When you sit before your teacher
he may ask you a simple question,
why, perhaps, your robe
is not tied, why, perhaps,
your posture is slumping.
If you sit and answer,
he will dismiss you, but
if you stand and tie your robe,
sit down in a good posture
he will give you gassho
and send you on your path.

A reflection on Case 39 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)