（八）
(8)
一切眾生貪著世樂不慮無常，不以大患為苦。譬如昔有一人遭事應死，繫在牢獄，恐死而逃走。國法若有死囚踰獄走者，即放狂象令蹈殺，於是放狂象令逐此罪囚。囚見象欲至，走入墟井中，下有一大毒龍張口向上，復四毒蛇在井四邊，有一草根，此囚怖畏，一心急捉此草根，復有兩白鼠嚙此草根。時井上有一大樹，樹中有蜜，一日之中有一滴蜜墮此人口中，其人得此一滴，但憶此蜜，不復憶種種眾苦，便不復欲出此井。是故聖人借以為喻：「獄者，三界，囚眾生；狂象者，無常；井，眾生宅也；下毒龍者，地獄也；四毒蛇者，四大也；草根者，人命根也；白鼠者，日月也。日月尅食人命日日損減無有暫住，然眾生貪著世樂不思大患。」是故行者當觀無常以離眾苦。
All beings cling to the pleasures of this world, never considering impermanence, and do not see the great suffering as painful. It is like a man of old who was condemned to death and imprisoned. Fearing death, he escaped. According to the law of the land, if a death-row prisoner escapes from prison, a mad elephant is released to trample him to death. So a mad elephant was set loose to chase this condemned man.
Seeing the elephant about to reach him, the prisoner fled into an abandoned well. Below, a great poisonous dragon waited with jaws open wide. Four venomous snakes lay at the four sides of the well. There was a single root of grass growing from the wall. In his terror, the prisoner desperately clutched that grass root. Yet two white mice began gnawing at it.
Above the well stood a large tree, from which honey dripped. Once each day, a single drop of honey fell into the man’s mouth. Having tasted that one drop, he became so absorbed in the memory of its sweetness that he forgot all the various sufferings around him and no longer wished to leave the well.
Therefore, the sages use this as a parable: The prison is the three realms, which confine all beings. The mad elephant is impermanence. The well is the dwelling place of beings. The poisonous dragon below represents hell. The four venomous snakes are the four elements. The grass root is the root of human life. The white mice are the sun and moon. The sun and moon gnaw away at human life, diminishing it day by day without a moment’s pause. Yet beings still cling to worldly pleasures, giving no thought to the great suffering.
Therefore, those who practice should contemplate impermanence in order to be free from all suffering.