法苑珠林 75.36

75.36

Furthermore, the Old Sūtra of Parables states: In the past, a man of the four castes hid his wife so that no one could see her. The wife met a servant dressed in green, dug a subterranean passage, and engaged in illicit relations with a silversmith boy. Later, the husband discovered his wife. The wife said: 'All my life I have never engaged in misconduct; do not speak falsely!' The husband said: 'I do not believe you. I shall take you to the sacred tree to take an oath.' The wife said: 'Very well.' The husband observed a fast for seven days. As he entered the fasting chamber, the wife secretly told the silversmith boy: 'You should pretend to be mad with disheveled hair; in the marketplace, when you meet people, embrace them, drag them along, and cast them aside.' When the husband finished the fast, he led his wife out. The wife said: 'I have never seen the marketplace; take me through the marketplace.' The silversmith boy then came, embraced her, feigned madness, and lay on the ground. The wife then cried out to her husband: 'Why do you let someone embrace me?' The husband said: 'This is a madman; why take note of him?' Husband and wife both went to the sacred site and kowtowed, [the wife] saying: 'All my life I have done no evil, except for being embraced by a madman.' The wife then escaped harm, and the husband fell silent in shame. The Buddha said: 'You should know that the deceitfulness of all women is like this; they cannot be trusted.'