百喻经之五四: 蛇头尾共争在前喻

　　(54) THE SNAKE'S ARGUMENT

　　譬如有蛇，尾与头言：“我应在前。”

　　Once there was a snake whose tail told its head, "I should lead the way."

　　头语尾言：“我恒在前，何以卒尔?”

　　And the head said, "I'm used to leading, why do you want to change positions so suddenly?"

　　头果在前，其尾缠树，不能得去。放尾在前，即堕火坑，烧烂而死。

　　When the head led the way, the tail knotted himself around a tree and was unwilling to move. And when the tail led, the snake fell into a burning pit and was burnt to its death.

　　师徒弟子，亦复如是。言师耆老，每恒在前;我诸年少，应为导首。如是年少，不闲戒律，多有所犯。因即相牵，入於地狱。

　　This is also true with teachers and disciples. The disciples have a fancy that the young should lead the way, as they think teachers are too old to lead. Due to their youthful immaturity, they often break commandments without being aware of it. They end up dragging each other down to Hell.

　　注释：

　　①闲：同娴，熟。

　　白话：

　　有一天，一条蛇的头和尾忽然争执起来，蛇尾对蛇头说∶『今天应该我走在前面。』蛇头说∶『我常常走在前面，怎麽可以倒过来走呢?』蛇头和蛇尾各认为自己有理，相持不下。结果，蛇头就自管自向前走去，蛇尾却缠住了树牢牢不放。这样，蛇头走不动了，只得让蛇尾走在前面。不料蛇尾，因为没有眼睛，却走入一个火坑中，把这条蛇烧死了。

　　师徒之间也是这样，说师父年老了，却总是在前面主持著，也应让我辈年少的作引导的首领。这些年轻人不熟习戒律，时时有所违犯，于是师徒彼此都牵连著，堕入于地狱中。

　　这故事比喻∶老师和徒弟，应该互相敬爱。可是有些徒弟往往以为老师年迈了，应该由徒弟来作领导，不肯尊敬师长，可是因为徒弟年轻不懂规矩，没有经验，做事常常犯错误，使事情搞不好，反而受到很大的损失。