景德傳燈錄 27.35

27.35

有僧親附老宿一夏不蒙言誨。僧歎曰。只恁麼空過一夏不聞佛法。得聞正因兩字亦得也。老宿聞之乃曰。闍梨莫𧬊（音西）速。若論正因一字也無。恁麼道了叩齒三下曰。適來無端恁麼道。隣房僧聞曰。好一鑊羹被兩顆鼠糞污却（玄覺徵云。且道讚歎語不肯語。若是讚歎為什麼道鼠糞污却。若不肯他有什麼過驗得麼）。

A monk stayed close to a senior master for an entire summer without receiving any verbal instruction. The monk sighed, "Having spent a whole summer in vain like this without hearing the Buddha Dharma, if I could just hear the two words 'correct cause,' that would do." The senior master heard this and said, "Ācārya, do not be so hasty. If one speaks of the 'correct cause,' there is not even a single word." Having spoken thus, he clicked his teeth three times and said, "Just now I spoke like that for no reason at all." A monk in the neighbouring room heard this and said, "A fine pot of soup has been defiled by two rat droppings!" (Xuanjue interrogated, "Tell me, was this an expression of praise or an expression of disapproval? If it was praise, why did he say it was defiled by rat droppings? If he did not approve of him, what fault did he find?")