百喻經 白話全本Sūtra of One Hundred Parables · Complete Vernacular

Fascicle 1 of the Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, composed by the venerable Sengqiesina and translated under the Southern Qi by Qiunapidi, holds twenty-one parables, from the Parable of the Fool Who Ate Salt to the Parable of the Woman Who Wanted Yet Another Son. Each parable first tells of something a fool did (the parable), and then says that people in the world who practice are just like this (the application); the application is rendered in full in the plain reading, following the words of the base text. The words spoken by the people within the parables are each assigned to their own speaker; the narration and the applications are the words of the author. After the fascicle title at the end of the fascicle there is a passage beginning “Thus it was heard,” which records the questions and answers between the Buddha and five hundred brāhmaṇa students, up to where the Buddha says that he will expound at length the many parables for the assembly; the plain reading renders the whole of it. The (…) at the head of each segment is the anchor of page, register, and line in the Taishō canon.

〔Colophon · Fascicle 1〕（0543a04）The fascicle title is “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 1.” The author’s attribution reads “composed by the venerable Sengqiesina”—composed and compiled by the venerable Sengqiesina; the translator’s attribution reads “translated by Qiunapidi, Tripiṭaka master from India, under the Southern Qi”—translated by Qiunapidi, the Tripiṭaka master who came from India in the time of the Southern Qi. The table of contents at the head of the fascicle lists the titles of the twenty-one parables of this fascicle: “The Fool Who Ate Salt; The Fool Who Stored Up Milk; Struck on the Head with Pears; The Wife Who Feigned Death; Thirsty at the Sight of Water; Keeping a Dead Son at Home; Claiming a Stranger as Elder Brother; The Hill Tribesman Who Robbed the Royal Treasury; Praising a Father’s Virtue; The Three-Storied Tower; The Brāhmaṇa Who Killed His Son; Boiling Black-Sugar Syrup; Telling a Man He Is Quick to Anger; Killing the Caravan Leader as a Sacrifice to Heaven; The Physician’s Medicine to Make the Princess Grow at Once; Watering the Sugarcane; A Debt of Half a Coin; Climbing the Tower to Sharpen a Knife; Losing a Bowl from the Boat; Telling the King He Is Cruel; The Woman Who Wanted Yet Another Son.”

〔1 · The Fool Who Ate Salt〕（0543a16）Once there was a foolish man who went to another person’s house. The host gave him food, and he found it bland and without flavor; the host, hearing this, added some more salt for him. Once he had the salt, the food tasted good, and he thought to himself: “The reason it tastes good is that there is salt in it. If a little does this, how much more if there is a lot?” The fool, having no wisdom, then ate the salt on its own; when he had eaten it, his palate was spoiled and could taste nothing, and it turned instead into his affliction.

Just so are those followers of other paths: hearing that by moderating food and drink one can attain the Way, they cut off food altogether, some for seven days, some for fifteen days, uselessly wearing themselves out with hunger, with no benefit to the Way. Like that fool, who, because salt made the food taste good, ate it on its own until his palate was spoiled—so it is here too.

〔2 · The Fool Who Stored Up Milk〕（0543a25）Once there was a foolish man who was about to entertain guests. Wishing to gather cow’s milk to prepare the offering, he thought: “If I now milk the cow in advance, day by day, the milk will gradually grow plentiful, and in the end there will be nowhere to keep it; or else it may turn sour and spoil. Better to keep it stored in the cow’s belly, and when the feast draws near, milk it all at once.” Having thought this, he took the cow and her calf and tied them up in separate places. A month later he held the feast, welcomed and seated his guests, and was just leading the cow over to milk her—but the cow’s milk had dried up, and there was nothing. At that time some of the guests were angry with him, and some laughed at him.

The fool is so too: wishing to practice giving, he says, “Wait until I have great wealth, and then I will give it all at once.” Before he has had time to gather it, it is seized by the county officials, by water, by fire, or by thieves; or he suddenly dies and does not give in time. He too is like this.

〔3 · Struck on the Head with Pears〕（0543b08）Once there was a foolish man who had no hair on his head. At that time a man struck him on the head with pears, even two or three times, until his head was all bruised and broken; and this fool bore it in silence and did not know to get out of the way. A bystander, seeing it, said to him: “Why do you not get out of the way, but stay there taking the blows until your head is broken?” The fool answered: “That man is arrogant and relies on his strength, foolish and without wisdom. Seeing that there is no hair on my head, he took it for a stone, and struck my head with pears until it broke like this.” The bystander said: “It is you who are foolish; how can you call him foolish? If you were not foolish, would you, struck by someone until your head was broken, still not know to run away?”

Bhikṣus are so too: unable to cultivate in full faith, precepts, learning, and wisdom, they merely keep their deportment in order, to attract gain and offerings. Like that fool who, struck on the head by another, did not know to get out of the way until he was hurt and his head broken, and instead called the other foolish—such bhikṣus are just like this.

〔4 · The Wife Who Feigned Death〕（0543b20）Once there was a foolish man whose wife was fair of form, and he loved and cherished her deeply. The wife had no true fidelity; later, in the meantime, she took up with another man, and her lustful mind grew strong, so that she wished to follow that other man and leave her own husband. So she said secretly to an old woman: “After I have gone, you can bring the corpse of a dead woman and lay it in the house, and tell my husband that I have died.” Later the old woman, watching for a time when the husband was not at home, placed a dead body in his house. When the husband came back, the old woman said to him: “Your wife has died.” The husband went at once to look, believed it was his own wife, and wept in grief and anguish; he piled up much firewood and oil and burned the body, took out her bones, put them in a bag, and carried them at his bosom day and night. Later the wife grew tired of that other man and came back home, and said to her husband: “I am your wife.” The husband answered her: “My wife died long ago. Who are you, that you dare falsely say you are my wife?” Even when she said it two or three times, he still did not believe her.

Just like those followers of other paths, who, hearing the wrong teachings of others, give rise in their minds to delusion and attachment, take them to be true and never to be changed; and even when they hear the right teaching, they do not believe it, accept it, or uphold it.

〔5 · Thirsty at the Sight of Water〕（0543c05）In the past there was a man, foolish and without wisdom, who was terribly thirsty and needed water. Seeing the shimmering heat of a hot day, he took it for water, and ran chasing after it, all the way to the Sindhu River. When he reached the river, he only looked at it and did not drink. A bystander said: “You were suffering from thirst and chasing after water; now that you have come to the water, why do you not drink?” The fool answered: “If you could drink it all up, then I would drink it. This water is so very much that all of us together could not drink it up, and so I do not drink.” At that time the people, hearing him say this, all laughed loudly at him.

Just so the followers of other paths grasp its principle one-sidedly: because they themselves cannot keep the Buddha’s precepts in full, they then do not take them up at all, so that in the future they have no share in attaining the Way and wander on in birth and death. Like that fool who saw water and did not drink and was laughed at by the people of the time—so it is likewise.

〔6 · Keeping a Dead Son at Home〕（0543c15）Once there was a foolish man who had raised seven sons, and one of the sons died first. Then this fool, seeing that his son was dead, wished to keep him in his own house, while he himself meant to leave home. A bystander, seeing this, said to him: “Life and death go different ways. You should quickly lay him out and carry him far away for burial. How can you keep him here and go away yourself?” Then the fool, hearing this, thought to himself: “If I cannot keep him, and must bury him, I must kill one more son, to hang at the two ends of a carrying pole; only then can I carry the load and bring them there.” So he killed another of his sons, shouldered them on the pole, and buried them far off in the forest and wilds. The people of the time, seeing it, laughed at him deeply, finding it strange as nothing ever before.

Just as a bhikṣu who secretly breaks one precept, and in his heart shrinks from correcting and repenting, silently conceals it and declares himself pure. Or there is someone who knows of it, who says to him: “One who has left home keeps the precepts as one guards a bright pearl, letting nothing be broken or lost. Why have you now violated the precepts you received, and yet do not wish to make repentance?” The one who broke the precept says: “If I must make repentance, I will go and break them again, and then come out of the offenses all together.” So he breaks the precepts and does much that is not good, and only then comes out of them all at once. Like that fool, who, when one son had died, killed another son—this bhikṣu now is just like this.

〔7 · Claiming a Stranger as Elder Brother〕（0544a02）Once there was a man fair of form and complete in wisdom, who also had much wealth; of all the people in the world who heard of him, there was none who did not praise him. At that time a foolish man, seeing him so, said that he was his elder brother. The reason he did so was that the man had wealth, which he could use whenever he needed it, and so he took him for his elder brother; but seeing him have to repay a debt, he said that he was not his elder brother. A bystander said to him: “You are a fool! How is it that when you need wealth you call another man your elder brother, and when it comes to his debts you say again that he is not your elder brother?” The fool answered: “Because I wished to get his wealth, I claimed him as my elder brother; in truth he is not my elder brother. And when it comes to his debts, then I say he is not my elder brother.” Of the people who heard this, there was none who did not laugh at him.

Just like those followers of other paths, who hear the good words of the Buddha, greedily steal them and use them, taking them as their own; and when someone beside them teaches them to practice, they will not practice, but say: “It is for the sake of gain and offerings that we take those words of the Buddha to teach and guide beings; but there is nothing real in them—how should we practice?” Like that fool before, who for the sake of getting wealth said that the man was his elder brother, and when it came to his debts said again that he was not his elder brother: so it is here too.

〔8 · The Hill Tribesman Who Robbed the Royal Treasury〕（0544a16）In a past age there was a hill tribesman who stole goods from the king’s treasury and fled far away. Then the king sent men out in all four directions to search for him; they caught him and brought him before the king. The king then questioned him about where he had got the clothes, and the hill tribesman answered: “My clothes are things handed down from my grandfather.” The king had him put the clothes on. Because the clothes were truly not the hill tribesman’s own, he did not know how to wear them: what belonged on the hands he put on his feet, and what belonged at the waist he put instead on his head. The king, having seen the thief, assembled his ministers to examine the matter together, and said to him: “If these were clothes your family has had since your grandfather’s time, you ought to know how to wear them. Why do you wear them upside down, using the upper for the lower? Because you do not know how to wear them, it is certain that your clothes must be stolen, and not old things of your own household.”

This is taken as a parable: the king is like the Buddha, the treasure-store is like the Dharma, and the foolish tribesman is like the followers of other paths. The followers of other paths overhear the Buddha’s Dharma and put it into their own teaching, taking it as their own; but because they do not understand it, in arranging the Buddha’s Dharma they confuse the upper and the lower and do not know the marks of the Dharma. Like that hill tribesman who got the king’s precious clothes, did not know their order, and wore them upside down—so it is likewise.

〔9 · Praising a Father’s Virtue〕（0544b01）Once there was a man who, among a crowd of people, praised his own father’s virtue, saying: “My father is kind and humane; he does no harm and does not steal; he is upright and speaks the truth, and he also practices giving.” At that time there was a foolish man who, hearing these words, thought to himself and said: “My father’s virtue surpasses even your father’s.” The people asked him: “What virtue has he? Please tell us about it.” The fool answered: “From his youth my father cut off sexual desire and was never once defiled.” The people said: “If he cut off sexual desire, how were you born?” He was deeply ridiculed by the people of the time.

Just like that kind of people in the world who have no wisdom: wishing to praise another’s virtue, they do not recognize the truth of it, and instead bring on disparagement. Like that fool, whose intention was to delight in praising his father, but whose words turned into a fault: so it is here too.

〔10 · The Three-Storied Tower〕（0544b11）In times past there was a rich foolish man, foolish and knowing nothing. He went to the house of another rich man and saw a three-storied tower, tall and broad, splendid and beautiful, lofty and open, airy and bright; a longing arose in his heart, and he thought: “My wealth is no less than his. Why have I not all this while built a tower like this?” He then called a carpenter and asked him: “Can you build a fine building like the one at that house?” The carpenter answered: “That one I built.” He then said: “Now build me a tower like that one.” Then the carpenter measured out the ground, laid the sun-dried bricks, and began building the tower. The fool, seeing him lay bricks to build the house, still harbored doubt and could not understand, and asked him: “What are you going to build?” The carpenter answered: “A building of three stories.” The fool said again: “I do not want the two lower stories; first build me the topmost story.” The carpenter answered: “There is no such thing. How could one, without building the lowest story, build the second story? And without building the second, how could one build the third story?” The fool insisted: “I have no use now for the two lower stories; you must build me the topmost one.” The people of the time, hearing this, found it strange and laughed, and all said: “How could one, without building the first story below, have the one above?”

Just so the four kinds of disciples of the World-Honored One, unable to practice diligently and revere the Three Jewels, lazy and slack, yet wishing to seek the fruits of the Way, say: “I have no use now for the other three lower fruits; I seek only to attain the fruit of arhatship.” They too are ridiculed by the people of the time, no different from that fool.

〔11 · The Brāhmaṇa Who Killed His Son〕（0544c02）Once there was a brāhmaṇa who thought himself of wide learning; there was nothing among astrology and the various arts in which he was not versed. Relying on himself thus, and wishing to display his abilities, he went to another country, held his son in his arms, and wept. Someone asked the brāhmaṇa: “Why are you weeping?” The brāhmaṇa said: “This little child will die in seven days. I grieve that he will die young, and that is why I weep.” The people of the time said: “A person’s life span is hard to know, and calculations are easily wrong. If on the seventh day he perhaps does not die, why weep in advance?” The brāhmaṇa said: “The sun and moon may darken, the stars may fall, but what I have foretold will never fail.” For the sake of fame and gain, when the seventh day came, he killed his son with his own hand, to prove what he had said. Then the people of the world, seven days later, hearing that his son had died, all praised him, saying: “Truly he is a wise man; what he said was not wrong.” Faith and submission arose in their hearts, and they all came to pay him respect.

Just like the Buddha’s four kinds of disciples who, for the sake of gain and offerings, claim to have attained the Way, and by the ways of a fool kill a good man and feign the virtue of compassion, so that they bring on themselves suffering without end in the future; like the brāhmaṇa who, to verify his own words, killed his son and deceived the world.

〔12 · Boiling Black-Sugar Syrup〕（0544c17）Once there was a foolish man boiling black sugar, and a rich man came to his house. Then this fool thought: “I should now take the black-sugar syrup and give it to this rich man to drink.” He added a little water and set it on the fire, and then, right over the fire, fanned it with a fan, hoping to make it cool. A bystander said: “The fire below is not stopped; fanning it without end, how can it get cool?” At that time the people all laughed at him.

It is like the followers of other paths, who do not extinguish the blazing fire of the afflictions, but only do a little of austerities, lie on brambles and thorns, scorch the body with the five fires, and hope for the cool and tranquil Way—in the end there is no such possibility. They are uselessly ridiculed by the wise; they suffer in the present, and the calamity flows on into kalpas to come.

〔13 · Telling a Man He Is Quick to Anger〕（0544c27）In the past there was a man who sat in a house together with a crowd of people; those sitting together were praising someone who was not present, saying that his virtue was excellent, with only two faults: first, he was quick to anger; second, he was hasty and rash in what he did. At that time this man happened to pass outside the door, heard these words, and was angered; he went straight into the house, seized the one who had spoken of him as foolish and wicked, and beat him with his fists. A bystander asked: “Why do you beat him?” The man answered: “When have I ever been quick to anger or hasty? Yet this man says that I am always given to anger and hasty in what I do; that is why I beat him.” The bystander said: “Your quickness to anger and your haste are showing themselves and proving true right now; how can you deny it?” When others spoke of his faults, he rose up in resentment and blows, and the people found his folly and delusion deeply strange.

Just as people in the world who drink wine, sunk in drink and dissipated, do all kinds of heedless things; seeing others rebuke them, they instead give rise to resentment and jealousy, and labor to bring in proofs and argue on many sides to show themselves clean. Like this fool, who would not hear of his own faults, and seeing another speak of them, wanted instead to beat him.

〔14 · Killing the Caravan Leader as a Sacrifice to Heaven〕（0545a11）Once there was a band of merchants who wished to go out on the great ocean. By the rule for going out on the great ocean, there must be a guide; only then can one go. So they sought together and found a guide; having got him, they led one another out and set off, and came into the middle of a wilderness. There was a shrine of the gods there, which had to be offered a human sacrifice before one could pass. So the merchants deliberated together, saying: “We companions are all kinsfolk; how could any of us be killed? Only this guide is fit to be sacrificed to heaven.” They then killed the guide and used him for the sacrifice. When the sacrifice to heaven was done, they lost their way and did not know where to go, and in their distress they all died.

All people of the world are likewise: wishing to enter the ocean of Dharma and take its treasures, they should cultivate the practice of good dharmas as their guide; yet they destroy good practice, and on the wilderness road of birth and death have no time of escape forever, passing through the three evil destinies and suffering long. Like those merchants who, about to go out on the great ocean, killed their guide, lost the ford, and in the end died in distress.

〔15 · The Physician’s Medicine to Make the Princess Grow at Once〕（0545a23）Once there was a king to whom a daughter was born. He called a physician and said to him: “Give her medicine for me, to make her grow up at once.” The physician answered: “I will give her a fine medicine that can make her grown at once; but just now there is none at hand, and I must go and seek it. Until I obtain the medicine, the great king must on no account look at her; when I have given her the medicine, then I will show her to the king.” So the physician went far away to get the medicine; after twelve years he obtained it and came back, gave it to the girl to take, and brought her to show the king. The king, seeing her, was delighted, and thought to himself: “Truly he is a fine physician; he gave my daughter medicine and could make her grow up all at once.” He then ordered his attendants to reward him with treasures. At that time the people all laughed at the king for having no wisdom: he did not know to reckon the years and months since her birth, and seeing her grown up, said it was the power of the medicine.

People of the world are so too: they go to a good friend and make their request to him: “I wish to seek the Way; I pray you teach me, and make me attain it at once.” The good friend and teacher, by means, teaches him to sit in meditation and contemplate the twelve links of dependent arising; gradually he accumulates many merits and attains arhatship, and then, leaping with redoubled joy, he says: “How wonderful, great teacher! So quickly you have made me realize the most wonderful Dharma.”

〔16 · Watering the Sugarcane〕（0545b08）Once there were two men who planted sugarcane together and made a vow: “Whoever grows it well shall be rewarded; whoever does not grow it well shall be heavily punished.” Then one of the two men thought: “Sugarcane is very sweet. If I press out its juice and pour it back on the sugarcane plants, they will surely become sweeter still, and I will beat him.” He then pressed the sugarcane, took the juice, and watered them with it, hoping to increase the flavor; instead he ruined the seed, and all the sugarcane he had was lost.

People of the world are so too: wishing to seek good merit, they rely on their wealth and rank, depend wholly on position and wield their power, oppress and threaten the common people below, and plunder their goods, making these the root of merit and hoping for good fruit—not knowing that in the future they will instead reap its harm and calamity. Like pressing the sugarcane: both are lost.

〔17 · A Debt of Half a Coin〕（0545b17）Once there was a merchant who had lent someone half a coin, and for a long time could not get it repaid, so he went to collect the debt. Ahead there was a great river, and he had to pay someone two coins before he could cross. When he got there to collect the debt, he could not even see the man; coming back, he crossed the river and again paid two coins. For a debt of half a coin he lost four coins, besides the toil and weariness of the road. What he went to collect was very little, and what he lost was very much; and indeed he was ridiculed by the people.

People of the world are so too: seeking a little fame and gain, they bring ruin to the great practice; they look after themselves at any cost, without regard for propriety; in this life they receive ill repute, and in the next life they obtain painful retribution.

〔18 · Climbing the Tower to Sharpen a Knife〕（0545b25）Once there was a man, poor and in hardship, who worked for the king; after many days and months his body grew thin and weak. The king, seeing him, took pity on him and gave him a dead camel. The poor man, having got it, set about skinning it. Finding his knife blunt, he sought a stone to sharpen it on, and on the upper floor of a tower he found a whetstone; he sharpened the knife keen and came down to skin the camel. Going back and forth like this many times to sharpen the knife, he grew more and more weary, and, reluctant to keep climbing up, he hoisted the camel up into the tower to sharpen the knife at the stone; and he was deeply laughed at by the people.

Just like the fool who breaks the precepts and takes much wealth to use in cultivating merit, hoping to be reborn in heaven: like hoisting the camel up into the tower to sharpen the knife, the effort spent is very great, and what is gained is very little.

〔19 · Losing a Bowl from the Boat〕（0545c06）Once there was a man crossing the sea in a boat who lost a silver bowl, which fell into the water. He then thought: “I will now draw a mark on the water, leave it, and go, and later come back for it.” After traveling for two months he reached the lands of Siṃhala; he saw a river, and went into it to look for the bowl he had lost. The people asked him: “What are you doing?” He answered: “I lost a bowl earlier, and now I want to find it.” They asked: “Where did you lose it?” He answered: “I lost it when I first went out on the sea.” They asked again: “How long ago did you lose it?” He said: “It has been two months since I lost it.” They asked: “It has been two months since you lost it; how is it that you look for it here?” He answered: “When I lost the bowl, I drew a mark on the water; the water I marked before is no different from this, and so I look for it here.” They asked again: “Though the water is no different, when you lost it before, it was there; now you look for it here—how could you find it?” At that time the people all laughed loudly.

So too the followers of other paths do not cultivate right practice; amid what only resembles the good they make wild calculations and wear themselves out with austerities, to seek liberation. Just like the fool who lost his bowl there and looked for it here.

〔20 · Telling the King He Is Cruel〕（0545c20）Once there was a man who spoke of the king’s faults and offenses, saying: “The king is very cruel and governs without reason.” The king, hearing these words, was greatly enraged, and without ever finding out who had said them, believed the words of flatterers at his side, seized a worthy minister, and ordered that his back be flayed and a hundred taels of flesh cut from it. Later someone gave proof that this minister had said no such thing, and the king repented in his heart; he sought out a thousand taels of flesh to patch his back. In the night the minister groaned and cried out in great pain. The king, hearing the sound, asked: “Why are you in pain? I took a hundred taels from you and have given you back tenfold; are you still not satisfied? Why are you still in pain?” A bystander answered: “Great king! It is as if one cut off a son’s head: even if one got a thousand heads, it would not spare the son his death. Though he receives flesh tenfold, it does not spare him the pain.”

The fool is so too: not fearing the next life, greedily craving present pleasure, he cruelly oppresses beings and levies the common people, gaining much wealth, and hopes thereby to extinguish his offenses and obtain the reward of merit. Like that king who cut a man’s back and took his flesh, and patched it with other flesh hoping to keep him from pain—there is no such possibility.

〔21 · The Woman Who Wanted Yet Another Son〕（0546a05）In times past there was a woman who had only one son and wished to seek yet another son. She asked the other women: “Who has a way to make me have another son?” An old woman said to this woman: “I can make you get the son you seek, but you must sacrifice to heaven.” The woman asked the old woman: “What does the sacrifice require?” The old woman said: “Kill your son and take his blood to sacrifice to heaven, and you will surely get many sons.” Then this woman, following her words, wished to kill her son. A wise man beside them laughed at her and scolded her: “Foolish and without wisdom, to come to this! Can the son not yet born ever be got at all? And yet you would kill the son you have.”

The fool is so too: for the sake of a pleasure not yet arisen, he throws himself into a pit of fire and harms his body in all kinds of ways, only to be reborn in heaven.

〔Fascicle Title · Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 1〕（0546a15）The parables of Fascicle 1 end here, and the closing title of the fascicle reads “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 1.”

〔Preface · Thus it was heard〕（0546a16）Thus it was heard: at one time the Buddha was staying at Rājagṛha, in the Bamboo Grove of Kalandaka, together with the great bhikṣus, the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and the eight classes of beings, thirty-six thousand in all. At that time in the assembly there were five hundred brāhmaṇa students of other schools, who together rose from their seats and said to the Buddha: “We have heard that the Way of the Buddha is vast and deep, and that none can equal it; so we have come to take refuge and to ask. We pray only that you explain it to us.” The Buddha said: “Very good.”

The brāhmaṇa students asked: “Does the world exist, or does it not exist?” The Buddha answered: “It both exists and does not exist.” The brāhmaṇa students said: “If now it exists, why do you say it does not exist? If now it does not exist, why do you say it exists?” The Buddha answered: “What is born is said to exist; what dies is said not to exist; therefore it is said that it either exists or does not exist.”

The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what are people born?” The Buddha answered: “People are born from grain.” The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what are the five grains born?” The Buddha answered: “The five grains are born from the four great elements, fire and wind.” The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what are the four great elements, fire and wind, born?” The Buddha answered: “The four great elements, fire and wind, are born from space.” The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what is space born?” The Buddha answered: “It is born from nothingness.” The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what is nothingness born?” The Buddha answered: “It is born from what is so of itself.” The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what is that which is so of itself born?” The Buddha answered: “It is born from nirvāṇa.” The brāhmaṇa students asked: “From what is nirvāṇa born?” The Buddha said: “Why do you now ask about things so deeply? Nirvāṇa is the Dharma that is neither born nor dies.”

The brāhmaṇa students asked: “Has the Buddha entered nirvāṇa, or not?” The Buddha answered: “I have not yet entered nirvāṇa.” The brāhmaṇa students asked again: “If you have not yet entered nirvāṇa, how can you know that nirvāṇa is everlasting bliss?” The Buddha said: “Now I ask you: are the beings of the world in suffering, or in bliss?” The brāhmaṇa students answered: “Beings suffer greatly.” The Buddha said: “What is it that is called suffering?” The brāhmaṇa students answered: “We see that when beings die, their pain is hard to bear, and so we know that death is suffering.” The Buddha said: “You have not died now, and yet you too know the suffering of death; I see the buddhas of the ten directions neither born nor dying, and so I know that nirvāṇa is everlasting bliss.”

The five hundred brāhmaṇa students, their minds opened and their understanding freed, asked to receive the five precepts, realized the fruit of stream-entry, and sat down again as before. The Buddha said: “Listen well! Now I will expound at length for you the many parables.”

Fascicle 2 of the Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, composed by the venerable Sengqiesina and translated under the Southern Qi by Qiunapidi, holds twenty parables, from the Parable of Fetching Aloeswood from the Sea to the Parable of the Piśāca Demons. Each parable first tells of something a fool did (the parable), and then says that people in the world who practice are just like this (the application); the application is rendered in full in the plain reading, following the words of the base text. The words spoken by the people within the parables are each assigned to their own speaker; the narration and the applications are the words of the author; and within the applications, the words quoted from people of the world, followers of other paths, wise men, brāhmaṇas, and others are likewise each assigned to their own speaker. The (…) at the head of each segment is the anchor of page, register, and line in the Taishō canon.

〔Colophon · Fascicle 2〕（0546b14）The fascicle title is “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 2.” The author’s attribution reads “composed by the venerable Sengqiesina”—composed and compiled by the venerable Sengqiesina; the translator’s attribution reads “translated by Qiunapidi, Tripiṭaka master from India, under the Southern Qi”—translated by Qiunapidi, the Tripiṭaka master who came from India in the time of the Southern Qi. The table of contents at the head of the fascicle lists the titles of the twenty parables of this fascicle: “Fetching Aloeswood from the Sea; The Thief Who Wrapped Rags in Stolen Brocade; Planting Roasted Sesame Seeds; Water and Fire; Imitating the King’s Twitching Eye; Treating Whip Wounds; Trading Noses for His Wife; The Poor Man Who Burned His Coarse Wool Robe; The Shepherd; Hiring a Potter; The Merchant Who Stole Gold; Felling the Tree to Get Its Fruit; Delivering Fine Water; The Mirror in the Treasure Chest; Putting Out the Eyes of the Sage with Five Powers; Killing the Whole Herd; Drinking from the Wooden Pipe; Seeing Another Man’s Plastered House; Curing Baldness; The Piśāca Demons.”

〔22 · Fetching Aloeswood from the Sea〕（0546b25）Once there was the son of an elder who went into the sea to gather aloeswood. After a good many years he had obtained a cartload, and brought it back home. He took it to the market to sell, but because its price was high, no one would ever buy it; many days passed and he could not sell it, and he grew weary and tired of it, and was troubled by it. He saw people selling charcoal, who could always sell it quickly at any time, and he thought: “Better to burn it into charcoal; then it can be sold quickly.” So he burned the aloeswood into charcoal. He took it to the market to sell, and what he got was not even the price of half a cartload of charcoal.

The fools of the world are so too: with measureless means they practice diligently and with vigor, looking up in quest of the fruit of buddhahood; because the fruit of buddhahood is hard to attain, a mind of retreat arises in them, and they think it better to resolve to seek the fruit of the hearers, quickly cut off birth and death, and become arhats.

〔23 · The Thief Who Wrapped Rags in Stolen Brocade〕（0546c06）Once there was a thief who entered the house of a rich man and stole some brocade, and he used it to wrap up worn-out coarse wool rags and all sorts of goods, and was laughed at by the wise.

The fools of the world are so too: having had faith and entered the Buddha’s Dharma, they cultivate good dharmas and all kinds of merit; yet for the sake of greed for profit, they break their pure precepts and all kinds of merit, and are laughed at by the people of the world—so it is likewise.

〔24 · Planting Roasted Sesame Seeds〕（0546c12）Once there was a foolish man who ate sesame seeds raw and found them not tasty; roasted, he found them tasty, and he thought: “Better to roast them and then plant them; afterward I can harvest tasty sesame.” So he roasted the sesame seeds and planted them, and there was never any way for them to grow.

People of the world are so too: because a bodhisattva must practice through vast kalpas, and must also perform austerities hard to perform, they think this is not joyful, and they think: “Better to become an arhat and quickly cut off birth and death; that work is very easy.” Afterward, wishing to seek the fruit of buddhahood, they can never attain it; like those scorched seeds, there is no further way for it to grow. The fools of the world are so too.

〔25 · Water and Fire〕（0546c20）Once there was a man who, in his work, needed fire and also needed cold water. He kept the fire overnight, and also filled a washing jug with water and set it on the fire. Later, when he wished to take the fire, the fire had gone out altogether; when he wished to take the cold water, the water had already become hot: both the fire and the cold water were lost.

People of the world are so too: they enter the Buddha’s Dharma and leave home to seek the Way; having been able to leave home, they then think of their wives and kin, the affairs of the world, and the pleasures of the five desires. For this reason they lose the fire of their merit and the water of keeping the precepts. Those who think of the pleasures of desire are so too.

〔26 · Imitating the King’s Twitching Eye〕（0546c28）Once there was a man who wished to win the king’s favor, and he asked another: “How can I win it?” Someone said to him: “If you wish to win the king’s favor, you should imitate the king’s appearance.” This man later went to the king, and seeing the king’s eye twitch, imitated the king’s twitching eye. The king asked him: “Are you ill? Have you caught a wind? Why does your eye twitch?” The man answered the king: “My eye is not ill, nor have I caught a wind; I wish to win the great king’s favor, and seeing the great king’s eye twitch, I imitated the great king.” When the king heard this, he was greatly enraged, and at once had people inflict all kinds of punishment on him and drive him out of the country.

People of the world are so too: toward the Buddha, the Dharma King, they wish to be able to draw near, seeking his good dharmas to increase their own. Having been able to draw near, they do not understand that the Tathāgata, the Dharma King, for the sake of beings, shows by all kinds of means his own shortcomings; or, hearing his Dharma and seeing that some words and phrases are not proper, they give rise to mockery and slander, and imitate what is not right. For this reason, within the Buddha’s Dharma they lose their own good forever and fall into the three evil destinies—like the man who imitated the king, so it is likewise.

〔27 · Treating Whip Wounds〕（0547a13）Once there was a man who was whipped by the king; after the whipping, he spread horse dung on the wounds, wishing them to heal quickly. A foolish man saw this, was glad in his heart, and said: “I have surely obtained this way of treating wounds.” He went back home and said to his son: “Whip my back; I have got a good method, and now I wish to try it.” His son whipped his back for him, and he spread horse dung on it, thinking himself clever.

People of the world are so too: hearing someone say that by cultivating the contemplation of impurity one can remove the sores of the body of the five aggregates, they say: “I will look at female beauty and the five desires.” Before they have seen the impure, they are instead bewildered and disturbed by female beauty, wander on in birth and death, and fall into hell. The fools of the world are so too.

〔28 · Trading Noses for His Wife〕（0547a23）Once there was a man whose wife was fair of face, only her nose was ugly. This man went out and saw another man’s wife whose face was fair and whose nose was very fine, and he thought: “Better for me now to cut off her nose and set it on my wife’s face—would that not be good?” So he cut off the other man’s wife’s nose, took it back home, and hurriedly called his wife: “Come out quickly; I will give you a fine nose.” His wife came out, and he cut off her nose and at once set the other woman’s nose on his wife’s face; since it would not stay on, she lost her own nose as well, and he uselessly made his wife suffer great pain.

The fools of the world are so too: hearing that ascetics and brāhmaṇas of long standing have great renown and virtue, are revered by the people of the world, and receive much gain and offerings, they think: “I am now no different from them.” They falsely make claims for themselves and wrongly say they have virtue; they both lose that gain and offerings and damage their own conduct. Like cutting off another’s nose and uselessly harming oneself—the fools of the world are so too.

〔29 · The Poor Man Who Burned His Coarse Wool Robe〕（0547b07）Once there was a man, poor and destitute, who worked as a hired laborer for others and got a robe of coarse wool, which he put on and wore. Someone saw him and said to him: “You are the son of a noble of upright lineage; why do you wear this coarse, worn-out woolen robe? I will now teach you, and surely make you get the finest of garments; you should follow my words, and I will never deceive you.” The poor man was very glad and respectfully followed his words. That man then lit a fire before him and said to the poor man: “Now you may take off this coarse woolen robe and put it in the fire; right here where the robe is burned, I will surely make you get the finest of fine garments.” The poor man took off the robe and put it into the fire. When it had burned, he searched for fine garments in the place where the fire had burned, and found nothing at all.

People of the world are so too: from past bodies they have cultivated all kinds of good dharmas and obtained this human body, which they should protect, advancing in virtue and cultivating good works; yet they are deceived and enticed by the wicked, bewitching women of other paths: “You should now believe my words: practice all kinds of austerities, leap from mountain cliffs, throw yourself into fire; once you have cast off this body, you will be reborn in the Brahmā heaven and enjoy bliss for a long time.” They follow her words and cast off body and life; when the body dies, they fall into hell and undergo all kinds of pain in full. They both lose the human body and are left empty with nothing gained—like that poor man, so it is likewise.

〔30 · The Shepherd〕（0547b23）Once there was a man who was skilled at herding sheep, and his sheep multiplied so greatly that they came to thousands upon tens of thousands; but he was extremely miserly and greedy, and would not let any out for use. At that time there was a man skilled in cunning deceit, who devised a plan, went to him and made friends with him as kin, and said to him: “I am now so close and dear to you, as if we were one body, with no difference left. I know that a certain family has a fine daughter; I will ask for her on your behalf, and you can take her as your wife.” The shepherd, hearing this, was very glad, and gave him a great many sheep and all sorts of goods. That man said again: “Your wife has given birth to a son today.” The shepherd had not yet seen his wife, and hearing that she had given birth, was overjoyed in his heart and again gave him goods generously. Later that man said to him again: “Your son, after he was born, has now died.” The shepherd, hearing this man’s words, wept aloud, sobbing and lamenting without end.

People of the world are so too: having cultivated much learning, for the sake of their own fame and gain they hide and hoard their Dharma, unwilling to teach and expound it for others; deluded and deceived by this leaking body, they wrongly hope for worldly pleasure. Just as the shepherd was deceived over his wife and son, they lose good dharmas; afterward they also lose body and life and goods, and then weep aloud in grief and give rise to sorrow and suffering—like that shepherd, so it is likewise.

〔31 · Hiring a Potter〕（0547c10）Once there was a brāhmaṇa teacher who wished to hold a great assembly, and he said to his disciple: “I need earthenware for the great assembly; you may go and hire a potter for me, and look for him at the market.” Then the disciple went toward the potter’s house. At that time there was a man who was carrying earthenware on a donkey to the market, wishing to sell it; in a moment the donkey broke all the earthenware, and he went back home weeping and vexed. The disciple saw him and asked: “Why do you grieve and fret like this?” That man answered: “I tried every means and toiled hard for many years to make these wares, and took them to the market wishing to sell them; this wretched donkey broke all my wares in a moment, and so I am vexed.” The disciple, seeing and hearing this, said with delight: “This donkey is a fine thing: what took a long time to make, it can break in a moment. I should now buy this donkey.” The potter was very glad and sold it to him. The disciple rode the donkey back home, and the teacher asked him: “Why did you not bring the potter? What use is this donkey?” The disciple answered: “This donkey is better than the potter: the wares the potter took a long time to make, it can break in a moment.” Then the teacher said: “You are so foolish, without wisdom! This donkey can now only break things; even given a hundred years, it could not make a single one.”

People of the world are so too: though for a thousand or a hundred years they receive the offerings of others, they make no return or repayment at all, constantly cause harm, and never bring benefit. Those who turn their backs on kindness are so too.

〔32 · The Merchant Who Stole Gold〕（0547c28）Once there were two merchants who traded together; one sold true gold, the second sold tūla cotton. Someone else wished to buy the true gold, and heated the gold to test it; the second merchant then stole the heated gold and wrapped it in tūla cotton. Because the gold was hot at the time, it burned up all the cotton; once the facts of the theft were exposed, both things were lost.

Just like those followers of other paths, who steal the Buddha’s Dharma and put it into their own teaching, falsely calling it their own and not the Buddha’s Dharma; for this reason their outer scriptures are burned away and do not circulate in the world—like the affair of stealing the gold, the facts are all laid bare, so it is likewise.

〔33 · Felling the Tree to Get Its Fruit〕（0548a07）Once there was a king who had a fine tree, tall and broad, which was going to bear the finest fruit, fragrant and sweet. At that time a man came to the king, and the king said to him: “This tree is going to bear fine fruit; can you eat of it?” The man answered the king: “This tree is tall and great; though I wish to eat, how could I get it?” So he cut down the tree, hoping to get its fruit; in the end he got nothing at all and uselessly wore himself out. Afterward he wished to set the tree up again, but the tree had already withered and died, and there was no longer any way for it to grow.

People of the world are so too: the Tathāgata, the Dharma King, has the tree of keeping the precepts, which can bring forth a supreme fruit; when in their hearts there arises a wish for joy and they want to get the fruit to eat, they should keep the precepts and cultivate all kinds of merit; yet not understanding means, they instead destroy the prohibitive precepts—like that felled tree, which one wishes to bring back to life, it is altogether impossible. Those who break the precepts are so too.

〔34 · Delivering Fine Water〕（0548a18）Once there was a village five yojanas from the royal city, and in the village there was very fine water. The king ordered the villagers to deliver that fine water constantly, every day; the villagers grew weary and worn, and all wished to move away and escape, leaving this village far behind. Then the village head said to the people: “Do not go! I will report to the king for you to change the five yojanas into three, so that you will feel it is near, and going and coming will not tire you.” He went and reported to the king; the king changed it into three yojanas for them, and when the people heard this they were overjoyed. Someone said: “This is still the same five yojanas as before; it is no different.” Though they heard these words, because they believed the king’s word, they would never leave.

People of the world are so too: practicing the true Dharma, crossing beyond the five paths, heading for the city of nirvāṇa, weariness arises in their hearts and they wish to give up, halting their carriage in the midst of birth and death, unable to go forward any more. The Tathāgata, the Dharma King, has great means: within the Dharma of the One Vehicle he distinguishes and speaks of three; people of the Lesser Vehicle, hearing it, are very glad, thinking it easy to practice, and so they cultivate the good, advance in virtue, and seek to cross beyond birth and death; afterward they hear someone say that there are no three vehicles, it is still one path. Because they believe the Buddha’s word, they will never give it up—like those villagers, so it is likewise.

〔35 · The Mirror in the Treasure Chest〕（0548b04）Once there was a man, poor and destitute, who owed others many debts and had no way to repay them, so he fled and hid in an empty, open place. He came upon a chest full of treasures, with a bright mirror lying on top of the treasures, covering them. The poor man saw it, was overjoyed in his heart, and opened it; seeing the man in the mirror, he was seized with fright, and joining his palms he said: “I thought it was an empty chest with nothing in it; I did not know that you were in this chest. Please do not be angry with me.”

Ordinary people are so too: impoverished by measureless afflictions, and also bound by the creditor Māra, king of birth and death, they wish to escape birth and death, enter the Buddha’s Dharma, cultivate good dharmas, and do all kinds of merit. It is like coming upon the treasure chest; yet, bewildered and disturbed by the mirror of the view of the body, they wrongly see that there is a self, and then cling to it and are attached, taking it to be real; and so they fall, and lose all kinds of merit—meditation, the factors of the path, all the good dharmas without outflows, the fruits of the Way of the three vehicles—all of it is lost. Like that fool who abandoned the treasure chest—those attached to the view of self are so too.

〔36 · Putting Out the Eyes of the Sage with Five Powers〕（0548b18）Once there was a man who went into the mountains to learn the Way, obtained the five supernatural powers and became a sage; his divine eye saw clearly, and he could see all the treasures of every kind hidden in the earth. The king heard of it, was overjoyed in his heart, and said to his ministers: “How can I make this man stay always in my country and not go elsewhere? So that my treasury may obtain many treasures.” There was a dull-witted minister who, on his own, went straightaway, gouged out both the sage’s eyes, and brought them to report to the king: “Your servant has gouged out his eyes; he can no longer leave and will stay always in this country.” The king said to the minister: “The reason I greedily sought to keep the sage here was that he could see everything hidden in the earth; now you have destroyed his eyes—what use can he still be?”

People of the world are so too: seeing others practicing the austerities of dhūta in mountain forests, open wilds, among the tombs, and beneath trees, cultivating the four stations of mindfulness and the contemplation of impurity, they forcibly bring them to their own homes and make all kinds of offerings; they destroy their good dharmas, so that the fruit of the Way cannot be accomplished, and make them lose their eye of the Way; having lost that benefit, they are left empty with nothing gained—like that foolish minister who uselessly destroyed another’s eyes.

〔37 · Killing the Whole Herd〕（0548c02）Once there was a man who had two hundred and fifty cattle; he constantly drove them to places of water and grass and fed them at the proper times. At that time a tiger ate one of the cattle. Then the owner of the cattle thought: “I have already lost one head; the herd is no longer complete. What use are these cattle now?” So he drove the cattle to the high bank of a deep pit, pushed them to the bottom of the pit, and killed them all.

Ordinary foolish people are so too: they receive and keep the Tathāgata’s full precepts; if they break one precept, they feel no shame and remorse and do not purely repent, but think: “I have already broken one precept; since they are no longer full, what use is keeping them?” So they break all the precepts, leaving not one; like that fool who killed the whole herd of cattle, leaving not one.

〔38 · Drinking from the Wooden Pipe〕（0548c12）Once there was a man who, walking along, was thirsty and worn, and saw clean flowing water in a wooden pipe, so he went up to it and drank; when he had drunk his fill, he raised his hand and said to the wooden pipe: “I have finished drinking; water, do not come any more.” Though he said this, the water flowed as before, and he said in anger: “I have finished drinking and told you not to come; why do you still come?” Someone saw him and said to him: “You are so foolish, without wisdom! Why do you not go away yourself, instead of saying ‘do not come’?” And he pulled him away and led him off to another place.

People of the world are so too: because of the thirsting craving of birth and death, they drink the salt water of the five desires; once they have grown weary and tired of the five desires, like that man who had drunk his fill, they say: “You forms, sounds, odours, and tastes, do not come any more to be seen by me.” Yet these five desires go on without a break, and having seen them, they again become angry: “I told you to perish quickly and not arise again; why do you still come to be seen by me?” Then a wise man says to them: “If you wish to attain separation from them, you should gather in your six senses and close off your mind; when false thinking does not arise, you attain liberation. Why must you not see them and wish to make them not arise?” This is altogether like that fool who drank the water, with no difference.

〔39 · Seeing Another Man’s Plastered House〕（0548c27）Once there was a man who went to another man’s house, and saw that the walls of the house had been plastered and smoothed and the floor was level and clean, very fine; so he asked the owner: “What did you mix for the plaster, to get it so fine?” The owner answered: “I used the chaff of rice, soaked in water until it was soft, and mixed it into the mud to plaster the walls; that is how I got it like this.” The fool then thought: “If one uses only the chaff of rice, better to use it together with the rice grain itself; then the walls can be white and clean, and the mud too will be level and fine.” So he mixed rice grain into the mud and used it to plaster his walls, hoping to get them level and straight; instead they became all the more uneven, and the walls cracked all over. He uselessly threw away the rice grain to no benefit at all; it would have been better to give it freely and gain merit.

Ordinary people are so too: hearing the sages expound the Dharma, saying that one who cultivates all kinds of good dharmas can, after casting off this body, attain rebirth in heaven and liberation, they kill their own bodies, hoping to attain rebirth in heaven and liberation; they uselessly squander their lives and are left empty with nothing gained—like that fool.

〔40 · Curing Baldness〕（0549a11）Once there was a man who had no hair on his head; in winter he was bitterly cold, in summer he suffered from the heat, and he was also bitten by mosquitoes and gadflies, troubled day and night, and suffered greatly from it. There was a physician who had many arts; then the bald man went to him and said to the physician: “I pray only that the great master will treat me.” At that time the physician too was bald; he took off his cap to show him and said to him: “I too suffer from this ailment and find it painful; if I could treat it and cure it, I ought first to treat myself and rid myself of the ailment.”

People of the world are so too: harassed and afflicted by birth, old age, sickness, and death, they wish to seek a place of long life without death; hearing that there are ascetics, brāhmaṇas, and others who are the good physicians of the world, skilled at treating all kinds of ailments, they go to them and say to them: “We pray only that you rid us of this ailment of impermanence and birth and death, and let us abide always in peace and bliss, enduring without change.” Then the brāhmaṇas and others answer: “We too suffer from this impermanent birth, old age, sickness, and death, and by all kinds of methods have sought a place of enduring, and have never been able to attain it. If now we could make you attain it, we ought first to attain it ourselves, and then let you attain it too.” Like that man who suffered from baldness, they uselessly weary themselves and cannot be cured.

〔41 · The Piśāca Demons〕（0549a27）Once there were two piśāca demons who together owned a chest, a staff, and a pair of sandals. The two demons fought over them, each wishing to have them; the two demons quarreled and wrangled, and for a whole day could not divide them fairly. At that time a man came along, and having seen this, asked them: “What is so marvelous about this chest, staff, and sandals, that you fight over them and are enraged to this degree?” The two demons answered: “This chest of ours can bring forth all garments, food and drink, beds and bedding, bedclothes, and every means of livelihood—all of it comes out of it. Whoever holds this staff, his enemies all submit and yield, and none dares fight with him. Whoever wears these sandals can fly about with no obstruction at all.” This man, having heard it, said to the demons: “Go a little farther off, and I will divide them equally for you.” The demons, hearing his words, at once withdrew far away. This man straightaway took the chest in his arms, took up the staff, put on the sandals, and flew away; the two demons were dumbfounded, and in the end got nothing at all. The man said to the demons: “What you were fighting over, I have now taken away; now I have left you nothing more to fight over.”

The piśāca demons stand for the hosts of Māra and the followers of other paths. Giving is like the chest: the goods needed by humans and gods in the five paths all come out of it. Meditation is like the staff: it can dispel and subdue the enemy Māra and the thieves of the afflictions. Keeping the precepts is like the sandals: it is sure to raise one up to humans and gods. The Māras and followers of other paths fighting over the chest stands for forcing a quest for fruition and retribution within the outflows, left empty with nothing gained. If one can cultivate good conduct, together with giving, keeping the precepts, and meditation, one can then be free of suffering and obtain the fruits of the Way.

〔Fascicle Title · Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 2〕（0549b16）The parables of Fascicle 2 end here, and the closing title of the fascicle reads “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 2.”

Fascicle 3 of the Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, composed by the venerable Sengqiesina and translated under the Southern Qi by Qiunapidi, holds twenty-four parables, from the Parable of the Merchant Whose Camel Died to the Parable of the Five Hundred Joy Pills. Each parable first tells of something a fool did (the parable), and then says that people in the world who practice are just like this (the application); the application is rendered in full in the plain reading, following the words of the base text. The words spoken by the people within the parables are each assigned to their own speaker; the narration and the applications are the words of the author; and within the applications, the words spoken by people of the world, teachers and disciples, followers of other paths, and others are likewise each assigned to their own speaker. At the end of Parable 59 and of Parable 60 there is a verse, rendered line by line in the plain reading. The (…) at the head of each segment is the anchor of page, register, and line in the Taishō canon.

〔Colophon · Fascicle 3〕（0549b19）The fascicle title is “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 3.” The author’s attribution reads “composed by the venerable Sengqiesina”—composed and compiled by the venerable Sengqiesina; the translator’s attribution reads “translated by Qiunapidi, Tripiṭaka master from India, under the Southern Qi”—translated by Qiunapidi, the Tripiṭaka master who came from India in the time of the Southern Qi. The table of contents at the head of the fascicle lists the titles of the twenty-four parables of this fascicle: “The Merchant Whose Camel Died; Grinding a Great Stone; Wanting to Eat Half a Cake; The Servant Who Guarded the Door; Stealing the Yak; The Poor Man Who Cried Like a Mandarin Duck; The Jackal Struck by a Broken Branch; The Boys Who Quarrelled over a Tuft of Hair; Treating a Hunched Back; Five Men Who Bought One Slave Girl; The Musician’s Performance; The Teacher’s Sore Legs and His Two Disciples; The Snake’s Head and Tail Quarrelling over Who Goes First; Asking to Shave the King’s Beard; Demanding ‘Nothing’; Kicking the Elder’s Mouth; Two Sons Dividing the Estate; Watching the Potter Make Pots; Seeing the Reflection of Gold in the Water; Brahmā’s Disciple Who Tried to Create Things; The Sick Man Who Ate Pheasant; The Players Frightened by the Rākṣasa Costume; The Old House Said to Have a Demon; The Five Hundred Joy Pills.”

〔42 · The Merchant Whose Camel Died〕（0549c05）It is like a merchant who was traveling about trading, and in the middle of the road his camel suddenly died. What the camel carried included many precious treasures, fine, soft, top-quality cotton cloth, and all sorts of goods. Since the camel was dead, he flayed off its hide. The caravan leader, about to leave and go on his way, left two disciples sitting on guard and said to them: “Watch the camel hide well; do not let it get wet and rot.” Afterward it rained, and the two, obstinate and dull, covered this hide entirely with the good cotton cloth, and the cotton cloth all rotted and was ruined. The worth of the hide and the worth of the cotton cloth are by their very nature far apart; it was only because of their folly that they covered the hide with the cotton cloth.

People of the world are so too: not killing stands for the white cotton cloth; the camel hide stands for wealth and goods; the rain falling and the soaking and rotting stand for heedlessness, which ruins good conduct. The precept against killing is the supreme and wondrous cause of the Buddha’s Dharma body; yet people cannot cultivate it, but only use wealth and goods to build all kinds of stupas and temples and make offerings to the assembly of monks, abandoning the root and taking the branches, not seeking the root; and so they drift and wander in the five paths and cannot get out by themselves. Therefore those who practice should apply their minds with care and keep the precept against killing.

〔43 · Grinding a Great Stone〕（0549c18）It is like a man who ground a great stone, diligently applying effort and strength, and after days and months had passed, made only a little toy ox; the effort spent was so heavy, and what he hoped for was so light.

People of the world are so too: grinding the great stone stands for being vigorous and diligent, toiling and laboring, in learning; making the little ox stands for seeking fame and disputing with one another over right and wrong. Those who pursue learning study and ponder what is subtle and profound, are broadly versed and know much; they ought to put it into practice themselves and seek far off a supreme fruit; instead they seek reputation, are arrogant and conceited, and increase their faults and troubles.

〔44 · Wanting to Eat Half a Cake〕（0549c25）It is like a man who, because he was hungry, ate seven griddle cakes; when he had eaten six and a half, he was already full. The man was vexed and regretful, struck himself with his hand, and said: “That I am now full is due to this half cake; but the six cakes before it were all thrown away for nothing. Had I known that half a cake could fill me, I should have eaten it first.”

People of the world are so too: from the very beginning there has never been any pleasure; yet because of folly and inversion, they wrongly give rise to the notion of pleasure. Just as that foolish man gave rise to the notion of being full over half a cake, people of the world, without knowing, take wealth and rank to be pleasure. As for wealth and rank: when one seeks it, it is very painful; once one has obtained it, guarding it is painful too; afterward one loses it again, and grieving over it is painful once more: in these three times there is no pleasure at all. Just as clothing and food are called pleasure only because they cover and shield, so in truth, within hardship, people wrongly give rise to the notion of pleasure. The buddhas say: “The three realms have no peace; all is great suffering; ordinary people, inverted and deluded, wrongly give rise to the notion of pleasure.”

〔45 · The Servant Who Guarded the Door〕（0550a08）It is like a man who was about to go on a long journey and instructed his servant: “Guard the door well, and look after the donkey and the rope.” After the master had left, at that time there was music being played at a neighbor’s house; the servant wanted to listen and could not keep himself still, so he at once tied up the door with the rope, put it on the donkey’s back, carried it to the place of the show, and listened to their music. After the servant had gone, the goods in the house were all carried off by thieves. The master returned from his journey and asked the servant: “Where are the treasures?” The servant answered: “What the master entrusted to me before was the door, the donkey, and the rope; beyond these, it is not for a servant to know.” The master said again: “I left you to guard the door precisely for the sake of the goods; now that the goods are lost, what use is the door?”

The fools in birth and death, who have become the servants of craving, are so too: the Tathāgata teaches and admonishes them always to guard the doors of the senses, not to be attached to the six sense objects, to keep watch over the donkey of ignorance and look after the rope of craving. Yet the bhikṣus do not follow the Buddha’s teaching; greedily seeking gain and offerings, they make a false show of purity and sit in a quiet place, while their minds flow and race, greedily attached to the five desires, bewildered and disturbed by forms, sounds, odours, and tastes; ignorance covers their minds and the rope of craving binds them, and the treasures of right mindfulness, the factors of awakening, and the factors of the path are all scattered and lost.

〔46 · Stealing the Yak〕（0550a23）It is like the people of a village who together stole a yak and together ate it. The man who had lost the yak followed the tracks to the village, called out to the people of this village, asked them how the matter stood, and said to them: “Are you in this village?” The thieves answered: “We truly have no village.” He asked again: “There is a pond in your village; was it by this pond that you ate the yak together?” They answered: “There is no pond.” He asked again: “Is there a tree beside the pond?” They answered: “There is no tree.” He asked again: “When you stole the yak, was it to the east of your village?” They answered: “There is no east.” He asked again: “When you stole the yak, was it not just at midday?” They answered: “There is no midday.” He asked again: “Even granting that there could be no village and no tree, how could there be, anywhere under heaven, no east and no time? I know that what you say is false speech, none of it to be believed. Did you steal the yak and eat it?” They answered: “We truly ate it.”

