Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut
at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to
discover there was nothing to steal.
Ryokan returned and caught him. "You have come a long way to visit
me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please
take my clothes as a gift."
The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.
Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish
I could have given him this beautiful moon."
