One king wanted to know which of the two was worse—the money-lover or the envious one—after all, none of them wished good to other people. For this purpose, he ordered to call to himself the money-lover and the envious and said to them:
- Ask me, everyone, whatever you want; just know that the second one will receive twice what the first one asks for.
The money-lover and the envious man bickered for a long time, because each of them did not want to ask first, so that later he would receive twice as much. Finally the king told the envious one to ask first. The envious one, being overwhelmed by ill will towards his neighbors, said to the king:
- Sovereign! Order me to gouge out one eye. The surprised king asked why he had expressed
such a desire.
The envious one replied:
“But then, sir, you will order my comrade to gouge out both his eyes...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru