法句譬喻經 19.p5

19.p5

“To be constantly (morning and night) disdainful and supercilious, when old still to be lustful, having wealth to be niggardly, to reject the words of Buddha—these four propensities, what miseries do they bring; and, alas! when old age comes (how do they add to), the withered form and the worn-out appearance! The man who, when young, pleases himself, when old shall be trodden down. Not walking continently (in mature years), riches shall slip from him (when old)—even as the white stork that sits alone by the dried-up pool, so he who has disregarded the Rules of a Moral Life shall come to poverty. Old and feeble, with exhausted powers—what good can follow anxious thought. When old, like autumn leaves, decayed and without covering, life ebbed out and dissolution at hand, little good repentance then!”