景德傳燈錄 21.50

21.50

衢州南禪遇緣禪師。有俗士時謂之鐵脚。忽因騎馬。有僧問。師既是鐵脚為什麼却騎馬。師曰。腰帶不因遮腹痛。幞頭豈是禦天寒。有俗官問。和尚恁後生為什麼却為尊宿。師云。千歲只言朱頂鶴。朝生便是鳳凰兒。師有時云。此箇事得恁難道。有僧出曰。請師道。師曰。睦州溪苔錦軍石耳。

Zen Master Yuyuan of Nanchan in Quzhou. Laymen at the time called him 'Iron Legs'. Suddenly, on an occasion when he was riding a horse, a monk asked, "Since the master is 'Iron Legs', why do you ride a horse?" The master said, "A waist belt is not for warding off stomach ache; how could a turban be for resisting the winter cold?" A lay official asked, "The upādhyāya is so young, why are you an elder?" The master said, "At a thousand years old it is called a red-crowned crane; born this morning it is already a young phoenix." The master at times said, "This matter is so difficult to speak of!" A monk came forward and said, "Please speak it, Master." The master said, "Stream moss of Muzhou, stone fungus of Jinjun."