Doubtless There Are Other Roads

The wayfarer,
Perceiving the pathway to truth,
Was struck with astonishment.
It was thickly grown with weeds.
Ha, he said,
I see that none has passed here
In a long time.
Later he saw that each weed
Was a singular knife.
Well, he mumbled at last,
Doubtless there are other roads.
--Stephen Crane
(1871--1900)

Joan Baez: La Canzone di Marinella

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain.
One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.
Ryokan returned and caught him. You have come a long way to visit me, he told the prowler, and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.
The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.
Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. Poor fellow, he mused,
I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon.