Sometimes, the Trickster Mentor or Zen Survivor has a lesson to teach the younger folks for which words won't do -- only by setting them up to discover it themselves will it take. In some cases, it is because the lesson won't make enough of an impression if explained; either they have to go through it themselves, or they have to put it into their own words before it really registers. In other cases (especially involving mystical teachings) it is something that literally can't be spoken at all, at least not in any manner that won't sound like an Ice Cream Koan to anyone who hasn't experienced it. A form of Taught By Experience.