One eastern ruler had a terrible dream that all his teeth fell out one after another. In great excitement, he called the dream interpreter to him. He listened to him with concern and said:
- Lord, I must tell you sad news. You will lose all your loved ones one by one.
These words aroused the anger of the ruler. He ordered the unfortunate man to be thrown into prison and to call another interpreter, who, after listening to the dream, said:
- I am happy to tell you the good news - you will outlive all your relatives.
The ruler was delighted and generously rewarded him for this prediction. The courtiers were very surprised.
“After all, you told him the same thing as your poor predecessor, so why was he punished and you rewarded?” - they asked.
To which came the answer:
“We both interpreted the dream in the same way.” But it all depends not on what to say, but how to say it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru