[279] In hope merchants, seekers of wealth,
board a ship and voyage upon the ocean;
there they sink, and sometimes too
they return with their wealth lost, their capital perished.
In hope farmers plow their fields,
sow their seeds, and apply their methods;
yet through the descent of blight, or through drought,
they gain therefrom no yield of fruit.
Then men in quest of happiness, placing hope before them,
perform their own labors in the service of masters;
hard pressed for their masters' sake, they once more
vanish to the quarters, having gained nothing.
Having forsaken grain and wealth and kinsmen,
in hope, their minds set on heaven, seeking happiness,
they practice even harsh austerity (tapa) for a very long time,
and, mounting a wrong path, they pass on to a bad destination (duggati).
These hopes (āsā) are reckoned deceivers;
O Āsā, dispel within yourself the hope for the sudhā (ambrosia).
One such as you does not deserve even a seat and water —
how then the sudhā? Go! You do not please me.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.