The Way You Speak
Once an old wise man sat meditating under a tree. He was blind. A man came up and said: "Hey! old man, did you hear anyone passing this way?" The wise man replied, "No, my good man, I did not hear anyone."
After a while another man went up to the old wise man and asked, "Old man, did you hear anyone going this way?" The wise man replied, "Oh yes, a man went by just now and he asked the same question." The man went away.
After some time another man came and asked, "Noble sir, did you hear anyone passing this way?" The old wise man replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. A soldier went first and then your Chief Minister. Both of them asked the same question." The man was surprised and asked, "Good sir, how do you know that I am a King and that the other two were a soldier and a Chief Minister?"
The wise man answered, "Your Majesty, I knew them by their manner of speaking. The first man spoke very rudely. The second man was a little more polite, but Your Majesty was the most polite."
The King went away astonished at the wise man's astuteness.
Picture by jessamyn taken from this source
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