經律異相 11.16

11.16

昔者菩薩。與阿難俱。受罪畢矣。各為龍身。其一龍曰。唯吾與卿共在海中。靡所不覩。寧可俱上陸地遊戲乎。答曰。陸地人惡起逢非常不可出也。一龍又曰。化為小蛇。若路無人尋大道戲。逢人則隱何所憂哉。於是相可。俱昇遊觀。出水未久。道逢含毒蛇虺。虺覩兩蛇凶念欲害。便吐毒沫。一蛇欲殺毒虺。一蛇慈忍而諫止。曰。夫為高士當赦眾愚。忍不可忍。是乃聖誡。即說偈言。

Formerly, the Bodhisattva, together with Ānanda, had finished undergoing their retribution for offenses and each had become a dragon body. One dragon said, 'Only you and I dwell together in the ocean, where there is nothing we have not seen. Could we not go up to the dry land together to roam and play?' [The other] replied, 'Humans on dry land are wicked, and if we encounter something unforeseen, we cannot get away; we must not go out.' The first dragon said again, 'We can transform into small snakes. If there is no one on the road, we can roam the thoroughfare; if we meet humans, we will conceal ourselves. What is there to worry about?' Thereupon they agreed with each other and together went up to roam and look around. Not long after coming out of the water, they encountered on the road a viper harboring poison. When the viper saw the two snakes, it had a malicious thought and wished to harm them, so it spat venomous foam. One snake wanted to kill the venomous viper, but the other snake, with compassionate forbearance, remonstrated with him to stop, saying, 'One who is an eminent person ought to pardon the folly of the masses. To endure what cannot be endured—this is the admonition of the sages.' He then spoke a verse: