英文:

Once upon a time, there was a man who wanted to please the king. he asked the others how to do it and was told, "if you want to please the king, you should imitate him."

He then went to the palace where he saw the king blinking. thereupon, he imitated and the king asked him, "do you have sore eyes? is the wind disturbing your eyes? why are you blinking?"

He replied, "not at all on seeing your majesty, i want to be just like you to please your majesty."

Upon hearing those words, the king got very angry. the man was punished by hard blows and sent into exile.

So are the people at large. they wish to approach buddha, king of the law, to achieve advancement. once there, buddha reveals to them his human weaknesses for the welfare of all mankind. when they sometimes hear of using incorrect phrases in his teachings, they may be unable to understand buddha and they start to ridicule and defame him. they imitate all his weaknesses. for this reason, they lose the benefit they have got from buddhism forever and fall into three evil paths of transmigration accordingly.this is just like the story of the man imitating the king's blinking habit.

古文:

昔有一人,欲得王意,问余人言:“云何得之?”有人语言:“若欲得王意者,王之形相,汝当效之。”

此人即便往至王所,见王眼瞤,便效王瞤。王问之言:“汝为病耶,为著风耶?何以眼瞤?”

其人答王:“我不病眼,亦不著风,欲得王意。见王眼瞤,故效王也。”

王闻是语,即大瞋恚,即便使人种种加害,摈令出国。

世人亦尔。于佛法王欲得亲近,求其善法,以自增长。既得亲近,不解如来法王为众生故,种种方便,现其缺短;或闻其法,见有字句不正,便生讥毁,效其不是。由是之故,于佛法中,永失其善,堕于三恶。如彼效王,亦复如是。

译文:

从前有个人,想得到国王的赏识,就问别人说:“怎样才能得到国王的常识呢?”有人对他说:“如果要想得到国王的赏识,国王的样子,你应当效仿。”这个人听后就到国王住的地方,他看见国王眼皮不断地跳动,便仿效国王不停地眨眼。国王问道:“你得病了吗?是受了风寒了吗?为何不停地眨眼?”他回答国王说:“我的眼没病,也不曾受风,只是想得到国王您的赏识,看到国王您的眼皮跳动,故意仿效国王您啊。”国王听了这话,瞪大了眼十分愤怒,立即叫人对他施加各种刑罚,并下令把他赶出这个国家。

世上有的人也是这样,想接受佛教,得到美好的教义,使自己增长智慧。既已接受佛教,又不能认识佛陀为渡众生而制定的各种方法,于是听宣讲教义时,见到不正确的字句,就讥讽诋毁,仿效其中有偏差的地方。正是由于这种原故,在佛学的义理中,永远失去了利人利世的东西,最终会堕落到地狱、饿鬼和畜生的道路上,受尽苦难。这样的人就好像仿效国王眨眼,结果反受其害。