神僧傳 9.19

9.19

阿足師者。莫知其所來。形質癡濁神情不慧。時有所言靡不先覺。居雖無定多寓閿鄉。憧憧往來爭路禮謁。山岳檀施曾不顧瞻。人或憂或疾。獲其指南者其驗神速。時陝州有富室張臻者。財積鉅萬。止有一男年可十七。生而愚騃。既攣手足。既懵言語。惟嗜飲食口如溪壑。父母鍾愛盡力事之。迎醫求藥不遠千里。十數年後家業殆盡。或有謂曰。阿足賢聖見世諸佛。何不投告。希其痊除。臻與其妻來抵閿鄉。叩頭抆淚求其拯濟。阿足久之。謂臻曰。汝冤未散尚須十年。愍汝勤虔為汝除去。即令選日於河上致齋廣召眾多同觀度脫。仍令齎致其男亦赴道場。時眾謂神通。而觀者如堵跂竦之際阿足則指壯力者三四人。扶拽其子投之河流。臻洎舉會之人莫測其為。阿足顧謂臻曰。為汝除災矣。久之其子忽於下流十數步外立于水面。戟手謂其父母曰。與爾冤仇宿世緣業。賴逢聖者遽此解揮。儻或不然未有畢日。挺身高呼都不愚癡。須臾沈水不知所適。

Master Azu's origins are unknown. His physical appearance was foolish and murky, his spirit lacking cleverness. Yet whenever he spoke, there was nothing he did not foreknow. Though he had no fixed residence, he mostly lodged in Wenxiang. People bustled back and forth, vying for the road to pay him homage; gifts piled like mountains, yet he never looked at them. When people were troubled or sick, those who obtained his guidance found its efficacy miraculous and swift. At that time in Shanzhou there was a wealthy man named Zhang Zhen whose fortune ran into the tens of millions. He had only one son, about seventeen years old, who was born foolish and dull: his hands and feet were crippled, his speech was unintelligible, and he craved only food and drink, his mouth like a mountain gorge. His parents doted on him, attending to him with all their might, inviting doctors and seeking medicine without shrinking from thousands of leagues. After more than ten years, the family estate was almost exhausted. Someone said to them: "Azu is a sage, a living Buddha in this world. Why not turn to him and pray, hoping for a cure?" Zhen and his wife went to Wenxiang, kowtowed, wiped away their tears, and begged for his deliverance. After a long while, Azu said to Zhen: "Your karmic enmity has not yet dissipated; ten more years are still required. Pitying your sincere devotion, I will dispel it for you." He then had them choose a day to hold a vegetarian feast by the river, summoning a great crowd to witness the deliverance together, and ordered them to bring the son along to the bodhimanda. The crowd thought there would be divine transformations, and onlookers stood as thick as a wall. While they were craning their necks, Azu pointed to three or four strong men to seize and drag the son and throw him into the river. Zhen and all the attendees could not fathom his intent. Azu looked back and said to Zhen: "The disaster has been eliminated for you." After a long time, the son suddenly stood on the water's surface several tens of paces downriver, pointed with his fingers, and said to his parents: "I was your karmic enemy from former lives. Relying on meeting this holy one, the bond has been swiftly unraveled. If not for this, there would have been no end to it!" Standing tall, he called out loudly, not foolish in the least. In a moment he sank into the water, and none knew where he went.