This post at Obsidian Wings reminded me of a similar story I came across while studying Civil War-era oral histories (mostly slave narratives) a few years back. One of the more enigmatic figures of the 19th-century American south was “Uncle” Boja Willy (William B. Freeman, 1797?? – 1901) — a freed slave who some New Historicists have argued prefigured, in his ad hoc and peripatetic teachings, many of the semiotic ideas later popularized by Peirce and Saussure (as well as the philosophical pragmatism of Peirce and William James — who rumor has it met extensively with Boja Willy in the fall of 1874).

Here’s the story I best remember, c. 1890, paraphrased:

     A student stood and said to the old man, “Uncle Boja, the Buddhists pose a question they claim will lead to enlightenment: ‘what is the sound of one hand clapping?’ Is there an answer to this question, or is the question itself the answer…?”
      Uncle Boja Willy scratched his chin and thought on this for a second, then slowly raised a bony index finger, motioning for the boy to come closer. As the boy drew very near, Boja Willy sprung from his seat and slapped the boy once — flush and hard — directly across his face.
     The roomful of students sat stunned, and the boy, after a tiny whimper, remained silent, his eyes wide and half-filled with tears.
     Uncle Boja Willy stayed motionless for several moments, then slowly smiled. “The answer, my boy,” he said, carefully retaking his seat, “is pain…”