§85 妇女患眼痛喻

(85) THE WOMAN WHO HAD SORE EYES

    昔有一女人，极患眼痛。有知识女人问言：“汝眼痛耶？”答言：“眼痛。”彼女复言：“有眼必痛。我虽未痛，并欲挑眼，恐其后痛。”

Once upon a time, there was a woman who had a bad case of sore eyes. Another woman told her, "Where there are eyes, there are some times pains. Although my eyes do not ache now, I want to gouge them out so that they will not ache later."

    旁人语言：“眼若在者，或痛不痛。眼若无者，终身长痛。”

A bystander said, "Though it's true that when you have your eyes, they may sometimes ache to disturb you, yet when you don't have them, you'll be sure to suffer for lifetime."

    凡愚之人，亦复如是。闻富贵者衰患之本，畏不布施，恐后得报，财物殷溢，重受苦恼。有人语言：“汝若施者，或苦或乐；若不施者，贫穷大苦。”如彼女人，不忍近痛，便欲去眼，乃为长痛。

This is also held to be true with the common stupid men. People have heard that wealth and fame are the sources of decadence. They are afraid of retribution in the hereafter for not doing almsgiving in their present lives. The more wealth they have, the more troubles they sometimes suffer afterwards. It is said that if you do almsgiving, you may be happy, or you may be not. But if you don't do it, you will surely be the most unhappy man. This is just like that woman who could not bear the thought of having sore eyes, wanted to gouge them out to suffer forever.

白话：

　　曾有一个女人，眼痛得厉害。一位自认有知识的女人问道：「你眼睛痛么?」她答道：「眼痛呵!」那女人又说：「有眼必定要痛。我如今虽然不痛，却想把眼都挑了，以防止它以后痛。」傍人说道：「眼若是在么，或痛，或不痛：眼若是没有了，便会终身长痛。」

　　凡夫愚人也是这样，听说富贵是衰败患难的源头，就畏惧了，索性就不布施了。害怕若是布施的话，以后得了果报，财物越发殷实丰裕起来，那么衰败患难的源头也越发活活而来，肯定更重地受苦恼了。有人说道：「你若是布施的话，或苦或乐；若是不布施的话，则贫穷大苦。」就像那个女人忍不了短暂的痛，便想挑掉双眼，那才是长痛了。