A short story or a moral lesson?

 Years ago, I was told a story about two monks on a journey. They’d been let out of the monastery with strict instructions about good behavior.

Early on, the monks encountered a beautiful girl in a fancy gown standing forlornly in front of an enormous mud hole. Without a word, one of the monks picked her up and carried her over the mire so she wouldn’t get her clothes dirty.

The monks went on, following the rule of silence.

At the end of the day, when the monks were allowed to talk, the monk who’d witnessed his colleague touch the girl erupted. He was warming up to the theme of evil and the appearance of evil when his colleague said: “The girl in the gown? I put her down hours ago. Are you still carrying her around?”

Many of us who have a hard time letting go — especially of things such as anger and resentment — found the parable was not only interesting but valuable. It was a popular story. I read it and heard it in so many places I have no idea whom to attribute it to.

It's a moral lesson from the Buddhist tradition. But I think it’s a kind of short story. It’s similar to I.L. Peretz’s story, mentioned in yesterday’s note, and some the stories collected in Tolstoy’s “Twenty-three Tales.” I'd have a hard time saying where the moral lessons end and the works of art begin.