There was a peasant with a troubled conscience who went to a monk for advice. He said that he had circulated an awful story about a friend, only to find out later that the story was not true. “If you want to make peace with your conscience,” the monk said, “you must fill a bag with chicken feathers, go to every door in the village, and drop at each of them one fluffy feather.”

The peasant did as he was told.

Then he returned to the monk and announced that he had done penance for his folly. “...