Many years ago, there lived a king. One of his ministers did not please him, so he wanted to punish him.
“You will lose your head and all your riches unless you can answer my three questions,” the king said angrily to the minister.
“I don't know what I did to make you so angry,” the minister said. “But please tell me what the three questions are.”
“Listen. First, how much am I worth? Second, how long will it take me to ride around the world? Third, what am I thinking?”
“My lord, give me three days to find the answers.”
The king agreed, and the minister left to return home.
On his way home, the minister met a shepherd. “Good morning, my lord,” said the shepherd. “Why do you look so sad?”
The minister replied, “I have only three days to live. If I cannot answer the three questions put by the king, I will be killed.”
“Don't worry,” the shepherd said after hearing what the three questions were. “Give me your clothes, and I will go to answer the king for you.”
The king took the disguised shepherd for the minister. “Now, can you tell me what I am worth?” the king said.
“Jesus was worth thirty silver pieces,” answered the shepherd. “So you are worth twenty-nine, because I cannot value you as much as Jesus.”
The king laughed. “Now, tell me how long it will take me to ride around the world?” he asked.
“If you rise with the sun and ride with him all day, you will ride around the world in 24 hours,” replied the shepherd.
“But one more question remains,” said the king. “Can you tell me what I am thinking?”
“Yes, I can,” said the shepherd. “You think I am the minister, but I am not.”
When the king learned that the disguised minister was actually a young shepherd, he was surprised. But the king was satisfied with the three clever answers, and decided to forgive the minister. To the shepherd, the king gave him a bag of gold as a reward.
很多年前，有个国王被一个大臣惹得不高兴了，他就想惩罚一下这位大臣。
“我要砍了你的脑袋，没收你的全部身家，除非你答得上来我提的三个问题。”国王生气地说。
“不知我做了什么事惹您生气了，”大臣说，“不过，还请您出题。”
“你听着。第一题，我身价几何？第二题，我骑马绕地球一圈要用多长时间？第三题，我现在在想什么？”
“陛下，请容许我考虑三天。”
国王答应了，大臣离开宫殿回家去。
回家路上，大臣碰到了一位牧羊人。“您早啊，大人，”牧羊人说，“您为什么这么难过啊？”
大臣回答：“我只有三天活头儿了。要是答不上来国王提出的三个问题，我就得被砍头。”
“您别担心，”牧羊人听了那三个问题的内容后说，“把您的衣服给我，我替您去回答国王的问题。”
国王把乔装打扮后的牧羊人当成了那位大臣。“说吧，你说我身价几何？”国王问。
“耶稣值三十块银币，”牧羊人回答，“所以陛下您值二十九块，因为我不能说您和耶稣平起平坐。”
国王笑了起来。“那你说，我要是骑马绕地球一圈，要花多长时间？”他问。
“您要是日出就起床，和太阳并肩同行一天的话，二十四小时您就能绕地球一周。”牧羊人说。
“还有一个问题，”国王说，“你能说出我脑子里现在在想什么吗？”
“我能。”牧羊人说，“您在想我就是那位大臣，但我不是。”
国王得知扮成大臣的原来是个年轻的牧羊人，感到很惊讶。可是，国王对他的三个机智回答非常满意，于是决定饶了那位大臣。至于牧羊人呢，国王奖励了他一袋金子。
-disguise [dɪsˈɡaɪz] v. 伪装
良言一句：“Wisdom in the mind is better than money in the hand.”(手里有钱财，不如胸中有文才。)