Samyuktagama (Sanskrit fragments) 104.41

104.41

尊者舍利弗語焰摩迦比丘：「今當說譬，夫智者以譬得解。如長者、長者子大富多財，廣求僕從，善守護財物。時，有怨家惡人，詐來親附，為作僕從，常伺其便，晚眠早起，侍息左右，謹敬其事，遜其言辭，令主意悅，作親友想、子想，極信不疑，不自防護，然後手執利刀，以斷其命。焰摩迦比丘！於意云何？彼惡怨家，為長者親友，非為初始方便，害心常伺其便，至其終耶？而彼長者，不能覺知，至今受害。」

Venerable Śāriputra said to the monk Yamaka, “Now, I will give you an analogy, for wise people understand things with analogies. Take the example of a prominent man’s son. This prominent man’s son was quite wealthy and had much property. He searched widely for servants to keep his property well-guarded.

“An enemy from a hostile clan used a pretense to become his servant and get close to him. This enemy was always watching for an opportunity while he was sleeping at night, when he got up in the morning, or when his servants were on break. He took great care with his mission, acting modest so his employer would be pleased and perceive him like a friend or son. The employer didn’t take care to protect himself once he trusted and didn’t doubt that enemy. His enemy then took a sharp knife and ended his life with it.

“Yamaka, what do you think? Was that evil enemy the prominent man’s friend? Did he not have harmful intent from the start, always watching for an opportunity until the end, and that prominent man didn’t realize it until harm came to him?”