Yamaoka Tesshu, a master of fencing and a profound student of Zen, was a tutor of the emperor.
He opened his simple cottage to the homeless. He only had one suit of clothing because caring for the poor kept him poor.
The emperor, seeing his teacher wearing old garments, gave Yamaoka a purse of money to buy new clothes.
The next time Yamaoka appeared before the emperor he wore the same old clothes he always wore.
"Where are your new clothes?" the emperor asked his teacher.
"I provided clothes for the children of Your Majesty," Yamaoka explained.
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