經律異相 36.42

36.42

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)