百喻經(jīng)之九三: 老母捉熊喻

　　(93) THE OLD WOMAN CAUGHT A BEAR

　　昔有一老母，在樹下臥。熊欲來搏，爾時老母，繞樹走避，熊尋后逐，一手抱樹，欲捉老母。老母得急，即時合樹，捺熊兩手，熊不得動。更有異人來至其所，老母語言：“汝共我捉，殺分其肉。”

　　Once upon a time, there was an old woman who was resting under a tree when a bear came to attack her. She ran around the tree trying to get away, while the bear held the tree with one hand and tried to grasp her with the other. Thus hard pressed, the woman quickly hugged the tree and held fast the bear's two claws so that the bear could not move. Then a stranger came up to the spot. The old woman called out, "Let's catch and kill the bear together. We'll share its meat."

　　時彼人者，信老母語，即時共捉。既捉之已，老母即便舍熊而走。其人后為熊所困。如是愚人，為世所笑。

　　The stranger believed the old woman's words and began to help capture the bear. After seizing it, the old woman gave it up and ran away. Then he was leaving in the lurch and got injured by its claws. As a result, he was sardonically laughed at.

　　凡夫之人，亦復(fù)如是。作諸異論，既不善好，文辭繁重，多有諸病，竟不成迄，便舍終亡，后人捉之，欲為解釋，不達(dá)其意，反為其困。如彼愚人，代他捉熊，反自被害。

　　This is also held to be true with the common people. People progress heresy whose theories are far from good and whose phrases are tangled, complicated and full of errors. The successors want to continue and give an interpretation to them. However, they are unable to grasp the meaning. There for they are enmeshed in trouble just like that stupid man catching the bear for another person and getting hurt instead.

　　白話：

　　曾有一位老婦在樹下臥息，一頭熊想來抓搏她。這時老婦繞樹逃避，熊隨即在后面追逐，并且一手抱住樹，另一手去捉老婦。老婦急了，趕忙緣樹撳住那只伸過來的手，與原先抱著的那只一道都按捺在樹上，熊就這樣合抱著樹，動彈不了。又有另外一個人來到這兒，老婦說道：「你幫我一道捉住它，殺了，肉大家平分?！鼓侨诵帕死蠇D的話，就上來幫著捉住。待捉定了，老婦即刻舍熊而走，那人后來就被熊困住了。這樣的愚人，遭到世人的嗤笑。

　　凡夫之人也是這樣，作了一些不合正理的論說，并不完善周密，文辭也繁冗重贅，有著諸多毛病，還沒寫完殺青，便舍下死去了。后人閱讀了，想替它作解釋，卻無法明達(dá)它的意旨，反而被這論說困住了，就如那個愚人代別人捉熊，自己反被殃害一樣。