panchatantra · Day 152 · Week 22
Three Days Before
A small body is learning rhythm inside you — and tonight an old minister shows that the rhythm of wisdom is often slower than the rhythm of speech.
He did not answer that day. He did not answer the next. On the third morning, he answered in a sentence.
In a kingdom whose name is no longer remembered, there was a king who liked his answers quickly. He liked his food quickly, his messengers quickly, his judgements quickly. He had a court full of clever ministers who had learned to speak before they had finished thinking, because that was what the king praised.
Only one minister was different. His name was Sumati. He was old. His beard was grey. He walked with a small stoop, and when the king asked him a question, he would fold his hands and say, with the same calm voice every time, My lord, I will answer in three days.