The powerful emperor realized that he needed an adviser. He remembered a saint who lived in a banana tree and never wore clothes.
“Do you want to rule the empire with me and enjoy all the benefits that I have?”
The saint, to the surprise of the Emperor, agreed, climbed down from the tree and got into the carriage.
In the palace the saint received beautiful clothes. He was allowed to eat and drink the same things that the emperor eats and drinks, spend money from the treasury at his own discretion, and much more. But after several years, the emperor saw that the saint was doing nothing but messing around and taking advantage of his wealth, while he bore all the burdens of ruling the empire. And then he decided to ask him why he agreed to go with him. The saint asked to be taken back, took off all his clothes, climbed a banana tree and said:
- If you had asked me this from the very beginning...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru