讀百喻經(jīng)學(xué)英文(2)

二、愚人集牛乳喻

(2) The Stupid Man Stores UpMilk

昔有愚人，將會(huì)賓客，欲集牛乳，以擬供設(shè)，而作是念：“我今若預(yù)于日日中轂取牛乳，牛乳漸多，卒無(wú)安處，或復(fù)酢敗。不如即就牛腹盛之，待臨會(huì)時(shí)，當(dāng)頓彀取?！弊魇悄钜?，便捉牸牛母子，各系異處。

Once upona time there was a stupid man who was about to give a party. Hewanted to store up milk for his guests. "If I milk the cowbeforehand every day, he thought, little by little, there will betoo much of milk and will not be enough space to store it and itmay even spoil. It would be better to let it remain inside of thecow. I'll milk the cow right away at the time of the party." Hethen separated the cow from the calf and tied them up apart.

卻后一月，爾乃設(shè)會(huì)，延置賓客，方牽牛來(lái)，欲彀取乳，而此牛乳即干無(wú)有。時(shí)為賓客或嗔或笑。

A monthlater, he actually gave the reception. He tried to milk the cow,but the milk had run dry. Some guests got annoyed and otherslaughed at him.

愚人亦爾。欲修布施，方言待我大有之時(shí)，然后頓施。未及聚頃，或?yàn)榭h官，水火盜賊之所侵奪，或卒命終不及時(shí)施。彼亦如是。

So arethe idiotic fellows who want to give alms at once but prefer towait until they possess great wealth. It usually happens that,before they can scrape together enough money, it is seized by thecountry officers or taken away by robbers and thieves or by fireand flood. It also happens that, due to their sudden demise, theyare not in time for giving alms. This is just like the story of thestupid man who stored up milk.

[白話]

從前有個(gè)愚人請(qǐng)客，邀請(qǐng)了諸親好友及地方眾人來(lái)參加宴會(huì)，當(dāng)時(shí)該地方以牛乳為最上品，那天必需要有許多牛奶供應(yīng)客人，愚人心想：“我如天天擠牛奶，牛奶漸多，亦無(wú)處安放，過(guò)幾天也會(huì)發(fā)酸變壞。還不如儲(chǔ)存在牛的肚子里，不必每天擠出來(lái)，臨到客人前來(lái)宴會(huì)那天，一頓當(dāng)擠出來(lái)豈不是好?！?/p>

于是他就把所有的母牛和犢牛分開(kāi)，不給小牛吃奶，只以嫩草青葉飼養(yǎng)母牛，以便生更多的牛奶。到了宴會(huì)那一天，他牽來(lái)所有母牛，要當(dāng)場(chǎng)擠奶來(lái)請(qǐng)客，可是一滴奶也擠不出來(lái)了，賓客看到這種情況，有的心中怨恨，有的忍不住笑話他。

佛說(shuō)愚人也是這樣，想要行布施卻又說(shuō)，等我積財(cái)成大款時(shí)，然后一頓當(dāng)布施，結(jié)果還未及聚集致富，或被縣官、水火盜賊所侵奪，或到命終時(shí)也來(lái)不及布施了，他們也是同樣的愚癡?。∩h忽，身外之物，更是聚散不定，因而布施之舉，當(dāng)時(shí)時(shí)實(shí)行，多少無(wú)論，毋須等待什么時(shí)機(jī)。

（阿彌陀佛）

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