(69) THE MAN EATS QUICKLY

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?"

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

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.

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.

69効其祖先急速食喻

昔有一人從北天竺至南天竺，住止既久，即娉其女共為夫婦。時婦為夫造設飲食，夫得急吞不避其熱。婦時怪之，語其夫言：「此中無賊劫奪人者，有何急事怱怱乃爾不安徐食？」夫答婦言：「有好密事不得語汝。」婦聞其言謂有異法，慇懃問之，良久乃答：「我祖父已來法常速食，我今効之，是故疾耳。」世間凡夫亦復如是，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，至死受行終不捨離，如彼愚人習其速食以為好法。

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