THE KING'S THREE QUESTIONS AND BEGGAR'S THREE ANSWERS
The king was in a good mood, he turned to the young minister and asked with a smile: What is the greatest wish of your life? The minister was embarrassed, he lowered his face. The king laughed and said: Don't worry, just tell me the biggest wish of your life. The Minister knelt down and said humbly: O' King, you are the owner of the most beautiful kingdom in the world. Whenever I see this kingdom, a desire arises in my heart. If one tenth of it were mine, I would be the luckiest person in the world.
The minister was silent, the king laughed and said: What if I give you half of my kingdom? The minister looked up nervously and humbly said: O' King! How is this possible? How can I be so lucky? The king immediately called the secretary and ordered him to write two orders. The king first ordered that half of his kingdom be handed over to the young minister. In the second order, the king ordered the minister to be beheaded. The minister was astonished at both orders. The king sealed the orders and looked the minister in his eyes and said: You have thirty days; you have to find answers to only three questions in those thirty days. If you succeed, my second order will be revoked and you will get half the kingdom; and if you fail, the first order will be cancelled and your head will be beheaded according to the second order.
The minister's surprise turned into anxiety. The king then said: Write down my three questions. The minister began to write, the king said: What is the greatest truth of human life? He paused and said: The second question is, what is the greatest deception of human life? He paused and then said: The third question, what is the greatest weakness of human life? The king then struck the bell and said aloud: Your time begins now.
The minister picked up the two orders and ran from the court. He gathered intellectuals, writers, thinkers and intelligent people from all over the country this evening and put the question in front of them. But they could not form an opinion. The minister increased the number of intellectuals the next day but the result was the same. He continued to increase the number of people in the coming days but he could not get any satisfactory answer till he left the capital in despair.
He raised the question all over the country but could not find a satisfactory answer. He kept walking around from city to city and village to village. The royal robe was torn, the turban was loosened and hung around his neck, his shoes were torn and he had blisters on his feet. Until the last day of betting came. He was to appear in court the next day. The minister was convinced that this was the last day of his life. Tomorrow his neck would be cut off and his body would be hung on the city's main bridge.
He reached the slums of the capital in a state of despair. At the head of the population was a beggar's hut. He fell and reached this hut. The beggar was eating dry bread dipped in water. At the same time there was a cup of milk and the beggar's dog was drinking milk. The beggar saw the condition of the minister; laughed and said: Your Excellency! You're in the right place. I have the answers to all three of your questions.
The minister looked at him in surprise and asked: How did you guess, who am I and what is my problem? Beggar put the pieces of dry bread in the plate, smiled, picked up his sack and said to the minister: Look here, you will understand. The minister looked down; there was a royal cloak under the sack. This was the dress that the king gave gifts to his closest ministers. Beggar said: Your Excellency! I was also the minister of this empire. Once I also made the mistake of betting on the king like you but now see the result for yourself.
The beggar then picked up a piece of dry bread and dipped it in water again to eat. The Minister asked sadly: Couldn't you find the answer too? Beggar laughed and replied: My case was different from yours. I had found the answer. I told the king the answer. I tore the order of half the kingdom; greeted the king and came and sat in this hut. I and my dog both are living a contented life. The minister was surprised, but it was not the time to analyze the former minister's stupidity.
It was time to find out the answer. So instead of becoming an anchor person, the minister became a fugitive and asked the beggar: Can you answer my questions? The beggar nodded 'Yes' and replied: I will answer the first two questions for free but you will have to pay for the third answer. The minister had no option but to accept the bet. He immediately nodded in agreement. The beggar said: The greatest truth in the world is 'Death'. No matter who a person is! He cannot escape from this truth.
He paused and said: The greatest deception of human life is 'Life'. Every one of us is deceived by life as eternal. Both of beggar's answers were undeniable. The minister became devoted. He now asked the beggar for bet for the third answer. The beggar laughed, picked up a cup of milk from in front of the dog, handed it to the minister and said: I will not answer the third question until you drink this milk. Sweat dripped from the minister's forehead, he placed the cup on the ground in disgust, and he did not want to drink leftover dog milk at any cost. The beggar shrugged and said: OK, you now have two options; you refuse it and the royal executioner will take off your head tomorrow or you will drink this half cup of milk and your life will be saved and you will also become the owner of half the kingdom. But the decision is up to you anyway.
The minister was in a dilemma. On one side was his life and half the kingdom and on the other side was the leftover milk of a dog. He kept thinking until life and property were won and self-esteem was lost. The minister picked up the cup and drank milk in a gulp. The beggar laughed and said: My son! Man's greatest weakness is 'Desire, forcing him to drink even leftover dog milk. This is the truth that made me tear the order of the kingdom and sit in this hut. I knew that the more I was deceived by life and the more I forgot about death, the more I would sink into the mire of desires and I would have to drink the filthy milk of desires to breathe in this mire every day. So my advice is; know these three realities of life, your life will go well.
The minister took the gift of shame, embarrassment and self-loathing and left the beggar's hut and walked towards the palace. As he approached the palace, his sense of embarrassment was increasing, his sense of humiliation was growing inside him, and he reached the door of the palace with this feeling. Terrible pain arose in his chest, he fell from the horse, took a long hiccup and his soul flew away.