The wise teacher and the foolish student

A young man once decided to approach an old sage to become his pupil. The wise old sage told the young may that to become his student he would need to go on a journey through the wilderness with him. The sage told the young man to go prepare himself for their journey.

The student gathered his pack and all the supplies he thought sensible for a trip through the wilderness. When he arrived for the journey he found the sage waiting patiently with only a walking staff.

Without saying a word the sage set out into the wilderness. The student immediately began questioning the sage. "Where are your supplies?", "Are you sure you want to take this path, the one over there is smoother.", "How long will this take?", "Do you have a map?"

The sage ignored the students questions and only occasionally spoke, often to warn the student of a loose rock on the path or a poisonous plant. After a few hours the student began to think the sage didn't know where they were going, and if he didn't know that then perhaps he wasn't so wise after all. The student realizing he was lost resigned himself to following the sage at a distance. However the student stopped listening to the sage at all, and began choosing his own path.

After several hours they came to a desert. The student stopped and looked around nervously, never having been this far away from home. But the sage continued on so the student moved in the same general direction, After several more hours in the hot sun the student's food and water had run out. The student became impatient with his new teacher and began yelling insults at him.

After several more hours they came upon an oasis. The student cautiously watched the as the teacher approached the water and drank his fill. Once the student could wait no longer he rushed to the pool for a drink. But, not trusting the teacher he waded out into the middle of the small pool to stay at a safe distance. The student soon found that his legs were stuck in the muck of the pool and he was unable to move. Worse still The harder he fought the faster he sank, with each passing minute he grew closer to drowning. He looked around but the only help he could see was the old sage he had so badly abused.

When the foolish student had sunk to his chest and was sure he was going to die, he finally called out to the sage, "Help me I can't save my self."

The wizened sage reached out his walking stick, which was just long enough to reach the student, and and with an unnatural force pulled him to safety.

After he recovered from the near drowning, the student asked "why did you save me?"
"I never wanted you to drown" replied the sage.

While appreciating the sentiment this puzzled the student even further "Why then did you not warn me, or why did you wait so long to save me?"

The Sage smiled "I gave you instructions all along our journey, but you chose your own path, and I honored that choice. Only when you let go of your pride and asked was I able to help you."