..续本文上一页说山里最厉害的强盗头子，是过去憍赏弥的一个奴隶，却料想不到竟是他以前的奴隶。

　　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么？」摩诃都塔冷静地命令手下。

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

　　一个刚才打潘杜的强盗用膝盖压在他的肚子上，另一个则用力将他胸前的手推开，而且毫不留情地将他手中的钱袋夺走。

　　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.

　　「我来拿！」摩诃都塔说：「我早就付过账了！」他把它放入夹克内，用一种充满讥讽和痛苦的口吻问潘杜：「主人，对不对啊？」

　　"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.

　　「要不要干脆宰了他啊？」一名强盗问这个强盗头子。

　　"Shall we finish him, then

　　" one of the robbers asked the chieftain.

　　摩诃都塔用睥睨的眼光看着潘杜，他发现潘杜的眼中，并没有足以激怒他的愤怒或惊恐，有的只是悲伤与认命。他不会知道此时的潘杜正在回忆着那拉达尊者的话，那声音清晰无比，犹如昨天才听到一般：「别以为摩诃都塔被你无缘无故残酷毒打的这份债，你可以不必受报，别妄想这世界是神不知、鬼不觉，以为做事不必承担后果。……如果你心中真相信这一点，你就不会想伤害其他众生，因为你知道他们和你是一体的，所以众生受苦时，你将会感同身受。」

　　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."

　　潘杜叹了一口气，突然明白自己从未真正接受师父的教诲，从未真正相信这些教导，无论对自己或对他人，都能同样地受用。如果现在时候未到，就要被残暴地打死，甚至连向家人告别的机会都没有，那全是自己所造的因，全是自己的错。

　　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，他从未设想过摩诃都塔逃走后会遭受些什么事──除了在寒冬的山中所可能遭受的种种苦难外；自己更把陷摩诃都塔推向罪恶的深渊，一条绝望与危险的不归路──这一切的一切，都是他从未替别人设想过的，现在该是还债的时候了。他轻咳了一声，对摩诃都塔说：「不错！你已付过账了！」然后他将目光移开，不再看这个强盗头子，似乎是等待着下一个风暴的来袭。

　　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，摩诃都塔吩咐手下说：「放了他！在他马车的驾驶座下，有一个夹层，把它撬开，拿出金匣。那东西一定在那儿，我们来平分！今天大伙儿都可以满载而归了！」

　　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."

　　这群强盗急忙跳上马车去，可是摩诃都塔本人，对自己的报复行为并未感觉到丝毫快乐。虽然在过去无数个冷冽的清晨里，他都幻想着如何报复；而今愿望实现了，却如同伤害自己的亲人一般，只觉得沉重和懊悔。于是他走向手下，制止他们殴打潘杜的护卫。「只要抢财物就好了！」

　　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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