The gist of the story

The story “Three Question” by Leo Tolstoy it concerns a king who wanted to find the answers of
three questions which he considers three most important question in his life and would never
fail him. One, what the right time was to begin something. Two, which people he should take
advice from. Three, how to decide what the most important thing to do was. He promised a
large sum of money to the person who can answer his three questions.
Many wise men gave all sorts of answers to the King’s questions. Unfortunately, none of the
answers satisfied the King. Therefore, the king decided to seek the answers from a wise hermit
who lived in a wood and widely known for his wisdom. The King went to the hermit hut
disguised as a simple man leaving his bodyguards behind. He saw the hermit digging ground.
The King noticed that the hermit looked tired from digging and offered his help. The King kept
on asking the three questions but the hermit didn’t answer.
Hours passed and the sun was about to set, just then a wounded man came running out of the
wood and fainted. The King carried the wounded man to the hermit’s hut and care of the
wounded man. The next day, the King woke up and the wounded man saw him and apologized
to the King and asked for his forgiveness. The man then admitted that he was an enemy of the
King and wanted to kill the King on his way back home form the hermit’s hut. After knowing this
the King still promised to help the man and give back the man his property. The king was happy
the he had made peace with his enemy.
After leaving the wounded man, the King once again asked the hermit his questions. This time
the hermit replied. For the King’s first question he replied ‘now is the time to do everything as
now is the only time that we have power.’ For the second he replied ‘the right person is who
you are with at a particular moment.’ For the third he replied ‘the most important thing is to do
good for that person you are with.’

Character
 The King
The King is the protagonist of the story. He is determined to find the answers to his
questions. In the story the King turn out to be helpful and compassionate when he helps
the hermit and the wounded man.

 The Hermit
The hermit is one of the main characters. He is an old weak man but wise and
hardworking. The hermit tends to focus on the present rather than the future or past. He
helps the King to find answer of his questions.

 The bearded wounded man

He was the enemy of the King but after getting saved by the King he became friend with
the King
The most liked part of the story
The most liked part of the story is the part where the king helps the bearded man. Without
knowing anything the king saves his enemy life and even after knowing that the man wanted to
kill him the king still forgives him and make peace with him enemy. Out of all the character the
king is the most liked one as he is determined to get answers to his questions despite the
hardships. The story is written in a simple and wonderful way. At the starting the story puts
reads in a deep thought of what might be the answers of the questions. And, at the end all
those questions are answered with a set of examples.

The most disliked part of the story

The most disliked parts of the story were many of the answers presented by the wise men of
the kingdom. Such as for the first questions magicians were suggested in order to predict the
future and do something. Beside these there aren’t anything to dislike from the story.

Conclusion
This story can be recommended to everyone. Reads can get a moral lesson from the story.
Elders are full of wisdom such as the hermit in the story. The story gives us a lesson that there
is always a perfect time for everything and it is better to do something when we have the
energy to do it. Also, the story teaches us about forgiveness. After knowing that the king
helped his enemy he still choses to forgive his enemy and help him.