For some reason, recent events in these parts have me thinking of a well-known Zen parable:
A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who the father was.
The young girl did not want to reveal the name of the father. Finally, after much heated insistence from her parents, the flustered girl said the father was the local Zen master, Hakuin.
The parents were astonished - Hakuin had been revered for leading a pure life. Fuming with outrage, they confronted Hakuin with their daughter's revelation.
"Is that so?" was all Hakuin said in response.
After the child was born, the young girl's parents brought it to Hakuin. He was no longer revered in the community; on the contrary, the scandal had made him a pariah. The parents demanded that Hakuin take responsibility for the baby, since he had fathered it. Hakuin accepted the child calmly, saying only, "Is that so?"
After Hakuin had cared for the baby for many months, the young girl could not live any longer with the lie she had told. She tearfully confessed that the baby's real father was a young man in the village and that she had been trying to protect him.
The girl's parents went straight away to Hakuin to apologize and see if he would give up the baby that he had been caring for. They told Hakuin of their daughter's shameful lie and they apologized profusely.
"Is that so?" Hakuin said, and handed the baby back to them without another word.