Kalmyk parable One khan, wanting to know the wisdom of his people, made an announcement: “Everyone who considers themselves kelmerchs (sages) must come to me within seven days.” The Khan's announcement reached the most remote khotons (Kalmyk villages) and tents with lightning speed!
Three old men responded to the Khan’s announcement. Three old men ceremoniously sat down in the Khan's reception room.
Khan, having learned that three old men had come to him, entered the reception room.
Seeing them, he noticed that the first old man had no hair on his head at all, the second had gray hair and a black mustache, and the third had no mustache.
- How old are you? - he turned to the first old man.
“Fifty,” came the answer.
- How old are you? - he turned to the second.
“Fifty,” answered the old man.
- How old are you? - he turned to the third old man.
“Fifty,” answered the old man.
- So, everyone is the same age?
“Yes,” the old men confirmed.
“You’re all the same age,” the khan turned to the first, “why don’t you have hair on your head?”
— I have seen a lot of good and bad in my time. I thought so much about how people could live better that I didn’t have a single hair left on my head.
- You are the same age as them, why is your hair gray and your mustache black? - the khan asked the second old man.
- My hair is my age. I had them when I was just born, and my mustache grew when I was twenty-five years old. The hair is twenty-five years older than the mustache. Therefore, the hair is gray and old, and the mustache is young and black.
“You’re the same age as them, why don’t you have a mustache at all?” - the khan asked the third old man.
— I am the only descendant of my parents. Therefore, in order not to offend my father, I was born a man, and in order not to offend my mother, I was born to be without a mustache.
Khan gave them a bag of gold for the resourcefulness of the old people. The old men, thanking the khan, hurriedly left.
One close person of the khan, seeing them with a bag of gold, thought: “Oh, our khan is stupid. Why on earth would he give a bag of gold to these snags? Are they wiser than me? No! I can’t find anyone like me in the world! So stick with me! I’ll ask you three questions and drive you into a dead end! If you don't answer, you're done for. Give me some gold." With this thought, he set off to catch up with the old people.
The first old man saw the horseman flying like a whirlwind and said:
- Listen, he's behind us. You and the gold continue on your way, and I’ll wait to see what the fellow has to say.
They agreed and left.
The khan's close associate, galloping up, asked straight from his horse:
-Are you a sage?
- Yes, sage.
- Then answer my questions. What is peace?
- It's day and night. We work during the day and rest at night,
-What is earth, what is water?
— Earth is the mother of humans and animals, and water is the mother of fish.
-What is time change?
At this question, the old man, pretending to be embarrassed, says:
- Oh, what a misfortune! I forgot the answer to this question from those old people. Let me have your horse for a moment. I'll give you the answer now.
“Gotcha, viper! That’s when I’ll take you by the gills!” - thought the khan’s close associate and said:
- Take it!
The old man mounted his horse and said:
- You had a horse, I didn’t. You were sitting on a horse, I was standing on the ground. You are now on the ground, and I am on the horse. This is the change of time. Thank you! - With these words the old man rode away.
The khan's close associate was left not only without gold, but also without his horse.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru