There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over
twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was
meditating. Finally she wondered just what progress he had made in all
this time.
To find out, she obtained the help of a girl rich in desire. "Go and embrace
him," she told her, "and then ask him suddenly: 'What now?'"
The girl called upon the monk and without much ado caressed him, asking
him what he was going to do about it.
"An old tree grows on a cold rock in winter," replied the monk somewhat
poetically. "Nowhere is there any warmth."
The girl returned and related what he had said.
"To think I fed that fellow for twenty years!" exclaimed the old woman
in anger. "He showed no consideration for your needs, no disposition to
explain your condition. He need not have responded to passion, but at
least he should have evidenced some compassion."
She at once went to the hut of the monk and burned it down.
