Three

Questions
by
Leo Tolstoy
 Author
• Name: Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
(English Name: Leo Tolstoy)
• Birth Date: September 9, 1828
• Death Date: November 20, 1910
• Education: University of Kazan
• In 1860s, this Russian author wrote his
first great novel, War and Peace.
• In 1873, Tolstoy set to work on the
second of his best-known novels, Anna
Karenina.
• He continued to write fiction throughout
the 1880s and 1890s. One of his most
successful later works was The Death of
Ivan Ilyich.
The Three Questions

1. What is the right time to

begin everything?

2. Who were the right

people to listen to, and
whom to avoid?

3. What was the most

important thing to do?
 Summary
There was this certain king who believed that he would not fail if he knew
what was the right time for every action, who were the right people to be with and
what was the most important thing to do. Until he proclaimed that he would give a
great reward to the person who can answer his three questions.

A lot of learned men went for their answers. Unfortunately, their answers
did not satisfy the king. So the king decided to consult a wise hermit. He saw the
hermit digging the ground and out of compassion, he did it for the hermit. He kept
on asking the three questions but the hermit also kept silent. Until hours passed and
it was already sunset.

•
 The hermit saw a bearded man running and his hands on his
stomach. He was wounded and dying; the hermit told the king about it and
they helped the bearded man.
The next day, the king woke up and the bearded man saw him
and apologize to him. He admit that he was an enemy of the king. The
bearded man said that he heard about the king going to the hermit so he
tried to kill him when he was in his way back home but he failed. The
king asked the hermit once again then in every question, he answered:
1. Now is the time to do every action because now is the only
time that we have power.
2. The right person is who are you with.
3. The most important thing to do is to do good for the
person you are with.
Characters
 Theme(s)
• In Three Questions by Leo Tolstoy we
have the theme of:
• wisdom,
• knowledge,
• awareness,
• kindness,
• forgiveness and acceptance.
 Theme: Wisdom
• The King longs to know the answer to three questions
which will help enlighten him. He is seeking the
wisdom of others on how to better run his Kingdom.
• It is through his actions and the wisdom of the
hermit that the King finally gets an answer to his
questions.
• Tolstoy may be suggesting that those who previously
attempted to answer the King’s questions rather than
being wise or learned may in fact be of no use to the
King.
 Theme: Knowledge
• The King is looking for the knowledge or the ‘know-how’
that will ensure that his time is spent more efficiently.
• The hermit tells him that the answers are within the King.
• The King could have ignored the bearded man but rather he
helped him. Ensuring that the bearded man did not die. This
most likely is the ‘now’ that the hermit has told the King
about. How it is important to deal with issues in real time.
• Similarly the most important person in the King’s life is the
person he is dealing with at the time. At all stages of the story
the King has been aware of his surroundings.
Theme: Acceptance and forgiveness
• The bearded man’s forgiveness and the King’s acceptance of
the bearded man’s forgiveness may also be important as both
men are putting aside any resentment they may have towards
each other.

• By restoring the bearded man’s land the King is also forgiving

the bearded man for wishing or attempting to kill him. King is
doing the good that the hermit has spoken of.

• He is setting aside any differences he may have had with the

bearded man and allowing for a new chapter to be opened in both
the King’s life and the bearded man’s life.
Literary elements
Symbolism
Internal and External Conflicts
 Moral Values
1. Elders have full of wisdom.
2. There is always a perfect timing.
(When the hermit did not bother to answer every
time that the king ask the three questions. If he
answered them, the king will go back home and be
killed. Through perfect timing, the hermit did not
answer and the king did not go home and was not killed.)
3. Forgiveness
(Even the king knew that the man he helped is
his enemy, but still chose to help and forgive him.)