Those who break the precepts are so too: they conceal their offenses and are unwilling to bring them to light, and after death they enter hell; the gods and the good spirits look with the divine eye, and they cannot conceal them—just like those who had eaten the yak, who could not deceive and deny it.

〔47 · The Poor Man Who Cried Like a Mandarin Duck〕（0550b07）Once, in a foreign country, there was a festival day on which all the women wore utpala flowers made into garlands as adornment. There was a poor man whose wife said to him: “If you can get utpala flowers and bring them to give me, I will be your wife; if you cannot get them, I will leave you.” Her husband had long been good at imitating the cry of the mandarin duck, so he went into the king’s pond and, crying like a mandarin duck, stole utpala flowers. At that time the keeper of the pond asked: “Who is in the pond?” And the poor man blurted out in answer: “I am a mandarin duck.” The keeper caught him and took him toward the king; halfway along the road, he again joined his voice in crying like a mandarin duck. The keeper of the pond said: “You did not cry before; what good is crying now?”

The fools of the world are so too: all their lives they do cruel harm and commit all kinds of evil deeds, not training the workings of the mind to make it tamed and good; when they come to the end of life, only then do they say: “Now I wish to cultivate the good.” The hell wardens take them away and hand them over to King Yama; though they wish to cultivate the good, it is already too late—just like that fool who cried like a mandarin duck only when he was about to reach the king.

〔48 · The Jackal Struck by a Broken Branch〕（0550b21）It is like a jackal that was under a tree; the wind broke off a branch, which fell on its back. At once it shut its eyes and did not want to look at the tree any more; it abandoned the tree and ran off to open ground, and even when evening came it would not come back. From afar it saw the wind blowing the great tree and its branches swaying up and down, and it said that the tree was calling to it, and at once came back beneath the tree.

Foolish disciples are so too: they have been able to leave home and to draw near to their teachers and elders, yet because of a small rebuke they run away; later they meet bad friends and are harassed without end, and only then do they come back to the place they left. To come and go like this is folly and delusion.

〔49 · The Boys Who Quarrelled over a Tuft of Hair〕（0550b29）It is like this: once there were two little boys who went into a river to play, and at the bottom of this water they found a handful of hair. One boy said: “This is a sage’s beard.” The other boy said: “This is a bear’s fur.” At that time there was a sage by the river; the two boys, unable to stop quarrelling over it, went to that sage and asked him to settle their doubt. The sage at once took some rice and sesame seeds, chewed them in his mouth, spat them into his palm, and said to the boys: “What is in my palm looks like peacock droppings.” That this sage did not answer what they had asked, everyone could see.

The fools of the world are so too: when they expound the Dharma, they make idle play of the dharmas and do not answer with the right principle—just like that sage who did not answer what was asked—and are mocked by everyone. Expounding the Dharma in a loose and empty way is so too.

〔50 · Treating a Hunched Back〕（0550c11）It is like a man who suddenly came down with a hunched back and called in a physician to treat it. The physician smeared it with ghee, put boards above and below it, and pressed down hard with all his strength, and before he knew it both eyes popped out together.

The fools of the world are so too: for the sake of cultivating merit, they make a living by trading and selling and do all kinds of things that are not in accord with the Dharma; though the thing is accomplished, the gain does not make up for the harm, and in the age to come they enter hell—this is what the popping out of both eyes stands for.

〔51 · Five Men Who Bought One Slave Girl〕（0550c17）It is like five men who together bought one slave girl. One of them said to the slave girl: “Wash my clothes for me.” Next another man also told her to wash clothes. The slave girl said to the later man: “I will wash for the first one first.” The later man said angrily: “I bought you together with the first man; why do you work for him alone?” And he whipped her ten strokes. In this way, each of the five men struck her ten strokes.

The five aggregates are so too: this body is formed by the causes and conditions of the afflictions, and these five aggregates constantly flog beings with birth, old age, sickness, and death, and measureless suffering and vexation.

〔52 · The Musician’s Performance〕（0550c24）It is like a musician who played music before the king, and the king promised him a thousand coins. Later he asked the king for them, and the king would not give them; the king said to him: “Your playing just now only gave empty pleasure to my ears; my promise to give you money also only gave pleasure to your ears.”

The fruition and retribution of the world are so too: among humans and in the heavens, though one enjoys a little pleasure, it too has no reality; it is impermanent, decays and perishes, and cannot last long—just like that empty music.

〔53 · The Teacher’s Sore Legs and His Two Disciples〕（0551a01）It is like a teacher who had two disciples. The teacher suffered from his legs, and he had the two disciples each take charge of one leg and massage it at all times. The two disciples constantly hated and envied each other. When one disciple went out, the other took hold of the leg that the first was in charge of massaging and broke it with a stone; when that one came back, he was enraged at what had been done, and took hold of the leg the other massaged and at once broke it too.

The students of the Buddha’s Dharma are so too: those who study the Vaipulya condemn and reject the Lesser Vehicle, and those who study the Lesser Vehicle in turn condemn the Vaipulya; and so they cause the Dharma canon of the Great Sage to perish on both paths together.

〔54 · The Snake’s Head and Tail Quarrelling over Who Goes First〕（0551a09）It is like a snake whose tail said to its head: “I should go in front.” The head said to the tail: “I have always been in front; why do you suddenly say this?” The head did go in front, but the tail wrapped itself around a tree so that it could not go on; when they let the tail go in front, it fell into a pit of fire, was burned to a crisp, and died.

Teachers and disciples are so too: they say that the teacher is old and is always in front, and that we who are young ought to be the leaders. Young ones like these, unversed in the precepts and discipline, commit many offenses, and so they drag one another into hell.

〔55 · Asking to Shave the King’s Beard〕（0551a16）Once there was a king who had a trusted retainer; in the midst of battle the retainer risked his life to save the king and kept the king safe. The king was overjoyed and wished to grant his wish, and asked him: “What do you seek? Whatever you desire is yours.” The retainer answered: “When the great king shaves his beard, I pray that you allow me to shave it.” The king said: “If this matter suits your heart, I grant your wish.” A fool like this is laughed at by the people of the world: the governing of half the kingdom, the post of great minister or chief counselor—all could have been his, yet he asked for this lowly task.

Fools are so too: the buddhas, through measureless kalpas, practiced austerities hard to perform and themselves accomplished buddhahood. One may be able to meet a buddha, or to come upon the Dharma he left behind; the human body is hard to obtain, like a blind turtle coming upon the hole in a floating log—these two things hard to meet have now been met; yet their resolve is feeble: keeping a few precepts, they think it enough, do not seek the supreme and wondrous Dharma of nirvāṇa, have no mind to press on in the quest, and go about wrong practices themselves, thinking it enough.

〔56 · Demanding “Nothing”〕（0551a28）Once there were two men walking together on the road, who saw a man pushing a cart of sesame seeds who could not get forward on a steep, rough road. Then the man with the cart said to the two men: “Help me push the cart out of this rough stretch of road.” The two answered: “What will you give us?” The man with the cart said: “I have nothing to give you.” Then the two helped him push the cart to level ground and said to the man with the cart: “Give us the thing.” He answered: “Nothing.” The two said again: “Then give us ‘nothing.’” One of the two, smiling, said: “He is unwilling to give; what is there to be troubled about?” That man (the one demanding the thing) answered: “He says he gives us nothing; then there must surely be a thing called ‘nothing.’” The one who had smiled said: “What is called ‘nothing’ is the two words ‘no’ and ‘thing’ joined together; it is only a provisional name.”

Worldly ordinary people, if they grasp at ‘nothing,’ are reborn in the Station of Nothingness; the ‘nothing’ spoken of by the second man is signlessness, wishlessness, and non-action.

〔57 · Kicking the Elder’s Mouth〕（0551b11）Once there was a very rich elder; the people around him, wishing to win his favor, all showed him the utmost respect. When the elder spat, the attendants around him would trample it away with their feet. There was a foolish man who never managed to trample it in time, and he said: “If he spits on the ground, everyone tramples it away; when he is about to spit, I shall trample it first.” So when the elder was just about to cough and spit, at that moment this fool raised his foot and trampled on the elder’s mouth, splitting his lips and breaking his teeth. The elder said to the fool: “Why did you trample on my lips?” The fool answered: “If the elder’s spittle leaves the mouth and falls to the ground, the flatterers around you have already trampled it away; though I wish to trample it, I am always too late. For this reason, when the spittle was about to leave your mouth, I raised my foot and trampled it first, hoping to win your favor.”

All things must wait for their time; when the time has not yet come, to force effort upon them brings only suffering and vexation instead. For this reason, people of the world should know what is the right time and what is not.

〔58 · Two Sons Dividing the Estate〕（0551b23）Once in the land of Moluo there was a kṣatriya who fell gravely ill, and knowing for certain that he would die, he admonished and instructed his two sons: “After I die, divide the property well.” The two sons followed his instruction, and after his death divided the property into two shares; the elder brother said the younger brother’s division was not fair. At that time there was a foolish old man who said: “I will teach you to divide the things so that it can be equal. Split everything you have into two shares. How do you split it? That is to say: cut the clothes down the middle into two shares; split the plates and bottles down the middle too into two shares; split all the basins and jars too into two shares; split the coins too into two shares: in this way, split all the property you have, every bit of it, into two shares.”

Dividing things like this is laughed at by people; this is just like the followers of other paths, who one-sidedly cultivate the discourse of distinctions. The modes of discourse are of four kinds. There is the mode of discourse of the definite answer: for example, of people, all that exist will die—this is the mode of discourse of the definite answer. That whoever dies is sure to be born again is something to be answered with a distinction: one whose craving is exhausted is not born again, and one who has craving is sure to be born again; this is called the mode of discourse of the answer by distinction. Someone asks whether humans are the most excellent; one should ask him back: are you asking with respect to the three evil paths, or with respect to the gods? If the question is with respect to the three evil paths, humans truly are the most excellent; if it is with respect to the gods, humans are surely not their equal. Teachings such as these are called the mode of discourse of the answer by counter-question. If one is asked the fourteen difficult questions—if one is asked whether the world and beings are bounded or boundless, have a beginning and end or have no beginning and end—teachings such as these are called the mode of discourse of the answer by setting aside. The followers of other paths, foolish yet thinking themselves wise, destroy these four kinds of discourse and make a single discourse of distinctions—just like that fool dividing the money and goods, who broke the coins into two pieces.

〔59 · Watching the Potter Make Pots〕（0551c14）It is like two men who went to a potter’s place and watched him tread the wheel and make earthenware pots, and could not get enough of watching. One man left and went to a great assembly, where he got the finest of fine food and also obtained treasures; the other man, watching the pots, said: “Let me finish watching.” Delaying little by little like this, until the sun went down, he watched the pots without stopping, and lost his clothing and food.

Fools are so too: managing and arranging the affairs of the household, they do not perceive impermanence.

　　Today they manage this affair, tomorrow they make that deed;

　　the buddhas come forth like great dragons, their thunder filling the world,

　　the Dharma rain falls everywhere without obstruction, yet bound by worldly affairs they do not hear it.

　　Not knowing that death suddenly arrives, they miss these assemblies of the buddhas,

　　do not obtain the treasure of the Dharma, and dwell always in the evil paths, destitute.

　　Turning their backs on and casting off the true Dharma, that man watches the pot of worldly affairs,

　　never at any time finished; therefore he loses the benefit of the Dharma,

　　and forever has no time of liberation.

〔60 · Seeing the Reflection of Gold in the Water〕（0551c28）Once there was a foolish man who went to a great pond and saw, in the reflection at the bottom of the water, the image of true gold; thinking there was gold, he went into the water and stirred up the mud searching for it. Utterly worn out and not finding it, he came out again and sat down. After a moment the water cleared and the gold color appeared again, and once more he went in and stirred up the mud searching, and again did not find it. Just as he was doing this, his father, looking for his son, found him, came to see him, and asked his son: “What are you doing, so worn out and exhausted?” The son said to his father: “There is true gold at the bottom of the water; I at once threw myself into the water, wishing to stir up the mud and take it, and, utterly worn out, I did not get it.” The father looked at the reflection of the true gold at the bottom of the water and knew that this gold was in the tree; how he knew it was that the reflection appeared at the bottom of the water. The father said: “Surely a flying bird carried the gold in its beak and put it in the tree.” The son followed his father’s words, climbed the tree to look for it, and got it.

　　Foolish ordinary people, without wisdom, are so too:

　　within the aggregates, which have no self, they wrongly give rise to the notion of a self;

　　like that man who saw the reflection of the gold, they toil and labor in the search,

　　laboring in vain, gaining nothing at all.

〔61 · Brahmā’s Disciple Who Tried to Create Things〕（0552a13）The assembly of brāhmaṇas all say: “The Great Brahmā King is the father of the world, and can create the ten thousand things.” This lord who creates the ten thousand things had a disciple, who said that he too could create the ten thousand things—truly foolish, yet thinking himself wise. He said to Brahmā: “I wish to create the ten thousand things.” King Brahmā said to him: “Do not have this thought; you cannot create them.” He did not heed Brahmā’s words, and set out to create things. Brahmā saw the things his disciple had created, and said to him: “The head you made is too big, and the neck you made extremely small; the hands you made are too big, and the arms you made extremely small; the feet you made are extremely small, and the heels you made extremely big: what you made looks just like a piśāca demon.”

From this teaching one should know: each and every one is created by its own karma, not something Brahmā can create. When the buddhas expound the Dharma, they are not attached to the two extremes, neither attached to annihilation nor attached to permanence, and expound the Dharma in accordance with the eightfold right path. The followers of other paths, having seen annihilation and seen permanence, then give rise to attachment, deceive the world, make a semblance of the Dharma, and what they say is in truth not the Dharma.

