Alexander asked Paras:
—Who did you learn wisdom from?
He replied:
“The naked sages taught me.”
Alexander wanted to see them. He sent a messenger to the sages in the forest with a story about his exploits. The sages said:
“Couldn’t Alexander have gotten to us without such hassle?”
They agreed to receive him and answer his questions.
Alexander asked 10 questions and received 10 answers.
The first question was:
—Who is there more in the world: living or dead?
“Alive,” answered the sages, “because there are no more dead.”
Second question:
— What feeds more animals: land or sea?
- Sea. Because the earth itself is only an island in the world ocean.
Third question:
-Which animal is the most cunning?
- Something that no one has ever come across before.
Fourth question:
“Why did you advise Paras to fight me?”
- So that he lives with glory and dies with glory.
Fifth question:
-What happened first: day or night?
— The day was one day earlier.
- Difficult answer! - said Alexander.
- To a difficult question! - answered the sages.
Sixth question:
- How to earn love?
- Be the strongest, but not the most terrible.
Seventh question:
-What is stronger: life or death?
- Life; there is more suffering in it.
Eighth:
- When should a person die?
- When death will be better for him than life.
History has not preserved the last two questions.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru