經律異相 36.42

36.42

有富長者。生子愚癡。乘船興生唯載沈香。香精且貴。買者希。久滯不售。同侶反鄉獨不堪得去。恐失宗伴。遍觀市中貨炭最駛。即燒香作炭希得應速。眾人見之。咸共責笑。大顛狂人賣香雖遲獲直不少。今燒成炭復何所得（出百句譬喻經第一卷）。

A wealthy elder had a son who was foolish. Boarding a ship to do business, he loaded only aloeswood. The incense was fine and expensive, but buyers were rare; it languished unsold for a long time. His companions returned to their homeland, but he alone could not leave, fearing to lose his kinsmen and companions. Looking all around the marketplace, he saw that charcoal sold most rapidly; he immediately burned the incense into charcoal, hoping to sell it quickly. When the multitude saw this, they all blamed him and laughed, saying: "What a madman! Although selling the incense was slow, you would have obtained no small price. Now that you have burned it into charcoal, what will you gain?" (Extracted from the first fascicle of the Sūtra of One Hundred Parables)