〔62 · The Sick Man Who Ate Pheasant〕（0552a26）Once there was a man who was gravely ill; a good physician diagnosed him and said: “You must constantly eat one kind of food, pheasant meat; then the illness can be cured.” This sick man bought a pheasant at the market, and when he had finished eating it, ate no more. Later the physician saw him and asked him: “Is your illness cured yet?” The sick man answered: “The physician taught me before to eat pheasant meat constantly; so now that I have finished eating one pheasant, I dare not eat any more.” The physician said to him again: “If the first pheasant was finished, why did you not eat another? How can you now eat just one pheasant and hope to cure your illness?”

All the followers of other paths are so too: they hear the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, the unsurpassed good physicians, say that one should understand the mind and consciousness; the followers of other paths cling to the view of permanence and then think that past, future, and present are only one consciousness, without change or passing away—this is just like eating only one pheasant—and so they cannot cure their illness of folly, delusion, and affliction. The buddhas of great wisdom teach the followers of other paths to get rid of their view of permanence: all dharmas arise and perish moment by moment; how could there be one consciousness, constant and unchanging? Just as that physician of the world taught him to eat more pheasant, and the illness was cured, the Buddha is so too: he teaches beings so that they come to understand that dharmas, because they decay, are not permanent, and because they continue, are not annihilated; and so they can root out the illness of the view of permanence.

〔63 · The Players Frightened by the Rākṣasa Costume〕（0552b13）Once in the land of Gandhāra there was a troupe of players who, because a famine had come at that time, went to other lands in search of food, and passed through Mount Poluoxin; and this mountain had long been full of evil ghosts and man-eating rākṣasas. At that time the players gathered to spend the night in the mountains; in the mountains the wind was cold, so they lit a fire and lay down. Among the players there was one who suffered from the cold, and he put on the rākṣasa costume from their plays and sat facing the fire. At that time one of the companions woke from sleep, suddenly saw a rākṣasa beside the fire, and without looking carefully, left it and ran; and so they alarmed one another, and all the companions fled. At that time the companion wearing the rākṣasa clothes also ran after them, racing and fleeing headlong; the fellow travelers, seeing him behind them, thought he meant to harm them, and grew twice as terrified; they crossed mountains and rivers and threw themselves into gullies, their bodies wounded and torn, utterly worn out and exhausted, until at daybreak they realized it was not a ghost.

All ordinary people are so too: dwelling amid the afflictions, starved and destitute of good dharmas, they wish to seek far off the unsurpassed food of the Dharma—permanence, bliss, self, and purity—and then, within the five aggregates, they wrongly reckon a self. Because of the view of self they flow and race through birth and death, chased by the afflictions and not free, and fall into the gullies of the three evil destinies, the evil realms. Reaching daybreak stands for the long night of birth and death coming to an end and wisdom dawning bright; only then do they know that in the five aggregates there is no true self.

〔64 · The Old House Said to Have a Demon〕（0552c01）Once there was an old house, and people said that there was always an evil ghost in this house; everyone was afraid and dared not sleep or rest in it. At that time there was a man who thought himself bold, and he said: “I wish to go into this house and lodge in it for one night.” And he went in and stayed. Afterward there was another man who thought his courage surpassed the first man’s, and he too heard bystanders say that there was always an evil ghost in this house; he wished to go in, and pushed the door to go forward. At that time the one who had gone in first thought he was the ghost, and pushed the door back to block him and not let him come in; the one who came afterward also thought there was a ghost inside. The two men fought and quarrelled until daybreak. When they saw each other, only then did they realize it was not a ghost.

All the people of the world are so too: causes and conditions come together for a while, and there is no master; examining and analyzing them one by one, which is the self? Yet beings wrongly reckon right and wrong, and forcibly give rise to quarrels and disputes—altogether like those two men, with no difference.

〔65 · The Five Hundred Joy Pills〕（0552c13）Once there was a woman, wanton and without restraint; since her lust was so strong, she hated and loathed her husband, constantly thought of schemes, and planned to do him harm; she tried all kinds of plots, but never got her chance. It happened that her husband was sent on an embassy to a neighboring country; the woman secretly made a plan and made poison pills, wishing to use them to kill her husband, and deceitfully said to him: “Now you are going far away on an embassy, and I worry that you will run short of things; now I have made five hundred joy pills, to give you as provisions for the road. When you have left the country and reached another land, eat them only when you are hungry and worn.” The husband followed her words; after he had reached the other land, before he had had time to eat them, in the dark of night he stopped to spend the night in a forest, and fearing wild beasts, he climbed a tree to escape them, forgetting the joy pills at the foot of the tree. That very night, five hundred thieves, who had stolen five hundred horses and treasures from the king of that country, came and rested beneath the tree; because they had been fleeing, all of them were hungry and thirsty, and beneath the tree they saw the joy pills; the thieves took them and each ate one pill; the poison of the pills was fierce, and the five hundred thieves all died at once. When daybreak came, the man in the tree saw this band of thieves lying dead beneath the tree, and, making a pretense, slashed the corpses with his sword and shot them with arrows, gathered up their saddled horses and treasures, and drove them toward that country. At that time the king of that country, leading a great many men, came in pursuit following the tracks, and midway along the road the man came upon that king. That king asked him: “Who are you? Where did you get these horses?” The man answered: “I am a man of such-and-such a country; on the road I came upon this band of thieves, and we slashed and shot at one another; the five hundred thieves now all lie dead in one place, beneath the tree. For this reason I have got these horses and treasures, and have come to take refuge in the great king’s country. If you do not believe me, you may send someone to go and look at the thieves’ wounds and the place where they were killed.” The king at once sent a trusted man to go and look, and it was just as he had said. The king was then delighted and exclaimed that such a thing had never been; after returning to his country, he generously bestowed rank and rewards on him, gave him great treasures, and enfeoffed him with villages. That king’s old ministers all grew jealous and said to the king: “He is a man from afar, and cannot yet be trusted; how can you suddenly favor him so excessively, so that his rank and rewards surpass those of the old ministers?” The man from afar, having heard this, said: “Who is brave and strong enough to test himself against me? I ask to compete in skill on the open plain.” The old ministers were all astonished, and none dared oppose him. Later, in a great wilderness of that country, there was a fierce lion that blocked the road and killed people, cutting off the king’s road. At that time the old ministers deliberated together carefully: “That man from afar thinks himself brave and strong, with no one able to match him; if now he can also kill that lion and rid the country of harm, that will truly be remarkable.” Having deliberated thus, they reported it to the king; the king, having heard it, gave him a sword and staff and at once sent him off. Then the man from afar, having received the command, steeled his will and went toward the lion. The lion saw him, roused itself in fury, roared, and leapt forward; the man from afar, terrified, at once climbed a tree. The lion opened its mouth and raised its head toward the tree; the man, in fear and haste, let slip the sword he was holding, which fell right into the lion’s mouth, and the lion at once died. Then the man from afar, jumping for joy, came and reported to the king; the king favored him twice as much, and at that time the people of that country all at once respected and submitted to him, and all praised him.

The woman’s joy pills stand for impure giving; the king sending an envoy stands for a good friend; going to another country stands for the gods; killing the band of thieves stands for attaining stream-entry and forcibly cutting off the five desires and all the afflictions; meeting that king stands for encountering the worthy and noble ones. The old people of the country growing jealous stands for the followers of other paths, who, seeing that the wise can cut off the afflictions and the five desires, then give rise to slander and say there is no such thing. The man from afar saying, to provoke them, that none of the old ministers could match him stands for no one among the followers of other paths daring to resist and clash with him. Killing the lion stands for defeating Māra. Having cut off the afflictions and also subdued the evil Māra, one then obtains the fruit of the Way of non-attachment as fief and reward. Always being timid and afraid stands for being able to overcome the strong by the weak. Though at the beginning he had no pure mind, yet that one act of giving of his met with a good friend, and he obtained a superior reward; if impure giving is still like this, how much more so giving joyfully with a good mind? Therefore one should, in the field of merit, diligently cultivate giving.

〔Fascicle Title · Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 3〕（0553b06）The parables of Fascicle 3 end here, and the closing title of the fascicle reads “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 3.”

Fascicle 4 of the Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, composed by the venerable Sengqiesina and translated under the Southern Qi by Qiunapidi, holds thirty-three parables, from the Parable of Reciting the Art of Steering a Boat Without Knowing How to Use It to the Parable of the Child Who Caught a Great Tortoise; with this fascicle the parables of the whole sūtra come to an end. Each parable first tells of something a fool did (the parable), and then says that people in the world who practice are just like this (the application); the application is rendered in full in the plain reading, following the words of the base text. The words spoken by the people within the parables are each assigned to their own speaker; the narration and the applications are the words of the author; and within the applications, the words spoken by people of the world, followers of other paths, bad friends, and others are likewise each assigned to their own speaker. The application of Parable 90 quotes a verse, rendered line by line in the plain reading; the twelve lines of verse at the end of the fascicle, in which the author tells his purpose in making this treatise, together with the closing words, are set apart as a segment of their own. The (…) at the head of each segment is the anchor of page, register, and line in the Taishō canon.

〔Colophon · Fascicle 4〕（0553b09）The fascicle title is “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 4.” The author’s attribution reads “composed by the venerable Sengqiesina”—composed and compiled by the venerable Sengqiesina; the translator’s attribution reads “translated by Qiunapidi, Tripiṭaka master from India, under the Southern Qi”—translated by Qiunapidi, the Tripiṭaka master who came from India in the time of the Southern Qi. The table of contents at the head of the fascicle lists the titles of the thirty-three parables of this fascicle: “Reciting the Art of Steering a Boat Without Knowing How to Use It; The Husband and Wife Who Made a Wager over a Cake; Harming Each Other out of Hatred; Eating Fast in Imitation of His Ancestors; Tasting the Āmra Fruit; Losing Both Eyes on Account of Two Wives; The Mouthful of Rice and the Cut Cheek; Falsely Claiming the Horse Had Died; The Renunciant Who Craved Gain and Offerings; Losing Both the Camel and the Jar; The Farmer Who Pined for the Princess; Milking the Donkey; Telling His Son to Set Out Early; Carrying the King’s Stool; The Enema Taken the Wrong Way; Bitten by a Bear; Imitating the Sowing of a Field; The Monkey; Beating the Dog for the Eclipse of the Moon; The Woman with Aching Eyes; The Father Who Took His Son’s Earrings; The Robbers Dividing Their Loot; The Monkey with a Fistful of Beans; Finding a Golden Weasel; Finding Gold Coins on the Ground; The Poor Man Who Wanted Wealth Equal to the Rich; The Child Who Got a Joy Pill; The Old Woman Who Caught a Bear; Maṇi and the Water Drain; The Two Pigeons; Feigning Blindness; Robbed of His Fine Cotton by Bandits; The Child Who Caught a Great Tortoise.”

〔66 · Reciting the Art of Steering a Boat Without Knowing How to Use It〕（0553b26）Once there was the son of a great elder who went to sea together with a number of merchants to gather treasure. This son of the elder was very good at reciting the methods of handling a ship at sea: that if one entered places in the sea where the water whirls in eddies and back-currents and the swift flow dashes against the rocks, one should hold it thus, set it right thus, and keep it steady thus. He said to the people: “The methods of going to sea, I know them all.” Having heard this, the people deeply believed his words. When they had reached the middle of the sea, before much time had passed, the helmsman fell ill and suddenly died. Then the son of the elder took the helmsman’s place, and in the midst of the whirling eddies and swift currents he sang out: “One should hold it thus, set it right thus.” But the ship spun round and round and could not go forward to reach the place of treasure, and all the merchants on the ship sank into the water and died.

Ordinary people are so too: having studied a little the methods of meditation, the counting of breaths in ānāpāna, and the contemplation of impurity, though they recite the texts, they do not understand their meaning; of all the various methods they in truth know nothing, yet they claim to understand them well; they wrongly teach the methods of meditation, causing those who follow them to be confused and lose their minds, and they turn the marks of the Dharma upside down; year after year they gain nothing at all—just like that fool who caused others to sink in the sea.

〔67 · The Husband and Wife Who Made a Wager over a Cake〕（0553c11）Once there were a husband and wife who had three cakes. The two shared them out, each eating one cake, and one was left over; so the two together made a pact, saying: “If either of us speaks, by our pact that one shall not get the cake.” Once the pact was made, for the sake of one cake neither dared to speak. Before long a thief entered the house to steal and took their goods; everything they had fell into the thief’s hands; because of their earlier pact, husband and wife watched with open eyes and did not speak. The thief, seeing that they did not speak, assaulted the wife in front of her husband, and the husband watched and still did not speak. The wife then cried out that there was a thief, and said to her husband: “How can there be a fool like you, who for the sake of one cake sees a thief and does not cry out?” The husband clapped his hands, laughed, and said: “Ha, you slave girl! I have surely won the cake; I will not give it to you.” Of the people of the world who heard of this, there was none who did not jeer.

Ordinary people are so too: for the sake of a little fame and gain, they make a false show of silence, and are assailed and plundered by the false afflictions, all kinds of evil thieves; they lose their good dharmas and fall into the three evil destinies, yet are not afraid at all and do not seek the world-transcending Way, but instead indulge in play amid the five desires; though they meet with great suffering, they do not think it a calamity—altogether like that fool, with no difference.

〔68 · Harming Each Other out of Hatred〕（0553c26）Once there was a man who bore hatred toward another and was sorrowful and unhappy. Someone asked him: “Why are you now so sorrowful and haggard?” He answered: “Someone has insulted me, and my strength is not enough to repay him; I do not know by what means I could repay him, and so I am sorrowful.” Someone said to him: “Only the vetāla spell can harm him; but there is one danger: before it has had time to harm him, it will harm you yourself first.” Having heard this, the man was overjoyed: “Only teach it to me; though it will harm me, still I hope to wound him.”

People of the world are so too: for the sake of anger they wish to seek the vetāla spell, to use it to afflict the other; in the end they do not harm the other, but first, through anger, afflict and harm themselves instead, and fall into hell, among the animals and the hungry ghosts—altogether like that fool, with no difference.

