Moku-Sen Hiki1 was living in a temple in the state of Tanba2. One of his adherents complained of the stringiness of his wife.
Moku-Sen visited the adherent's wife and showed her his clenched fist before her face.
"What do you mean by that?" asked the surprised woman.
"Suppose my first were always like that. What would you call it?" he asked.
"Deformed," replied the woman.
Then he opened his hand flat in her face and asked, "Suppose it were always like that. What then?"
"Another kind of deformity," said the wife.
"If you understand that much," finished Moku-Sen, "you are a good wife." Then he left.
After his visit, this wife helped her husband to distribute as well as to save.
Notes:
1. Moku-Sen Hiki
2. Tanba