Three Questions Summary & Question Answer [Exercise] NEB - 11 Opt. English

About the Story Three Questions

Three Questions is a value-based intellectual short story written by the renowned Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. The story is divided into two parts, both are inter-related and of practical importance. In this story, the writer explores the theme of wisdom, acceptance, kindness, and forgiveness. The story is about a king who wants to know the answer to the three questions so as to get enlightenment.

Summary of the Story Three Question

In the summary of the story three questions highlighted the major plot of the story. The king and the hermit are presented as the leading character however the summary covers all the story in brief.

A king once thought that he would never fail if he knew three things. One, what the right time was to begin something. Two, which people he should take advice from. Three, how to decide what the most important thing to do was. There was this certain king who believed that he would not fail if he knew what was the right time for every action, who were the right people to be with and what was the most important thing to do. Until he proclaimed that he would give a great reward to the person who can answer his three questions.

He sent messengers throughout his kingdom. He promised to give a reward of a large sum to the person who answered his three questions. Many wise men tried their luck. They gave a number of answers. One said that the king should go by a timetable. Another said that the king should do whatever seemed to him necessary at the moment. The third suggested that the king should consult wise men or magicians.

Answering the second question, they gave top importance to his councillors, or to priests or to doctors or to soldiers. In reply to the third question, the wise men gave importance to science or fighting or religious worship. The king was not satisfied. He went to a hermit in the jungle alone. There he saw the old and weak hermit digging the ground. The king asked his questions but got no answer. Then he took the spade from the hermit and began to work in his place. Several hours passed. It was evening, so the king stopped digging the beds. The king was ready to take leave from the hermit. Just then the hermit told that someone was running towards them.

The king saw a bearded man running towards them. His hands were pressed against his stomach from which blood was oozing. As he reached the king, he fainted and fell to the ground. He had a large wound in his stomach. The king washed the wound and compressed it with his handkerchief. 

At last, the bleeding stopped. The man felt better and asked for water to drink. The king gave him fresh water. The sun had set by then. The king and the hermit carried the wounded man into the hut and laid him on the bed. The tired king also fell asleep. When he awoke, the bearded man asked to forgive him.

The man was, in fact, the king’s enemy. He had followed the king to take revenge on him. He had vowed to kill him. The king had once put his brother to death. The man hid in a bush on the way to the jungle. He came out of his hiding place when the king did not return for long. He got wounded by the king’s bodyguards. He would have died if the king had not dressed his wound. He felt grateful to the king who had saved his life. He promised to serve the king as a faithful servant.

The king was happy that he had made peace with his enemy. He forgave the man and promised to give back his property. The king then went up to the hermit. He again asked for answers to his three questions. The hermit explained that by digging the beds for him, the king had escaped the attack. So the most important time was when he was digging the beds. The hermit himself was the most important person. So to do him good was the king’s most important business.

The hermit further told the king that the most important person for him was the person with him at a particular moment. The most important business was to help that person. And the most important time was ‘now’ that is, the present moment. The three questions were: what was the right time for every action, who were the right people to be with and what was the most important thing to do. He proclaimed that he would give a great reward to the person who can answer his three questions.

The hermit saw a bearded man running and his hands on his stomach. He was wounded and dying; the hermit told the king about it and they helped the bearded man.

The next day, the king woke up and the bearded man saw him and apologized to him. He admitted that he was an enemy of the king. The bearded man said that he heard about the king going to the hermit so he tried to kill him when he was on his way back home but he failed.

The king asked the hermit once again for his answers to which the hermit said that the most important time is our present because it is the only moment when we have the power to act. 

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The most important person at a moment is ourselves because the future is unpredictable and the most important business is to be kind and good to others because we have been sent in this world to serve this noble cause. So this way the hermit tells the king that all the answers are within himself. By helping the wounded man and by spending time with the hermit he gets to know the answer to his questions which he got through self-realization. He learned to do good to others without thinking about own-self.

The king asked the hermit once again then in every question, he answered:

1. Now is the time to do every action because now is the only time that we have power.

2. The right person is who you are with.

3. The most important thing to do is to do good for the person you are with.

Question Answer [Exercise]

 Word-Meanings

1. Listen to– pay attention

2. Council– a group of people choose to give advice to the king and make rules

3. Instead– beside

4. Wisdom– a body of knowledge and experience

5. Hermit– saint

6. Greet– welcome

7. Pitied– look pity on

8. Particular– certain

9. Purpose-object

II. Antonyms

1. reward x punishment

2. idle x industrious

3.renowned x obscure

4. feeble x strong

5. seized x release

III. Make Sentences

1. proclaimed: He proclaimed the car to be in sound condition.

2. ambush: Seven members of a patrol were killed in an ambush.

Reference to Context

‘Now, if live, and if you wish it, I will serve you as your most faithful slave and will bid my sons do the same. Forgive me!’

a) Who are ‘l’ and ‘you’ here?

Ans. ‘I’ refers to the wounded man and ‘You’ refers to the king.

b) How are the two of them connected?

Ans. The king has executed the wounded man’s brother and seized his property so the man has come to take revenge for his brother’s death.

c) Why is the speaker asking for forgiveness?

Ans:- The wounded man asked for the king’s forgiveness because he wanted to kill the king but the king has saved his life and he was grateful to the king now.

‘You have already been answered! ‘

a) Who had already been answered?

Ans:- The king had already been answered.

b) What answer is referred to here?

Ans:- The answer given by the hermit for his three questions are being referred here.

c) Do you think the answer is appropriate? Why?

