Wise Answers

For twenty-five years Stepan had served at the regimental post office: delivering letters, caring for horses and helping travellers find the right road. When he…

For twenty-five years Stepan had served at the regimental post office: delivering letters, caring for horses and helping travellers find the right road. When he returned to his home village, the neighbours asked him about distant cities and the ruler. Stepan admitted that he had never seen the ruler himself. So he put on a clean caftan, took his travelling staff and set off for the capital to meet him.

Stepan was warmly welcomed at the palace. The ruler asked why he had come, and Stepan answered honestly, “I served the country for many years, but I have only seen you on coins. I wanted to greet you in person.” The ruler smiled and invited his guest to look around the hall. Stepan walked around the chair three times, bowed and said he was glad at last to see the ruler and speak with him.

The ruler decided to test not how much Stepan knew, but how observant he was. “How high is the sky?” he asked. “So high that thunder is born among the clouds, but is heard on the ground,” Stepan replied. “How wide is the earth?” “The sun travels all day from one edge of the sky to the other, yet the roads stretch farther and farther.” Asked how deep the earth was, he said, “The roots of an old oak grow for many years and still find room for themselves.”

In a neighbouring room, merchants from different cities had gathered. When they heard about the riddles, they asked Stepan how he had found his answers. Over tea he invited each of them to look out of the window and say what the clouds, roads, trees and river suggested. Soon the merchants thought of beautiful answers of their own and understood that wisdom begins with paying attention, not with memorized words.

The ruler invited everyone into the great hall again. The merchants shared their answers, and Stepan spoke of how useful it was to listen to one another. As a reward, the ruler gave him a gentle horse, a warm travelling cloak and a purse of money for household needs. Stepan returned to his village. In the evenings he gathered children by the window, and together they made up riddles about stars, fields and long roads.