百喻經(jīng)之五五: 愿為王剃須喻

　　(55) TO BE A KING'S BARBER

　　昔者有王，有一親信，于軍陣中，歿命救王，使得安全。王大歡喜，與其所愿。即便問言：“汝何所求，恣汝所欲。”

　　Once upon a time, a king's personal attendant risked his life to save the king at the battlefield. The king was so grateful that he gave his lifesaver whatever he wanted. The king asked, "What do you want? Your wishes shall be granted."

　　臣便答言：“王剃須時，愿聽我剃。”

　　The man replied, "Allow me to shave you when you need a shave."

　　王言：“此事若適汝意，聽汝所愿。”

　　The king said, "If that is what you wish to do, I'll grant it to you."

　　如此愚人，世人所笑。半國之治，大臣輔相，悉皆可得，乃求賤業(yè)。愚人亦爾。

　　Such a stupid man is laughed at by the people at large. It would be so much better for the barber to ask for half a country or to become prime minister or minister of State rather than to practice the mean profession. Only a stupid man would do so.

　　諸佛于無量劫難行苦行，自至成佛，若得遇佛，及值遺法，人身難得。

　　To attain Buddhadhood, all Buddhas cultivate themselves with hardship during a long and painful period of time. What people do not realize is that Buddha Sakyamuni's bequeathed teachings are scarce to be heard and our human bodies are hard to be acquired as well.

　　譬如盲龜值浮木孔，此二難值，今已遭遇，然其意劣，奉持少戒，便以為足，不求涅槃勝妙法也。無心進求，自行邪事，便以為足。

　　It is like a blind turtle's trouble in finding a log hole floating at the surface of the water. Fortunately enough, once these two difficulties are overcome, people are self-complacent with their shallow mind and few commandments are observed without any ambition of ever attaining Nirvana, the perfect Enlightenment. They find themselves contented with no further improvement and instead end up doing evil deeds.

　　注釋：

　?、倜斨蹈∧究祝骸峨s阿含經(jīng)》卷十六：告諸比丘，如大海中有一盲龜，壽無量劫，百年一遇出頭，復(fù)有浮木，正有一孔，漂流海浪，隨風(fēng)東西。盲龜百年一出，得遇此孔。至海東，浮木或至海西，圍繞亦爾。雖復(fù)差違，或復(fù)相得。凡夫漂流五趣之海，還復(fù)人身，甚難于此。

　　(《大正藏》第五十三冊第二五七頁，現(xiàn)存《雜阿含經(jīng)》卷十六無此段)

　　白話：

　　從前有位國王，有一個親信在兩軍對陣交戰(zhàn)中冒著生命危險救了他，使他毫毛未損。國王很是歡喜，要滿足他的愿望，就問他：「你有什么要求，隨你提出來，都滿足你。」這位親信就答道：「大王要剃須時，希望讓我剃。」國王說：「這事若是能滿足你的意愿，好的?！谷绱擞奕耍廊硕监托?。統(tǒng)治半個天下，做大臣宰相，都是可以得到的，卻求這種賤業(yè)。

　　愚人也是這樣。諸佛過去時長期專就困難之處做苦行之事，自己達到了成佛的境地。若是能碰上佛出世、聽聞佛的遺教以及獲得人身，都是至難的事，就如盲龜百年浮出一次海面，恰好鉆入了浮木的孔中一般。佛法難聞今已聞，人身難得今也得，然而愚人的意愿下劣，稍稍奉持一點兒戒律，就以為足夠了，并不求涅槃這一勝妙之法。無心提出進一步的要求，自愿做些卑賤的事情，就以為很滿足了。