[1758] Then the Blessed One, having taken up a little bit of soil on the tip of his fingernail, addressed the bhikkhus: "What do you think, bhikkhus, which is more: this little bit of soil that I have taken up on the tip of my fingernail, or this great earth?"
"Venerable sir, the great earth is indeed more. The little bit of soil that the Blessed One has taken up on the tip of his fingernail is trifling. Compared with the great earth, the little bit of soil that the Blessed One has taken up on the tip of his fingernail does not amount to calculation, does not bear comparison, does not amount even to a fraction."
"Even so, bhikkhus, few are those beings who are reborn in the middle country (majjhimajanapada); rather, far more numerous are those beings who are reborn in the outlying countries, among the uncomprehending barbarians (milakkhā)…"
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.