〔69 · Eating Fast in Imitation of His Ancestors〕（0554a08）Once there was a man who came from North India to South India; after he had lived there a long time, he married the daughter of a family there, and they became husband and wife. Then the wife prepared food and drink for her husband, and the husband, getting it, gulped it down in haste, not minding that it was hot. The wife at that time found this strange and said to her husband: “There are no robbers here who plunder people; what urgent business is there, that you are in such a hurry and cannot eat calmly and slowly?” The husband answered his wife: “There is a good secret matter that I cannot tell you.” The wife, hearing his words, thought there was some extraordinary method, and pressed him earnestly with questions; after a long while he answered: “From my grandfather’s time on, the family way has always been to eat fast; I now follow it, and so I eat fast.”

Ordinary people of the world are so too: they do not penetrate the right principle and do not know good and evil; they commit all kinds of wrong conduct and are not ashamed of it, and yet say that from their grandfathers’ time on they have followed such a way; until death they keep practicing it and never give it up—just like that fool, who was used to his fast eating and thought it a good way.

〔70 · Tasting the Āmra Fruit〕（0554a20）Once there was an elder who sent a man with money to another’s orchard to buy āmra fruit, wishing to eat it, and instructed him: “Buy only the good, sweet ones.” The man took the money and went to buy the fruit. The owner of the fruit said: “The fruit of these trees of mine are all fine, without a single bad one; taste one fruit, and that is enough to know.” The man buying the fruit said: “I must now taste them one by one, and only then take them; if I taste only one, how can I know?” He at once picked up the fruit and tasted every one of them, one by one, and carried them home. The elder, seeing this, was disgusted and would not eat them, and threw them all away.

People of the world are so too: they hear that keeping the precepts and giving bring great wealth and happiness, and that the body is always at peace, without any calamities, yet they are unwilling to believe it, and say: “That giving brings merit—when I myself get it, then I can believe it.” They see with their own eyes that in this present life the noble and the base, the poor and the destitute, are all the fruition and retribution obtained from deeds of former lives, yet they do not know to infer from one thing in order to seek cause and effect; instead they harbor disbelief and must experience it in their own persons; once life ends, their goods are lost—just like that man who tasted the fruit, and everything was thrown away.

〔71 · Losing Both Eyes on Account of Two Wives〕（0554b05）Once there was a man who took two wives: if he drew near to one, he was resented by the other. Unable to decide, he lay down on his back, his body straight, between the two wives. It happened that a great rain fell from the sky and the house leaked; water and mud fell down together into his eyes; because of an earlier agreement, he dared not get up to avoid it, and so both his eyes lost their sight.

Ordinary people of the world are so too: they draw near to wrong friends, practice what is not in accord with the Dharma, create karma that binds, fall into the three evil paths, dwell long in birth and death, and lose the eye of wisdom—just like that foolish man who, for the sake of his two wives, lost both eyes.

〔72 · The Mouthful of Rice and the Cut Cheek〕（0554b13）Once there was a man who went to his wife’s family home, saw them pounding rice, went over to the place, stole some rice, and held it in his mouth. His wife came, saw her husband, and wished to speak with him; his mouth full of rice, he made no answer at all; ashamed before his wife, he would not spit out the rice, and so he did not speak. His wife, finding it strange that he did not speak, felt with her hand and thought his mouth was swollen, and said to her father: “My husband has just arrived and has suddenly come down with a swollen mouth; he cannot speak at all.” Her father then called a physician to treat him. Then the physician said: “This illness is most grave; if it is cut open with a knife, it can be cured.” And he cut open his mouth with a knife; the rice came out from inside, and the matter was laid bare.

People of the world are so too: they commit all kinds of evil conduct and violate the pure precepts, conceal their faults and are unwilling to bring them to light, and fall into hell, among the animals and the hungry ghosts. They are like that fool who, because of a little shame, would not spit out the rice, until his mouth was cut open with a knife, and only then was his fault revealed.

〔73 · Falsely Claiming the Horse Had Died〕（0554b25）Once there was a man who rode a black horse into battle to strike at the enemy; because he was afraid, he could not fight, and so he smeared his face with blood, made a false show of being dead, and lay among the dead, and the horse he rode was taken by someone else. After the troops had gone, he wished to go home, and so he cut off the tail of another man’s white horse and brought it with him. When he got home, someone asked him: “Where is the horse you rode now? Why are you not riding it?” He answered: “My horse is already dead, so I brought its tail back.” A bystander said to him: “Your horse was black to begin with; how is its tail white?” He was silent, with no answer to give, and was laughed at by people.

People of the world are so too: they say of themselves that they are very good, that they cultivate a mind of kindness and do not take wine or meat; yet they kill and harm living beings and inflict all kinds of torments on them; falsely they call themselves good, while in truth there is no evil they do not do—just like that fool who falsely claimed his horse had died.

〔74 · The Renunciant Who Craved Gain and Offerings〕（0554c07）Once there was a king who set up an edict: whatever brāhmaṇas and others there were within my kingdom were all ordered to wash themselves clean; those who did not wash clean were driven and put to work at all kinds of hard labor. There was a brāhmaṇa who held an empty washing jug and falsely said that he washed himself clean; when people poured water in for him, he at once poured it away. And he said: “I do not wash clean; the king washes it himself.” In order to satisfy the king’s will and so escape the king’s labor service, he falsely said that he washed clean, while in truth he did not wash.

Ordinary people who have left home are so too: they shave their heads and put on dyed robes, while within they in truth break the precepts; they make a false show of keeping the precepts, hoping to get gain and offerings, and also escape the king’s labor service; outwardly they seem to be ascetics, while within they are in truth false and deceitful—just like holding an empty bottle, which has only an outward form.

〔75 · Losing Both the Camel and the Jar〕（0554c17）Once there was a man who had first stored grain in a jar; a camel put its head into the jar to eat the grain and then could not get it out; since it could not get out, the man was worried and distressed about it. An old man came and said to him: “Do not worry! I will teach you how to get it out. If you follow my words, it will surely come out quickly: you should cut off its head, and it will come out of itself.” The man followed his words and cut off the camel’s head with a knife, so that he both killed the camel and broke the jar. A fool like this is laughed at by the world.

Ordinary foolish people are so too: in their hearts they hope for bodhi and set their minds on seeking the three vehicles; they ought to keep the precepts and guard against all evils; yet for the sake of the five desires they break the pure precepts; once they have violated the precepts, they abandon the three vehicles, give free rein to their minds and follow their every wish, and there is no evil they do not do; the three vehicles and the pure precepts, both together are cast away—just like that fool who lost both the camel and the jar.

〔76 · The Farmer Who Pined for the Princess〕（0554c28）Once there was a farmer who went strolling in a city and saw the king’s daughter, her countenance comely, rare in the world; day and night he thought of her, and his longing could not stop; he wished to have relations with her but had no way to bring it about; his face turned sallow, and he fell gravely ill. His relatives all saw this and asked him: “Why are you like this?” He answered his kin: “Yesterday I saw the king’s daughter, her countenance comely; I wish to have relations with her and cannot, and so I am ill. If I do not get her, I shall surely die.” His relatives said to him: “We will find a good means for you, to let you have her; do not worry.” Some days later they saw him and said to him: “We have managed this for you, and it can be counted as done; only the king’s daughter is unwilling.” The farmer, hearing this, laughed gladly, thinking he was sure to get her.

The fools of the world are so too: they do not distinguish the seasons, spring, autumn, winter, and summer, and in winter they throw seed into the soil, hoping to get fruit; they waste their effort in vain and gain nothing at all; sprouts, stems, branches, and leaves—all are lost. The fools of the world cultivate a little merit and think it complete, and then think that bodhi can already be realized—just like that farmer who hoped for the king’s daughter.

〔77 · Milking the Donkey〕（0555a14）Once the people of a border country did not know the donkey; they heard others say that donkey’s milk was very sweet and fine, but none of them knew it. At that time the people got a male donkey and, wishing to milk it, fought with one another to catch hold of it: among them, some caught hold of its head, some of its ears, some of its tail, some of its legs, and others again held a vessel, each wishing to get the milk first and drink it in front of the rest. One of them caught hold of the donkey’s member, thinking that this was the milk, and milked it, hoping to get milk. The people were tired and weary, all of them got nothing, toiled for nothing and gained nothing at all, and were jeered at by all the people of the world.

Ordinary people among the followers of other paths are so too: hearing talk of the Way, they wrongly give rise to notions in places where it should not be sought, give rise to all kinds of wrong views, go naked, starve themselves, throw themselves from cliffs and leap into fire; because of these wrong views they fall into the evil paths—just like that fool who wrongly sought milk.

〔78 · Telling His Son to Set Out Early〕（0555a25）Once there was a man who said to his son at night: “Tomorrow I will go with you to that village; there is something to fetch.” The son heard this, and when morning came, without asking his father at all, went there alone. When he had got there, his body was utterly exhausted and he gained nothing at all; he also got no food, so that he was nearly dying of hunger and thirst; he soon came back again and came to see his father. The father, seeing his son return, rebuked him sharply: “You are very foolish and without wisdom; why did you not wait for me? You went there and back for nothing and suffered this hardship in vain, and you are jeered at by all the people of the world.”

Ordinary people are so too: if they are able to leave home, they shave off beard and hair and put on the three Dharma robes, yet they do not seek an enlightened teacher to consult and receive from him the Dharma of the Way; they lose all meditation, the factors of the path, and merit, and the wondrous fruit of the ascetic—all of it is lost—just like that fool who went there and back for nothing, wearing himself out in vain; in form they look like ascetics, but in truth they gain nothing.

〔79 · Carrying the King’s Stool〕（0555b08）Once there was a king who wished to go into the Garden Without Sorrow to enjoy himself, and instructed a minister: “Take a stool and bring it to that garden; I will use it to sit and rest.” Then that envoy, ashamed to carry it in his hands, would not take it, and reported to the king: “I cannot carry it in my hands; I would rather carry it on my back.” Then the king put thirty-six stools on his back and drove him to carry them to the garden. A fool like this is laughed at by the world.

Ordinary people are so too: if they see a single hair of a woman on the ground, they say of themselves that they keep the precepts and will not pick it up; later, deluded by the afflictions, they do not think the thirty-six things—hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, excrement and urine, and the other impure things—to be ugly; the thirty-six things they take up all at once, without feeling shame and remorse, and do not give them up until death—just like that fool who carried the stools on his back.

〔80 · The Enema Taken the Wrong Way〕（0555b19）Once there was a man who suffered from an illness of the lower parts. The physician said: “You must take an enema; then you can be cured.” And the equipment for the enema was gathered, so as to give it to him. Before the physician had arrived, the man took it and swallowed it, and his belly swelled until he was nearly dying, unable to bear it. When the physician arrived, he found this strange and asked him: “Why are you like this?” He answered the physician: “The enema medicine just now—I took it and swallowed it, and so I am nearly dying.” The physician, hearing this, rebuked him sharply: “You are a very foolish man, who does not understand means.” He then gave him other medicine to swallow, and only then did he vomit and purge, and so he was cured. A fool like this is laughed at by the world.

Ordinary people are so too: wishing to cultivate and learn the various methods of meditative contemplation, where they should learn the impure, they instead learn the counting of breaths; where they should count the breaths, they learn to contemplate the six elements; they turn high and low upside down and have no root; they waste their lives in vain and are trapped by it. Not consulting a good teacher, they turn the methods of meditation upside down—just like that fool who drank and swallowed what was impure.

〔81 · Bitten by a Bear〕（0555c03）Once there were a father and son walking together with companions; the son went into a forest and was bitten by a bear, its claws tearing his body; in distress and danger he came out of the forest and returned to his companions. The father, seeing his son’s body wounded, asked him in surprise: “Why have you now received such wounds?” The son told his father: “There is a kind of creature, the hair of its body long and shaggy, that came and wounded me.” The father took his bow and arrows and went into the forest, where he saw a sage whose hair was thick and long, and wished to shoot him. A bystander said to him: “Why shoot him? This man does no harm; you should punish the one at fault.”

The fools of the world are so too: abused and insulted by those who, though they wear the Dharma robes, have no practice of the Way, they wrongly harm good and virtuous people—just like that father, whose son was wounded by a bear, but who wrongly inflicted harm on a divine sage.

〔82 · Imitating the Sowing of a Field〕（0555c13）Once there was a rustic who came to the fields and saw fine wheat sprouts growing thick and lush, and asked the owner of the wheat: “How can one make this wheat grow so lush and fine?” The owner of the wheat answered: “Level the ground and add manure and water as well; that is how it comes to be like this.” The man then applied this method: he mixed water and manure into his field and sowed seed in the ground. He was afraid that his own feet would tread the ground and make it hard, and then the wheat would not grow: “I should sit on a couch and have people carry it, and scatter the seed from above; that will be good.” He then had four men each lift one leg of the couch and went to the field to scatter seed; the ground was trodden harder than ever, and he was jeered at by people: afraid of his own two feet, he instead added eight more.

Ordinary people are so too: having already tilled the field of the precepts, when good sprouts are about to come forth, they ought to consult their teachers and elders and receive and practice their instruction and admonition, so that the sprouts of the Dharma may grow; yet instead they violate it and do many evil things, and so they keep the sprouts of the precepts from growing—just like that man who, afraid of his two feet, instead added eight.

〔83 · The Monkey〕（0555c26）Once there was a monkey that was beaten by a grown man; able to do nothing against the grown man, it bore a grudge instead against a little child.

Ordinary foolish people are so too: the person they were angry with before has already passed away and been replaced without pause, perishing into the past; yet they take the dharmas that arise afterward in continuity to be that former person, wrongly give rise to angry resentment, and their venomous rage grows ever deeper—just like that foolish monkey which, beaten by the grown man, turned its anger instead on the little child.

〔84 · Beating the Dog for the Eclipse of the Moon〕（0556a03）Once the asura king, seeing the sun and the moon bright and clear, covered them with his hand; and common folk without wisdom wrongly inflict cruel blows on a dog that has done nothing wrong.

