a recounting by Gino Signoracci
the newly coronated young king said to his court of sages and scribes, 'compile all the wisdom of the world in a library, so that i may peruse the volumes at my leisure and know all there is to know.'the sages and scribes dutifully searched the kingdoms far and near for all the wise words that had been written. after ten years, they presented the complete collection to the king. gaping in astonishment at the mass of literature contained in the library's innumerable cavernous rooms, the king said to them, 'unfortunately, with all the affairs of the kingdom, i will never have enough time to read all of these books. please condense them into one book, so that i may read it and understand the timeless wisdom that all these works have in common.'
his subjects set to work. after twenty years of tireless effort, they had finally read every single book in the library. within another twenty years they had finally agreed on what to include in the single volume, and, having written it, presented it to the king, who by now was an old man. he addressed them, 'thank you for your labors; however, as i am aging and my vision and hearing are no longer what they were, i do not have the patience to read even this one book, large as it is. therefore i ask you to present its wisdom to me in a single sentence.'
though flustered, his subjects set to work on the king's request. in the meantime, he was taken ill. finally, after a year had passed, the head sage approached the king on his deathbed. the king whispered, 'well? have you a sentence for me?' the sage nodded, leaned toward the king's ear, and said, 'this, too, shall pass.'
i paraphrased it. as near as i can tell the original is from jewish lore.
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posted by jjs @ 1:00 PM
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