百喻经之四四: 欲食半饼喻

(44) EATING HALF A PANCAKE

譬如有人，因其饥故，食七枚煎饼。食六枚半已，便得饱满。其人嗔恚，以手自打，而作是言：“我今饱足，由此半饼。然前六饼，唐自捐弃，设知半饼能充足者，应先食之。”

Once there was a man who felt hungry and longed to eat seven pancakes. He was already full when he had eaten six pancakes and a half. He was so sorry for having ordered seven of them that he slapped his own face and said, "Half a pancake has filled me up. The other six are wasted. If only I had known that, I should have ordered only half a cake."

世间之人，亦复如是。从本以来，无常有乐，然其痴倒，横生乐想。如彼痴人，于半番饼，生于饱想。世人无知，以富贵为乐。夫富贵者，求时甚苦;既获得已，守护亦苦;后还失之，忧念复苦;于三时中，都无有乐。

So are the people at large. There is actually no pleasure in life. There are only illusions, just like the stupid man getting full illusion with half a cake. Being ignorant, people view wealth and honor as pleasure. It is sometimes a painful process to get them. It is also sometimes hard to keep them. It is all the more painful when they have lost them. Therefore, they give no pleasure to people at all times.

犹如衣食，遮故名乐;于辛苦中，横生乐想。诸佛说言：“三界无安，皆是大苦;凡夫倒惑，横生乐想。”

It is just like people taken in by clothes and food as pleasure. They also bear illusions of the word "pleasure" when they are toiling and moiling. All Buddhas have it that the Three Worlds1 has no peace but great suffering. Ignorant man with wrong views still clings desperately to illusions.

白话：

譬如有人因为饿了，一口气吃了七枚煎饼。吃到六枚半的时候，便觉得饱了。这人懊恼后悔起来，抬手打著自己，说：「我现在已饱足了，都赖这半枚饼的原因。前面那六枚饼，就这么空落落地浪费掉了。倘若知道吃了这半个饼就能饱了，应先吃它才是。」

世上的人也是这样，自古以来，就永远没有什么快乐的事情，然而世人痴愚颠倒，横空生出快乐的念头来，就像那个痴人，对半块饼产生会饱的想法。世人实在无知，竟以富贵为乐。那富贵么，追求之际很苦，待到获得了，守护住它也很苦，此后一旦又失去了，忧思念想又是苦，在早中晚三时中，都没有什么快乐。就好比衣食可以遮寒祛饥，便在辛苦营求中横空生出快乐的念头来。诸佛都说：「欲界、色界、无色界这三界中都没有什么安乐，只都是大苦而已。」世上的人颠倒迷惑的缘故，方才横空生出快乐的念头来。

这故事比喻∶修行的人，勤苦修学经历多时，才有贯通言证的一旦，不经多时的勤修，但羡一旦的悟证，正同那人吃饼的痴想，是不可能的。

相关阅读：
伊索寓言：飞行的乌龟（一）
伊索寓言：飞行的乌龟（二）
伊索寓言：一只贪吃的狗