At last he decided
to ask the advice of a wise hermit. The
king dressed in the clothes of a commoner and set out for the forest. When he neared the hermit's hut, he ordered
his knights to stay back at a distance, and he rode the last section of trail
alone.
The king found the
hermit digging in his garden. The old
man greeted him but continued digging.
The king told the hermit that he had come to find answers to his three
questions. The hermit listened but gave
no answer and continued working. The
king observed that the hermit was frail and elderly and that the work was very
difficult for him. The king offered to
take over the digging, and the hermit allowed it.
The king dug for
one hour. Then he repeated the question,
but the hermit did not answer. He worked
again for another hour, and then repeated his questions with the same
results. This continued for a few more
hours until the sun began to sink low in the sky. Finally the king got discouraged. "I came to you for answers wise
man. If you have none, tell me and I
will return home."
Just them someone
came running up the path. They turned to
see a man with his hands pressed to his stomach and blood flowing from between
them. He dropped to the ground at the king's
feet.
The king and the hermit
knelt down and began tending to the man.
The king washed and bandaged the man's wounds. The blood continued to flow so he kept
changing the bandages. The king also
helped the hermit to get fresh water, and to help the man to drink.
Finally the man
slept and did not wake until the next morning.
The king too slept upon the ground, waking often to watch over the
man. In the morning the man woke up and
looked at the king.
"Forgive
me," he said to the king.
"You have
nothing to forgive me for," the king answered.
"Oh, but I
do," he said. "You were my
enemy, and I had sworn to take revenge on you for killing my brother and taking
my land. I knew that you were coming
here today and I decided to kill you on the trail. But when you did not return for many hours I
left my hideout to find you. Your guards
recognized me and wounded me. I escaped
them but I would have bled to death if you had not cared for me. I meant to kill you but now you have saved my
life. If I live I shall gladly serve you
for the rest of my days."
The king was so
happy to have been reconciled with an old enemy that he immediately forgave him
and promised to return his land. Then
the king called for his knights to carry the man back to his castle to be cared
for by his own doctor.
After the wounded
man had gone, the king asked the hermit once more if he would not give him the
answer to his question.
"Your
questions have already been answered." the hermit replied.
"But
how?" the king answered, perplexed.
"How?"
repeated the hermit.
"If you had
not taken pity on my weakness yesterday and helped me instead of returning
home, that man would have ambushed and killed you on the trail. Therefore, the most important time was when
you were digging my garden beds; and I was the most important person; and the
most important thing to do was to do good for me. Later, when the man came running to us, the
most important thing to do was to care for him.
If you had not bound up his wounds he would have died without making
peace with you. Therefore the most
important person was that man, and what you did was the most important thing,
and the right time was the time when you were doing it."
"You see, the
most important time is always the present moment. It is the only time that is important because
it is the only time that we have control over.
The past we can only look back on and wish that we had done
differently. The future we can only
imagine. The most important person is
always the one you are with in the present moment, and the only important deed
is the deed that does what is best for others."
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