..續本文上一頁說山裏最厲害的強盜頭子，是過去憍賞彌的一個奴隸，卻料想不到竟是他以前的奴隸。

　　Pandu opened his eyes. There, standing over him, dressed in rough leather clothing, his long hair bound in a kerchief of red silk, was Mahaduta, the slave he”d had whipped years before. Pandu had heard that the greatest of all robber chieftains in the mountains was a former slave from Kaushambi. But it had never occurred to him that the slave might have been his own.

　　「看看他右手拿的是什麼？」摩诃都塔冷靜地命令手下。

　　"See what he”s holding in his right hand," Mahaduta quietly commanded.

　　一個剛才打潘杜的強盜用膝蓋壓在他的肚子上，另一個則用力將他胸前的手推開，而且毫不留情地將他手中的錢袋奪走。

　　One of the men who had been beating him planted his knee on Pandu”s stomach, while the other forced Pandu”s arm away from his chest. The jeweler”s purse was mercilessly pried from his hand.

　　「我來拿！」摩诃都塔說：「我早就付過賬了！」他把它放入夾克內，用一種充滿譏諷和痛苦的口吻問潘杜：「主人，對不對啊？」

　　"I”ll take that," Mahaduta said. "I”ve paid for it already." He took it and put it inside his jacket. "Have I not, master

　　" he asked Pandu, his voice full of scorn and bitterness.

　　「要不要幹脆宰了他啊？」一名強盜問這個強盜頭子。

　　"Shall we finish him, then

　　" one of the robbers asked the chieftain.

　　摩诃都塔用睥睨的眼光看著潘杜，他發現潘杜的眼中，並沒有足以激怒他的憤怒或驚恐，有的只是悲傷與認命。他不會知道此時的潘杜正在回憶著那拉達尊者的話，那聲音清晰無比，猶如昨天才聽到一般：「別以爲摩诃都塔被你無緣無故殘酷毒打的這份債，你可以不必受報，別妄想這世界是神不知、鬼不覺，以爲做事不必承擔後果。……如果你心中真相信這一點，你就不會想傷害其他衆生，因爲你知道他們和你是一體的，所以衆生受苦時，你將會感同身受。」

　　Mahaduta looked down at Pandu, but instead of anger or fright, which might have enraged him in turn, he saw only sadness and resignation in his victim”s eyes. He had no way of knowing that Pandu was remembering the Venerable Narada”s voice saying, as clearly as if he”d heard it yesterday: "Don”t think that you are free of the debt you owe Mahaduta for having him so cruelly beaten without cause. Don”t think that you are all alone in this world and that what you do has no consequences.... If you can truly understand this in your heart, you will have no more desire to harm other beings, because you will know that they are the same as yourself. You will feel their sufferings as your own."

　　潘杜歎了一口氣，突然明白自己從未真正接受師父的教誨，從未真正相信這些教導，無論對自己或對他人，都能同樣地受用。如果現在時候未到，就要被殘暴地打死，甚至連向家人告別的機會都沒有，那全是自己所造的因，全是自己的錯。

　　Pandu sighed. He suddenly realized that he had never really accepted his teacher”s instructions. He had never truly believed that they applied to him as well as to others. If he was to die now, violently and before his time, with no chance to say farewell to his family, it was all his own doing, it was all his own fault.

　　以前，他從未設想過摩诃都塔逃走後會遭受些什麼事──除了在寒冬的山中所可能遭受的種種苦難外；自己更把陷摩诃都塔推向罪惡的深淵，一條絕望與危險的不歸路──這一切的一切，都是他從未替別人設想過的，現在該是還債的時候了。他輕咳了一聲，對摩诃都塔說：「不錯！你已付過賬了！」然後他將目光移開，不再看這個強盜頭子，似乎是等待著下一個風暴的來襲。

　　Not once had he thought about what had happened to his runaway slave Mahaduta. The man”s sufferings in the mountains during the freezing winters, and the desperation and danger of the evil calling that he, Pandu, had pushed Mahaduta into, such considerations had simply never crossed his mind. Now the time of payment had come. He coughed and spoke numbly to Mahaduta, "It”s true. You have paid." Then he looked away from the robber chieftain and waited for the next blow.

　　出乎意料之外，摩诃都塔吩咐手下說：「放了他！在他馬車的駕駛座下，有一個夾層，把它撬開，拿出金匣。那東西一定在那兒，我們來平分！今天大夥兒都可以滿載而歸了！」

　　To his surprise, Mahaduta told his men: "Let him lie. There is a false bottom in his carriage, underneath the coachman”s seat. Knock it loose and take out the chest of gold pieces that will certainly be there. We”ll pide it equally. This is a great day for all of you."

　　這群強盜急忙跳上馬車去，可是摩诃都塔本人，對自己的報複行爲並未感覺到絲毫快樂。雖然在過去無數個冷冽的清晨裏，他都幻想著如何報複；而今願望實現了，卻如同傷害自己的親人一般，只覺得沈重和懊悔。于是他走向手下，製止他們毆打潘杜的護衛。「只要搶財物就好了！」

　　The men jumped up eagerly. But Mahaduta himself felt little joy at his revenge, though he had spent many a cold morning fervently wishing for it. Now that it had come, he felt heaviness and regret, as if he were hurting a member of his own family. He went…

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