two full beds, then stops and repeats his three questions. Once again, the hermit remains silent, rising to stretch his back and asking for the spade back. But the King refuses to let the old man exhaust himself; he continues digging as the sun begins to sink behind the trees. The silent lesson of physical service has commenced.

The Interruption at Sunset

Just as the sun dips below the forest canopy and the King drives his spade into the ground for the final time, the hermit suddenly points toward the forest trail and exclaims: 'Here comes someone running!'

A bearded man bursts through the foliage, staggering toward the hut. His hands are pressed tightly against his stomach, and dark blood flows profusely between his fingers. As he reaches the King, he lets out a faint groan and collapses unconscious upon the earth, his face pale as death.

The King's Heroic Nursing

Without inquiring about the stranger's identity, background, or social status, the King and hermit immediately unfasten the man's torn clothing, exposing a deep, life-threatening wound in his abdomen:

• The King washes the wound thoroughly with cold water.
• He bandages it with his own clean handkerchief and a linen towel provided by the hermit.
• Because the warm blood continues to soak through the cloth, the King patiently removes the bandage, rewashes the wound, and reapplies fresh dressings multiple times until the hemorrhaging finally subsides.

When the man regains consciousness and weakly asks for a drink, the King runs to the nearby forest stream, brings fresh cool water, and moistens the dying man's parched lips. By now, night has fallen. Working together, the King and hermit carry the wounded man inside the hut and lay him comfortably upon the hermit's pallet. Exhausted by his long trek and hours of heavy spade work, the King curls up on the wooden threshold floor and falls into deep, peaceful slumber.

The Confession and Reconciliation

When the King awakens at dawn, he finds the bearded man gazing intently at him with shining, tear-filled eyes. The stranger whispers in a hoarse voice: 'Forgive me!'

Surprised, the King replies: 'I do not know you, and have nothing to forgive you for.' The stranger then reveals his astonishing identity:

• He is the King's sworn mortal enemy, who had sworn a blood-vendetta against the monarch because the King had executed his brother during a past rebellion and seized his family estates.
• Knowing the King had traveled alone to visit the hermit, the man lay in ambush along the return trail to assassinate him.
• When the King failed to return by sunset, the man left his hiding place to search for him, but ran directly into the King's royal bodyguard, who recognized him and stabbed him with a sword.
• The man weeping says: 'I wished to kill you, and you have saved my life! If I live, and if you wish it, I will serve you as your most faithful slave, and will bid my sons do the same. Forgive me!'

Overjoyed at having made peace with his fiercest enemy so easily without bloodshed, the King forgives him unconditionally, promises to restore his seized lands, and pledges to dispatch his own royal physician and servants to attend to his recovery.

The Final Appeal Before Departure

Having reconciled with his former adversary and seen him resting safely, the King prepares to return to his palace. Before departing, he walks out to the garden beds, where the hermit is on his knees sowing seeds in the overturned earth. For the last time, the King pleads: 'For the last time, I pray you to answer my questions, wise man.'

The hermit looks up from his seedbed, fixes his calm, penetrating eyes on the King, and replies softly: 'You have already been answered!'

Explication of the First Episode: Digging the Beds

Seeing the King's bewilderment, the hermit deconstructs the events of the previous afternoon:

• 'If you had not pitied my weakness yesterday and had not dug these beds for me, you would have gone your way alone. Then that man would have attacked you from behind, and you would have repented not staying with me.'
• The Most Important Time: When the King was digging the flowerbeds.
• The Most Important Person: The frail hermit whom the King assisted.
• The Most Important Business: Doing good to the hermit by relieving his physical burden.

Explication of the Second Episode: Tending the Wounded Enemy

The hermit then interprets the dramatic events of the evening:

• 'Afterwards, when that man ran to us, the most important time was when you were attending to him, for if you had not bound up his wounds he would have died without having made peace with you.'
• The Most Important Time: When the King was dressing the man's wound.
• The Most Important Person: The wounded stranger lying on the ground.
• The Most Important Business: Saving the dying man's life through selfless first-aid.

The Universal Moral Formulation

Tolstoy encapsulates his entire ethical philosophy into three immortal commandments delivered through the hermit's concluding words:

"Remember then: there is only one time that is important—NOW! It is the most important time because it is the only time we have any power.

The most necessary person is the person you are with at any particular moment, for no man knows whether he will ever deal 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!"

The Philosophy of the Eternal 'Now' (Mindfulness)

Tolstoy's first answer—that the only significant time is the Present Moment (NOW)—is a profound philosophical insight shared by Stoic, Buddhist, and Christian contemplative traditions:

• The Past: A closed ledger of memories and irrevocable events over which human beings possess zero agency. Guilt or nostalgia regarding the past is functionally useless.
• The Future: An unwritten realm of infinite possibilities, anxieties, and illusions. Human plans for tomorrow frequently collapse under unforeseen circumstances.
• The Present: The singular, razor-thin point of intersection where human consciousness, moral agency, and physical action genuinely exist. By anchoring attention completely in the current moment, one achieves clarity and decisive purpose.

The Ethics of Human Interconnection

The second answer—that the most important person is whoever happens to be with you right now—dismantles the hierarchical calculations of worldly diplomacy:

• The King's scholars debated whether kings, generals, or priests were objectively superior. Tolstoy rejects this elitist calculus, asserting that moral duty is situational, not social.
• Whether standing before an impoverished forest hermit or an enemy assassin bleeding to death, the person physically present before you possesses an absolute claim upon your ethical attention.

The Purpose of Human Existence

Tolstoy's third answer—that the supreme business of life is to do good to the person before you—reflects his deep spiritual conviction regarding human teleology (the ultimate purpose of existence):

• Life is not granted to amass territories, acquire gold, or conquer rivals.
• Human beings are placed on Earth to practice active love (कर्मण्य प्रेम). When compassion guides the present moment, even mortal enemies are transformed into lifelong brothers, as demonstrated by the bearded man's repentance.

Tolstoy's Synthesis: Abstract Wisdom vs. Lived Experience

BSEB Class 7 English Examination Question Blueprint

In the Bihar Board examination for Class 7 English, questions on 'Three Questions' are categorized into four structured mark-tiers:

• 2-Mark Short Questions (20-30 words): Direct factual statements identifying core actions or specific lines.
  • Question: Why did the King want to know the answers to the three questions?
  • Answer: The King wanted to know the answers to the three questions because he believed that if he always knew the right time, the right people, and the right work, he would never fail in any undertaking in his life.
• 3-Mark Analytical Questions (40-50 words): Explanations of character motivations or situational outcomes.
  • Question: Why did the bearded man ask for the King's forgiveness?
  • Answer: The bearded man had plotted to ambush and kill the King to avenge his brother's execution and property seizure. Instead of killing him, the King dressed his fatal wound and saved his life. Overwhelmed by this unexpected mercy, the man repented and begged for forgiveness.
• 4-Mark Structural Questions (60-80 words): Four numbered, organized points summarizing core themes.
  • Question: Explain how the King's visit to the hermit saved his life.
  • Answer: (1) The King pitied the frail hermit and stayed to dig garden beds; (2) Had he returned on schedule, he would have ridden past the ambush site; (3) The bearded man waiting in ambush would have attacked and killed him; (4) By remaining at the hermitage to serve, the King unwittingly bypassed the ambush and neutralized his mortal enemy through compassion.
• 5-Mark Character Sketches & Thematic Analyses (100-120 words): Multi-section comprehensive answers with formal subheadings.

5-Mark Model Answer: The Hermit's Three Answers (Board-Standard)