經律異相 44.52

44.52

Once there were two men who were friends. Their wives were each pregnant, and so they made a mutual vow: 'If we bear a boy and a girl, they shall marry.' After they parted, one family had a boy and the other had a girl. The boy's father died early, and when [the boy] grew up he had not yet married. Peddling assorted goods, he happened to arrive at the girl's house. The girl's father asked, 'Where has the youth come from? Where is your dwelling, and what are your parents' names and clan?' The boy answered in full. Hearing this, the father was greatly astonished, and said to the boy, 'When your father was alive, he made a betrothal with me while you were in the womb. I have continually sought you, but did not know where you were. My daughter has not dared to marry.' The boy said, 'I know nothing of this girl.' The father said, 'Ask your relatives.' The boy returned and asked his wet-nurse, and found it was indeed true. On his way to the girl's house, the boy saw ditch-water flowing into a skull without ever filling it. Frightened, the boy walked on and saw ripe fruit on a tree. Wishing to take and eat it, the fruit said, 'Take me! Take me!' The boy was terrified, ran swiftly, and fell to the ground. Arriving at the girl's house, a dog came out to meet him, knelt down, and licked both his feet; the puppies in the dog's belly growled and rushed forward, wishing to bite him. He collapsed to the ground again, reviving only after a long time. The girl's father came out, and the boy recounted everything. The father found it very strange, went inside, and told his daughter. The daughter answered her father, saying: 'That on the road you saw ditch-water flowing into a skull without ever filling it—in later generations, someone will gather the wealth and rare treasures of the world to supply a single person, yet there will never be enough. That you saw ripe fruit on a tree and wished to take and eat it, yet the fruit said, "Take me! Take me!"—people of later generations will seek older girls, yet younger girls will say, "Why do you not take me? Why do you not take me?" That the dog came out to meet you, knelt down, and licked both your feet, while the puppies in the dog's belly growled and rushed forward, wishing to bite you—people of later generations will speak to each other with mouths like oil and fat, but minds like awls and knives; their mouths will offer satisfaction, while inside they plot and scheme. These all pertain to later generations, not to the present.' She was then married to the boy, fulfilling their original intention. (From the Shijuan piyu jing, fascicle 8)