百喻經(jīng)之六七: 夫婦食餅共為要喻

　　(67) A BET OVER A CAKE

　　昔有夫婦，有三番餅，夫婦共分，各食一餅;馀一番在，共作要言：“若有語者，要不與餅。”既作要已，為一餅故，各不敢言。

　　Once upon a time, there were a man and his wife who shared three cakes. On the third, they made a bet, "whoever talks first loses his share of the cake." After this, they stopped talking.

　　須臾有賊，入家偷盜，取其財物;一切所有，盡畢賊手。夫婦二人以先要故，眼看不語。賊見不語，即其夫前，侵略其婦，其夫眼見，亦復不語。婦便喚賊，語其夫言：“云何癡人，為一餅故，見賊不喚?”

　　In no time, a thief forced his way into the house to rob valuable things. The couple saw that everything fell into the thief's hand without uttering a sound, due to the bet they had made previously Seeing that they said nothing, the thief started to attack the wife in the presence of her husband who still would not utter a word. Then she shouted to her husband, "How stupid you are! You wouldn't shout only because of a cake."

　　其夫拍手笑言：“咄!婢，我定得餅，不復與爾。”世人聞之，無不嗤笑。

　　Clapping his hand in joy, the husband said, "Oh! My girl. I'll get the cake. I won't give you any of it." Upon hearing the story, everyone nearby laughed at them.

　　凡夫之人，亦復如是。為小名利故，詐現(xiàn)靜默，為虛假煩惱種種惡賊之所侵略，喪其善法，墜墮三途，都不怖畏。求出世道，方于五欲，耽著嬉戲，雖遭大苦，不以為患。如彼愚人，等無有異。

　　So are the common people. For a little fame and gain, people deceptively appear to be quiet and silent. When they are disturbed with their false worries and all other evil thoughts, they are not afraid of losing their good teachings and falling into the Three Evil Paths of Transmigration. They do not try to seek to leave this world. When they have their five desires fulfilled, they do not think of the ensuing suffering. Therefore, they are in no way different from that stupid husband.

　　注釋：

　　①要：約。

　　白話：

　　曾有一對夫婦，家有三塊餅。兩人各吃了一塊，剩下一塊，兩人約定道：「若是誰說話了，定是不給他這塊餅了?！怪?，為了這一塊餅的緣故，各各不敢言語。過了一會兒，有賊入室來偷取財物，家中所有，盡入了賊手。夫婦兩人因為先前有約定的緣故，眼看著，不語。賊見他們一言不發(fā)，就在其丈夫的面前侵辱起他的妻子來。丈夫親眼見了，也依然不說。妻子便大喊有賊，對丈夫叫道：「你這愚癡的人，怎么為了一塊餅，眼看著賊這般也不喊?」丈夫拍手笑道：「咄! 蠢婢子，我得定了餅，你沒份了?！故廊寺犃舜耸?，無不嗤笑。

　　凡夫之人也是這樣，為了小名利的緣故，硬是裝出靜默的樣子來，卻受著虛假引致的煩惱，這種種惡賊的侵侮，喪失了善法，墜墮于三涂，都毫不怖畏。也不去覓求出離生死的正道，一意在五欲中耽著嬉戲，雖是遭了大苦報，也不以為禍患。就如那個為餅失財?shù)挠奕?，沒有什么差別。