諸經要集 8.16

8.16

如百喻經云。昔有一婦荒婬無度。欲情既盛。疾惡其夫。每思方策頻欲殘害。種種設計不得其便。會值其夫聘使隣國。婦密為計。造毒藥丸欲用害夫。詐語夫言。爾今遠使。慮有乏短。今我造作五百歡喜丸。用為資糧。以送於爾。爾若出國至他境界。飢困之時乃可取食。夫用其言至他界已。未及食之。於夜暗中止宿林間。畏懼惡獸上樹避之。其歡喜丸忘置樹下。即以其夜值五百偷賊盜。彼國王五百匹馬。并及寶物來止樹下。由其逃突盡皆飢渴於其樹下見歡喜丸。諸賊取已各食一丸。藥毒氣盛。五百群賊一時俱死。時樹上人至天明已。見此群賊死在樹下。詐以刀箭斫射死屍。收其鞍馬并及財寶。驅向彼國。時彼國王多將人眾尋跡來逐。會於中路。值於彼人。彼王問言。爾是何人。何處得馬。其人答言。我是某國人。而於道路值群賊。共相斫射。五百群賊今皆一處死在樹下。由是之故。我得此馬及以珍寶。來投王國。若不見信。往看賊。之創痍殺割處所。是王即遣親信往看。果如其言。王時欣然歎未曾有。既還國已厚加爵賞。封以聚落。彼王舊臣咸生妬嫉而白王言。彼是遠人未可信伏。如何卒爾寵遇過厚。至於爵賞逾越舊臣。遠人聞已而作是言。誰有勇健能共我試。請於平原校其伎能。舊人愕然無敢敵者。後時彼國大曠野中。有惡師子。截道殺人斷絕王路。時彼舊臣詳共議之。彼遠人者。自謂勇健無能敵者。今復若能殺彼師子為國除害。真為奇特。作是議已。便白於王。王聞是已。給賜刀杖。尋即遣之。爾時遠人既受勅已堅強其意。向師子所。師子見之。奮噭鳴吼騰躍而前。遠人驚怖即便上樹。師子張口仰頭向樹。其人怖急失所捉刀。落師子口。師子尋死。爾時遠人歡喜勇躍。來白於王。王倍寵遇。時彼國人率爾敬服。咸皆讚歎。

As the Baiyu jing says: Formerly, there was a woman who was wanton and licentious beyond measure. Her lustful passion being vehement, she detested her husband. She constantly thought of strategies, repeatedly wishing to harm him, but despite various schemes she found no opportunity. It happened that her husband was sent as an envoy to a neighboring country. The wife secretly devised a plot, making poisoned balls with which she intended to kill her husband. She deceitfully told her husband, "You are now going on a distant mission, and I worry that you will lack provisions. I have now made five hundred delight-candies (modaka) to serve as provisions and see you off. When you leave the country and reach foreign territory, you may take and eat them when you are hungry and exhausted." The husband followed her words, and after reaching the foreign territory, before he had eaten them, he lodged overnight in a forest in the dark of night. Fearing ferocious beasts, he climbed a tree to avoid them, forgetting and leaving the delight-candies under the tree. That very night, it happened that five hundred thieves had stolen five hundred horses as well as treasures from the king of that country and came to rest under the tree. Because of their headlong flight, they were all hungry and thirsty, and they saw the delight-candies under the tree. The thieves took them and each ate one ball. The poisonous vapors of the medicine were potent, and all five hundred thieves died at the same time. When dawn came, the man in the tree saw these thieves lying dead under the tree. He deceitfully struck and shot the corpses with knife and arrows, collected their saddles, horses, and treasures, and drove them toward that country. At that time, the king of that country, leading a large troop of men, was pursuing them by tracking their trail. Halfway along the road, he encountered that man. The king asked, "Who are you, and where did you get these horses?" The man answered, "I am a man of such-and-such a country. On the road I encountered a band of thieves, and we fought with blades and arrows. The five hundred thieves are now all dead together in one place under a tree. For this reason, I obtained these horses and treasures, and have come to submit to Your Majesty's kingdom. If you do not believe me, go and see the wounds and slaughter on the thieves." The king immediately dispatched a trusted attendant to go and see, and it was indeed as he had said. The king was then overjoyed and exclaimed at what had never been before. Having returned to his country, he bestowed lavish titles and rewards upon him, enfeoffing him with a village. The king's former ministers were all filled with envy and jealousy, and said to the king, "He is a man from afar and cannot yet be trusted and submitted to. Why should he suddenly receive such excessive favor, even surpassing the old ministers in titles and rewards?" When the man from afar heard this, he spoke these words: "Who is so brave and strong that they can test themselves against me? I request that we compare skills on an open plain." The old ministers were flabbergasted, and none dared to face him. Later, in the great wilderness of that country, there was a ferocious lion that blocked the road and killed people, cutting off the king's highway. The old ministers conferred together: "That man from afar claims to be so brave and strong that none can match him. If he can now kill that lion and eliminate this harm for the state, it would truly be extraordinary!" Having made this consultation, they spoke to the king. Having heard this, the king gave him knives and staves, and immediately dispatched him. At that time, the man from afar, having received the order, steeled his resolve and went to the lion's lair. Seeing him, the lion roared and leapt forward. Terrified, the man from afar immediately climbed a tree. The lion opened its mouth and looked up toward the tree. In extreme panic, the man dropped the knife he was holding; it fell into the lion's mouth, and the lion instantly died. At that time, the man from afar leapt with joy, went and reported to the king, and the king doubled his favor toward him. Thereupon the people of that country spontaneously respected and submitted to him, and all praised him.