They say that one rajah sent three completely identical gold figurines as a gift to the sultan of his neighboring country and told him to say that they had different prices. He did this to find out how wise the Sultan's subjects were. Having received such a strange gift, the Sultan was very surprised and, turning to the courtiers, ordered to find the difference between the figurines and report to him. But the courtiers, having examined all three figurines, found that they were no different from one another.
Soon rumors about this gift spread throughout the city: even young people learned about the figurines. And so some poor young man, who was in prison, asked to tell the Sultan that if he was allowed to look at the figurines, he would immediately know the difference between them.
The Sultan ordered the young man to be taken to the palace, the figurines brought and placed in front of him. He, having examined them from all sides, noticed that all three had holes drilled in their ears. When he put the straw in the ear of one figurine, the tip of the straw came out of the mouth; when he did the same with the second figurine, the tip of the straw came out of the other ear, and in the third figurine the entire straw went into the stomach.
Then the young man said:
- Your Majesty! These figurines have the same characteristics as humans. The first figurine looks like a man who, having heard something, immediately tells everyone about what he heard. You cannot rely on such a person. Therefore, the price of this figurine is low. The second is similar to a person who listens to words with one ear, and they fly out of the other. This is an empty and useless person. And the third figurine looks like a man who seems to swallow everything he hears. Therefore, its price is the highest.
The Sultan listened to the young man and was very pleased. He ordered to write on each figurine how high its value was and send it to the rajah. And he released that young man from prison and exalted him, making him his confidant.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru