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Immediately on setting foot in the village inn, the Emperor sent the hostess to fetch the Abbot of this singular convent.

You can imagine what a state of mind the latter was in when he heard he was summoned to the Emperor’s presence.

“What have I done to displease him,” he asked himself. On the way he examined his conscience over and over again, and he could think of no fault of which he was guilty. “I am in troubled waters; I must steer my way through,” he said.

When he was in the Emperor’s presence, the latter expressed his astonishment at what he had read.

The Abbot now knew why he had been summoned, and smiled. “Sir,” said he, “does that astonish you? However, it is very simple; we eat, we drink, we sleep, and worry over nothing.”

“Well, Reverend Abbot, that state of things must come to an end,” said the Emperor, “and in order that you may have your share of trouble, I command you to bring me to-morrow the answers to the three following questions:

“First, What is the depth of the sea?