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 in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return emp­ty­handed.  Please take my clothes as a gift.”

The thief was bewil­dered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

Ryokan sat naked, watch­ing the moon. “Poor fellow, ”  he mused, “I wish I could give him this beau­ti­ful moon.”