經律異相 36.11

36.11

Formerly there was an elder householder who was intelligent and widely learned, with wealth amounting to billions. He lived near the seashore and planted many trees that flourished and reached the heavens. At that time, upon an island in the sea, there were great quantities of rare treasures worth thousands of billions; yet humans could not approach, and only birds came and went. They ate only bright-moon pearls, entering in the morning and leaving in the evening, roosting in the elder's grove. The elder was full of wisdom and devised an expedient: he prepared food of a hundred flavours and gave it to the birds. When the birds had eaten to satiety, they vomited the pearls, covering the ground. The elder gathered them and thereupon became exceedingly wealthy (extracted from the seventh fascicle of the Avadāna-sūtra).