106. the tortoise’s advice

the guru read one of his koans to the tortoise and asked for feedback.

the tortoise said, “you talk too fast.”

the guru talked slower. the tortoise said, “still too fast.”

the guru talked as slowly as he possibly could, and the tortoise was happy.

the next day, the guru read the koan very slowly to his students, and they were so bored that most of them left before he had finished the first line.

afterward, one of the students approached the guru and asked, “why did you treat us like tortoises?”