The Punished Monk

Once upon a time, a monk took a liking to a peasant's wife. One spring day, while the peasant was planting seedlings in the field, the monk approached him, stood there silently for a while, and then said:

"My son, it must be hard to work in the field for three or even four months straight, rubbing calluses on your hands. Life is much easier for us monks: we pray, ring bells, and wander wherever we please. Bliss! We live in tall temples, closer to the heavens, farther from the earth—not like you mortals!"

The peasant listened to the monk and thought, "Indeed, the monks have an easy life," and decided to become a monk himself. He returned home and told his wife everything. When she heard that her husband wanted to become a monk, she scolded him:

"You old fool! You'll suffer, sitting locked up in the monastery all day. Could you really sit idle? Truly, you saw the monks eating pancakes, but you didn't notice how they take their vows. Get this nonsense out of your head!"

The peasant thought, "My wife is right," and he no longer wanted to become a monk.

The next day, the peasant went back to work in the field. Soon it was noon. His wife prepared lunch—a bowl of rice soup with dumplings—and brought it to him in the field. They sat on the boundary, picking dumplings out of the soup with chopsticks and eating.

And there was the monk again. He watched as the peasant and his wife affectionately shared their meal, and envy consumed him. His desire burned even stronger than before! He walked past once, then again, but the woman didn't even turn her head. The peasant noticed the monk glancing at his beautiful wife and immediately understood what was going on. He decided to teach the monk a lesson.

After they finished eating, the wife gathered the bowls and chopsticks into a basket and headed home. The monk approached the peasant and asked:

"So, are you going to become a monk? We talked about it yesterday."

The peasant replied:

"I wouldn't mind, but my wife doesn't agree. If I were to become a merchant, that would be a different story."

The monk was delighted and said:

"Well then, take up trading!"

"But where would I get the money?"

"I'll lend it to you, and I won't even charge interest. You can pay me back from your first earnings. It's best to open a small shop. It's a very profitable business. So go and get your goods as soon as possible."

The peasant was happy and said:

"If you really give me the money, thank you! When will you bring it?"

Seeing that his cherished desire was about to come true, the monk decided not to delay and said:

"It's urgent. I'll go fetch the money right away!"

The peasant planted a few more seedlings and returned home.

Just after he finished eating, the monk arrived, carrying two hundred silver yuan. The peasant invited him to sit and told his wife to prepare tea. The wife immediately understood what was going on and decided to help her husband. As she brewed the tea, she glanced slyly at the monk, whose heart was racing.

The peasant said:

"I talked it over with my wife, and she agrees. I'll set out tomorrow and return in a month. I'll repay you for everything."

The monk replied:

"What repayment! No need for formalities! We're friends, after all!"

The monk didn't stay long, said his goodbyes, and left.

The wife prepared her husband for the journey, and at dawn, he left the house.

As soon as evening fell, the monk dropped everything and went to the peasant's wife. They sat together, talking and laughing. The monk was just waiting for the right moment to confess his feelings, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. The woman seemed so unapproachable that, as the proverb goes, "his bones softened and his muscles weakened," and his words stuck in his throat. Suddenly, the woman took the monk by the hand and led him upstairs. But just as he was about to embrace her, someone began pounding on the gate with all their might. The monk trembled with fear, immediately realizing that the husband had returned. The woman hid the monk in an empty rice chest where they now kept thorns. The thorns pricked the fat monk, but he endured, afraid to make a sound.

Meanwhile, the woman went downstairs, unlocked the gate, and went back upstairs with her husband.

The husband said:

"Our boat sank, so I came back. And to make matters worse, thieves attacked me and took the two hundred yuan the monk gave me. What bad luck! I'd better go back to working in the field as before. I just don't know what to do about the debt. Ah! I've got it! I'll give the monk this rice chest to settle the debt!"

The husband and wife lay down and fell asleep as if nothing had happened. Only then did the monk realize what they had planned. He suffered in the chest all night, and in the morning, the peasant called two monastery servants and asked them to carry the chest to the monk. The servants threaded a pole through the ring on the chest's lid, lifted it, and, bent double, dragged it to the temple. As they carried it, the chest swung from side to side on the pole. When they reached the temple, they suddenly heard someone inside shouting:

"Careful! It hurts! Ouch! Open it quickly!"

The servants immediately lifted the lid. What a surprise! Inside the chest was the abbot, covered in bruises and scratches.

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The Punished Monk

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