One day, two wise men passed by a mountain, to the top of which Sisyphus was dragging his stone. One wise man, looking at Sisyphus, remarked:
- Oh, yes, in life there is always room for choice: to do what you want or what you don’t want. This person chose the latter.
“He was forced to do this work by circumstances,” answered another sage, “alas, he had no choice.”
- Was! - exclaimed the first sage. “He could either submit to the circumstances or not!”
“But if he had not obeyed, he would have been severely punished for it!” - objected another sage.
- Isn’t he punished more horribly by following someone else’s will than if he had disobeyed? - asked the first one.
Sisyphus overheard this conversation.
- Hey, you! - he shouted to the sages, - what are you talking about? And aren’t you ashamed, you slackers, to be hypocrites? Yes, my life is hard. However, I'm happy with it. For if you cannot change your circumstances, change your attitude towards them and rejoice in what is destined for you by fate. This is my choice.
Having said this, Sisyphus dragged the block to the top, but it once again fell off and flew down with a roar.
“What a fool you are, Sisyphus,” the first sage answered him, “probably your father taught you too well to work.” And you need to approach any business wisely. Why are you dragging and dragging this stone up? Haven’t you realized yet that you are not strong enough to put him on top?
“This is my Destiny,” answered Sisyphus, went down, and rolled the stone up again.
- Do you want me to tell you what you need to do so that the stone jumps up the mountain by itself? - said the sage.
- Myself? Is this really possible? - Sisyphus scratched the back of his head, and the stone flew down again.
“Come to me,” the sage called him.
Sisyphus approached the sage and he whispered something in his ear.
Sisyphus thought, looked at the stone, at the top...
- Eureka! – Sisyphus jumped.
He ran to the top of the mountain, stood there on all fours, and quickly worked with his hands. From under his hands the earth scattered in all directions. Then he returned to the block, rolled it up, rolled it to the hole he had dug at the very top, heaped the block into the hole, and the block stopped. Sisyphus then began to throw earth from the top. It reached the level of the stone and the stone itself rolled down to the top of the mountain.
Sisyphus hit his chest with his fist.
- I did it! I did it! Thank you, sage, for your advice. Now I know how to roll a stone to the top!
Having said this, Sisyphus threw the block down, went down, and, as usual, rolled it up again.
The sages looked after him.
“Oh, yes,” the second sage sighed, “in life there is always a place for choice...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru