神僧傳 8.26

8.26

釋義師者。不知何許人也。狀類風狂言語倒亂。貞元初巡吳苑乞丐。事多先覺。人以此疑之。市肆中百姓屋數間。義師輒操斧斫劑其簷禁之不止。其人數知其神異。禮白之曰。弟子藉此生活無壞我屋。迴顧曰。汝惜乎。投斧而去。其夜市火連延而燎。唯所截簷屋數間存焉。好止廢寺中。無冬夏常積聚壞幡蓋木佛像。以代薪炭。又於煨火燒炙鯉魚。而多跳躍灰坌（蒲頓切）彌漫。撫掌大笑。不具匕筯而食。面垢不靧（音誨）靧之輒陰雨。吳人以為占候及將死飲灰汁數十斛。乃念佛而坐。士庶觀之。滿七日而死。時盛暑色不變支不摧。百姓舁出郊外焚之。

Shi Yishi was of unknown origin. In appearance he seemed crazed, and his speech was confused and disorderly. At the beginning of Zhenyuan, he begged for alms around the Wu Park. He foresaw many events, for which people regarded him with wonder. In the marketplace, there were several bays of houses belonging to commoners; Yishi took an axe and chopped off their eaves, and could not be stopped. The owner, often aware of his divine marvels, bowed and said to him: "This disciple relies on these for livelihood; do not destroy my houses." Looking back, he said: "Do you begrudge them?" He threw down the axe and left. That night, a fire spread through the marketplace and consumed it, leaving only those several bays of houses whose eaves had been cut intact. He liked to stay in abandoned monasteries. Winter or summer, he constantly gathered broken banners, canopies, and wooden Buddha statues to use in place of firewood and charcoal. Moreover, he roasted carp over the charcoal embers, which jumped about vigorously as ashes billowed all around; he would clap his hands and laugh heartily, eating them without using spoons or chopsticks. His face was covered in grime and he never washed it; whenever he did wash it, overcast rain would ensue, which the people of Wu took as an omen for weather forecasting. When he was about to die, he drank dozens of decalitres of ash water, chanted the Buddha's name, and sat down. Scholars and commoners watched him, and after seven full days he passed away. In the peak of summer, his complexion did not change and his limbs did not stiffen. The commoners carried him out to the suburbs and cremated him.