佛教故事:The Wind-deer and the Honey-grass

　　The Wind-deer and the Honey-grass

　　Once upon a time， the King of Benarcs had agardener who looked after his pleasure garden. Animalssometimes came into the garden from the nearby forest.The gardener complained about this to thc king， who said，"If you see any strange animal， tell me at once."

　　One day， he saw a strange kind of deer at the farend of the garden. When he saw the man， he ran like thewind. That is why they are called 'wind-deer'. They are arare breed， that are extremely timid. They are very easilyfrightened by human beings.

　　The gardener told the king about the wind-deer. Heasked the gardener if he could catch the rare animal. Hereplied， "My lord， if you give me some bee's honey， Icould even bring him into the palace！" So the king orderedthat he be given as much bee's honey as he wanted.

　　This particular wind-deer loved to eat the flowersand fruits in the king's pleasure garden. The gardener lethimself be 'seen by him little by little， so he would be lessfrightened. Then he began to smear honey on the grasswhere the wind-deer usually came to eat. Sure enough， thedeer began eating the honey-smeared grass. Soon hedeveloped a craving for the taste of this 'honey-grass'. Thecraving made him come to the garden every day. Beforelong， he would eat nothing else！

　　Little by little， the gardener came closer and closerto the wind-deer. At first， he would run away. But later，he lost his fear and came to think the man was harmless.As the gardener became more and more friendly，eventually he got the deer to eat the honey-grass right outof his hand. He continued doing this for some time， inorder to build up his confidence and trust.

　　Meanwhile， the gardener had rows of curtains set up，making a wide pathway from the far end of the pleasuregarden to the king's palace. From inside this pathway， thecurtains would keep the wind-deer from seeing any peoplethat might scare him.

　　When all was prepared， the gardener took a bag ofgrass and a container of honey with him. Again he beganhand-feeding the wind-deer when he appeared. Gradually，he led the wind-deer into the curtained off pathway.Slowly， he continued to lead him with the honey-grass，until finally the deer followed him right into the palace.Once inside， the palace guards closed the doors， and thewind-deer was trapped. Seeing the people of the court， hesuddenly became very frightened and began runningaround， madly trying to escape.

　　The king came down to the hall and saw the panic-stricken wind-deer. He said， "What a wind-deer！ Howcould he have gotten into such a state？ A wind-deer is ananimal who will not return to a place where he has somuch as seen a human， for seven full days. Ordinarily， ifa wind-deer is at all frightened in a particular place， hewill not return for the whole rest of his life！ But look！Even such a shy wild creature can be enslaved by hiscraving for the taste of something sweet. Then he can belured into the center of the city and even inside the palaceitself.

　　"My friends， the teachers warn us not to be tooattached to the place we live， for all things pass away.They say that being too attached to a small circle offriends is confining and restricts a broad outlook. But seehow much more dangerous is the simple craving for asweet flavor， or any other taste sensation. See how thisbeautiful shy animal was trapped by my gardener， bytaking advantage of his craving for taste."

　　Not wishing to harm the gentle wind-.deer， the kinghad him released into the forest. He never returned to theroyal pleasure garden， and he never missed the taste ofhoney：grass.

　　The moral is： "It is better to eat to live， than to liveto eat."

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