Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 20.djvu/26

12 of Mettiya and Bhumma^aka approaching from afar; and spreading out the mats in the entrance hall, she said to them, ' Be seated, Sirs.'

And the Bhikkhus who were followers of Mettiya and Bhumma^aka thought : ' For a certainty the meal cannot yet be ready, since we are told to take our seats in the entrance.'

Then the slave-girl coming up with scraps of food, and sour gruel with it, said to them, * Eat, Sirs!'

'We, sister, are of those for whom perpetual meals are provided/

I know, Sirs, that you are so. But only yesterday I received command from the householder that for them who should come to-morrow for the meal I was to spread out the mats in the entrance hall, and serve them with scraps of food, and some gruel with it. Eat, Sirs!'

Then the Bhikkhus who were followers of Mettiya and Bhumma^aka thought : ' It was yesterday that the householder, the prosperous one, came to the Arfima to visit Dabba the Mallian. For a certainty the householder must have been set against us by Dabba the Mallian/ And through sorrow thereat they ate uneasily. And the Bhikkhus who were followers of Mettiya and Bhumma^aka, when they had finished their meal, returned from the receipt of alms, went to the Ar&ma, and laid aside their bowls and their robes, and sat down outside the porch of the Arfima, squatting against their waist cloths Samghd/i-pallatthik&ya. There is a misprint in the text ( c ttikaya). On this curious expression, see below, V, 28, 2.