法華傳記 9.34

9.34

隋末有遊化沙門。不知其名。入虎丘山。誦法華經。一夏九旬。其山有獼猴群。數過一百。獼猴群中有一老猴。身毛純白無聲數日。在傍樹上聞經。夜尚在樹。不去朝見落死。僧生悲心為呪願。以石埋之。後時夜誦。漸至三更。空中有聲云。我是老獼猴。依聞法力。生第二天。欲報其恩故來下。以珠十枚施師。作是言已後無聲。明日見窟前。其珠現在。收為經軸。暗夜放光。以經收石窟。遠見窟上有光。近即滅而已。

At the end of the Sui dynasty, there was an itinerant śramaṇa whose name is unknown. He entered Mount Huqiu and recited the Lotus Sūtra for the ninety days of a summer retreat. On that mountain was a troop of macaques, numbering over one hundred. Among the troop of macaques was an old monkey whose fur was pure white. Silent for several days, it listened to the sūtra from a nearby tree. At night it still remained in the tree without leaving; in the morning, it was found to have fallen and died. The monk gave rise to compassion, made a prayer of blessing for it, and buried it with stones. Later, reciting at night until the third watch, a voice in mid-air said: "I am the old macaque. By the power of hearing the Dharma, I was born in the Second Heaven. Wishing to repay your kindness, I have descended to present ten pearls to the master." Having spoken these words, there was no further sound. The next morning, looking before his cave, the pearls were indeed there. He gathered them to serve as rollers for the sūtra scrolls, and in dark nights they emitted light. When the sūtra was placed in the stone cave, from afar one could see light above the cave, which vanished when approached.