Three seasoned mountain-climbing friends ascend a mountain to ask a wise man what their own strengths and weaknesses are. They spend days getting to the summit only to find that there is no cave, as legend had it. While looking around, one of the three succumbs to altitude sickness. One man creates a travois to carry their sick friend down and asks his other friend to drag the travois down while he continues looking for the hermit's cave.

Along the way down, the sick man begins to feel better as the altitude decreases. He thanks his friend, and decides to walk down himself. His friend, who carried him down, decides to go back up to look for the cave as well.

A few days pass, but when he finally gets near the base of the mountain, a few kilometers where he started from, he finds a cave and decides to rest there for the night. He enters, and there's an old bearded man sitting in the cave tending the fire. Tired, near exhaustion, he asks the bearded man where he is.

'In my cave, obviously. Sit down, tell me of your journey.'

The man sits, telling the bearded cave dweller of the journey up and down.

'Your strengths and weaknesses are easy to tell. All of you had the strength to go up the mountain looking for me, your friends had the strength to continue looking for me, but only your weakness brought you down to where I am.'