集神州三寶感通錄 2.44

2.44

四十唐武德年中。坊州西南慈烏川有郝辯郝積者。素有信敬。見群鹿常在山上逐去還來。異之共掘鹿所止處。得石像高一丈四尺許。移出川中。村內乃今見存。自像出後群鹿因散。古老傳云。迦葉佛時所藏有四十軀。今雖兩現餘在山隱。其形如金玉華東鐵礦像相似。不可治斵。

40. During the Wude reign-period of the Tang, in Ciwuchuan to the southwest of Fangzhou, there were Hao Bian and Hao Ji, who had always possessed faith and reverence. Seeing a herd of deer constantly on the mountain, which returned whenever chased away, they found it extraordinary and together dug at the place where the deer stayed. They obtained a stone image about fourteen feet high and moved it out into the valley; it is currently preserved in the village. After the image emerged, the herd of deer consequently dispersed. The elders handed down a tradition saying that forty statues were hidden in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha; although two have now appeared, the rest remain concealed in the mountains. Its shape is like gold, similar to the iron-ore image east of Yuhua, and cannot be sculpted or chiseled.