[774] "Sisters, suppose there were a great tree standing possessed of heartwood: its root is impermanent, subject to change (vipariṇāmadhamma); its trunk is impermanent, subject to change; its branches and foliage are impermanent, subject to change; its shadow, too, is impermanent, subject to change. Sisters, if someone were to speak thus: 'Of that great tree standing possessed of heartwood, the root is impermanent, subject to change; the trunk is impermanent, subject to change; the branches and foliage are impermanent, subject to change; but that which is its shadow — that is permanent, stable, eternal, not subject to change' — Sisters, would that person, speaking thus, be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir."
"Why is that?"
"Venerable sir, of that great tree standing possessed of heartwood, the root is impermanent, subject to change; the trunk is impermanent, subject to change; the branches and foliage are impermanent, subject to change — how much more so, then, is its shadow impermanent and subject to change."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.