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6. "Naked you are and hideous of form,
emaciated, overspread with veins;
you whose ribs stand out, you lean one —
who then are you, that stand here?"
"I, venerable sir, am a petī,
in misery, belonging to the world of Yama (yamalokikā);
having done a wicked deed,
I have gone from here to the world of the petas (petaloka)."
"What misdeed, then, was done
by body, by speech, or by mind?
Through the ripening of what deed
have you gone from here to the world of the petas?"
"Though there were blameless fords (tittha),
I gleaned my half-māsaka (aḍḍhamāsaka);
though there were gifts to be given (deyyadhamma),
I made no island for myself.
Thirsty, I approach a river:
it turns empty;
in the heat I approach the shade:
it turns to scorching sun;
and a wind the colour of fire
blows burning upon me.
This, venerable sir, I deserve —
and other, more evil than this besides.
Go to Hatthinīpura
and tell my mother:
'Your daughter has been seen by me,
in misery, belonging to the world of Yama;
having done a wicked deed,
she has gone from here to the world of the petas.'
There is something of mine deposited here,
and it has not been declared by me:
four hundred thousand,
beneath the couch.
From that let her give a gift on my behalf,
and let it also be a livelihood for her;
and when she has given the gift, let my mother
dedicate the offering (dakkhiṇā) to me:
then shall I be happy,
with every wish fulfilled."
"Very well," he assented to her,
and going to Hatthinīpura
he said to her mother:
"Your daughter has been seen by me,
in misery, belonging to the world of Yama;
having done a wicked deed,
she has gone from here to the world of the petas.
There she charged me:
'Go to Hatthinīpura
and tell my mother:
Your daughter has been seen by me,
in misery, belonging to the world of Yama;
having done a wicked deed,
she has gone from here to the world of the petas.
There is something of mine deposited here,
and it has not been declared by me:
four hundred thousand,
beneath the couch.
From that let her give a gift on my behalf,
and let it also be a livelihood for her;
and when she has given the gift, let my mother
dedicate the offering to me:
then shall I be happy,
with every wish fulfilled.'"
Then indeed she gave a gift,
and having given it, she dedicated the offering to her;
and the petī became happy,
and for her [the mother] too there was a good living.
The Serinī Peta Story (Serinīpetavatthu), the sixth.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.