法苑珠林 38.63

38.63

益州旱澇。官人祈雨。必於此塔。祈即有應。奇特感徵。故名福感寺。近有人盜鈴將下三級。有神擎櫨斗起以壓賊髀內中。其人被壓。唱呼寺僧為射斗起方得脫出。至永徽元年。有王顏子者剽掠有名。夜上相輪取博山將下至底級。兩柱忽夾之。求出不得。漸漸急困見有。胡僧曰。可大唱賊不爾死矣。即唱數聲。寺僧聞救方得拔出。至貞觀年初地大振動。此塔搖颺將欲摧倒。于時郭下無數人來。忽見四神形如塔量。各以背靠塔之四面。乍欹乍側率以免壞。觀瑞道俗歎未曾有。塔上露盤猶來小短不稱塔形。有一人極豪侈多產業。見前靈瑞乃捨金三百兩。共諸信者更造露盤。既成坼下至覆盆。香氣蓬勃如雲騰涌。流芳城邑。七日乃歇。

Whenever there was drought or flood in Yizhou, officials praying for rain would always do so at this pagoda, and praying invariably brought an answer—such were the extraordinary and sympathetic omens; hence it was named Fugan ("Blessing-Response") Temple. Recently, someone stole the bells and was coming down three tiers when a spirit lifted up a capital-bracket and pinned the thief’s thigh beneath it. The man was trapped and cried out loudly, calling the temple monks to lift the bracket before he could be freed. In the first year of the Yonghui reign-period, there was a man named Wang Yanzi, well known for robbery and plunder. At night, he climbed up to the dew-basin rings and took the censer; as he was descending to the lowest tier, two pillars suddenly trapped him between them. Unable to escape, he grew increasingly hard-pressed. A foreign monk appeared and said: "You must shout 'Thief!' loudly; otherwise, you will die." He at once shouted several times. The temple monks heard him and came to the rescue, only then pulling him out. At the beginning of the Zhenguan reign-period, the earth shook violently, and this pagoda swayed and was on the verge of collapsing. At that time, countless people came from the suburbs, and they suddenly saw four spirits, as tall as the pagoda itself, each leaning with their backs against one of the pagoda's four sides; it tilted and leaned this way and that, but completely avoided destruction. Monastics and laypeople witnessing this auspicious sign gasped at the unprecedented event. The dew-basin atop the pagoda had always been small and short, not fitting the shape of the pagoda. There was an extremely wealthy man with vast properties who, having seen the previous spiritual miracle, donated three hundred ounces of gold, and together with other faithful believers, made another dew-basin. Once completed, as they dismantled down to the inverted bowl, a fragrant scent surged forth like rising clouds, spreading its fragrance through the city for seven days before it abated.