One king dreamed that his death had come. In a dream he saw a standing shadow and asked:
- Who are you?
Shadow said:
“I am your death, and tomorrow at sunset I will come for you.”
The king wanted to ask if there was any way to escape, but he could not, because he was very afraid that the dream would be destroyed. And the shadow disappeared.
The king was breathing heavily and trembling. In the middle of the night he called his wise men and said:
- Find the meaning of this dream.
The sages ran home and brought their scriptures. These were large, large volumes. And they began to consult and argue, discuss and fight with each other and prove. Listening to their conversation, the king became more and more disappointed: they did not agree on any point, they belonged to different sects, as is always the case with sages. They did not belong to themselves, they belonged to some dead tradition; one was a Hindu, another a Mohammedan, the third a Christian. They brought their scriptures with them and tried and tried, and when they got into an argument, they went completely crazy and argued more and more.
The king was very alarmed as the sun was already rising. He tried to interrupt them, but they said:
- Don't interrupt us, this is a serious question.
One old man, who served the king all his life, came up to him and whispered in his ear:
“You better run, because these people will never come to any conclusion.” They will discuss and argue until their own death comes, but they will not come to a conclusion. It seems to me that since death has warned you, it is better for you to disappear from this palace. Run somewhere faster!
This proposal was attractive: when a person cannot do something, he thinks of escaping. The king had a very fast horse, and he jumped on it and ran. He was very happy and he rode faster and faster, as it was a matter of life and death. Again and again he looked around to see if the shadow was approaching, but there was no shadow. He was happy: there was no death, he ran away! By the time the sun set, he was already hundreds of miles from the capital. He stopped under a large banyan tree, dismounted his horse, thanked him and said:
-You are the one who saved my life.
But at that moment he felt the same hand that he felt in the dream. He looked back. The same shadow was here, and death said:
“I also thank your horse, he is so fast!” I waited all day under this banyan tree and was worried whether you would be able to reach here or not. The distance is so great, but this horse is truly wonderful! You arrived just when you were needed here.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru