經律異相 48.18

48.18

A king's queen ascended a high tower, and seeing geese flying in the air, she desired to have their flesh; she then informed the king. The king dispatched huntsmen to take nets and go about snaring them, spreading out in search; they caught several tens of them and kept them in cages. Among them was one that would not eat. The other geese said to it, 'Now that our lives have been spared, what benefit is there in not eating?' The one that did not eat said, 'Grief prevents me from eating.' In seven days, it grew emaciated, and was able to escape through an opening in the cage and fly away. From afar it said to the fat ones, 'You crave food, but calamity and pain lie ahead' (taken from the Ten-Fascicle Avadāna Sūtra, Fascicle 6).