One day, a Buddhist Monk named I-hsiu (literary, "One Rest") took his young student to go to town to do some business. As they approached a small river, they saw a very pretty girl walking back and forth looking very concerned.
"Lady", asked I-hsiu, "you look very concerned. What is troubling you?"
"I want to cross the river to visit my dad who is very sick, but the bridge had fallen. Where is the next nearest bridge?"
"The next closest one is many miles away. But, don't worry, I will carry you across the river."
So I-hsiu carried the girl on his back and walked across the river stream. Once they reached the other side, he put her down and, saying farewell to each other, went on their ways separately.
Observing the whole thing, the young student was rather uneasy. He thought, "the Master taught us that women are man-eating tigers (see the story "Women are Tigers" in this site) yet today he carried a pretty girl on his back across a river! That does not make any sense. Isn't the Lord Buddha teach us to keep a distance from a stranger girl?"
Over the next couple of month, the whole thing was still bothering him in his mind. Finally, the student could not stand it any longer and raised the issue with I-hsiu.
Upon hearing this, I-hsiu bursted into laughter: "I had put down the girl ever since I had crossed the river. You must be very tired carrying her around for the last two months!"
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