§82 比种田喻
(82) the cultivation of the land
昔有野人,来至田里,见好麦苗生长郁茂,问麦主言:“云何能令是麦茂好?”
once upon a time, there was a peasant who went to another farmer's property to examine his wheat plants. he asked the owner, "how do you make the wheat grow so well?"
其主答言:“平治其地,兼加粪水,故得如是。”
the owner replied, "first, you have to flatten the field. then you pour some liquid manure. that's why it has turned out so nicely."
彼人即便依法用之,即以水粪调和其田。下种于地,畏其自脚蹈地令坚,其麦不生。“我当坐一床上,使人舆之,于上散种,尔乃好耳。”
the peasant then did what the other farmer had told him. he poured liquid manure to blend with the soil and scattered seed in land. treading the field with his feet, he was afraid that the land would become too hard to be fruitful. he said to himself, "i should sow sitting on a bed carried by others. that'll do."