The woman saw the monk and greeted him warmly. She asked her daughter-in-law to take the monk's bowl to the kitchen and fill it with food.

She then enthusiastically ushered the monk into the house. After seating him, she went to her room to fetch something. She returned a short while later as her daughter-in-law brought out the monk's bowl filled with food. At that moment, the old woman suddenly cried out, "My pearl is gone! My most valuable white pearl is gone!"

Seeing her mother-in-law anxiously looking for the pearl, the daughter-in-law asked the monk if he had seen the pearl.

The monk answered, "No."

The old woman's son heard all the commotion from his room. He rushed out and yelled angrily at the monk, "How could you not have seen it? My mother left the pearl on the table, and she and my wife were gone for only a second. If you didn't take the white pearl, who else could have?"

The monk said nothing. His silence made the man even angrier. He took a stick and began to thrash the monk. While all this was happening, a goose kept pacing around the monk and he wouldn't go away. In his fit of anger, the man landed a blow on the goose and killed it instantly.

Only then did the monk speak: "The goose swallowed the white pearl."

"That's impossible." The man refused to believe him.

"When your mother got up from her seat to go to her room, she accidentally brushed by the pearl and knocked it off the table. Just then the goose walked in, pecked at the pearl and swallowed it."

Everyone present was dubious about the monk's statement. The daughter-in-law suggested cutting open the goose's belly to see. When they did so, they indeed found the pearl.

Repentant, the family members knelt down before the monk and begged for forgiveness. The old woman's son was especially remorseful. "You saw the goose swallow the pearl. Why would you rather be beaten up than tell us the truth?" he murmured.

The monk explained, "I was worried that you might cut it open to get the pearl out. Yet, sadly, you did it anyway."

The monk endured the pain of being misunderstood and beaten in order to save the goose's life. He would even sacrifice his life to protect the animal. His altruistic spirit is really worth our reverence.

When dealing with others in our daily lives, we should always try to put other people's interests before our own. In this way, we benefit both others and ourselves and help create a world full of benevolence and goodwill.