30 lines
1.8 KiB
Text
30 lines
1.8 KiB
Text
The Shepherd Boy
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There was once on a time a shepherd boy whose fame spread far and wide
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because of the wise answers which he gave to every question. The King
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of the country heard of it likewise, but did not believe it, and sent
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for the boy. Then he said to him, "If thou canst give me an answer to
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three questions which I will ask thee, I will look on thee as my own
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child, and thou shalt dwell with me in my royal palace." The boy said,
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"What are the three questions?" The King said, "The first is, how many
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drops of water are there in the ocean?" The shepherd boy answered,
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"Lord King, if you will have all the rivers on earth dammed up so that
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not a single drop runs from them into the sea until I have counted it,
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I will tell you how many drops there are in the sea." The King said,
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"The next question is, how many stars are there in the sky?" The
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shepherd boy said, "Give me a great sheet of white paper," and then he
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made so many fine points on it with a pen that they could scarcely be
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seen, and it was all but impossible to count them; any one who looked
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at them would have lost his sight. Then he said, "There are as many
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stars in the sky as there are points on the paper; just count them."
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But no one was able to do it. The King said, "The third question is,
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how many seconds of time are there in eternity." Then said the shepherd
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boy, "In Lower Pomerania is the Diamond Mountain, which is two miles
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and a half high, two miles and a half wide, and two miles and a half in
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depth; every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on
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it, and when the whole mountain is worn away by this, then the first
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second of eternity will be over."
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The King said, "Thou hast answered the three questions like a wise man,
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and shalt henceforth dwell with me in my royal palace, and I will
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regard thee as my own child."
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