舉香嚴垂語云。(切忌掩耳)如人上樹。(著甚死急)口銜樹枝。(開口)手不攀枝。(撒手)脚不踏枝。(放脚)下有人問西來意。(便答)若不對。違他所問。(教你便答)若對又喪身失命。(你但對。我管償命)正當恁麼時作麼生即是。(青天白日。說甚是不是)有虎頭招上座云。樹上即不問。未上樹請和尚道。(省人多少心力)香嚴呵呵大笑。(却不喪身失命)雪竇云。樹上道即易。(關)樹下道即難。(與虎頭同參)老僧上樹也。致將一問來。(大𥋇着眼。秪管說夢)天童拈云。虎頭上座。是箇惡賊。(香嚴師首。和尚窩家)用無義手。打不妨家。(賊偷賊物。減死一等)直饒本色作家。往往做手脚不辦。(若是萬松。即時擒下)雪竇是別機宜識休咎底漢。(秪為同火下)到這裏亦祗得藏身露影。(賊兒膽底虗。映山曲䚄脊)還會香嚴做處麼。(弄巧成拙。有甚難見)三千劍客今何在。(點即不到)獨許莊周見太平(到即不點)。

Xiangyan once raised a case, saying, "Be careful not to cover your ears. It's like a man climbing a tree. Why so desperate? His mouth is biting a branch. Open your mouth. His hands aren't holding the branches. Let go. His feet aren't stepping on the branches. Release your feet. Someone below asks about the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West. Just answer. If you don't answer, you go against his question. I tell you, just answer. If you answer, you lose your life. You just answer; I'll take responsibility for your life. At just such a moment, what should you do?"

Tiger-Head Zhaoshang said, "I won't ask about when he's in the tree. Before climbing the tree, please tell me, Master."

Xiangyan laughed heartily.

Xuedou said, "Speaking from the tree is easy. Speaking from below the tree is hard. I, this old monk, have also climbed the tree. Bring me a question."

Tiantong raised it and said, "Tiger-Head Zhaoshang is a wicked thief. Using a hand without meaning, he strikes an unprepared household. Even a true adept often finds it hard to manage. Xuedou is someone who knows the right moment and recognizes fortune and misfortune. Even here, he can only hide his body and reveal his shadow. Do you understand what Xiangyan did? Where are the three thousand swordsmen now? Only Zhuangzi is allowed to see peace."

師云。翠巖芝道。問者對者。不免喪身失命。如今衲僧作麼生。古人高高山頂立。嶮峻處却平易。深深海底行。平易處却嶮峻。他道如今衲子作麼生。萬松祗管看。如人在千尺井中。不假寸繩便出。陸亘瓶鵝。不呼在外。便見香嚴為人手段。佛果道。諸方老漢得箇見處。直得千方萬計。提起為人。更不囊藏被葢。立箇喻令人易曉。却成難曉。何故。為慈悲深厚。令人轉生情解。若是慈悲較淺。却較些子。你若纔生樹上樹下。對與不對。轉生義路。墮在常情。卒難透得。又道看他得底人迥別。便知落處。香嚴纔舉虎頭招上座便出云。樹上即不問。未上樹請和尚道。此與雪竇。樹上道即易。樹下道即難。更無兩樣。怎不教香嚴呵呵大笑。若是萬松作虎頭上座。纔見垂語。便與呵呵大笑。看你面皮厚多少。佛果又道。如今山僧是上樹是不上樹。是對是不對。你且道佛果是直捷相為那。為復別有機關。天童道。虎頭上座是箇惡賊。萬松不是迴機倒䇡道。香嚴是箇惡賊。白拈巧偷。當面換人眼睛。豈止做手脚不辦。雪竇別機宜。識休咎。祗解掩耳偷鈴。掩鼻偷香。總被萬松并贓捉獲。天童道。還會香嚴做處麼。萬松道。生為盜跖。死見宋江。天童末後云。三千劍客今何在。獨許莊周見太平。萬松道。撥亂烟塵也不少。如何是萬松定乾坤底劍。臨崕伐却香嚴樹。覿面相呈請益時。

The Master said: Cuìyán Zhī once remarked, "Questioners and answerers alike cannot avoid losing their life and forfeiting their destiny. So what about today's monks?"

The ancients stood atop the highest peaks—where it is perilous, they found ease. They walked the depths of the deepest seas—where it is level, they found danger.

He asked, "What about the monks of today?" Wànsōng simply observed.

It is like a person in a thousand-foot well— without even an inch of rope, they emerge.

Lù Gèng’s vase and goose— without calling from outside, one sees Xiāngyán’s skill in guiding others.

Fóguǒ said, "The old masters of various places, having attained insight, exhaust countless means to bring it forth for others, never concealing or covering it up. They set up analogies to make it easy to understand—yet it ends up hard to understand. Why? Because their compassion is so deep, it leads people to generate intellectual interpretations. If their compassion were shallower, it would be somewhat easier.

If you immediately think of ‘in the tree’ or ‘under the tree,’ ‘right’ or ‘not right,’ you generate conceptual pathways, fall into ordinary understanding, and in the end cannot penetrate."

He also said, "Look at those who have truly attained—they are completely different. Then you know where they land."

As soon as Xiāngyán raised the case of Hǔtóu, the attendant came forth and said, "I won’t ask about in the tree. Before climbing the tree, Master, please speak."

This is no different from Xuědòu’s saying, "Speaking in the tree is easy; speaking under the tree is hard."

How could this not make Xiāngyán laugh heartily?

If Wànsōng were Hǔtóu’s attendant, as soon as the words were uttered, he would have laughed heartily— to see how thick your face is!

Fóguǒ also said, "Now, is this mountain monk in the tree or not in the tree? Is it right or not right? Tell me, is Fóguǒ pointing directly, or is there still some hidden mechanism?"

Tiāntóng said, "Hǔtóu’s attendant is a wicked thief."

Wànsōng does not turn the mechanism around to say, "Xiāngyán is a wicked thief."

Stealing by sleight of hand, swapping people’s eyes right before them— how could it be just a matter of making moves or not?

Xuědòu, with his different skillful means, recognizing fortune and misfortune, only knows how to cover his ears while stealing a bell, cover his nose while stealing incense— in the end, Wànsōng catches him red-handed with the loot.

Tiāntóng said, "Do you understand what Xiāngyán did?"

Wànsōng said, "Alive, he was the bandit Zhí; dead, he meets Sòng Jiāng."

Tiāntóng finally said: "Where are the three thousand swordsmen today? Only Zhuāng Zhōu is allowed to see peace."

Wànsōng said, "Those who cut through confusion and dust are not few— but what is Wànsōng’s sword that settles heaven and earth?"

Cut down Xiāngyán’s tree at the cliff’s edge— face to face, when asking for instruction, present it directly.