Ordinary people are so too: through greed, anger, and folly, they wrongly torment their own bodies, lying on thorns and scorching the body with the five fires—just like wrongly and needlessly beating the dog at the time of the eclipse of the moon.

〔85 · The Woman with Aching Eyes〕（0556a08）Once there was a woman whose eyes were in great pain. A woman she knew asked her: “Are your eyes in pain?” She answered: “My eyes are in pain.” That woman she knew said again: “Having eyes, one is sure to have pain; though mine are not yet in pain, I too wish to gouge out my eyes, for fear they will hurt later.” A bystander said to her: “If the eyes are still there, they may hurt or may not hurt; if the eyes are gone, there is lasting pain all one’s life.”

The foolish and ordinary are so too: hearing that wealth and rank are the root of decline and calamity, they are afraid and will not give, fearing that later they will receive the reward, their goods will overflow, and they will again undergo suffering and vexation. Someone said to them: “If you give, there may be suffering or there may be happiness; if you do not give, there will be poverty and great suffering.” They are like that woman who, unable to bear the pain close at hand, wished to get rid of her eyes, and so it became lasting pain instead.

〔86 · The Father Who Took His Son’s Earrings〕（0556a17）Once there were a father and son who, on account of some business, set out together; on the road robbers suddenly appeared and were about to come and strip them. The son had earrings of real gold in his ears; his father, seeing the robbers suddenly coming and afraid of losing the earrings, pulled at them with his hand; the ears would not tear off at once, and for the sake of the earrings he cut off his son’s head. A moment later the robbers left them and went away; he put his son’s head back on his shoulders, but could not restore it as before. A fool like this is laughed at by the world.

Ordinary people are so too: for the sake of fame and gain they engage in idle play, saying that the two worlds exist and that the two worlds do not exist, that the intermediate existence exists and that the intermediate existence does not exist, that mental factors exist and that mental factors do not exist—all kinds of false thinking—and they do not attain the reality of the Dharma. When others refute what they have argued with arguments in accord with the Dharma, they say: “In my treatise there is no such statement at all.” Fools like this, for the sake of a little fame and gain, deliberately speak falsely and lose the fruits of the Way of the ascetic; when the body breaks up and life ends, they fall into the three evil paths—just like that fool who, for a little gain, cut off his son’s head.

〔87 · The Robbers Dividing Their Loot〕（0556b01）Once there was a band of robbers who went raiding together and seized a great deal of goods; they then divided it together, making equal shares; only one deer-park kambala, its color not pure and fine, they made into the lowest share and gave to the meanest of them. The lowly one, getting it, was angry and resentful, thinking he had suffered a great loss, and took it to the city to sell. Many noble elders offered a high price for it, so that what this one man got was double what his companions got, and only then was he overjoyed beyond measure.

It is like people of the world who do not know whether giving has a reward or has no reward, and practice a little giving, and are reborn in the heavens and enjoy measureless happiness, and only then are they regretful, regretting that they did not give widely at first. Just as with that kambala, which later fetched a great price, and only then was joy brought forth, so giving too: doing little, one gains much, and only then does one congratulate oneself, sorry not to have done more.

〔88 · The Monkey with a Fistful of Beans〕（0556b11）Once there was a monkey holding a handful of beans; by mistake it dropped one bean on the ground, and then threw away the beans in its hand, wishing to look for that one; before it had found that one bean, the ones it had thrown away before had all been eaten up by chickens and ducks.

Ordinary people who leave home are so too: at first they break one precept and cannot repent; because they do not repent, heedlessness grows and spreads, and everything is abandoned—just like that monkey, which lost one bean and threw everything away.

〔89 · Finding a Golden Weasel〕（0556b17）Once there was a man walking along the road who found on the way a golden weasel; his heart leapt with joy, and he took it and put it in the fold of his robe and went on along the road; when he came to water and wished to cross, he took off his clothes and put them on the ground, and at once the golden weasel turned into a poisonous snake. This man thought deeply: “I would rather be stung to death by the poisonous snake; still I must carry it with me in my robe.” His intention was utterly sincere, and there was a hidden response: it changed back into gold. Beside him was a foolish man who, seeing the poisonous snake turn into a true treasure, thought it was always so, and in turn caught a poisonous snake and put it in the fold of his own robe, and was at once stung by the poisonous snake, losing his body and his life.

The fools of the world are so too: they see that doing good brings gain, yet within they have no true mind; only for the sake of gain and offerings do they come and attach themselves to the Dharma; after life ends they fall into an evil place—just like the man who caught the poisonous snake, was stung, and died.

〔90 · Finding Gold Coins on the Ground〕（0556b27）Once there was a poor man walking along the road who happened to find on the way a bag of gold coins; his heart leapt with great joy, and he at once began to count the coins; before he had counted them through once, the owner of the gold suddenly arrived and took all the coins back. At that time the man regretted not having left quickly, and his vexation was extremely painful.

Those who meet the Buddha’s Dharma are so too: though they have been able to meet the Three Jewels, the field of merit, they do not diligently practice means and cultivate good deeds; suddenly their life ends and they fall into the three evil paths—just like that fool, whose coins were taken back again by their owner. Just as a verse says:

　　Today they manage this affair, tomorrow they make that deed;

　　attached to pleasure, they do not see suffering, nor perceive the thief that is death arriving.

　　In haste they manage their many tasks; of ordinary people there is none who is not so,

　　like that man who counted the coins; this matter too is just so.

〔91 · The Poor Man Who Wanted Wealth Equal to the Rich〕（0556c10）Once there was a poor man who had a few goods; seeing a very rich man, he wished in his heart to be equal to him; because he could not be equal, though he had a few goods, he wished to throw them into the water. A bystander said to him: “Though these things are few, they can still prolong your life for some days; why throw them away and cast them into the water?”

The fools of the world are so too: though they have been able to leave home and have obtained a little gain and offerings, they have hopes in their hearts and always feel unsatisfied, unable to be equal to those of high virtue and to obtain gain and offerings like theirs. Seeing others, elders of long standing who are virtuous, who have long had much learning and receive offerings from many, they wish in their hearts to be equal to them; because they cannot be equal, they harbor sorrow in their hearts and wish to give up the Way, abandoning the way of one who has left home—just like that fool who wished to be equal to the rich man and threw away his own goods.

〔92 · The Child Who Got a Joy Pill〕（0556c20）Once there was a nurse carrying a child along the road; worn out on the way, she fell asleep without knowing it. Then a man gave the child a joy pill; the child, getting it, craved its fine taste and paid no heed to the things on its body; this man at once undid the child’s neck ring and lock, its necklaces, and its clothing, and took them all away.

Bhikṣus are so too: they delight in being in places of many affairs and bustle, crave a little gain and offerings, and are robbed by the thieves of the afflictions of their merit, the jewel of the precepts, and their necklaces—just like that child who, because it craved a little fine taste, had everything it had taken away by the thief.

〔93 · The Old Woman Who Caught a Bear〕（0556c28）Once there was an old woman lying beneath a tree, and a bear wished to come and seize her; at that time the old woman ran round the tree to escape it, and the bear chased after her, embracing the tree with one paw, trying to catch the old woman. The old woman, in desperate straits, at once wrapped her arms around the tree and pressed down the bear’s two paws, so that the bear could not move. Then another man came to the place, and the old woman said to him: “Catch it together with me, and we will kill it and share its meat.” Then that man believed the old woman’s words and at once caught hold of it with her. Once they had caught it, the old woman let go of the bear and ran off, and the man was afterward trapped by the bear. A fool like this is laughed at by the world.

Ordinary people are so too: they compose all kinds of divergent treatises, which are not good, wordy and heavy in style, with many faults, and in the end never finished; they set them aside and die; later people take them up, wishing to explain them, but do not penetrate their meaning, and are trapped by them instead—just like that fool who caught the bear for another and was himself harmed instead.

〔94 · Maṇi and the Water Drain〕（0557a11）Once there was a man who had relations with another man’s wife; before they had finished, the husband came back from outside and at once discovered it; he waited outside the door, watching for the moment the man came out, intending to kill him. The woman said to the man: “My husband has already discovered us; there is no other way out; only by the maṇi can you get out (in the Qi tongue, maṇi means a drain-hole).” She wished the man to get out through the water drain. The man misunderstood, taking it to be a maṇi jewel; he searched for it everywhere but did not know where it was, and said: “If I do not see the maṇi jewel, I will never leave.” A moment later he was killed by the husband.

Ordinary people are so too: someone said to them: “Within birth and death there is impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and no-self; leave the two extremes of annihilation and permanence and abide in the middle way; passing through by this middle, one can attain liberation.” The ordinary people misunderstood and sought instead whether the world is bounded or boundless, and whether beings have a self or have no self; in the end they cannot contemplate the principle of the middle way; suddenly their life ends, and they are killed by impermanence and fall into the three evil paths—just like that fool who searched for the maṇi and was killed by another.

〔95 · The Two Pigeons〕（0557a25）Once there were two pigeons, a male and a female, living together in one nest; in autumn, when the fruit was ripe, they gathered fruit and filled the nest; after that, the fruit dried and shrank, and only half a nest was left. The male pigeon grew angry and said to the female: “Gathering the fruit was hard toil, and you have eaten it alone; only half is left.” The female pigeon answered: “I did not eat it alone; the fruit shrank of itself.” The male pigeon did not believe her, and said angrily: “If you did not eat it alone, how could it have shrunk?” And he pecked the female pigeon with his beak and killed her. Not many days later, a great rain fell from the sky; the fruit was moistened and became as it had been before. The male pigeon, seeing this, only then felt regret: “She truly did not eat it; I killed her wrongly.” And crying mournfully, he called to the female pigeon, asking where she had gone.

Ordinary people are so too: inverted views lodge in their minds; they wrongly grasp at the pleasures of desire and do not contemplate impermanence; they violate the grave prohibitions, and only afterward regret it—yet what good can that do? Afterward there is only lamenting, just like that foolish pigeon.

〔96 · Feigning Blindness〕（0557b08）Once there was a craftsman who worked for the king and could not bear the hardship; he falsely said that his eyes were blind, and so was able to escape the hardship. Another workman heard of it and wished to ruin his own eyes, to escape the hard labor. Someone said to him: “Why do you harm yourself? You will only suffer this pain for nothing.” A fool like this is laughed at by the people of the world.

Ordinary people are so too: for the sake of a little reputation and gain and offerings, they deliberately speak falsely and ruin the pure precepts; when the body dies and life ends, they fall into the three evil paths—just like that fool who, for a little gain, ruined his own eyes.

〔97 · Robbed of His Fine Cotton by Bandits〕（0557b16）Once there were two men who, as companions, crossed a wilderness together; one of them wore a length of fine cotton cloth, and midway along the road he was stripped of it by bandits; the other fled and ran into the grass. The man who lost the fine cotton cloth had earlier wrapped a gold coin in one end of the cloth, and he said to the bandits: “This garment is worth exactly one gold coin; I now ask to redeem it with one gold coin.” The bandits said: “Where is the gold coin now?” He at once untied it from the end of the cloth, took it out and showed it to them, and said to the bandits: “This is real gold; if you do not believe my words, there is now in this grass a good goldsmith; you can go and ask him.” The bandits, having seen that man, took his clothes as well. A fool like this lost both the fine cotton cloth and the gold coin, everything; he lost his own gain and made the other lose too.

Ordinary people are so too: they cultivate the factors of the path and do all kinds of merit, but are plundered by the thieves of the afflictions, lose their good dharmas, and lose all their merit; not only do they lose their own gain, they also make other people lose their work of the Way; when the body breaks up and life ends, they fall into the three evil paths—just like that fool, through whom both the one and the other lost.

〔98 · The Child Who Caught a Great Tortoise〕（0557c01）Once there was a child playing on dry land who found a great tortoise; he wished to kill it but did not know how, and asked someone: “How can I kill it?” Someone said to him: “Just throw it into the water, and it can be killed at once.” Then the child believed his words and threw the tortoise into the water; the tortoise, having got to the water, at once went off.

Ordinary people are so too: wishing to guard the six sense faculties and cultivate all kinds of merit, but not understanding means, they ask someone: “By doing what causes and conditions can one attain liberation?” Followers of other paths with wrong views, the heavenly Māra Pāpīyān, and bad friends say to them: “Just indulge yourself to the utmost in the six sense objects and give free rein to the five desires; those who do as I say will surely attain liberation.” Fools like this, not reflecting carefully, follow their words; when the body breaks up and life ends, they fall into the three evil paths—just like that child who threw the tortoise into the water.

〔Closing Verses · The Garland of Fools〕（0557c12）When the parables of the whole sūtra have all been told, the author tells in verse his purpose in making this treatise:

　　This treatise is of my making; in it are blended words of mirth and laughter,

　　and in many places it falls short of words upright and true; look at its meaning, whether it is fitting or not.

　　It is like a bitter, poisonous medicine blended into sugar:

　　the medicine is for breaking up the illness, and this treatise is just so.

　　Jest within the true Dharma is like that maddening drug;

　　the Buddha’s true Dharma is tranquil concentration, and shines bright upon the world.

　　As, after taking an emetic and purgative, one moistens the body within with ghee,

　　so now with this meaning I bring to light that tranquil concentration.

　　It is like agada medicine, wrapped up in the leaves of a tree:

　　once the medicine is taken out and the poison has been smeared and treated, the leaves are thrown away.

　　The jests are like the wrapping of leaves; the real meaning lies within;

　　the wise take the right meaning, and the jests should then be thrown away.

The closing words at the end of the fascicle read “Here ends the Garland of Fools, made by the venerable Sengqiesina”—the venerable Sengqiesina made this Garland of Fools, and here it is complete.

〔Fascicle Title · Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 4〕（0557c25）The parables of Fascicle 4 end here, and the whole sūtra also comes to its end here; the closing title of the fascicle reads “Sūtra of One Hundred Parables, Fascicle 4.”