維楊十友他們家產較豐，都安份知足、不求官祿、不貪錢財、崇尚玄學和道。他們相互結為朋友，像兄弟一樣。當時國內安定，老百姓安居樂業，以酒飯娛樂，自得其樂。他們從一家開始，輪流在十家宴請，已成為習慣。
忽然有一天，一個老翁，穿著髒破，外表瘦弱，像是貧寒之人。他穿著麻衣，跟在十人之後，來到他們聚會的地方。大家心情舒暢，也都憐憫這個老翁，沒有將他趕走。老翁吃飽喝足後，就自行離開了，沒人知道他去了哪裡。
一天，他回來對維楊十友說：「我是個無力之人，很榮幸大家允許我在末座相陪，對我沒有責怪。你們十人設宴，我都參與了。如今宴席已經輪流完畢，我也想盡力準備一次餐宴，以答謝你們的厚恩。相約好日子，希望大家能夠一同前去。」
到了約定的日期，十友依老頭所言，一起等待。凌晨，窮老翁果然來了，領著他們慢慢行走，來到東塘郊外，也不覺很遠。在荒野中有兩三間歪斜的茅屋，似乎風一吹就要倒了，老頭把他們領到茅屋裡。屋裡已有幾個乞丐，都是披散著頭髮，穿著補了又補的破衣，樣子骯髒醜陋。老翁到了後，乞丐相顧而起，站立著等候老翁吩咐。老翁令他們打掃屋子，舖上柴草，展開草蓆，邀請他們圍成一圈坐下。
天已經晚了，大家都已很餓。過了很久，乞丐分別拿醯鹽竹筷，放到客人面前。一會兒，幾個乞丐抬著如案似的一塊長四五尺的大板，擺在草蓆中央，還用油漬漬的布蓋著。十友互相看看，以為一定能解饑了，非常高興。油布撤去以後，熱氣騰騰地不能看清案板上的東西，看了很久，原來是一個蒸熟了的孩童形狀的東西。老翁揖讓勸勉，讓大家去吃，大家都很嫌棄他，多數假裝說不餓，也有人生氣離開，都不肯吃。老翁就自己放開大吃起來。老翁把沒有吃盡的讓眾乞丐拿走，讓他們吃光。然後老翁才對眾人說：「剛才所吃的是千年的人參啊，很難找到，難得一遇。我得到這個東西，為感謝眾位筵請相待之恩，想用它相報。吃到它的人，能白日昇天，成為上仙。你們不吃，大概是命運使然吧！」大家都很驚異，後悔不及。
不一會兒，乞丐們都變成了金童玉女，旗旛傘蓋前導後從，與老翁一起同時升天而去。十友挖空心思去追尋，再也沒能見到老翁。
（出《神仙感遇傳》）
(轉載自正見網)
Stories of Deities: Missing The Opportunity
Author: Edited by Zhu Yueming
The Ten Friends of Weiyang was a group of ten friends who were wealthy and content with their lots. They were not interested in pursuing government positions and not greedy about money. They liked to get together and talk about metaphysics and Taoism. The ten friends were like brothers. They took turns hosting dinner parties.
One day an old man showed up uninvited at the party. He wore rags and was painfully thin. The ten friends were in a good mood and they felt sorry for the old man. So the allowed him to remain and shared their feast with him. After the old man finished his dinner, he left.
A few days later, the old man appeared again. He told the ten friends, “I am a poor man. I feel honored because you allowed me to join your dinner party and nobody was rude to me. You have finished one round of hosting dinner parties already. Now it is my turn, and I will try my best to host one in order to show my respect for you. Let us set a date and I hope all of you can attend.”
The ten friends agreed to attend the old man’s dinner party. On the agreed date, the poor man came to get the ten friends early in the morning. He led them to an area east of the city, and the friends didn’t feel they had walked a long time. When they arrived at the destination, they saw three leaning huts that appeared so unstable that it seemed that they would not survive a gust of wind . The old man invited them to go inside. A few filthy and ugly beggars in rags with uncombed long hair were inside the hut. When the old man entered the hut, the beggars stood up and waited for instructions from the old man. The old man told them to clean the hut, lay down firewood on the ground, and spread a straw mat. Then he asked the ten friends to sit down.
It was getting late and everyone started to get hungry. After quite a while, some of the beggars brought vinegar, salt and bamboo chop sticks to the guests. Then a few beggars carried a big board that was about 5 to 6 feet long and put it in the middle of the straw mat. The board was covered with a piece of oilcloth on top. The ten friends looked at each other and assumed that they would finally get some food to eat. The old man removed the cover. Things on the board were steaming and it took a while for the ten friends to see what was there. They were astounded by what they saw. The food was in the shape of a baby. The old man asked his guests to help themselves. However, the ten friends felt disgusted with him. Some pretended they were not hungry, others left in anger. Nobody wanted to eat the old man’s food.
The old man then started to eat. After he finished he told those beggars to take his leftovers and finish them all. After all the food was eaten, the old man told the ten friends, “The stuff I ate a moment ago was actually ginseng that is more than 1,000 years old. It is very rare. I got it and wanted to share with you because you fellows treated me well. Humans who eat it will reach consummation and become deities. You guys did not eat it, and that was probably your destiny!” The ten friends were shocked and they deeply regretted what they did.
After a while, all the beggars were transformed into golden boys and jade girls. They held banners and umbrellas for the old man, and flew up to the sky with the old man. The ten friends tried everything they could to find the old man but they never saw him again.
Adapted from: An Account Of Meeting With Deities
(From PureInsight: http://www.pureinsight.org/node/2046)
(http://www.dajiyuan.com)
