Once, there were two brothers. They were monks. Now, while the elder brother was very intelligent, the younger one was dim-witted. The elder brother could memorise everything their master taught but the younger one could not. One day, the elder brother, noting his brother’s inability to learn, told him, “It is better for you to do some other work as you cannot learn these difficult verses.” The younger brother agreed and left the monastery. On the way, he met a learned sage. The sage understood everything by looking at the younger brother. He told the younger brother, “Even if you cannot learn the verses, you can stand outside the monastery with a rug and help the monks clean their feet.” The younger brother was very happy and did as advised. When his elder brother saw him doing this, he was very happy. He took him back into the monastery. From then on, the younger brother went on doing charity and became a great monk.
The Monk
