百喻經(jīng)之六九: 效其祖先急速食喻

　　(69) THE MAN EATS QUICKLY

　　昔有一人從北天竺至南天竺。住止既久，即聘其女共為夫婦。時婦為夫造設(shè)飲食，夫得急吞，不避其熱。婦時怪之，語其夫言：“此中無賊劫奪人者，有何急事，匆匆乃爾，不安徐食!”

　　Once upon a time, there was a man who went from North India to the South where he lived for a long time, got married and settled down. One day the wife prepared some food. The husband ate it in one mouthful while it was piping hot. She asked in shock, "There is no one here trying to take the food away from you. What made you eat so fast?"

　　夫答婦言：“有好密事，不得語汝。”

　　The husband said, "That's a great secret that I have been keeping from you."

　　婦聞其言，謂有異法，殷勤問之。良久乃答：“我祖父已來，法常速食。我今效之，是故疾耳。”

　　Upon hearing these words, the wife insisted on knowing the secret, thinking there might have some special reason for it. After a pause, the husband replied, "My ancestors made it a rule to eat quickly, I'm doing it nothing more than an act of observing the tradition. This is the reason of my eating in a hurry.

　　世間凡人亦復(fù)如是。不達正理，不知善惡，作諸邪行，不以為恥，而云我祖父已來，作如是法。至死受行，終不舍離。如彼愚人，習(xí)其速食，以為好法。

　　The same also holds true with the common people. People who are doing evil things have no sense of shame, because they do not know what is right or how to distinguish truth from falsehood. They say they observe the tradition. They accept and follow it to death, just like that stupid man making it a rule to eat quickly.

　　白話：

　　從前有一個人從北天竺到南天竺去，住得久了，就娶了那兒的女人做妻子。妻子給他準備了飯菜，他到手便急急地吞了下去，一點也不顧及它有多燙。妻子奇怪了，說：「這兒又沒有強盜來搶，有什么要緊事，這般急匆匆的，不慢悠悠地細嚼徐咽?』他答道：「這里有秘密，不能告訴你。」妻子聽了這話，以為有什么奇異的法術(shù)，便纏著問。良久，他方才答道：「自我祖父以來，常是速咽急吞，我如今是仿效他們，就這么快了?！?/p>

　　世間的凡夫也是這樣，不通達正理，不明曉善惡，作出種種邪行來，不以為恥，卻說自我祖父以來已是這樣的做法，便至死都依循著做下去，毫不舍離，就像那個愚人，效習(xí)著急吞速咽，以為是好的吃法。