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从自家池子里采得严冬留下的最后一枝莲花，花匠苏达斯来到了王宫，想把花卖给国王。
他在门前碰见了一个旅人，旅人说：“这最后的莲花要卖多少钱呢，——我想把它献给佛陀。”
苏达斯说：“给我一枚金币，花就是你的了。”
旅人付了钱。
就在这时候，国王出来了。他正要去朝觐佛陀，所以也想买这枝花。国王心想：“冬日里的莲花，供奉在佛陀脚下真是好极了。”
听花匠说已经有人出了一枚金币，国王便把价钱抬到了十枚金币。可是，旅人又把价钱翻了一番。
生性贪婪的花匠心想，既然他们争相抬价都是为了同一个人，把花卖给那个人兴许会有更大的收益。于是他躬身说道：“这枝莲花我不卖了。”
城墙之外，芒果树林宁静的荫凉之中，苏达斯站在了佛陀面前。佛陀的唇边凝着无言的慈爱，眼里漾着静谧的光辉，宛如露水濯洗过的秋日里，那一颗闪亮的晨星。
苏达斯看着佛陀的脸，把莲花放到他的脚边，一躬到地，埋首于尘埃之间。
佛陀莞尔而笑，问道：“你想要什么呢，我的孩子？”
苏达斯叫了出来，“你双脚最轻微的触碰。”
Sudās, the gardener, plucked from his tank the last lotus left by the ravage of winter and went to sell it to the king at the palace gate.
There he met a traveller who said to him, "Ask your price for the last lotus, — I shall offer it to Lord Buddha."
Sudās said, "If you pay one golden
māshā
, it will be yours."
The traveller paid it.
At that moment the king came out and he wished to buy the flower, for he was on his way to see Lord Buddha, and he thought, "It would be a fine thing to lay at his feet the lotus that bloomed in winter."
When the gardener said he had been offered a golden māshā the king offered him ten, but the traveller doubled the price.
The gardener, being greedy, imagined a greater gain from him for whose sake they were bidding. He bowed and said, "I cannot sell this lotus."
In the hushed shade of the mango grove beyond the city wall Sudās stood before Lord Buddha, on whose lips sat the silence of love and whose eyes beamed peace like the morning star of the dew-washed autumn.
Sudās looked in his face and put the lotus at his feet and bowed his head to the dust.
Buddha smiled and asked, "What is your wish, my son?"
Sudās cried, "The least touch of your feet."
