[88] 3.
"Divine and beautiful is the complexion (vaṇṇadhātu) that you bear,
and you stand aloft in mid-air, in the sky;
yet worms devour your foul-smelling mouth—
what deed (kamma) did you do in the past?"
"I was an ascetic (samaṇa), an evil one, of hurtful speech;
in the guise of an austere practitioner (tapassī), I was unrestrained with my mouth.
Through austerity this complexion was gained by me,
but through divisive speech my mouth is putrid.
This, Nārada, you have seen for yourself.
Those who are compassionate and skilled would say:
'Utter no divisive speech, and utter no falsehood;
then you will become a yakkha who has all that he desires.'"
The Pūtimukhapetavatthu (Story of the Putrid-Mouthed Peta), the third.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.