Why Are You Still Carrying Her?

An old monk and a young monk were walking on a path and they came to a great river.

There was no denying that the river was rife with danger. One only had to stand at its edge to see that though it was possible to cross you could very well lose your life in the raging water.

Next to them by the river stood a woman who was staring into the water, she needed to cross the river but was frozen with fear.

The young monk glanced at the woman and went into the river, he battled with the current and after a time was able to get to the ground on the other side.

The old monk saw the woman and scooped her up. Carrying her in his arms he battled with the current and after a time was able to get to the ground on the other side.  The woman ran off without a word.

The younger monk’s eyes went large, he was horrified but didn’t say anything out of respect for the older monk. They both continued on their way together but the farther they went down the path the more what the older monk had done bothered him and finally the words came bursting out of his mouth:

“The nerve of that woman!  You risked your safety to carry her across that river and she couldn't be bothered to even thank you!”

The older monk turned to his friend and was calm. He said simply:

“I left that woman way back at the river, why are you still carrying her?”