經律異相 19.72

19.72

時逐出比丘。追至祇樹。問諸比丘。即來詣佛。啟白世尊。具說本末。佛言。此比丘。宿命曾作水鼈。女作獼猴。亦相好樂志不得果。還自侵欺不入正教。增益惱患。今復如是。願不從心。逆見折辱。慚愧而去。佛言。過去世時有鼈。江水邊樹木熾盛。彼叢樹間有一獼猴。止頓彼樹。鼈從水出。遙見樹有獼猴。而與交語。前行親近。日日如是。覩之不懈。則起染心。說偈往反罵而避之（文多不載）時獼猴今婬女是。鼈分衛比丘是（出說比丘分衛經）。

Then, having been driven away, the monk was chased back to the Jetavana grove. The monks questioned him, and he came before the Buddha, reporting to the Bhagavat and relating the whole story from beginning to end. The Buddha said: "In a past life, this monk was once a freshwater turtle, and the woman was a monkey. They were likewise fond of each other, but his wish could not be fulfilled. He deceived himself, failed to enter the right teaching, and only increased his affliction. Now it is the same: his wish does not match his heart, he met with rejection and humiliation, and left in shame." The Buddha said: "In the past, there was a turtle. On the riverbank, the trees were flourishing. Among those dense trees, there was a monkey residing in the tree. The turtle emerged from the water, saw the monkey in the tree from afar, and exchanged words with it. He stepped forward to be intimate with it, doing so day after day without tiring. Then lust arose in him. They exchanged verses back and forth, and she scolded and avoided him (the text is lengthy and omitted here). The monkey of that time is now this courtesan; the turtle is this alms-begging monk." (Extracted from the Sūtra on the Alms-Gathering Monk).