“How many seconds are there in eternity?”

“That’s easy,” replied the boy.

“There is a huge mountain called Diamond Mountain.

Once every hundred years a sparrow comes

It’s twenty thousand feet high and twenty miles round.

Once every hundred years a sparrow comes

and sharpens its beak on this mountain.

When the whole mountain has been worn away,

that will be the end of the first second of eternity.”

Critical Thinking:

Do you think the boy has answered the questions well?

If yes, why? If no, why not?

“Good,” said the king.

“You have answered my questions with the wisdom of a great scholar.

You shall stay in my palace,

, and I will look upon you as my own child.”