§67 夫妇食饼共为要喻

(67) A BET OVER A CAKE

    昔有夫妇，有三番饼，夫妇共分，各食一饼；馀一番在，共作要言：“若有语者，要不与饼。”既作要已，为一饼故，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.

    须臾有贼，入家偷盗，取其财物；一切所有，尽毕贼手。夫妇二人以先要故，眼看不语。贼见不语，即其夫前，侵略其妇，其夫眼见，亦复不语。妇便唤贼，语其夫言：“云何痴人，为一饼故，见贼不唤？”

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，我定得饼，不复与尔。”世人闻之，无不嗤笑。

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，亦复如是。为小名利故，诈现静默，为虚假烦恼种种恶贼之所侵略，丧其善法，坠堕三途，都不怖畏。求出世道，方于五欲，耽著嬉戏，虽遭大苦，不以为患。如彼愚人，等无有异。

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.

注释：

　　①要：约。

白话：

曾有一对夫妇，家有三块饼。两人各吃了一块，剩下一块，两人约定道：「若是谁说话了，定是不给他这块饼了。」之后，为了这一块饼的缘故，各各不敢言语。过了一会儿，有贼入室来偷取财物，家中所有，尽入了贼手。夫妇两人因为先前有约定的缘故，眼看著，不语。贼见他们一言不发，就在其丈夫的面前侵辱起他的妻子来。丈夫亲眼见了，也依然不说。妻子便大喊有贼，对丈夫叫道：「你这愚痴的人，怎么为了一块饼，眼看着贼这般也不喊?」丈夫拍手笑道：「咄! 蠢婢子，我得定了饼，你没份了。」世人听了此事，无不嗤笑。

凡夫之人也是这样，为了小名利的缘故，硬是装出静默的样子来，却受着虚假引致的烦恼，这种种恶贼的侵侮，丧失了善法，坠堕于三涂，都毫不怖畏。也不去觅求出离生死的正道，一意在五欲中耽着嬉戏，虽是遭了大苦报，也不以为祸患。就如那个为饼失财的愚人，没有什么差别。