The Teacher and the Silly Students

There was this teacher who had six students. He was a monk, bald, and he used to teach these silly students. They were really silly—the silliest and most stupid students that you could ever find. They would do everything wrong. But this teacher used to really try hard to teach them.

They used to live in a small village called Tripura. In those days, they didn't have any cars, only bullock carts. The teacher needed to take all the students to another city called Hanuman Chatti, which was about 50-60 kilometers away.

He managed to get a bullock cart and said, "Okay, all of us will go in the bullock cart to Hanuman Chatti. We have to leave because it's getting very cold here. We'll stay there for three months and then come back."

They were living on top of a hill and had to go down. The students were very excited. The teacher had put a lot of stuff in the bullock cart—there were two bulls in the front pulling it. The cart was full of the teacher's things: a water jug, paintings, slates to write on, chalk, and some clothes.

They started going down the hill. The bullock cart was going *dum-dum-dum* because it was a hilly area. Because of all the bumping, the teacher started feeling sleepy.

He said, "Students, I'm feeling very sleepy. I'm going to sleep now. Please keep an eye out for anything that falls, okay?"

"What did I say?" he asked.

"Keep an eye for anything that falls out!" all six of them said in chorus.

The teacher knew his students were very silly, so he always asked them to repeat his instructions. Then he fell asleep.

After some time, the bullock cart was going down the hill and it bumped. The teacher's favorite jug—the one he kept water in and thought was holy—fell down. All the students saw it fall. They all looked at it: "Ha! Fell! Fell! Fell! Fell!" They kept looking at it as it rolled away, because the teacher had said "keep an eye on it."

After some time, the teacher woke up. "Okay, what happened? Is everything all right? Did anything fall?"

"Yes, your water jug—your favorite water jug—fell down."

"Okay, very nice that you saw it. Did you put it back?"

"No, because you only asked us to keep an eye on it. You didn't ask us to keep it back."

"Oh my god, you silly, silly boys! When I told you to keep an eye on it, that means if it falls, you have to pick it back up!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, teacher, but you didn't say we have to keep it back."

The teacher sighed. "Anything that falls down, please pick it back up, okay?"

"Okay, okay."

So he gave them proper instructions. After some time, he fell asleep again.

Then what happened? One of the cows in the front had been walking for a while, so it did poo-poo. All the cow dung came out and fell on the ground.

The students said, "Stop! Stop!" All six of them got off the cart. They ran, picked up the cow dung, and put it on the cart.

The teacher woke up. "What the hell is this? Why did you put cow dung on the cart?"

"You said anything that falls off, we have to put it back! So the cow dung fell, and we put it back!"

"Oh my god, you stupid fellows! When the dung fell out, you weren't supposed to do that!"

"But teacher, you told us anything that falls down, we have to put it back. The cow dung fell out, so we put it back. What else should we do?"

The teacher was very, very angry. "Oh my god, I don't know how I got these stupid fellows!"

He said, "Okay, what I'm going to do now is make a list of everything that if it falls, you have to keep it back. Anything outside this list that falls down, you don't keep it back, okay? Like cow dung or urine—don't put it back! I want to make a list."

So he started making a list: notepad, slate, pen, jug, water bottles, pencils—the whole list.

He kept looking at them. "Okay, you monkeys, you silly, silly monkeys! Here's the list. Hold it. If anything falls out of this list only, then you keep it back. Otherwise, you let it go. Okay?"

"Okay, okay, okay, fine, fine."

He was very angry. He had washed his face, but he was still smelling like cow dung. Anyway, they kept going.

After that, the teacher fell asleep again. This teacher was a very sleepy fellow.

Then they were going on a road next to a river. What happened was, there was a big stone, and the cows were running. The cart bumped, and you know what happened? This time the teacher flew off the cart and fell into the water! He started drowning.

"Oh! Save me! Save me!"

The students took out the list and started reading it. "Pencil, paper, balls, vessel..." But they couldn't find the teacher's name on the list.

The teacher said, "Save me!"

They said, "No, teacher, your name is not on the list. We cannot save you."

"Silly, silly fellows! For the love of God, please save me! Please save me!"

"No, teacher, the list is there." And they kept going.

The teacher somehow saved himself, came out of the water, ran to the cart, and caught them. He whacked all of them.

"You listen to me, you idiots! You don't always take things literally, okay? You don't just have to listen to my words—you have to listen to the spirit of what I'm saying! First, I said keep an eye, and you left the jug behind. Then I said keep things back, and you put the cow dung on the cart. Now I gave you a list, and I fell off, and you didn't save me! It's so silly! You have to look at the spirit of things, not just what I'm saying. All right? Please understand that."

So he tried to teach the students, but in vain.

That is the story.