虛堂和尚語錄 8.70

8.70

中夏上堂，卓主丈：「贊底沙翹足七日，尚自不知；四祖大師，六十年脇不著席，何曾會去？見前龍象，前四十五日既已放過，後四十五日又作麼生？忽有箇眼皮綻底出來道：『乞師賞勞。』只向他道：『三貫襯錢三味食，相招携手上高臺。』」

Ascending the hall at mid-summer, striking his staff: "Standing on one foot for seven days, Zan-di-sha still did not know it himself; the Great Master, the Fourth Patriarch, for sixty years his ribs did not touch the mat—how did he ever understand? All of you dragons and elephants before me: the first forty-five days have already been let pass, what about the latter forty-five days? If suddenly someone with burst eyelids comes forward and says, 'I request the Master to reward my labour,' I would only say to him: 'With three strings of donation money and three flavours of food, / We invite each other, taking hands to climb the high tower.'"