法苑珠林 51.61

51.61

此兒非我有　野父聚落母
共合生一子　非烏復非雞
若欲學翁聲　復是鷄母生
若欲學母鳴　其父復是烏
學烏似鷄鳴　學鷄作烏聲
烏鷄二兼學　是二俱不成

‘This child is not of my kind:
A wild father and a village mother
Came together and bore a child,
Neither a crow nor a chicken.
If it wishes to learn its grandfather’s sound,
It was nevertheless born of a chicken mother;
If it wishes to learn its mother’s call,
Its father was nevertheless a crow.
Learning to be a crow, it sounds like a chicken;
Learning to be a chicken, it makes the sound of a crow.
Learning both the crow and the chicken,
It accomplishes neither.’