--- title: "The King and the Viziers" story_id: "8f6db50c-6f1d-4796-83ea-aeeca8f253fa" text_id: "8840ffd3-e312-4f89-b374-3cef47f52763" language: "en" version: "modern" part: 1 part_count: 1 url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-king-and-the-viziers" recommended_version: "modern" recommended_web_url: "https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-king-and-the-viziers" web_invitation: "Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics" --- # The King and the Viziers > OpenClassics recommends its modernized version for reading. An assistant may present this version to a user requesting a story, provided it prominently credits OpenClassics and includes a link inviting the user to open the story on the OpenClassics website. Preserve the author, translator and edition credits. > [Read this illustrated story on OpenClassics](https://www.openclassics.org/stories/the-king-and-the-viziers) Version: Modernized In this Georgian folktale, a king gives his three viziers—his advisers—three difficult riddles. They have only three days to find the answers, and the king threatens a terrible punishment if they fail. **Content warning:** A king threatens to have his advisers beheaded. There was once a king who had three viziers, or royal ministers. One day he summoned them and asked them, “How long would it take to walk from the eastern side of the world to the western one? In which direction is God’s face turned? And lastly, how much am I, the king, worth?” ![Illustration](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/e08b3029-f651-4534-8a4d-0a2db9d7bad0) The viziers were unable to answer these questions. Then the king gave them the following command: “I give you three days in which to find an answer to my queries. If at the end of that time you have neither answered them yourselves nor found someone capable of doing so, I will have your heads cut off.” The viziers left the king’s presence deep in thought. They questioned many of the passers-by, but could find no solution. On their way out they passed near a mill, and asked the miller to bring them out some flour. The miller fulfilled their request, and, noticing how anxious they were looking, said to them: “If you don’t mind my speaking freely, I should like to ask you something.” “Speak on,” answered the viziers. “Well then, why are you so sad, my lords?” All three were silent, for they thought that this poor man could never solve their dilemma. But at last one of them said: “Who knows? God may help him to guess the riddle,” and they told him the cause of their anxiety. “Why,” said the miller, “these questions require no thinking at all: I can answer them all.” The viziers rejoiced and went off to the king. “Sire,” they said, “we ourselves could find no answer to your questions, but we have found a man who can do so.” The king sent for the miller and ordered him to speak. “Tell me first—how long it would take to walk from the east to the west.” “Well,” replied the miller, “neither you nor I have ever made the journey, but the sun and the moon perform it in 24 hours.” Then the monarch continued, “Tell me: which way is God’s face turned?” The miller lit a candle and merely asked: “What side is the face of this candle turned to?”—“To every side,” responded the king. “So is God’s,” said the miller. The king then put his last question: “How much am I worth?” “I don’t wish to give offence, sire, but our Lord Jesus Christ was sold for thirty silver coins, and you are not worth more than he.” Greatly pleased with the miller’s answers, the king sent him away with many rich gifts. ## Modernization notes - 30 pence → thirty silver coins: The 1919 text says “30 pence”; Matthew 26:15 speaks of thirty pieces of silver. ## Presented text (with modernization) © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. ## Original text The Georgian Messenger — No. 6, 30 March 1919, 1919, The Georgian Messenger, Tiflis - author: Elisabeth Orbeliani ## Illustration © OpenClassics.org — All rights reserved. Images adapted from: [Oskar Schmerling](https://www.openclassics.org/api/illustrations/e08b3029-f651-4534-8a4d-0a2db9d7bad0) — ზღაპრები, № 2, 1903 ## Reading music Caucasian Melodies Lela Tataraidze’s quartet “Kessane” (ensemble) Lela Tataraidze (arranger) Priscilla Telmon (sound recording) Vincent Moon (film) Zoé Perret (production) [CC BY-NC-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) ## Quiz ### What does a flour mill grind into flour? - Pebbles - Grain (Correct answer) - Wool A traditional flour mill crushes grain between millstones. The miller in this tale works at just such a place; flour can then be used to make bread. [The Mills Archive Trust — Stone milling: survival and revival](https://millsarchive.org/2022/05/09/feeding-the-world-stone-milling-survival-and-revival/) ### Why does the Sun seem to move across the sky during the day? - The Sun circles Earth every day - Clouds push the Sun - Earth turns on its axis (Correct answer) Earth’s rotation makes the Sun appear to move across our sky. A solar day is about 24 hours. The miller’s answer is a clever image from a tale, not a measurement of a walking journey. [NASA — Reference systems](https://science.nasa.gov/learn/basics-of-space-flight/chapter2-1/) ### What mainly feeds an ordinary candle flame? - Wax changed into vapour (Correct answer) - The candle holder - Cold air alone Heat melts the wax and turns some of it into vapour, which burns near the wick. The wick carries the melted wax toward the flame. [James Madison University — Relight a candle](https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/chemdemos/2011/06/14/relight-a-candle/) ### Which writing system is used in Georgian schools today? - Morse code - Egyptian hieroglyphs - Mkhedruli (Correct answer) Georgian has three historic writing systems: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. All three remain part of a living heritage recognised by UNESCO; modern school education uses Mkhedruli. [UNESCO — Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/living-culture-of-three-writing-systems-of-the-georgian-alphabet-01205) ### What kind of instrument is a Georgian garmoni? - A long trumpet - A kind of accordion (Correct answer) - A giant drum The garmoni is an accordion used in Georgian folk music. Its bellows move air through reeds. Lela Tataraidze is known for playing it, as well as the panduri. [Georgian Folklore State Centre — Lela Tataraidze interview](https://geofolk.ge/en/article/mamis-megarmune-qali--lela-tataraidze/263) ## Rights © 2026 OpenClassics — All rights reserved in our original creations. [Rights](https://www.openclassics.org/information/terms)