大方便佛報恩經 2.30

2.30

"Then the donor investigated once more for himself. He entered the house, went about inspecting in sequence, and saw a well whose top was covered. He asked the people: 'What well is this?' The family members replied: 'When the donor was a child, he reared three venomous snakes and dug this one well to keep them in it. This well is the dwelling place of the venomous snakes; its water is also poisonous, and whoever drinks it is killed.' Having seen it, the donor asked the laborers: 'When you prepared the food earlier, did you not take water from this well to prepare the food?' The laborers replied: 'The food and drink were so abundant, and at that time the work was urgent, so we drew this water to make the food and drink.' The great donor said: 'How monstrous! How monstrous! How foolish and devoid of wisdom I was! Why did I rear these venomous snakes and make this poisoned well?' He said to his wife and children: 'Go quickly and fill it in! As for the three venomous snakes within, burn them to death for me!' Thereupon, the laborers quickly went and destroyed them.