Ans:- Yes, I think the answers are appropriate because the most important time is our present because it is the only moment when we have the power to act. Secondly, the most important person is ourselves because the future is unpredictable and the third thing that we need is to do good to others because we have been sent in this world to serve this noble cause.

Short Answer Questions

1. What were the three questions after which the story is named?

Ans: The three questions after which the story is named are: what was the right time to begin something, who was the right person to listen and what was the most important thing to do.

2. What suggestions were made in answer to the third question?

Ans:- In answer to the third question, some said science will be most important while others suggested warfare and religious worship.

3. Why did the king go to the wise hermit?

Ans:- The king went to the hermit as he was renowned for his wisdom and the king was unable to get satisfying answers from the others.

4. How did the king and the hermit help the wounded man?

Ans:- The king washed the wound and covered it with his handkerchief and kept on dressing it until the bleeding stopped completely. The king also offered him water to drink and with the the help of the hermit brought him inside the hit and allowed him to spend his night there.

5. What were the hermit’s answers to the three questions?

Ans:- The hermit said that the most important time is our present because it is the only moment when we have the power to act. The most important person at a moment is we ourselves because the future is unpredictable and the most important business is to be kind and good to others because we have been sent in this world to serve this noble cause.

Extra Questions and Answers

1. Why did the king want to know answers to three questions?

Ans: He wanted to know answers to three questions because of the thought came to his mind that he would never fail if he knew answers to the three questions i.e. what was the right time for every action, who were the most important people and what the most important thing to do was.

2. Why was the king advised to go to magicians?

Ans: The king was advised to go to magicians to get the answer for his first question. In answer to the first question, i.e. to decide the right time for doing something urgent one must have to look into the future. Since the only magician could do that, the king was advised to go to magicians.

3. What suggestions were made in answer to the third question?

Ans: There were many suggestions for the third question. In answer to the third question, i.e what is the most important thing to do, some said science will be most important. Others suggested fighting, and some said religious worship.

4. Did the wise men win the reward? If not, why not?

Ans: No, the wise men did not win the reward. The king got different answers for all the three questions he had asked. He was not satisfied with any of them.

Give Long Answer

1. What were the hermit’s answers to the three questions? Write each answer separately. Which answer do you like most, and why?

Ans: In answer to the king’s first question, the hermit said that there is only one important time ‘Now’ i.e. present. It is the only time when you have the power to act.

In answer to the king’s second question, the hermit said that the most important person is the one with who we are at the present. In response to the king’s third question, the hermit answered that the most important thing to do is to do that person well. I like the answer to the first question the most because time has supreme power. It can take you to height if you do something good and can also make you fall on the ground if you won’t act in presence. One should live and act according to the present.

2.

(i) Who was the bearded man?

(ii) Why did he ask for the king’s forgiveness?

Ans:

- Bearded man was the enemy of the king who swore to revenge him for seizing his property and putting his brother to death.

- He asked for the king’s forgiveness as the king had saved his life. He came there for taking revenge on the king but instead, the king helped him to get better.

3. How did the king and the hermit help the wounded man?

Ans: The king and the hermit helped the wounded man by providing him shelter and protection from the army. The king washed and covered the wound of the man with his handkerchief, but the blood would not stop flowing. The king re-dressed the wound until it stopped bleeding. They took him to the hut for taking a rest and the king also gave him fresh water after being relaxed.

Some More Questions

1. What were the three questions that occurred to the king? What did he do to get the answers to his questions?

Ans. The three questions that occurred to the kings are:-

(a) what is the right time for work to be Done?

(b)who is the most important person to listen to?

(c)what is the most important thing to do? 

He thought that he would never fall once he knew the answers to the questions. Throughout the kingdoms, the kings announced a reward for those who could answer the questions.

2. What answers did the wise man give to his first question?

Ans. The answer to the first question some said the king must prepare a timetable and follow it strictly. Some also said that it was impossible to decide in advance the right time for doing something. The king should avoid pleasure and always do whatever is important. Yet some others said that the king needed a council of wise men who would help him to act at the proper time. This was because one man alone would find it impossible to decide correctly. Without the help of others the right time for every action.

3. How did the wise man answer his second question?

Ans. In answer to the second question, some said the people the King most needed were his councillors.  Others said the priest, others said the doctor, while others said the warriors were necessary.

4. What answers did the king get for his third question?

Ans. To the third question, as to what was the most important occupation, some replied the most important thing in the world was science. Others said it was skill in warfare, and others again, that it was religious worship.

5. Why did he decide to consult a hermit?

Ans. The king was not satisfied with the answers that he got from the people so he gave no reward to anyone. Finally, he decided to consult a hermit to find the right answers to his questions.

6. Where did the king meet the hermit? How did the hermit receive the king?

Ans. The kings went to meet the hermit by putting on ordinary clothes.  As the hermit only met the simple people the king did not want to reveal his identity to the hermit. As he reached the woods. The king got off the horse and left for the hermit's house on foot without being accompanied by his bodyguards.

7. How did the king help the hermit?

Ans. The king took the spade from the hand of a tired hermit and started digging the ground.

8.  How did the king nurse the wounded stranger?

Ans. The king washed the wounded and covered the wound of the man with his handkerchief and kept on dressing it until the bleeding stopped completely. The king also offered the wounded man water to drink.

9. Why did the wounded person desire to serve the king as his most faithful slave?

Ans. The wounded man was the enemy of this king. He wanted to kill the king but the king saved his life. The wounded man asked the kings forgiveness and wanted to serve the king as a very faithful slave.