A History Lesson

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During one of our suppers, I asked the knyaz about other vrakhiri. Why were he and the boyars the only ones any ordinary person had ever heard of?

And the knyaz, once again, showed remarkable wit and wisdom. He said: ‘Think of the great men. The greatest. The patriarch Methuselah. Noah. And Adam himself. What do they all have in common?’. ‘You don’t just mean they are all biblical figures, do you?’ I asked. ‘No. Each of them is believed to have lived a thousand years. How do you think this would be possible?’

He said no more, but his words stayed with me. Could this be true?