Mokusen Hiki was living in a temple in the province of Tamba. One of his adherents complained of the stinginess of his wife.
Mokusen visited the adherent’s wife and showed her his clenched fist.
“What do you mean by that?” asked the surprised woman.
“Suppose my fist 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 Mokusen, “you are a good wife.” Then he left.
After his visit, this wife helped her husband to save.
Source: http://www.101zenstories.org
Hioki Mokusen (1847-1920) was a Buddhist monk of the Meiji and Taisho periods of Japan, and a member of the Soto sect of Buddhism.
Image: A postage stamp issued by Thailand to commemorate Visakha Bucha Day 2012, an important date in the Buddhist calendar. It shows a bronze Buddha image in the pahng samahti, or meditation pose, with in the background a large leaf of the ficus religiosa or bodhi tree, as well as branches with smaller bodhi leaves. Courtesy: https://www.buddhiststamp.com/