《百喻经》全文两万余字，结构形式单一，每篇都采用两步式，第一步是讲故事，是引子，第二步是比喻，阐述一个佛学义理。它从梵文译成汉文，距今已经有一千五百多年的历史。下面，我们就通过这篇双语阅读重温一下它的引言吧。
闻如是：一时佛住王舍城，在鹊封竹园，与诸大比丘、菩萨摩诃萨及诸八部三万六千人俱。
Thus have I heard. Once upon a time Sakyamuni, The Enlightened One, was staying in a park called Karanda Bamboo Grove, near Rajagriha City. He held a meeting with thirty six thousand men including great monks, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas and the eight groups of supernatural beings.
是时会中有异学梵志五百人俱，从座而起，白佛言“吾闻佛道洪深，无能及者，故来归问。唯愿说之。”
On that occasion, there were five hundred Brahmans in the assembly. One of them rose from his seat and said to Sakyamuni, the Buddha: "We have learned that Buddhism is so profound that there is no parallel to it. So we have come to ask you to explain it to us."
佛言：“善哉!”
Very well, The Enlightened One said.
问曰：“天下为有为无?”
Is the universe existent or non-existent? The Brahman asked.
答曰：“亦有亦无。”
It is both existent and non-existent, the Enlightened one replied.
梵志曰：“如今有者，云何言无?如今无者，云何言有?”
The Brahman said, "How can you say non-existent of what is now existent? How can you say existent of what is now non-existent?"
答曰：“生者言有，死者言无。故说‘或有或无’。”
The Enlightened One replied, "The living say it is existent, but the dead say it is non-existent. Consequently, I say it is both existent and non-existent."
问曰：“人从何生?”
He asked, "What does man live on?"
答曰：“人从谷而生。”
The Enlightened One replied, "Man lives on cereals."
问曰：“五谷从何而生?”
He asked, "Where do the five cereals come from?"
答曰：“五谷从四大火风而生。”
They come from the four elements, fire, wind, water and earth, The Enlightened One replied.
问曰：“四大火风从何而生?”
Where do the four elements come from? the Brahman asked.
答曰：“四大火风从空而生。”
书香门第
