[102] Bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of rain clouds (valāhaka). What four? One that thunders but does not rain, one that rains but does not thunder, one that neither thunders nor rains, and one that both thunders and rains. These, bhikkhus, are the four kinds of rain clouds. In just the same way, bhikkhus, there are these four kinds of persons comparable to rain clouds existing in the world. What four? One who thunders but does not rain, one who rains but does not thunder, one who neither thunders nor rains, and one who both thunders and rains.
And how, bhikkhus, is a person one who thunders but does not rain? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person masters the Dhamma: the discourses (sutta), discourses mixed with verses (geyya), prose expositions (veyyākaraṇa), verses (gāthā), exclamations (udāna), thus-said discourses (itivuttaka), birth stories (jātaka), marvellous ideas (abbhūtadhamma), and question-and-answer suttas (vedalla). Yet he does not understand as it really is (yathābhūta): 'This is suffering (dukkha)'; he does not understand as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering'; he does not understand as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering'; he does not understand as it really is: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a person is one who thunders but does not rain. Just as that rain cloud, bhikkhus, thunders but does not rain, so, I say, bhikkhus, is this person.
And how, bhikkhus, is a person one who rains but does not thunder? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person does not master the Dhamma: the discourses, discourses mixed with verses, prose expositions, verses, exclamations, thus-said discourses, birth stories, marvellous ideas, and question-and-answer suttas. Yet he understands as it really is: 'This is suffering'; he understands as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering'; he understands as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering'; he understands as it really is: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a person is one who rains but does not thunder. Just as that rain cloud, bhikkhus, rains but does not thunder, so, I say, bhikkhus, is this person.
And how, bhikkhus, is a person one who neither thunders nor rains? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person does not master the Dhamma: the discourses, discourses mixed with verses, prose expositions, verses, exclamations, thus-said discourses, birth stories, marvellous ideas, and question-and-answer suttas. And he does not understand as it really is: 'This is suffering'; he does not understand as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering'; he does not understand as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering'; he does not understand as it really is: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a person is one who neither thunders nor rains. Just as that rain cloud, bhikkhus, neither thunders nor rains, so, I say, bhikkhus, is this person.
And how, bhikkhus, is a person one who both thunders and rains? Here, bhikkhus, a certain person masters the Dhamma: the discourses, discourses mixed with verses, prose expositions, verses, exclamations, thus-said discourses, birth stories, marvellous ideas, and question-and-answer suttas. And he understands as it really is: 'This is suffering'; he understands as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering'; he understands as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering'; he understands as it really is: 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that a person is one who both thunders and rains. Just as that rain cloud, bhikkhus, both thunders and rains, so, I say, bhikkhus, is this person.
These, bhikkhus, are the four kinds of persons comparable to rain clouds existing in the world.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.