[424] Then, Aggivessana, this occurred to me: 'Suppose I were to take food only little by little, a handful at a time — whether broth of mung beans, or broth of horse gram, or broth of chickpeas, or broth of peas.' So, Aggivessana, I took food only little by little, a handful at a time — whether broth of mung beans, or broth of horse gram, or broth of chickpeas, or broth of peas. And, Aggivessana, as I took food only little by little, a handful at a time — whether broth of mung beans, or broth of horse gram, or broth of chickpeas, or broth of peas — my body reached a state of extreme emaciation. Because of that very scantiness of food, my limbs great and small became like the jointed segments of the āsītika creeper or the kāḷa creeper. Because of that very scantiness of food, my buttocks became like a camel's hoof. Because of that very scantiness of food, my backbone stood out, ridged and hollowed, like a string of beads (vaṭṭanāvallī). Because of that very scantiness of food, my ribs jutted, broken-down and collapsed, like the broken-down, collapsed rafters of an old hall. Because of that very scantiness of food, the gleam of my eyes, sunk deep in their sockets, appeared like the gleam of water sunk deep down in a deep well. Because of that very scantiness of food, the skin of my head became shriveled and withered, just as a bitter gourd, cut while unripe, becomes shriveled and withered when touched by wind and sun. Then, Aggivessana, thinking 'I shall touch the skin of my belly,' it was my backbone that I took hold of; thinking 'I shall touch my backbone,' it was the skin of my belly that I took hold of — for to such an extent, Aggivessana, because of that very scantiness of food, did the skin of my belly cling to my backbone. Then, Aggivessana, thinking 'I shall pass excrement or urine,' I fell face forward right there, because of that very scantiness of food. Then, Aggivessana, to ease this very body, I stroked my limbs with my hand; and, Aggivessana, as I stroked my limbs with my hand, the body-hairs, rotted at their roots, fell from my body, because of that very scantiness of food. Moreover, Aggivessana, people, on seeing me, said: 'The ascetic (samaṇa) Gotama is black.' Some people said: 'The ascetic Gotama is not black; the ascetic Gotama is brown.' Some people said: 'The ascetic Gotama is neither black nor brown; the ascetic Gotama is golden-skinned.' To such an extent, Aggivessana, was the pure, bright complexion of my skin ruined — because of that very scantiness of food.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.