..续本文上一页 among his men, telling them to stop beating Pandu”s escort. "Spoils only," he said.

　　他对大家说：「不准杀人！」同时他用在马车座下夹层藏有金匣子的消息，来转移手下的注意力；而金匣子果然就在那儿，如同过去那些年，摩诃都塔本人无数次为主人收藏的老位置。

　　"No killing." And he distracted them with news of the chest of gold which was, indeed wedged behind the false bottom of the carriage, just where Mahaduta himself had hidden it many times in past years.

　　强盗头子让潘杜和随行的人自由下山，回到憍赏弥去。当晚，趁他的伙伴们正边数金币边庆祝时，摩诃都塔悄悄地把装有王冠的钱袋藏在山洞的夹缝中。有好长一段时间，他都没有再拿出来或是去瞧它一眼。

　　The robber chieftain let Pandu and his men go free down the mountain back to Kaushambi. That evening, when his accomplices were counting the gold and rejoicing, he hid the purse in a crevice in his cave. He didn”t take it out or look at it again for a long time.

　　安然受报　得真快乐

　　Paying off his karmic debt peacefully,

　　he attained genuine happiness.

　　经过这次的抢案，潘杜再也不是有钱人了。他失去了大部分的资金，而一个珠宝商没有资金，根本做不了什么事。不过对他的损失，他除了怪自己外，并不埋怨任何人。「年轻的时候，我待人非常严苛。」他对家人说：「今天的下场，正是我苛刻傲慢的果报。」他现在虔诚地忏悔，并依佛法来修行；而且只要不用花心思在交谈或经商时，他就诚心诚意地诵持佛号。

　　After the robbery, Pandu was no longer a rich man. He had lost much of his capital, and without capital a jeweler can do little. But he blamed no one for his losses but himself. "In my younger years I was very hardon people," he told his family. "What has happened to me now is simply the payment for my harshness and arrogance." Repenting and cultivating according to the Buddha”s teachings now came very naturally to him, and he took to reciting the Buddha”s name whenever his mind was not occupied with conversation or business.

　　他慢慢地体会到：现在在心灵深处的他，比有钱时更为快乐。唯一的遗憾是，他再也没有那么多的能力来供养道场和护持佛法，或是去帮助镇上的穷人──这是他过去从没想过要多多益善的事。

　　Gradually he realized that, deep down in his heart, he was happier now than he had been when he was rich. His only regret was that he was no longer able to make so many offerings to the monastery, to support the Dharma, or to help the poor of the town─something he had never thought to do much before.

　　强盗反叛　头目垂死

　　The robbers rebelled and beat

　　the chieftain to the point of dying.

　　又过了几年，有一天，憍赏弥寺庙里的方丈潘舍卡法师，在去朝圣的途中，单独越过山头时，受到摩诃都塔那群强盗的攻击。由于潘舍卡法师身上没钱，摩诃都塔便草草地打他几下后，就放他走了。潘舍卡法师那天就没有再继续往前走。

　　Again, several years passed by. Then one day Panthaka, abbot of the monastery at Kaushambi, was set upon by Mahaduta”s robber band while walking alone on a pilgrimage across the mountains. Panthaka carried no money, and so Mahaduta beat him briefly and let him go. Panthaka went no further that day.

　　第二天早上，他还没有走多远，就听见路旁有许多人争斗的声音，接着是一个人痛苦地嚎叫声。潘舍卡法师急忙赶到现场，希望可以劝阻强盗们不要再殴打别的旅客。然而这次被打的人，竟然是摩诃都塔本人，而非无辜的旅客。他被十几个手下围在中间，犹如一头被一群猎狗逼到角落的狮子；他虽然用那根威风的棍子打了几个强盗，最后还是寡不敌众地倒下，他的手下拿他的棍子痛打他，打得他躺在地上奄奄一息。

　　The next morning, before he had walked far, he heard the sounds of men fighting just off the road. One man was roaring in pain. Panthaka hurried to the scene, hoping to dissuade the robbers from beating yet another traveler. But instead of an innocent traveler, it was Mahaduta himself who was being attacked. He stood in the midst of a dozen of his own men like a lion cornered by hounds. His great stick hit several of the other robbers, but at last he himself fell. He was beaten with his own stick until he lay as if dead.

　　潘舍卡法师一直等到所有的强盗都离开了才出来。他发现摩诃都塔还有一口气在；所以他马上走到奔流在附近岩石间的小溪，用钵装满了清凉的水，带回来给这个垂死的人。

　　Panthaka stayed hidden till the robbers left. Then he found that Mahaduta had little life left. Panthaka walked down to the stream that ran among the rocks nearby. He filled his bowl with fresh water and brought it to the dying man.

　　摩诃都塔喝了些水，睁开了眼睛，他呻吟地喊道：「那些混账贼子都到哪儿去了？我带领他们一次又一次地打胜仗，要不是我，他们早就被吊死了！」

　　Mahaduta drank a little and slowly opened his eyes. He groaned and cried out, "Where are those rotten thieves that I have led to victory time after time

　　 They”d have been hanged long ago if it weren”t for me!"

　　法师救命　劝忏罪业

　　The Dharma Master came to the rescue and advised the chieftain to repent of his offenses.

　　「冷…

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