[400] Then Dummukha the Licchavi, knowing that Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son sat silent, dismayed, with shoulders drooping and head down, brooding, at a loss for a reply, said this to the Blessed One: "A simile occurs to me, Blessed One." The Blessed One said: "Let it occur to you, Dummukha." "Venerable sir, suppose not far from a village or a market town there were a lotus pond, and in it there lived a crab. Then, venerable sir, a number of boys or girls, having gone out from that village or market town, would approach that lotus pond; having approached, they would go down into the pond, lift the crab out of the water, and set it on dry land. And whatever claw that crab extended, venerable sir, those boys or girls would cut it off, break it, and smash it with a stick or a potsherd. Thus, venerable sir, with all its claws cut off, broken, and smashed, that crab would be unable to go down into that lotus pond again as before. In the same way, venerable sir, whatever distortions, contortions, and vacillations Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son had—each and every one of them the Blessed One has cut off, broken, and smashed; and now, venerable sir, Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son is unable to approach the Blessed One again with the intention of debate."
When this was said, Saccaka the Nigaṇṭha's son said this to Dummukha the Licchavi: "Hold on, you, Dummukha! Hold on, you, Dummukha! You are talkative, Dummukha. We are not conferring with you; here we are conferring with the worthy Gotama. Let that statement stand aside, worthy Gotama—both ours and that of the various other ascetics and brahmins; it was, I think, mere prattle idly prattled."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.