經律異相 19.80

19.80

In a foreign country, there was a śramaṇa who, while begging for alms, came to the house of a pearl merchant. The host prepared food for him. There was a large pearl worth hundreds of millions, which someone had returned; he placed it beside the śramaṇa. At that time, there was a parrot that came out and swallowed it. The host did not see this, and consequently asked the śramaṇa. The śramaṇa replied, "I did not take it." The host asked again, "Was there anyone else?" He replied, "There was no one." The host said angrily, "I just brought the pearl here, and since there is no one else and only you, the śramaṇa, yet you say you did not take it—where is the pearl now?" He then beat the śramaṇa until blood flowed onto the ground. The śramaṇa still said, "I have not concealed the pearl." Soon, the parrot came out to drink the blood on the ground, met the staff, and died immediately. The host was about to raise his hand to beat the śramaṇa again when the śramaṇa said, "Stop, listen to my words! The parrot swallowed it." They then cut open the parrot and obtained the pearl. The host said to the śramaṇa, "Why did you not speak earlier, causing things to reach this point?" The śramaṇa said, "I uphold the Buddha's precepts and must not take life. If I had spoken of it right away, I feared the parrot would be killed. Now that the parrot is dead, I have spoken of it. If the parrot had lived, even if you had beaten me to death, I would never have spoken." The host then reproached himself, repented his fault, and apologized. The śramaṇa was not angry, and his expression did not change. (From the one-fascicle Miscellaneous Avadāna Sūtra).