（三六）
Chapter 36
「昔者菩薩，無數劫時，兄弟資貨求利養親。之于異國，令弟以珠現其國王。王覩弟顏華，欣然可之，以女許焉，求珠千萬。弟還告兄，兄追之王所，王又覩兄容貌堂堂，言輙聖典，雅相難齊。王重嘉焉，轉女許之。女情泆豫，兄心存曰：『壻伯即父，叔妻即子，斯有父子之親，豈有嫁娶之道乎？斯王處人君之尊，而為禽獸之行。』即引弟退。女登臺望曰：『吾為𩲱蠱，食兄肝可乎？』展轉生死，兄為獼猴，女與弟俱為鼈。鼈妻有疾，思食獼猴肝，雄行求焉。覩獼猴下飲，鼈曰：『爾甞覩樂乎？』答曰：『未也。』曰：『吾舍有妙樂，爾欲觀乎？』曰：『然。』鼈曰：『爾昇吾背，將爾觀矣。』昇背隨焉。半谿，鼈曰：『吾妻思食爾肝。水中何樂之有乎？』獼猴心恧然曰：『夫戒守善之常也，權濟難之大矣。』曰：『爾不早云？吾以肝懸彼樹上。』鼈信而還。獼猴上岸曰：『死鼈蟲，豈有腹中肝而當懸樹者乎？』」佛告諸比丘：「兄者，即吾身是也，常執貞淨，終不犯淫亂，畢宿餘殃墮獼猴中。弟及王女俱受鼈身，雄者調達是，雌者調達妻是。菩薩執志度無極行持戒如是。」
Once, in an age beyond measure, the Bodhisattva and his younger brother were traveling with goods to earn a living and support their parents. They went to a foreign land, where the Bodhisattva sent his brother to present a precious pearl to the king of that country. The king, seeing the brother’s handsome and youthful appearance, was delighted and agreed to give his daughter in marriage, asking for ten million pearls as a bride-price.
The brother returned and told the elder. The elder hurried to the king’s court. When the king saw the elder’s dignified bearing and heard him speak of sacred scriptures with elegance beyond compare, he was deeply impressed and changed his mind, promising the daughter to the elder instead.
The daughter felt troubled and unsettled. The elder thought to himself: “A husband’s elder brother is like a father to the younger’s wife; a younger brother’s wife is like a daughter. This would violate the bonds of kinship—how could there be marriage between such close relations? Yet this king, though seated in the highest honor, has fallen to behaving like a beast.” He then withdrew with his brother.
The daughter climbed to the tower and watched them go, saying: “I am like a bewitching demon—would I even crave the liver of my brother-in-law?”
Through lifetimes of wandering in birth and death, the elder became a monkey, while the girl and the younger brother became turtles. The female turtle grew ill and longed to eat a monkey’s liver. Her mate went out to seek one. Seeing the monkey come down to drink water, the turtle said: “Have you ever seen what is delightful?”
The monkey replied: “Never.”
The turtle said: “My home has wondrous delights—would you like to see them?”
The monkey said: “Yes.”
The turtle said: “Climb upon my back, and I’ll take you there.”
So the monkey climbed aboard, and they set off. Midstream, the turtle said: “My wife wishes to eat your liver. What joy is there in the water?”
The monkey felt ashamed and uneasy, but thought: “Keeping precepts is the constant duty of those who do good, yet using skillful means to escape danger is the greater act.” He said: “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I left my liver hanging on that tree.”
The turtle, believing him, turned back. When they reached the shore, the monkey leaped onto land and said: “Foolish turtle! Could anyone have a liver hanging on a tree while it remains in the belly?”
The Buddha told the monks: “The elder brother was myself. I upheld purity and never broke the precept against sexual misconduct, yet because of lingering karma from past misdeeds, I was reborn as a monkey. The younger brother and the king’s daughter were both reborn as turtles—the male was Devadatta, and the female was Devadatta’s wife. This is how the Bodhisattva held his resolve, perfected transcendent practice, and kept the precepts.”