Hassan, Jaehan N.

3rd Year / BSE-English B2019

ENG MAJ 16 / ALLIED Campus Journalism Prof. Criscar Villanueva

The Three Questions by Leo Tolstoy: A Reflection

“The Three Questions” is a short story written by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. It is about
the story of a king who is finding an answer to the three questions; that he believes will help him
become a great ruler. The three questions that the king considered as the three major questions in
life are:

First question: What is the right time to begin anything?

Second question: Who are the right people to listen to?

Third question: What is the most important thing to be doing at any given time?

A lot of wise men shared their answers to the questions, but none of them satisfied the
king. The king went to the wise hermit in the woods to hear his answers to the three questions.
The hermit didn’t answer the king straight away, but rather remain silent.

They saw a bearded man running with his hands on his stomach, wounded and dying.
They helped and treated the bearded man's wound. When the bearded man was finally in good
condition, he apologized to the king. He admitted that he was an enemy of the king. And that he
was about to kill him on his way back home from the hermit's place, but he failed. Nevertheless,
the king forgives the man.

For the last time, the king asked the hermit again with the three questions. And this time,
the hermit answered:

First answer: Now is the time to do every action because now is the only time

that we have power.

Second answer: The right person is who you are with.

Third answer: The most important thing to do is to do good for the person you are with.
Hassan, Jaehan N. 3rd Year / BSE-English B2019

ENG MAJ 16 / ALLIED Campus Journalism Prof. Criscar Villanueva

What I have reflected from the Three Questions are:

First is that I believe that the right time to begin anything is today, the present, that exact
moment that we decide to do a thing. Because only the current situation is what we have the
power of or can control. We cannot change what we have done in the past because it is already
done. And we cannot be sure of what the future holds.

People tend to be anxious about things that might happen in the future. We want to have a
better future ahead of us. That we often disregard the beauty of the present. Remember that in the
past, we had dreamt of that future. And that future that we dreamed of is today. The present.

Next is that I realized that the right person to listen to, is the person who we are with.
Unfortunately, I realized it later than I should. Upon understanding this idea, I was reminded of
my late mother. I should have spent more time with her but I didn’t.

We must appreciate every people we are spending our time with. Because not every day,
we have the time to be with them. There are seasonal people, and people doesn’t stay forever.
Death will come to us no matter who we are.

And lastly, I was reminded that the most important thing to do is to do good. Nothing
goes wrong in doing the right thing. Do what your mind, heart and conscience told you to do. Be
kind. Forgive those people who have done you wrong. With kindness, we will always be at
peace.