[357] "It is wonderful, venerable sir! It is marvelous, venerable sir! How well this has been spoken by the Blessed One: 'This is hard for you to know, great king, as a layman who enjoys sensual pleasures … by one who is wise, not by one who is unwise.'
"These, venerable sir, are my men — spies, undercover agents — returning after having scouted out the countryside. What has first been scouted out by them, I shall afterwards follow up to its conclusion.
"And now, venerable sir, having washed off that dust and dirt — well bathed and well anointed, with hair and beard trimmed, clothed in white garments — furnished and endowed with the five cords of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇa), they attend upon me."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.